| FEATURES | Finale® | Finale PrintMusic® | Finale SongWriter® | Finale NotePad® |
| Version | 2012 | 2011 | 2012 | 2012 |
| System requirements | Windows XP/Vista/7
Mac OS 10.5-10.7 | Windows XP/Vista/7
Mac OS 10.5-10.7 | Windows XP/Vista/7
Mac OS 10.5-10.7 | Windows XP/Vista/7
Mac OS 10.5-10.7 |
| Maximum number of staves | Unlimited | 24 | 8 | 8 |
| Number of staff lines available | 0-100 (Plus Tablature) | 1 or 5 (Plus Tablature) | 5 (Plus Tablature) | 5 (Plus Tablature) |
| Setup Wizard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Music fonts included | Maestro, Broadway Copyist, Engraver, Finale Copyist, Jazz, Maestro Wide, Finale Percussion, Finale Mallets, Finale Numerics, Finale AlphaNotes™ | Maestro, Broadway Copyist, Jazz, Finale Percussion, Finale Mallets | Maestro only | Maestro only |
| QuickStart videos | Yes | Yes | Yes | -- |
| Pre-designed templates | 68 | 6 | 7 | -- |
| FEATURES | Finale® | Finale PrintMusic® | Finale SongWriter® | Finale NotePad® |
| SmartScore® Lite music scanning | Yes | Yes | -- | -- |
| Step-time entry (one note at a time) from mouse/computer keyboard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Step-time or Real-time (as you play) entry from MIDI device/keyboard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Step time only |
| Real-time entry from an acoustic single-line instrument | Yes | Yes | -- | -- |
| Real-time entry without a click track (HyperScribe®) | Yes | Yes | With click track only | No real-time entry |
| Import MIDI and MusicXML files | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FEATURES | Finale® | Finale PrintMusic® | Finale SongWriter® | Finale NotePad® |
| Number of staves | Unlimited | 24 | 8 | 8 |
| Lyric verses allowed | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 1 |
| Unicode text support | Yes | -- | Yes | Yes |
| Compound or additive time signatures | Yes | Compound only | Compound only | Compound only |
| Number of staff lines available | 0-100 (Plus Tablature) | 1 or 5 (Plus Tablature) | 5 (Plus Tablature) | 5 (Plus Tablature) |
| Tablature | User customizable | Standard guitar and bass only | Standard guitar and bass only | Standard guitar and bass only |
| Chord symbols | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Manual Text Entry |
| Automatic guitar fretboards | Yes | Yes | Yes | -- |
| Chord charts with slash notation | Yes | Yes | Yes | -- |
| Percussion notation | Automatically configured for playback | Automatically configured for playback | Automatically configured for playback | Automatically configured for playback |
| Create Coda systems | Yes | Yes | Yes | -- |
| FEATURES | Finale® | Finale PrintMusic® | Finale SongWriter® | Finale NotePad® |
| Includes 400+ Garritan studio-quality sounds | Yes | -- | -- | -- |
| Tapspace Virtual Drumline sounds | Yes | -- | -- | -- |
| Row-Loff™ marching percussion sounds | Yes | Yes | -- | -- |
| SmartMusic SoundFont (128 sounds) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Human Playback® (multiple styles) | Customizable | Standard styles only | Standard styles only | Standard styles only |
| External sound library support (VST/AU instruments and effects) | Yes | Yes | -- | -- |
| FEATURES | Finale® | Finale PrintMusic® | Finale SongWriter® | Finale NotePad® |
| Print professional-quality sheet music | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Save as audio file (.MP3, .WAV, .AIFF) | Yes | Yes | Yes | -- |
| Can open files created by same or earlier versions of all products on this chart* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Export MIDI and MusicXML files | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Export as graphics file | Section or full page.
PDF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, or EPS | Section or full page.
JPEG only | -- | -- |
| FEATURES | Finale® | Finale PrintMusic® | Finale SongWriter® | Finale NotePad® |
| Save as SmartMusic® accompaniment | Yes | -- | -- | -- |
| Music education worksheets, flash cards, and repertoire | More than 1,000 included | More than 40 | More than 40 | -- |
| Export music to a word processing program to create worksheets or quizzes | Section or full page | Section or full page | -- | -- |
| Finale AlphaNotes™ font and colored noteheads | Yes | -- | -- | -- |
| Finale Numerics font (harmonic analysis, figured bass, and Schenker graphs) | Yes | -- | -- | -- |
| Teach composition with StudioView® | Yes | -- | -- | -- |
| Exercise Wizard | Yes | -- | -- | -- |
| Orff instruments in Setup Wizard | Yes | -- | -- | -- |
| FEATURES | Finale® | Finale PrintMusic® | Finale SongWriter® | Finale NotePad® |
| Chromatic and diatonic transposition | Yes | Yes | Yes | By key sig. for entire piece only |
| Link and/or extract parts | Both | Extract Only | -- | -- |
| Band-in-a-Box® auto harmonization | Up to 6 voices | 2 or 3 voices | 2 or 3 voices | -- |
| Latin percussion rhythm sounds | Yes | -- | -- | -- |
| Automatic drum grooves | Yes | Yes | Yes | -- |
| Automatic rehearsal marks | Yes | Yes | Yes | -- |
| ScoreMerger™ | Yes | -- | -- | -- |
| Over 50 timesavers like instant orchestration, range checking, handbells used chart, chord analysis, etc. | Yes | -- | -- | -- |
| FEATURES | Finale® | Finale PrintMusic® | Finale SongWriter® | Finale NotePad® |
| Document styles | Library and create your own | 22 Library Styles | 3 Library Styles | -- |
| Import graphics files | JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, or EPS | JPEG only | -- | -- |
| Create non-standard key signatures | Yes | -- | -- | -- |
| Page layout controls | Yes | Yes | Yes | -- |
| 3rd-party music font support | Unlimited | -- | -- | -- |
* All files can be opened in a newer software version, but files created in a newer version cannot be opened in an older version unless converted via MusicXML.
Finale NotePad® is available as a free download that can open, play, and print any Finale family file – as well as MusicXML files – so that you can share your music.
See detailed product comparison chart .
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