-click) any entry
to edit it with a context menu, or 
-click (Mac 
-click) to select any note and use a modifier keystroke to
edit the note. To see a list of keystrokes, from the Simple Menu, choose
Simple Edit Commands.
If you’ve followed the step-by-step procedures to this point, you’ve seen most of Finale’s tools at work. You’re not expected to remember all this material, of course; you can always re-read the in-depth discussions presented in this volume and consult the User Manual and QuickStart Video Tips at any time (under the Help Menu).
But knowing which tools are at your disposal is only half the learning process. Now you need to learn how to maximize the program’s speed and power to produce the most music, with the fewest false steps, and in the shortest time.
As mentioned earlier in this tutorial, Finale allows you to reuse document settings from any existing document by designating it as it as a Document Style. A Document Style is basically a model document who’s settings can be inherited by new scores created with the Setup Wizard. When you designate a file as a Document Style, you are telling Finale you would like to use its articulations, expressions, fonts, staff lists, score lists, staff styles, page layout and other document options and libraries along side the instrumentation and other settings you define in the Setup Wizard.
Creating a new Document Style is as easy as saving a file with the desired libraries and document settings to the Finale/Document Styles folder. The next time you open the Setup Wizard, the file will be listed as a document style.
It’s a good idea never to build any score configuration more than once—save any such template, with no music in it, so that you can open it the next time you need a similar system setup.
As an alternative to using templates, you can save a custom ensemble in the Setup Wizard. This allows you to choose a different Document Style whenever you start a new file usaing your custom ensemble.
When you open a template document, Finale opens the last two pages of the Setup Wizard where you can customize the template’s title, composer, time signature, key signature, and other settings. Upon finishing the Wizard, Finale opens a new untitled document based on your settings (so you don’t accidentally change the original).
For starters, you can look at the ready-made staff configurations in the Finale/Templates folder on your hard disk. You’ll find more than 30 different kinds of blank scores (piano-vocal scores, choral setups, chamber orchestra scores, and so on.)
There are several ways to preserve a blank original template while still having a duplicate to work on:
In Windows, open any document and make the desired settings. For example, if you plan to compose a multimovement flute piece, you might add some flute staves and create a flute quintet template. When you’ve set up your score, from the File Menu, choose Save. Then, from the Files of Type drop-down list, choose Finale Template File *.FTM. Name the file whatever you wish and save it to a memorable location, such as the Finale/Templates folder (which opens automatically when you choose File > New > Document From Template). Note that you can save the .FTM file anywhere, and anytime you open it, Finale will create a duplicate copy and leave the original template alone.
In Macintosh, open any document and make the desired settings. For example, if you plan to compose a multimovement horn piece, you might add some horn staves and create a horn quintet template. When you’ve setup your score, from the File Menu, choose Save. Name the file and save it to the Finale/Templates folder. Then, when you want to use the file, from the File Menu, choose New > Document from Template, and double-click to open the file. To open a file as a template, you must choose New > Document From Template from the File Menu. In fact, in Macintosh, you can open any file as a template as long as you first choose Document From Template. Using File > Open, will not create a duplicate file, and will save over the original file when you choose Save from the File Menu.
In general, you can make the most of your time by creating your documents in the following order. Save your work frequently. The list below is just one possibility; you may find a different order suits your style better.
-click) any entry
to edit it with a context menu, or -click (Mac -click) to select any note and use a modifier keystroke to
edit the note. To see a list of keystrokes, from the Simple Menu, choose
Simple Edit Commands. Speed Tip: Minimizing Screen Redraws
Finale is a vast, graphics-intensive program; like any such program, it pushes the computer to its processing limits.
Completing your scores in the order described in the Order of Entry section will help speed Finale along. So will using Staff Sets whenever possible, to hide the staves you’re not working on.
There are several built-in features that speed Finale along, too, by minimizing the amount of screen-painting (image processing) the program has to do.
(on the Main Tool Bar) to move diagonally within your score
in a single movement. Even better—instead of changing tools just to adjust
your view of the music, press the right mouse button (Mac: 
-), and drag the music. Release the button,
and resume working with whatever tool was selected.Many of the most commonly used Finale commands
and functions have keyboard shortcuts. You may have noticed that pressing
-A (Mac: -A) is the same as choosing Select
All from the Edit Menu, -D (Mac: -D) is
the same as choosing Redraw Screen, and pressing -U (Mac:
-backslash) is the same as choosing Update Layout.
You may find it especially useful to select
Finale tools without having to use the mouse. In Windows, you can assign
any Finale tool to one of the function keys F2 - F12 (F1 and F10 are reserved
by Windows). To assign a tool to a function key, select the tool to be
assigned, then press 
and type a function key. To switch
tools, type the tool’s function key. In Macintosh, you can assign a Finale
tool to one of eight keys (F, G, H, J, K, L, semicolon [;] and apostrophe
[‘]). To assign a tool to a key, press - and
type the key to which the tool is to be assigned. In the Master Tool Palette,
select the tool, then click OK. To switch tools, press and
type the tool’s key. To assign a keystroke to any menu item, use the TGTools
Menu Shortcuts plug-in.
And while it doesn’t actually qualify as
a keyboard shortcut, Finale’s “power-OK” and “power-Cancel” techniques
can save you a lot of time. Any time you’ve crossed through several dialog
boxes to make a certain setting (to create something in the Shape Designer,
for example), you don’t have to retrace your steps back through those
dialog boxes. Instead, click OK or Cancel while pressing the (Mac: ) key. You’ll return directly to the score.
The built-in keyboard shortcuts described above and Metatools are all well and good, but what about commands that you use often but which have no keyboard equivalents? Furthermore, what about multistep procedures (switch into Page View, Scale View to 75%, click Page Layout Tool, indent first system, click OK) that you perform often?
If you’re even a moderate efficiency demon, you should try the FinaleScript plug-in. This plug-in was designed to provide an easy way to automate repetitive tasks, so a series of commands can be run once for any number of documents, instead of over and over again manually. For example, instead of opening and changing the spacing, transposition, and layout of many documents manually, this plug-in allows you to run the same set of commands to all of these documents at once. A series of commands can also be applied to a single document. To access the FinaleScript plug-in, from the Plug-ins Menu, choose Miscellaneous, and select FinaleScript Palette. Also, see FinaleScript plug-in in the User Manual.
In addition to the FinaleScript plug-in, you might also consider linking Finale up with a third-party macro program. A macro is a series of steps—dragging, choosing menu commands, typing, and so on—that’s been automated and programmed to execute itself when you press a certain keystroke.
Macro programs let you perform any such sequence with a single keystroke. QuicKeys (CE Software: 1-800-5CE-SOFT), or Tempo Shortcutter (Affinity Microsystems: 1-800-367-6771), for example, can make your life with Finale easier. If you’re unfamiliar with a macro program, you’ll have to sit down with its manual and learn how it works. But it’s a worthwhile investment of time, and will pay for itself many times over—every time you work with Finale, in fact, and get to watch the macro program perform a routine multistep task for you.
Furthermore, you can use a macro program
to map tool keyboard equivalents (since Finale provides only ten). For
example, you may decide to use -T to switch to the Text Tool.
For Windows users, check out the Menu Shortcuts Plug-in for another built-in
Finale macro program.
Links to the Rest of the World
Finale is the mosta well-connected program you can imagine. It can share its images with graphics programs, its lyrics and text blocks with word processing programs, and its music with sequencers, or other notation programs. With the Finale Showcase, you can even post your files on the Finale music website <www.finalemusic.com> and share with friends across the globe.
One of the most useful examples of Finale’s cooperation with other software is its ability to handle standard MIDI sequencer files. These special files contain MIDI playback data. Most sequencer programs (Digital Performer, Sonar, Cubase, and so on) can generate and read them, and so can Finale. That means that you can create your music in your favorite sequencer; when it’s polished and ready to be notated, save it on your disk as a MIDI file and open it with Finale; it will turn into standard notation. When you attempt this process, you’ll discover that Finale offers literally dozens ofseveral options for separating and recombining the music on the various tracks of the sequencer file. If you want, Finale will even retain the velocity, rhythmic “feel,” and controller information from the original sequence. See MIDI Files in the User Manual for more details.
Note, too, that Finale 2009 can read files created in other music notation programs from MakeMusic, including SongWriter, Finale, Allegro, Finale Guitar, and NotePad. Files created in earlier versions of Finale, as well as any of MakeMusic’s notation programs, can be opened in Finale directly, even in the opposite platform. For example, files created in PrintMusic! 2004 for Windows can be opened in Finale 2009 for Macintosh. You can also read older cross-platform files, including those from Allegro, Finale Guitar, PrintMusic, and NotePad. IMPORTANT: None of MakeMusic's older products can read Finale 2009 files directly. To share your files with others who do not own the most recent version of Finale, have them download Finale NotePad 2009 which is available for free at www.finalemusic.com and will open any file saved from Finale 2009. Also, you can use the Music XML utility to save files in XML format which can be opened by older Finale versions (back to Finale 2000) using a special third-party Dolet Music XML plug-in (developed by Recordare®) installed to the plug-ins folder. See also Importing in the User Manual for more details.
In addition to the plug-ins available with Finale 2009, there are also a number of additional plug-ins available created by third-party developers that can improve efficiency and automate tasks. For example the TGTools and Patterson Plug-ins Lite options under Finale’s Plug-ins menu are samples of the full TGTools collection available at www.tgtools.de and the Patterson Plug-in collection available at www.robertgpatterson.com. There are also a number of other plug-in available. See www.finaletips.nu for a list of several.
In addition to third-party plug-ins, you can also use music fonts created by third-party vendors. A wide variety of music fonts are now commercially available and can be used with Finale. See Fonts in the User Manual.
Your response to Finale is extremely important to us; the version of Finale you’re now using reflects the comments and suggestions of thousands of users. Please send us your ideas and “wish lists” as you get to know the program. We’ll read and consider everything we receive; Finale will continue to become better, faster, and easier to use.
As an alternative to using templates, you can save a custom ensemble in the Setup Wizard. This allows you to choose a different Document Style whenever you start a new file using your custom ensemble.
