Much has been said about how much time and effort is saved by using Finale’s Linked Parts feature, which dynamically links your score and parts (so changes made to one appear in the other). This week I’d like to highlight one specific aspect of Linked Parts, named Generate Parts. I’m constantly amazed at the enormous power it offers.
As an example, I have many scores created with older versions of Finale (before Finale 2007) which did not have Linked Parts. When I revisit one of these scores in Finale 2012, I want to take advantage of Linked Parts. To do so, I simply:
- Open the old file
- Select Document > Edit Part > Generate Parts
Done! My parts are now linked to my score. But this is just one of the benefits Generate Parts offers.
Ever create a new score from the Setup Wizard, enter notes in the score, and then look at the parts only to wonder why Finale didn’t automatically generate some multi-measure rests? Well, if you think about it, when the parts were created, there weren’t any notes in the score. Again one solution is to simply click on “Generate Parts” and multi-measure rests will automatically appear.
This explanation sometimes produces furrowed eyebrows, but it makes sense when you realize that we don’t want Finale constantly updating multi-measure rests each time we enter notes.
For another example, I typically want the page size and orientation of my parts to be different from that of my score. I might want the score to be 8.5” x 11” (in portrait orientation), with part to be 7” x 5” (landscape). To make this happen, I:
- Go to Document > Page Format > Parts.
- Change the Width to “7” and the Height to “5”. (I might also want to select a smaller percentage for “Scale Page To” as well.)
- Click OK.
However, when I do this, nothing changes—until I click “Generate Parts,” for similar reasons. Once I got a handle on this, I felt like I became the master of Linked Parts, for which I am eternally grateful.
Happy notating!