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jlrathbone
Registered Member

Date Joined Aug 2002
Total Posts : 65

Posted 11/25/2016 8:31 AM (GMT -6)

Am I alone in wishing that colour could be reintroduced to help work-flow?
Why don't the icons in the Tool Palette be made to match the items they refer to?
It is still possible to have all dynamics coloured blue - so why not have the dynamics tool turn blue in the same way?
Smart shapes, Articulations, Repeats, Chords etc could be the same. This would certainly increase work-flow.

I am increasingly annoyed at the inflexibility and size of the new tool palette in 2014.5 (and I suspect it's no better in Finale 25). I've used Finale since 1989. I've always arranged the tools the way I like them. I can't do this any longer - so I keep picking the wrong tool! At least a colour would make them more immediately identifiable.

I also remember someone suggesting that the window round the measure about to be edited in Speedy Entry be the same colour as the layer you are about to write in. I've lost track of the number of times I intended to write in layer 1 only to find that I was in layer 2.

I'm old enough to remember when colour screens came along. It made such a difference. It seems strange that the programme is about as close to black and white (and grey of course) as it can be! Perhaps it's all about "looking cool" and I'm just getting old!

Mac OS 10.11.6 Finale 2014.5
User of Finale since version 1.6 (1989)!

Dr. Wiggy
Early music: modern methods

Date Joined Jun 2006
Total Posts : 12628

Posted 11/25/2016 9:32 AM (GMT -6)

jlrathbone said...
I've always arranged the tools the way I like them. I can't do this any longer - so I keep picking the wrong tool!

You may find it worthwhile to assign keyboard shortcuts to the main palette tools using OS X's System Preferences > Keyboards, and start using those. I haven't actually selected a tool from the palette in years: it only serves me as a visual indication of which tool is selected.

Finale v.25.1, 2012 MacMini; 2012 MacBook Pro (10.11.6 / 10.12.1)
Edirol FA-66; Roland A-49, HP Laserjet 5200 DTN
Ancient Groove Music www.ancientgroove.co.uk

jlrathbone
Registered Member

Date Joined Aug 2002
Total Posts : 65

Posted 11/25/2016 10:13 AM (GMT -6)

That's a good idea - thank you. It doesn't get round the wrong layer entry problem though!

Actually, the OS X Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts is very useful, but I find it can't be used for "Transpose... "
because it's present in the Utilities Menu AND the TG Tools > Modify menu. Do you know a way round this?

Mac OS 10.11.6 Finale 2014.5
User of Finale since version 1.6 (1989)!

David Ward
Registered Member

Date Joined Aug 2009
Total Posts : 2834

Posted 11/25/2016 10:53 AM (GMT -6)

You may be able to get round that by putting the full path in the shortcut with -> between each stage. eg I have Tools->Lyrics as one of my shortcuts because of just this problem.

Transpose is also available via the contextual menu. Select the area when in the selection tool, and then 'right click' (or equivalent) and you'll see transpose as one of the options.

David Ward
www.composers-uk.com/davidward

Finale 2014d & 2014.5 with Mac 10.9.5 & 10.11.6
Finale 2010b with Mac 10.6.8
full TGTools

Since 2001 have used F 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014

“We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” JFK

jlrathbone
Registered Member

Date Joined Aug 2002
Total Posts : 65

Posted 11/25/2016 11:02 AM (GMT -6)

David - Thank you - that's brilliant.

Perhaps someone can help me with one other problem. I use Jari's "JW Staff Polyphony" often. It works fine on my laptop, but on my Mac Pro (late 2013) - if I ever close the Staff Polyphony window, it will never show again until I quit Finale and launch the programme again. The same is true of other JW windows.
Any ideas??

Mac OS 10.11.6 Finale 2014.5
User of Finale since version 1.6 (1989)!

N. Grossingink
Registered Member

Date Joined Nov 2002
Total Posts : 3991

Posted 11/25/2016 11:17 AM (GMT -6)

jlrathbone said...
I use Jari's "JW Staff Polyphony" often. It works fine on my laptop, but on my Mac Pro (late 2013) - if I ever close the Staff Polyphony window, it will never show again until I quit Finale and launch the programme again. The same is true of other JW windows.
Any ideas??

Just a guess-

Quit Finale and locate the JWPreferences file in your User Folder > Library > Preferences. Pull it to the desktop and restart Finale. Do the newly generated preferences make a difference? If not, you may want to try the same experiment with the Finale preferences.

N.

OSX El Capitan 10.11.6
Finale 2011c, 2012c for production work

Finale 2014.5, not used by my clients

(Finale v25 - not interested yet)

TgTools, Patterson Plugins, JW Change and Staff Polyphony, QuicKeys 4
Mac Mini 2.4 Ghz Intel, 8GB RAM
New Belgium Fat Tire Ale

"At last, fortissimo!"
–Gustav Mahler, on visiting Niagara Falls

jlrathbone
Registered Member

Date Joined Aug 2002
Total Posts : 65

Posted 11/25/2016 12:05 PM (GMT -6)

Actually - I couldn't find the JW prefs file. Only a "Finale 2014.5 Preferences" file, which I did try removing - made no difference.
(TGTools Prefs was there, but no JWTools...)

The nearest thing I could find to JW Prefs was
Macintosh HD>Users>Myname>Library>Application Support>Makemusic>Finale.2015.5 where there was a file called jwpluginprefs.txt (a text file) Removing it made no difference...

Is there somewhere else I should be looking. I am always confused about the number of Libraries I seem to have on the Computer. I find I have to put the JW plugins and TG tools into the folder at:
Macintosh HD>Library>Application Support>MakeMusic>Finale 2014.5

Mac OS 10.11.6 Finale 2014.5
User of Finale since version 1.6 (1989)!

Mike Rosen
himself

Date Joined Feb 2006
Total Posts : 14146

Posted 11/25/2016 12:16 PM (GMT -6)

David Ward said...
You may be able to get round that by putting the full path in the shortcut with -> between each stage. eg I have Tools->Lyrics as one of my shortcuts because of just this problem.

David,

I want to do just the opposite! I have F keys programmed to Select current lyric, type into score, and edit word extensions. When I was using iKey, they worked directly. However, using keyboard shortcuts, I have to first tap the key I have had to set up (like you did) for Tools>Lyrics.

I can't get those "in lyric tool" shortcuts to work directly anymore. I have tried using Tools->Lyrics->Select Current Lyric but it doesn't work. Oddly enough, Simple Entry->Quarter note works fine, without needing Tools-> in front.

Mike Rosen
www.specialmillwork.com

Bass with Choir of the Sound www.choirofthesound.org
Volunteer copyist (The Gang of Twelve) for the Barbershop Harmony Society
FINALE TIPS at www.specialmillwork.com/finale-tips-and-tricks/index.html

Finale 2014.5 on El Capitan
Simple Entry, QWERTY keyboard, numberpad. That's my system, and I'm stickin' to it.

"As a musician, he's a damn fine woodworker."

Dr. Wiggy
Early music: modern methods

Date Joined Jun 2006
Total Posts : 12628

Posted 11/25/2016 12:32 PM (GMT -6)

Mike Rosen said...
I can't get those "in lyric tool" shortcuts to work directly anymore. I have tried using Tools->Lyrics->Select Current Lyric but it doesn't work.

Firstly, It needs to be "Specify Current Lyric..." I can't remember whether it needs to be three dots or an ellipsis. Try both.

However, the problem is that Finale's menus appear and disappear. "Specify Current Lyric" isn't under the Tools menu: it is under the Lyrics menu, which is only available when the Lyric Tool is active. You may need to have one shortcut to activate the tool, and another to choose the menu item. I haven't actually tried making one for the moveable menus.

Finale v.25.1, 2012 MacMini; 2012 MacBook Pro (10.11.6 / 10.12.1)
Edirol FA-66; Roland A-49, HP Laserjet 5200 DTN
Ancient Groove Music www.ancientgroove.co.uk

Mike Rosen
himself

Date Joined Feb 2006
Total Posts : 14146

Posted 11/25/2016 12:40 PM (GMT -6)

Wiggy,
Yes, I've tried both (with the correct wording!) I think you're right about the lyric menu being inactive, until it's selected. That's the same conclusion I had come to; I was hoping that I was wrong.

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