robertwhite

I'm finishing my dissertation and have compliled a HUGE number of musicial examples from works by one particular composer (who is the subject of the document). I have permission to use the examples, etc.
I do not currently own any version of Finale.

Here's what I want to know: Do I understand correctly that the latest version of Finale can scan an existing piece of sheet music and convert the scan into a Finale file? If so, can I then transfer parts of those examples to my paper (which I know is usually possible with a Finale file).

With previous versions, I could excerpt brief Finale files into the body of a paper and label them as musical examples. It had to be stuff I actually WROTE into Finale though. If I could SCAN these pieces in and then do that, it would save a lot of time and be cleaner than the old "cut and paste" method. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Thanks in advance
Bob

(No offense to anyone, but please answer only if you are quite familiar with Finale and its applications).

tpter1

The scan software included in Finale is called SmartScore Lite. (I have version 2006). This is from the user manual, included as a .pdf in the help menu:

"...However, all you need is a
scanner properly set up with your computer to take advantage of Finale’s scanning capabilities.
Simply acquire a file from your scanner (under the File menu), and then use Finale’s built-in
SmartScore technology to open and translate the file to a Standard Finale File..."

It should be noted that you may need to edit and make a few corrections, but the bulk of the work will be done by the scanning program.

From there, it should be easy for you to extract whatever excerpts are necessary, save them as a graphic or whatever, and then import them into your document.

Good luck on your dissertation and defense!

__________________
-Glenn
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Eclipsehornplayer

Wow,

I feel like a real knucklehead...


I have finale print music 2007 now just upgraded and never knew that you could read a scan in. I've been notating all my music manually.

Thanks Glenn I have some work to do!

You da man.

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Dave

Bob,

It is true that Finale will do what you are asking, but you should know that if the music you are scanning is from manuscript, you may have a LOT of editing to do...to the point where manual entry may be less time consuming. If the music is already engraved, the scan feature will save you a lot of time.

Finale includes SmartScore Lite. I have also purchased the full version of SmartScore but have not been overly satisfied with the results. There is another software program called PhotoScore Professional that works a little better in my opinion. PhotoScore and Sibelius work together very seamlessly, but I have had good results using it with Finale as well. You might try it if SmartScore doesn't meet your needs. Again, however, if the original is a manuscript, you may have more trouble than it is worth. It is worth a try though.

robertwhite

Thanks, everyone, for your help. I really appreciate it!