Finale previously included a limited scanning plug-in called SmartScore Lite that would allow users to scan and import music from an external scanner, as well as import TIFF files into Finale project files. While this feature was removed in Finale v25, our friends at Musitek, who developed SmartScore Lite, have a full line of SmartScore music scanning applications. These range from their flagship desktop application, SmartScore 64 Pro, which is offered at a special discount for Finale users, to a smartphone app, SmartScore NoteReader, which allows users to scan and import music and export as MusicXML and MIDI with a paid in-app upgrade. You can find more information about these Musitek products using the links below:
In addition to these applications, there are several other music scanning applications on the market which will support MusicXML export, allowing the scanned scores to be imported into Finale for editing. For a list of software with this functionality, click the link below and enter "scan" into the table's search field:
While we know that the removal of this feature was painful for many users, there are a number of solutions to fit a variety of workflows and we encourage you to find the solution that works best for you.