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DAVID POWELL Posted
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Hi - I'm trying out the Finale 27 (demo) on a new Macbook running Ventura 13.2. (My current Finale version is 26 and I'm trying to decide whether to upgrade or not).


I've used Finale for 25 years as a music theory teacher. What I'd like to do export some of my Finale homework files so my students can use Musescore (because it's free) to do the homework problems. I'm exporting a file with a chorale that has lyrics added (using a text box). I've done two exports, one compressed file (".mxl") and the other not commpressed (".musicxml"). I've tried both Finale 26 and 27. In all cases, the notes appear fine but the page layout and text in text boxes are broken. See below. (I normally use text boxes to enter lyrics in Finale, rather than the lyrics tool - I just find it easier).

Does anyone have any tips for making this operation smoother and more successful, especially with regard to page layout and textboxes? Are there ways to prep the Finale file before export to get the best result?

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MIKE ROSEN Posted
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I suspect that the problem is that you’re using text, instead of lyrics. Just for fun, enter an exercise with the lyric correctly assigned to both verse and layer, and see if it’s any better. 

You might also try inserting page breaks. That should keep the layout as you want it.

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DAVID POWELL Posted
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Hi - thanks, I've got it mostly figured out. I think inserting the page breaks helped. I also found a dialogue box in MuseScore that gives options for importing XML. Importing system and page breaks and layout is turned off by default, so I turned them on and that has solved the issue. The only thing that is still not quite right is lyrics formatting. I did as you suggested and entered the lyrics with the lyric tool, then adjust the offset so they appear above the staff. On MuseScore they are still between the staves. Cheers.

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MIKE HALLORAN Posted
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MuseScore, like many notation apps. supports MusicXML 3.0, IIRC. If your MusicXML Preferences look like this, your files should be easier to open by your students.

 

 

 

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