A Full list of Features of Finale 25 or 26

New post

Henry Stock Posted May 08, 2019 21:24

So my church prints hymns in our weekly programs to avoid people having to search through the hymnals. But from what I understand this is a laborious process because the images are first scanned from the hymnals then images are placed in appropriate place in the Microsoft Publisher document that is used to print our programs. Sometimes the images have to be cut in two to place them on separate pages.

In addition to the music composition features of Finale, I would like to know what kind of import and export options there are in the software. One program mentions scan options, meaning, I think, the ability to scan sheet music and turn it into a music xml file complete with the ability to edit it. Then there should be export options such as creating music xml files, print sheet music and hopefully ways to interface with Microsoft Office products for printing.

Finally, while I don't personally write music at this time, we have at least one member of our congregation that has written songs such as one for baptismal ceremonies. In this case, he plays it, but does not have sheet music to share. I want to correct this by giving the church a tool to help. So I am thinking of buying music composition software for use on our church computer. Some licenses say just one user. I am saying just one computer. I want to know if that fits with the licensing scheme for this application

Can someone provide me with a full list of features of Finale and / or your other Music related software, so I know what exactly I am buying and verify that I /we can use it as I have described.

4 comments

Date Votes

J ADRIAN VERKOUTEREN Edited May 09, 2019 15:19

As far as licensing goes, you would be best served to consult Finalemusic.com sales people.

To bring music from a hymnal to a church program via Finale, you would likely need a program like Scansoft to do OCR on a scan of the music and then have someone knowledgeable about Finale to clean up the result.

For your fellow congregation member who plays but does not write down worship music, that person would either have to know how to notate (and manage Finale, which has a learning curve) or else play a MIDI keyboard VERY accurately into Finale's Hyperscribe option and then do clean-up work from there in Finale.

EDIT: Yeah, I misremembered the name. I (also) use SmartScore X2 Pro, not Scansoft when I need to scan some music in.

MIKE HALLORAN Posted May 08, 2019 23:11

SmartScore X2 Pro is the full version of SmartScore Lite, a limited app that was was included with Finale through v. 2014.5. Among SSL's many limitations was the inability to handle lyrics. SS X2 Pro is $199 for Finale owners through the MakeMusic Store (50% off).

There is a 30 day demo of SS X2 Professional available. Don't bother with the other versions.

https://www.musitek.com/demos.html

It will work with the 30 day demo of Finale 26 with the probable exception of Mac OS 10.14.x Mojave.

As for Finale licensing, best to contact MakeMusic directly for any discounts available to churches through the Submit a request link at the top of the page.

Be aware that, for a limited time, there is a sale for new licenses if you plan to buy it anyway:

MakeMusic is offering Finale on sale for a limited time, through May 20, 2019. New users of Finale can purchase it for $249, a significant savings off of the $600 regular price. However, if you already own a competing product, I recommend that you contact MakeMusic to obtain a quote for a competitive upgrade, which could be less expensive. MakeMusic has removed this option from their store, but the latest information is that it is still being offered by request.

For existing users on Finale v25 or earlier, the sale price for an upgrade to v26 is $99 (regular $149). Both sales items require the code FINALE261 at checkout.

MIKE HALLORAN Edited May 08, 2019 23:25

A few things to be aware of.

Scanning, cropping and resizing into a page layout program is very easy. Also, it generally takes a lot less time than scanning, into SS X2 Pro (Windows) or scanning and importing (Mac), editing, exporting, then opening into Finale, editing again for your final output. Having done a lot of both over the decades while on staff at a few churches, I feel confident in saying that.

Are you wanting to edit out the accompaniment and lower staff? Most hymnal companies make a congregational edition available with one melody staff and verses. You might want to check that out and, if available, buy one and scan that (even into Finale). Many also offer data files that you can just drop into the bulletin.

If you focus on the end result rather than how someone told you it should be done, you might find another way to obtain the best results.

Henry Stock Posted May 15, 2019 05:39

Thanks for you input Mike. -- Henry

Please sign in to leave a comment.