Copying music

Finale offers a great deal of control over copying, including options for filtering specific elements, methods for both inserting and pasting (replacing), and the ability to copy across documents. This section describes methods for copying music in Finale, and the choices you have when doing so.

For the remainder of this section, “source” refers to the original selected music, and “target” refers to the destination for the copied material. Also, unless specified otherwise, "selection" refers to a region including full or partial measures less than a stack. Any tool that allows regional selection can be used to copy music, including the Selection Tool, Staff Tool, Measure Tool, and others. For more details, see Selecting Music.

Whenever you copy music, you will need to choose whether you want to copy and paste or copy and insert.

Copying and pasting allows you to replace the music in the target region with the music from the source region. Pasting does not wipe out any measure settings, such as measure-width information unless a stack is pasted (and Measure Settings are selected in the Edit Filter dialog box). When pasting any region other than a stack, all note attached items and many measure attached items are replaced.
Copying and inserting allows you to introduce new beats or measures into the piece, pushing all existing music to the right. Inserting a selection nudges all subsequent music the number of beats of the inserted material on the target staves only. When inserting any region less than a stack, the inserted beats can overflow into the next measure requiring the music to be redistributed in all remaining measures of the piece. This is called Rebarring music, and Finale applies it automatically when inserting regions less than a stack. Since stacks are always full measures, all staves, inserting a stack does not rebar music, but pushes all measures to the right intact (increasing the length of the score the number of inserted measures).

After selecting a region of music, use one of the following methods to copy and paste or copy and insert.

Copying and pasting using the clipboard. This method allows you to easily copy/cut and paste to target regions outside of the visible area, or paste the same material multiple times. See To copy and paste using the clipboard.
Copying and pasting by dragging. This method allows you to quickly copy and paste to target regions within the visible area, and also allows you to copy and paste to target regions outside of the visible area. See To copy and paste by dragging.
Copying and pasting stacks. This method allows you to copy and paste any number of items in the Edit Filter dialog box including measure items like key signatures, barline styles, and measure widths. See To copy and paste stacks.
Copying and inserting using the clipboard. This method allows you to easily copy/cut and insert to target regions outside of the visible area, or insert the same material multiple times. See To copy and insert using the clipboard.
Copying and inserting by dragging. This method allows you to quickly copy and insert to target regions within the visible area. See To copy and insert by dragging.
Copying and inserting stacks. This method allows you to insert full measures, all staves, including any number of items in the Edit Filter dialog box. See To copy and insert stacks.

Note: To move measures from one system to another or make other changes to the measure layout, see Measure layout.

To copy and paste using the clipboard

Using the clipboard is another way to copy (or cut) and paste music. When you paste, existing music is overwritten. This is the method commonly used when copying to a target region outside of the visible area or across documents (see Copying across documents).

To copy using the clipboard:

With the Selection Tool $image\Selection_Tool.gif$ selected, highlight a region of measures. Or, highlight a region with any tool that allows regional selection. For details, see Selecting music.
Press Command-C to copy or Command-X to Cut. The music is loaded to the clipboard. If you chose to Cut the selection disappears. At this point, you can paste the copied material anywhere—either elsewhere in the same document, or into another document. If you want to paste to another document, open the document now, using the Open command in the File Menu. You can’t, however, directly paste music into other programs such as word processing or graphics programs. For details on exporting music into another program, see Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) and Graphics Tool.
Specify the musical elements you would like to copy in the Edit Filter dialog box. See To specify what you want to copy. Or, to copy everything, ensure Edit Filter is unchecked under the Edit Menu. (Tempo changes are the exception; they are not included when Use Filter is unchecked. See To copy tempo changes.)
Select a measure (or partial measure) that begins at the desired target and press Command-V to paste. Finale replaces whatever was in the target measures, starting at the left-most edge of the selected region, with a copy of the music you originally selected (as shown here). Pasting does not introduce any new measures into the “target” document, but replaces whatever was there with the contents of the Clipboard. (However, measures will be added on paste as needed if there are fewer measures in the target than in the source.

Note: When clipboard-copying, Finale pastes the entire source content starting with the upper left target selection.

To paste multiple copies of the source material, press Control-Command-V to open the Paste Multiple dialog box where you can repeat the source material any number of times in the score, horizontally or vertically.

To copy and paste by dragging

Specify the musical elements you would like to copy in the Edit Filter dialog box. See To specify what you want to copy. Or, to copy everything, ensure Use Filter is unchecked under the Edit Menu. (Tempo changes are the exception; they are not included when Use Filter is unchecked. See To copy tempo changes.)
With the Selection Tool $image\Selection_Tool.gif$ selected, highlight a region of measures. Or, highlight a region with any tool that allows regional selection. For details, see Selecting music.
Click and drag the source music so that it’s superimposed on the target measure(s).
When the black border surrounds the desired target region, release the mouse button to paste as shown below. Finale replaces whatever was in the target measures, starting at the position of the cursor, with a copy of the music you originally selected. In other words, if you drag to beat three of a certain measure, the pasted music will begin at beat three. If the measure is empty, the music will appear at the nearest beat following the cursor.

If the first target measure is not on-screen, instead of dragging, do the following:

With the source region selected, scroll until you see the desired target region.
While pressing option, click the first target measure. The music appears in the target measure(s) with the same beat placement as the original (as shown below).

Alternatively, you can hold down both option and Shift as you click to open the Edit Filter dialog box which allows you to specify elements of the source region you want to include.

Also, you can hold down Control and Option to open the Paste Multiple dialog box which allows you to past additional copies of the source material.

To copy and paste/insert stacks

Full measure stacks can be copied using the clipboard or by dragging, replacing existing music or inserting between it. Here, a stack really refers to the measure settings including key signatures, measure widths, and barline styles. (See Edit Filter dialog box for details).

Copy and paste/insert measure settings using the following criteria:

The source region selection:

Must begin and end at a barline.
Must include either a stack or the same number of staves as the target or greater. (A single staff full measure selection is a stack selection).

The target region selection:

Must begin at a barline.
Must consist of the same amount or fewer staves if the source is not a stack. (Fewer is possible with optimization or copying across documents. See Optimizing Systems. You can use Staff Sets to decrease the apparent number of staves in the target document to compensate for this. See Hiding Staves.)
Can be any number of staves if the source is a stack.

To copy and paste/insert stacks, use the above definitions for "source" and "target" regions while following the directions under either To copy and paste using the clipboard, To copy and paste by dragging, To copy and insert using the clipboard, or To copy and insert by dragging. While drag-copying or drag-inserting, use the green border/insert cursor to confirm the target is a valid for transfer of measure settings.

When drag-copying, Finale displays a green border around the destination stack region if the region is eligible for stack-pasting (left). When dragging over a region that does not start on a barline and/or include the top staff, Finale displays a black border around the destination region indicating it is not eligable for a stack paste (right). If you release the mouse button in a region not eligible for stack pasting (black border), the music pastes normally and does not include measure-specific data.

Measure settings are copied if either the Source or Target region constitute a stack. The following examples illustrate these situations for drag-copying (the same applies for clipboard-copying and inserting):

To copy and insert using the clipboard

Specify the musical elements you would like to copy in the Edit Filter dialog box. See To specify what you want to copy. Or, to copy everything, uncheck Use Filter under the Edit Menu. (Tempo changes are the exception; they are not included when Use Filter is unchecked. See To copy tempo changes.)
With the Selection Tool $image\Selection_Tool.gif$ selected, highlight a region of measures. Or, highlight a region with any tool that allows regional selection. For details, see Selecting music.
Press Command-C. The music is loaded to the clipboard.
Select a measure (or partial measure) that begins at the desired target and press Command-I to insert. You indicate where you want the copied material to appear by selecting the notes or measures just after it. So, if you want the copied music to appear between measures 3 and 4, click measure 4. Finale inserts a copy of the selected music, nudging all subsequent notes in the staff (or staves) to the right the duration of the inserted material (see Rebarring music).

Note: Finale adds new measures to accommodate notes nudged beyond the final barline.

To copy and insert by dragging

Specify the musical elements you would like to copy in the Edit Filter dialog box. See To specify what you want to copy. Or, to copy everything, uncheck Use Filter under the Edit Menu. (Tempo changes are the exception; they are not included when Use Filter is unchecked. See To copy tempo changes.)
With the Selection Tool $image\Selection_Tool.gif$ selected, highlight a region of measures. Or, highlight a region with any tool that allows regional selection. For details, see Selecting music.
While holding down the Command key, click and drag the source music to position the vertical red line where you would like to insert.
Release the mouse button. Finale inserts a copy of the selected music starting at the position of the red insertion cursor, nudging subsequent notes in the staff (or staves) to the right the duration of the inserted material. Finale inserts a copy of the selected music just before the target region, nudging all subsequent notes in the staff (or staves) to the right the duration of the inserted material (see Rebarring music).

To copy and insert stacks

Full measure stacks can also be inserted using the clipboard or by dragging, shifting all subsequent measures to the right in all staves. Rebar music does not apply when inserting stacks because the subsequent music is nudged in full measure increments (so notes cannot be nudged across barlines).

In order to copy and insert a measure stack, the source region must include a stack selection.

To copy a measure stack using the clipboard:

Select a measure stack. A measure stack must include all staves and begin and end at a barline. See Selecting music.
Press Command-C. The stack is loaded to the clipboard.
Select a region beginning on a barline on the top staff and press Command-I to insert.

To copy a measure stack by dragging:

Select a measure stack. A measure stack must include all staves and begin and end at a barline. See Selecting music.
While holding down the Command key, click and drag the source music to position the vertical insertion cursor at a barline on the top staff of the target region. The insertion cursor changes color to green indicating an eligible location to insert as shown in the figure below.
Release the mouse button. Finale inserts a copy of the selected music starting at the position of the green line, nudging subsequent measures in the staff (or staves) to the right the duration of the inserted material.

To specify what you want to copy

Generally, Finale includes all notes, entry items and measure items when you copy. However, by using Finale's filter you can specify which items you would like to copy—such as chord symbols or articulations—with or without affecting the notes themselves. (To learn about selecting measure regions, see Selecting music). You can easily choose any number of entry and measure items by doing the following:

Click the Selection Tool $image\Selection_Tool.gif$ .
From the Edit Menu, choose Edit Filter. The Edit Filter dialog box appears. All measure and entry items appear in this dialog box. If you want to copy everything—music, lyrics, measure widths, expression marks, and all—no action is necessary (all items are selected by default).
Uncheck any item you do not want to copy and click OK. Now, when you copy, only selected items appear in the target region. Notice Use Filter is now checked under the Edit Menu. Uncheck this command to disable the filter and include all items (other than Tempo changes) while copying - (see To copy tempo changes).
Technical note: Finale actually always includes all items whenever you copy. The Edit Filter dialog box actually filters certain items from appearing when inserting or pasting. Therefore you could copy music, and subsequently change your selection in the Edit Filter dialog box to specify what you would like to include in the target region.

Note: Option-Shift-click the target region to open the Edit Filter dialog box prior to pasting the selected music.

IMPORTANT: The settings in the Edit Filter dialog box are program-wide. That means these settings apply to all documents, even after closing and restarting Finale. If you are unsure of previous settings be sure to review this dialog box prior to copying to ensure it is set up as desired.

To copy time signatures

In order to copy time signature changes along with the music you must select the full stack of measures. Time signatures also must be checked in the Edit Filter dialog box. See To copy and paste stacks and To copy and insert stacks.

If Time Signatures is not checked, and music is copied to a target region of a different time signature, Finale does not rebar the music. In other words, if the source contains full measures, the target measure(s) will either be unfilled or overfilled.

In the example below, the first measure has been copied to measure 2 and measure 3.with Time Signature unchecked in the Edit Filter dialog box.

To delete extra notes in overfilled measures (such as measure 3), navigate to them using the arrow keys using Speedy Entry or Simple Entry. Then press the Delete key. To redistribute these extra notes into subsequent measures automatically, rebar music. To automatically fill empty portions of measures (such as beat 4 of measure 2 above) with rests, use the Fill with Rests utility (Utilities Menu > Check Notation > Fill with Rests).

To Copy Tempo Changes

Tempo changes include any tempo change added with Tempo Tap, the Tempo Tool, the MIDI Tool, or by importing a MIDI file that includes tempo data. Tempo change information is unique in that it is the only measure setting not included when copying without the Filter (Edit Menu).

To copy tempo data:

From the Edit Menu, choose Edit Filter. The Edit Filter dialog box appears.
Ensure that the "Tempo changes" box is checked.
Click OK.
Click the Edit Menu and ensure Use Filter is checked. Now, when you copy, tempo data (other than tempo data included with expressions) will not be transferred to the target region.

To copy across documents

All entry and measure items can be copied and pasted or inserted across documents using the clipboard or by dragging.

To make a copy of a document

These instructions assume that you’re running Finale. To duplicate a Finale document when you’re not in Finale, click the desired document’s icon and press command-D (for Duplicate).

Open the document. Choose Save As from the File Menu. A dialog box appears, allowing you to name the copy. No two documents in the same folder may have exactly the same name.
Click Save. The copy of the document is left on the screen, and the original is automatically closed without saving any changes.

To copy multiple passages of music to another document (using Clip Files)

Although you could use the clipboard to copy individual regions of music from one document to another (see To copy and paste using the clipboard), Finale’s Clip Files feature gives you, in effect, multiple Clipboards, each containing a different passage of music. By making Clip Files, you can copy many sections from a single document before pasting them, one by one, into a new document. These files are stored on your hard disk, where you can easily retrieve them for use in any document—a handy feature when you want to re-use motifs. All items can be transferred from one document to another using Clip Files (see Edit Filter dialog box).

Specify the musical elements you would like to copy in the Edit Filter dialog box. See To specify what you want to copy. Or, to copy everything, ensure Edit Filter is unchecked under the Edit Menu.
While pressing option, choose Copy to Clip File from the Edit Menu. When you option-Copy in this way, you tell Finale to place the copied material into a file of its own, called a Clip File, instead of on the invisible Clipboard. A dialog box appears, asking you to name your Clipboard File.
Name the Clip File, and click Save (or press return). Repeat the process with as many other sections as you want: select the region, choose Copy while pressing option, name and save the Clip File.
Choose Open from the File Menu, and select the target document (if it’s not already open).
If you want to insert the copied music between two existing measures, click the measure just after the insertion point. While pressing option, choose Insert from Clip File from the Edit Menu. Once again, the option key tells Finale you intend to access a Clip File. When you choose Insert, the Paste dialog box appears, displaying the names of the Clip Files you’ve created. Double-click the name of the desired Clip File.
If you want the copied music to replace (overwrite) the music in the target document, select the beginning of the target region.
While pressing option, choose Paste from Clip File from the Edit Menu. A list box appears, displaying the names of the Clip Files you’ve created. Double-click the name of the desired Clip File. If you want to Insert, instead of choosing Paste from Clip File, choose Insert from Clip File under the Edit Menu.

To combine files with Score Merger

Finale allows you to copy and paste or insert across documents just as you would copy within the same document. (See To copy and paste using the clipboard). You could use these methods to merge two or more documents manually. However, if you would like to combine two or more separate files, such as several movements of a piece into a single document, there are many additional considerations beyond the musical elements that can be copied including measure numbers, staff settings, Score Lists, pagination, and more.

Finale includes a tool called Score Merger specifically designed to allow you to combine several files into one automatically.

Note: Score Merger also allows you to merge files vertically. To combine several parts into a conductors score, see To merge part files into a score with Score Merger.

From the File Menu, choose Score Merger. The Score Merger dialog box appears. See Score Merger dialog box.
Click Add Files. Navigate to the files you would like to merge.
Select the files you would like to merge and click Choose. Hold down Command and click to select multiple files. The files appear in the Score Merger list box alphabetically. Select a file and use the Move Up and Move Down buttons if you need to change the order.
Ensure the Merge These Files Into One File radio button is selected. The subsequent check boxes allow you to append the merged files to the current open document, specify measure numbering, and customize how the staff merging is handled. If you check Edit Instrument Junction Between Files, you will be prompted to review and/or edit the way Score Merger deals with instrument staves individually. See Instrument Junction dialog box for details.
Click Merge. Finale prompts you to choose a location for the merged file.
Select a destination for the merged file and click Save. Score Merger processes the files based on your settings. If Edit Instrument Junction Between Files was checked, you are prompted with the instrument merging details for each file as it is merged. Make any desired changes and click Continue. When the merge is complete, the Score Merger Report appears with an overview of the results as shown below.

Click Close. The Score Merger Report closes and the merged document appears in the active window ready for your review.

There are a few more details to bear in mind while merging files with Score Merger:

To insert the merged material at a selected region, the region must begin at beat one.
If the selection is at the beginning of a staff system, that system and the subsequent one will appear after the inserted files after the merge, starting on a new page. (Page text and graphics remain attached to the initial page of the inserted files).
If the selection in the middle of a staff system, the system will be be split up, one piece before the inserted files, and the other after. Each piece is locked automatically.
Since there can only be one definition for entries/text inserts in the File Info dialog box, Score Merger resolves conflicts by retaining all File Info from the first merged file. Text inserts such as Title, Composer, and Copyright that conflict with those in the first file are automatically converted to regular text blocks upon merge. For example, if the title of file 1 is "Movement 1” and the title of file 2 is “Movement 2,” "Movement 1" is used for the Title insert in the merged file, and "Movement 2" is automatically converted to a regular text block. (If an insert is the same text in all the merged files, Score Merger retains the insert without changing any to regular text.) Score Merger uses the first file in the merge as a "template" for the rest of the document. In other words, other document-specific settings are automatically set to the first file in the merger. See Document Settings and Program Settings.for a list of document-specific settings.
Expect to make some adjustments to the page layout and other properties after merging files using Score Merger. See Page layout.

To merge part files into a score with Score Merger

In addition to merging files horizontally, Score Merger can also consolidate several part documents into a single document in order to generate a conductor's score. Score merger can automatically assign groups, MIDI channels, and deals with expressions and page layout.

Note: In order to use Score Merger to combine part files into a score, Special Part Extraction must be disabled in the part files. See Document/Special Part Extraction.

From the File Menu, choose Score Merger. The Score Merger dialog box appears. See Score Merger dialog box.
Click Add Files. Navigate to the files you would like to merge.
Select the files you would like to merge and click Choose. Hold down Command and click to select multiple files. The files appear in the Score Merger list box alphabetically. Select a file and use the Move Up and Move Down buttons if you need to change the order.
Select the Merge These Parts Into One Score radio button.
Click Merge. Finale prompts you to choose a location for the merged file.
Select a destination for the merged file and click Save. Score Merger processes the files based on your settings. When the merge is complete, the Score Merger Report appears with an overview of the results as shown below.

Click Close. The Score Merger Report closes and the merged document appears in the active window ready for your review.

To copy markings based on a rhythmic match

Click the Selection Tool $image\Selection_Tool.gif$ . Or, highlight a region with any tool that allows regional selection. For details, see Selecting music.
Select a region. Click or drag-enclose any region of music to select it.
The selection must occur on a single staff, not spanning multiple staves. Only rhythms and markings in the current layer of the source region are used for the pattern matching and painting process.
From the Edit Menu, choose SmartFind and Paint > Set SmartFind Source. A outline box appears around the selected region. If you selected the wrong region, choose Deselect SmartFind Source from the Edit Menu, and try again.
Optional: select a target region to paint. If no region is selected, SmartFind will assume you wish to scan the entire document. You may include partial measures in your target region.
From the Edit Menu, choose SmartFind and Paint > Apply SmartFind and Paint. The SmartFind and Paint dialog box appears. See SmartFind and Paint dialog box.
Check the box for the markings you want to copy. If you’ve already entered some markings into your document, you may wish to check “Delete Target Markings Before Paint.” With this box checked, SmartFind will erase the markings before painting the new markings, so you get an exact duplicate. Note that checking this option will only erase markings checked to paint. For example, if all markings to paint were checked except articulations, SmartFind would erase markings in the target but leave articulations untouched. The checked marking types will be deleted regardless of whether the markings appear in the source region.
Click Find. SmartFind shows you the first match, if any. SmartFind will look for matches in all layers of the target region, regardless of the source layer. SmartFind will search the first measure of the top staff selected to the last measure of the top staff in the region, then continue through layers, then down through the rest of the staves. SmartFind will search for a match based on the rhythmic or note durations and therefore will consider tied notes. SmartFind will ignore grace notes, Voice 2 and mirrored notes.
Click Paint to apply the markings to the match, or Paint All to apply the markings to all matches, or click Find Next to skip this match. SmartFind copies the select markings from the source region onto the rhythmic match target region. Only the first note of a tied note will receive copied markings.
When you’re finished, click Cancel or Close. You return to the document.

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