Measure numbers

You can create different regions of measure numbers in your piece, each with a different font, position, and numbering scheme. If you want measure numbers to occur only at specific places in the score to serve as rehearsal numbers, see Easy Measure Numbers and Rehearsal letters.

For information regarding measure numbers in scores with linked parts, see Measure Numbers in linked parts.

To create measure numbers

1. Click the Measure Tool   and select Edit Regions from the Measure Numbers submenu of the Measure Menu. The Measure Number dialog box appears. If there is no measure number region click Add.
2. Enter the Measures to include for this region. The Include Measure and Through text boxes are the actual measures in the piece; they have nothing to do with what you’re going to call them. For example, if the piece begins with a pickup measure, you’ll probably want what is actually measure 2 to be numbered as measure 1; if so, type 2 into the first text box. If you simply want to number every measure sequentially (a single region), type 1 into the first text box and 1000 (or any number larger than your actual measure count) in the second text box. If you want to define a region to number only part of the piece, the End Measure is the last measure to be numbered.
3. Enter the number you want to start your region numbering with in the First Measure in Region text box. If you want to use letters, type in a number corresponding to its place in the alphabet.
4. Select the style of measure numbers (numeric, alphabetic, etc.) from the Style popup menu.
5. Click Set Font to choose a font and style for this region. Click OK (or press return).
6. Click Position. The Position Measure Number dialog box appears, displaying a symbolic measure number.
7. Drag anywhere in the graphic box to position the measure number relative to the measure. Click OK (or press return). You return to the Measure Number dialog box, where you can make various other settings.
8. Specify the incidence of the numbers. If you click Show Measure Number at Start of Each System, a measure number will only appear at the beginning of a new system. If you click Show every __ Measures beginning with __, you can specify how often a number appears and where it should start from. Multiple of 1 would number every measure in the region.
9. If you want each measure number to be prefixed, enter the Prefix number or letter. If you entered the letter A in the Prefix text box for a region with numbered measures, for example, you’d create a sequence of measures labeled A15, A16, A17, and so on. On the other hand, if you entered the number 21 in the Prefix text box for a region with lettered measures, you’d create a sequence of measures labeled 21a, 21b, 21c, and so on.
10. If you want an enclosure around each measure number, select an enclosure from the popup menu. If you don’t see one you like, click Edit Enclosure and the Enclosure Designer dialog box appears. See Enclosure Designer dialog box.

If you want every measure number in the region to be enclosed, select Show Enclosure on Every Number. If you click Show Enclosure on Selected Numbers, no measure numbers will be enclosed when you first return to the document; to add the enclosure you specified to a particular measure number, simply double-click the number’s handle and click Use Enclosure.

11. If you want a range of measure numbers on multimeasure rests select Show Measure Number Ranges on Multimeasure Rests. If you want the range to always appear, also select Always Show on Multimeasure Rests. If you want a bracket around the range, enter the bracket in the Left and Right boxes.
12. If you don’t want the measure numbers to begin with 1, enter a number in the First Measure in Region text box. See Measure Number dialog box for more information.
13. To set up the parameters for another region, click Add. To remove a region, click Delete.
14. Click OK (or press return). The numbers appear in every measure in every staff. Each number has a handle.

To remove measure numbers from a single staff

1. Click the Staff Tool , and double-click the staff whose numbers you want to “turn off.” The Staff Attributes dialog box appears.
2. In the Items to Display section, click Measure Numbers to de-select it. Click OK (or press return). Note that “Always Show on Top/Bottom Staff” in the Measure Number dialog box will override this setting. See Measure Number dialog box.

Note: You can also remove measure numbers with the Selection Tool. Click a measure number handle and press Delete (or right-click and choose Delete).

To move a single measure number

1. If the measure number handles aren’t already visible, click the Measure Tool  . A handle appears on each measure number in the score.
2. Drag a number by its handle to reposition it. Select it and press the arrow keys to “nudge” it for fine positioning. To restore a number to its original positioning, click its handle and press clear. To remove the measure number press delete.

To add a measure number to an existing region

Click the Measure Tool  . Option-click a measure which is part of a region, but is not currently displaying a number. To add a measure number to the entire system, option-shift-click. To remove a forced measure number, click its handle and press delete.

To reshape or remove a measure number’s enclosure

The Measure Number dialog box offers two ways of creating enclosures around measure numbers. If you select an Enclosure and then click Every Number, Finale places an enclosure around every number in the region.

If you select an Enclosure and then click Selected Numbers in the Measure Number dialog box, you add enclosures to one number at a time in the score, by double-clicking its handle and then clicking OK. You can both resize and remove an individual enclosure of this type.

1. Click the Measure Tool . Double-click the handle of an enclosed measure number. The Enclosure Designer dialog box appears, letting you reshape the enclosure and reposition the number within it.
2. If you want to remove the enclosure, select None for the enclosure shape and click OK. You return to the document (provided that the enclosure isn’t an Every Number type).
3. If you want to modify the enclosure, drag the top and side handles to change its height and width. Drag the number’s handle to reposition the number within the enclosure. Change the line thickness, if desired. The line thickness is measured in the current measurement units.
4. Click OK.