Tutorials – Dorico

Tip: Create your own blank manuscript paper

Display blank staves in any music frame by using the Flow Filter in Engrave mode (make sure the Frames editing mode is selected in the left toolbar).
Create manuscript paper by filling the page with blank staves. Add a new Master Page that is not based on an existing pair; there is no need to make any changes in the Master Page Editor. Set your page to use this new blank Master Page. Now Dorico will not fill your pages with music, or the staves of added instruments. Draw out a music frame to fill the page (or as much of it as you would like to fill with blank staves), and choose Blank Staves from the Flow Filter.
Optionally, you can set properties to influence the top and bottom padding, and you can choose exactly how many staves to fill the frame with.
In Layout Options, set the staff size to change the rastral size of the manuscript paper.
You could even save a Dorico project that has many layouts, each one using a different configuration or page size, orientation, staff size and number of staves.

In this week’s tip, see how you can show all the guitar chord diagrams required to play a song with one setting in Dorico 3.5.
Input chord symbols as necessary in the music.
Open Layout Options, using Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+L. On the new Chord Symbols and Diagrams page, there is an option to Show chord diagrams used at start of flow.
Displayed at the top of the music, there are several options to make them look exactly as you need them to, quickly and easily.

1. Dorico 3.5’s new Pitch Before Duration feature can be useful even when it’s not your default input method.
2. Quickly check you have the correct pitch before committing it to the music by toggling the handy shortcut K.

Dorico 3.5 adds the ability to export any portion of your music as a graphics file. Known as Graphic Slices, you can draw out slices on any page in your layouts using the new tool found in Engrave mode.
You can create as many slices as you need, on any page. The names you give your slices will be used as the filenames when you export the graphics.
Use the handles on the slice to resize and reposition. You can also fine-tune using the Properties panel.
Set options such as the graphic format, resolution and color settings. Choose where to save the graphics. When ready, press the Export button at the bottom of the panel to create the graphic files. You can either export all slices at once, or make a selection in the table and export only those.
The graphic slices are saved in the project, meaning you reuse them at any point in the future.

A new feature in Dorico 3.5 lets you see an instant print preview of your music.
Hide all non-printing items while you hold down the backslash key on Windows ( \ ) or backtick key on Mac ( ` ).
Instant Print Preview works in Setup, Write and Engrave modes.