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Document Options-Accidentals dialog box

How to get there

Choose Document > Document Options and select Accidentals.

What it does

These options control the spacing of accidentals in relation to both the notes they are attached to

and other accidentals in an entry.

Space Between Accidental and Note. This number determines the horizontal distance between the accidental and the notehead to which it is attached.
Space Between Accidentals on Notes.This number determines the distance between accidentals that appear on notes that are a second apart or greater.
Space Within Multi-character Accidentals. This number sets the distance between accidentals that appear on the same line or space. In general, this parameter only occurs in nonstandard key signatures where there are so many sharps or flats that triple sharps and flats are introduced, or where triple sharps or flats appear on a note in the score; in each case, this measurement defines the distance between the double-sharp (or double-flat) symbol and the next sharp or flat to its left.
Minimum Vertical Spacing Between Accidentals. The number in this text box, measured in lines and spaces, specifies the minimum vertical distance between noteheads in a chord that will require Finale to rearrange the positions of accidentals to avoid overcrowding. If two accidentals are closer together than the Vertical Spacing Between Accidentals number (measured in half spaces), one of them will be forced into the next “accidental slot” to the left, as shown. The default is 6.

When the Vertical Spacing Between Accidentals is 4 (above left), both flats may occupy the same vertical position, because their noteheads aren't less than four lines and spaces apart. If the Vertical Spacing Between Accidentals is 6 however, one of the flats must move to the left to avoid crowding, because the noteheads are indeed less than six lines and spaces apart.

Music Characters; Select. Here, specify font characters to use for accidentals in your notation. Select an accidental type from the drop-down list, then click Select to choose the character for the accidental. The available characters will depend on the default font for accidentals specified in the Font options.
Adjustment at Start of Measure. This is an adjustment to the Spacing Before Music value displayed in Document Options Notes and Rests. If you do not want to leave as much space for notes with accidentals to the right of barlines, you can use this value to move notes with accidentals to the left.
Use Cross-Layer Accidental Positioning. Check this box to automatically avoid collision of accidentals between layers and voices and to align accidentals an octave apart vertically. Also, with this option checked, manually adjusting an accidental’s positioning will not modify the positioning of other accidentals attached to the entry. Note that this option does not apply to cross-staff notes moved to an adjacent staff with the NoteMover Tool.