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Document Options-Ties dialog box

How to get there

Choose Document > Document Options and select Ties.

What it does

Use the Ties Options to define global settings for the appearance and placement in the score of short, medium and long ties. Changes to these settings affect all ties to be added to the score as well as ties already in the score (note that you can override some Tie Options settings for individual ties in the Tie Alterations dialog box). To select the default measurement units, click on the Edit menu, then Measurement Units, then select the desired units.

Tie Placement: Over/Inner • Under/Inner • Over/Outer/Note • Under/Outer/Note • Over/Outer/Stem • Under/Outer/Stem. These six settings let you precisely place ties in your score for different situations. Over and Under refer to ties over the notes or chords and ties under the notes or chords, respectively. Inner ties are ties that sit inside of a tied chord. Finale uses the Inner settings to draw and place all ties in the score unless Use Outer Placement is selected. When either type of Outer tie is selected in the drop-down list, Finale uses these settings to draw and place outer ties on chords (an "outer" tie is the tie on the notehead farthest away from the stem end) when Use Outer Placement is selected.
Start H: • End H: • Start V: • End V:. Enter a value (in measurement units) into the Start H: text box for the tie’s distance horizontally from the inside edge of the first note tied note. A larger number moves the tie to the right, further away from the note. A smaller number moves the tie to the left, closer to the note. Enter a value (in measurement units) into the Start V: text box for the vertical distance of the tie’s left end over or under the first tied note. A larger number moves the tie up and a smaller number moves the tie down. Enter a value (in measurement units) into the End H: text box for the tie’s distance horizontally from the inside edge of the second tied note. A smaller number moves the tie to the left, farther away from the note. A larger number moves the tie to the right, closer to the note. Enter a value (in measurement units) into the End V: text box for the vertical distance of the tie’s right end over or under the second tied note. A larger number moves the tie up and a smaller number moves the tie down.
Use Outer Placement. Click the checkbox if you want to use the global Outer settings to draw single ties and ties on the outer notes for chords (the "outer" note is the notehead farthest from the stem end of a chord, or highest and lowest ties on stemless chords) differently than ties on the other notes. Use Outer Placement will override the four checkboxes directly below it. When Use Outer Placement is not checked, Finale uses the Inner settings for all ties in the score; there is no difference in the appearance of ties on the outer notes of chords.
Start After Single Dot • Start After Multiple Dots. Click the Start after single dot checkbox to start ties after the augmentation dot on dotted notes. When unchecked, ties start before the dot (which is the default setting). Click the Start after multiple dots checkbox to start ties after the last dot on multi-dotted notes. When unchecked, ties start before the first dot (which is the default setting).
End Before Single Accidental. When this option is selected, ties will end before a single accidental. If this option is not selected, ties will end after a single accidental.
SHIFT For Seconds. When this option is selected, ties will shift left or right to account for noteheads being on either side of the stem. When this option is not selected, ties will be aligned even though there are seconds in the chord.

On the left: SHIFT For Seconds is selected. On the right: SHIFT For Seconds is not selected.

Tie System Breaks: System Start Adjustment • System End Adjustment • Extra System Start Space. When a tied note pair is divided by a system (line) break, Finale breaks the tie before the break and continues after the new system. Enter a value (in measurement units) into System Start Adjustment for the tie’s position after the new system. A larger number moves the tie to the right, away from the system; a smaller number moves it to the left, closer to the system. Enter a value (in measurement units) into System End Adjustment to specify the tie’s position before the system break. A smaller number moves the tie to the left, away from the system; a larger number moves it to the right, close to the system. Enter a value for Extra System Start Space to adjust 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 ties to the right of barlines, you can use this value to move notes with ties to the left.
Chords: Stem Reversal. Select Stem Reversal from the drop-down list to set tie direction on chords based on the stem reversal point of notes on the staff. You can modify the stem reversal point in the Staff Setup dialog box. Ties on the top and bottom notes of chords always curve in opposite directions. Ties on inside notes at or above the stem reversal point go over tied notes. Ties on inside notes below the stem reversal point go under tied notes.

Note. Finale ignores this global Tie Direction setting when you set an individual tie’s direction to Over or Under in the Tie Alterations dialog box.

Chords: Split Evenly. Select Split Evenly from the drop-down list to set the direction of ties on chords as follows: Ties on the top and bottom notes always curve in opposite directions. In chords with an even number of notes, ties on inside notes are split evenly—ties in the upper half of the chord go over tied notes, and ties in the lower half of the chord go under tied notes.

In chords with an uneven number of notes, ties on inside notes at or above the stem reversal point go over tied notes. Ties on inside notes below the stem reversal point go under tied notes. For information about the stem reversal point, see Staff Setup dialog box.

Chords: Inside/Outside. This selection has been provided for compatibility with previous version only. Older files converted from before Finale 97 will have this option set.
Opposing Seconds. Click to select the checkbox. When checked, the two ties on second intervals curve in opposite directions. When not selected, Finale determines tie direction based on the Tie Direction setting.
Mixed Stems: Over • Under • Opposite First Stem. Select the desired setting for tie direction that you prefer when the stems of the tied notes are in opposite directions.
Time: Left Gap • Right Gap. Click to choose this option. When selected, Finale always breaks a tie before a time signature change and continues it after the new signature. Enter a value (in measurement units) into Left Gap for the distance to leave after ending the tie before the new time signature. Enter a value (in measurement units) into Right Gap for the distance to leave before continuing the tie after the new time signature.

Note. This setting affects ties already in the score only when Default is the Break for Time Signature setting in the Tie Alterations dialog box for an individual tie.

Key: Left Gap • Right Gap. Click to choose this option. When selected, Finale always breaks a tie before a key signature change and continues it after the new signature. Enter a value (in measurement units) into Left Gap for the distance to leave after ending the tie before the new key signature. Enter a value (in measurement units) into Right Gap for the distance to leave before continuing the tie after the new key signature.

Note. This setting affects ties already in the score only when Default is the Break for Key Signature setting in the Tie Alterations dialog box for an individual tie.

Tie Contour. Click to display the Tie Contour dialog box, where you define the global appearance and overall shape of short, medium, and long tie spans.
Reset. Click Reset to restore the original settings.