Staff tool

When you click the Staff tool, the Staff menu appears, and handles appear on each staff and on staff-related items in the score. Select a handle then choose a menu command, or use the shortcuts listed below. The shortcuts are arranged by what the handle controls: staff handles and staves, group handles (includes the group name), staff name handles and bracket handles.

Staff handles and staves:

Staff handles always appear on staves in the score, even on hidden empty staves.

• Click the Staff tool to display the Staff menu. Handles appear on each staff and staff-related item in the score.
• Click a staff or a staff handle, or drag-enclose staff handles to select a staff (or staves).
• SHIFT-click a staff or a staff handle to add the staff to the selection. If a staff is already selected, SHIFT-click to remove the staff from the selection.
• Double-click a staff or right-click a staff and choose Edit Staff Attributes to edit the staff's attributes.
• Double-click a staff handle or click to the left of a staff to select the entire staff.
• Double-click in the score (in Scroll View) to add a staff without repositioning the lower staves.
• CTRL+SHIFT-click a staff or staff handle in one or more selected staves(or right-click the handle and select Add Group and Bracket from the contextual menu) to create a new group for the selected staves.
• Press SHIFT+DELETE for selected staves, or right-click the handle and select Delete Staves from the contextual menu to delete the selected staves without repositioning the remaining staves.
• Press CTRL+DELETE for selected staves, or right-click the handle and select Delete Staves and Reposition from the contextual menu to delete the selected staves and reposition the remaining staves.
• Press Clear for a selected region to clear all Staff Styles in that region.
• Select the staff handle or handles in Page View and press SHIFT+DELETE for selected staves, or right-click the handle and select Delete Staves from the contextual menu to delete the selected staves without repositioning the remaining staves.
• Drag a staff handle in Scroll View to adjust the staff’s position in Scroll View. Staff spacing in Scroll View does not affect Page View.
• Drag (or use the up and DOWN ARROWs to nudge) a staff handle in Page View to adjust the staff’s vertical position in every system that includes a selected measure. (Double-click a staff handle to select all measures of that staff). When the staff is adjusted, Finale retains the spacing of subsequent staves, adjusting them proportionally.
• Select measures or the staff style bar, then pressBACKSPACE to remove the selected Staff Style from the selected region.
• Double-click on a Staff Style bar to display the selected Staff Styles dialog box.

Group handles:

Group handles always appear on existing group brackets and names of staves in the score. If a group doesn't have a name, the handles appear on the brackets only.

Click a group handle, or drag-enclose group handles to select a group (or groups of staves).

• Click a group handle, or drag-enclose group handles to select a group (or groups).
• SHIFT-click a group handle to add the group to the selection. If a group is already selected, SHIFT-click to remove the group from the selection.
• Double-click a group handle, or right-click the handle and select Edit Group Attributes from the contextual menu to edit the group’s attributes. The Group Attributes dialog box appears.
• CTRL+double click a group name handle, or right-click the handle and select Edit Full Group Name or Edit Abbreviated Group Name from the contextual menu to edit a group name. The Edit Text window appears.
• CTRL+SHIFT-click a group handle, or right-click the handle and select Position Full Group Name or Position Abbreviated Group Name from the contextual menu to position a group name. The Position Full Group Name or Position Abbreviated Group Name dialog box appears.
• Press BACKSPACE for selected groups to revert the position of the group names to their default position.
• Select a group handle and press delete, or right+click the handle and select Delete Group from the contextual menu to delete the selected group definitions. (Note that Staff menu > Groups & Brackets > Remove deletes brackets from the selected region rather than deleting the entire group definition.)
• Right-click the handle and select Delete Bracket from the contextual menu to delete brackets from the selected group definition.
• Drag a group handle to adjust the position of a group name.

Staff name handles:

Staff name handles appear on existing staves in the score only if you have entered a staff name, or if Finale's default staff name appears for an unnamed staff.

• Click a staff name handle, or drag-enclose staff name handles to select a staff name (or names).
• SHIFT-click a full or abbreviated staff name handle to add the staff name to the selection. If a staff name is already selected, SHIFT-click to remove the staff name from the selection.
• Double-click a full or abbreviated staff name handle, or right-click the handle and select Edit Staff Attributes from the contextual menu to edit the staff’s attributes. The Staff Attributes dialog box appears.
• CTRL+double-click a full or abbreviated staff name handle, or right-click the handle and select Edit Full Staff Name or Edit Abbreviated Staff Name from the contextual menu to edit a full or abbreviated staff name. The Edit Text window appears for the selected name.
• CTRL+SHIFT-click a full or abbreviated staff name handle, or right-click the handle and select Position Full Staff Name or Position Abbreviated Staff Name from the contextual menu to Position the selected staff name. The Position Full Staff Name or Position Abbreviated Staff Name dialog box appears.
• Press BACKSPACE for a selected staff name handle to revert the position of the full or abbreviated staff name to its default position.
• Drag a full or abbreviated staff name handle to adjust the position of the selected staff name.

Bracket handles:

Two bracket handles appear on each bracket on a group, even if you did not enter a group name.

Click a bracket handle, or drag-enclose several bracket handles to select a bracket (or brackets).

• Click a bracket handle, or drag-enclose several bracket handles to select a bracket (or brackets).
• SHIFT-click a bracket handle to add the bracket to the selection. If a bracket is already selected, SHIFT-click to remove the bracket from the selection.
• Double-click a bracket handle, or right-click the handle and select Edit Group Attributes from the contextual menu to edit a group. The Group Attributes dialog box appears.
• Press delete for selected brackets, or right-click the handle and select Delete Bracket from the contextual menu to remove the selected brackets of the selected group definition. This creates two group definitions automatically, on before the deleted group, and one after (unless the group deleted was on the first or last system of the group region).
• Press BACKSPACE for selected brackets to revert the selected brackets to their default length.
• Drag a bracket handle vertically to make a bracket taller or shorter.
• Drag a bracket handle horizontally to move a bracket closer to or away from bracketed staves.