Finale 2012 Interface Changes

Menu changes and additions

The following updates have been made to Finale's menus. For a side-by-side comparison with Finale 2011, see Finale 2011 vs. Finale 2012 menu reference chart.

File menu

• The File Info menu item and dialog box have been removed. Commands formerly in the File Info dialog box, including File Statistics, are now available in the File Info tab of the Score Manager.
• Open Finale Worksheet has been renamed Open Worksheets & Repertoire.

MIDI/Audio menu

• The Instrument Setup submenu has been removed, and replaced by a new item, VST Banks & Effects, which opens the VST Banks & Effects dialog box (formerly called the "VST Instruments dialog box").
• Prioritize Sound Maps menu item added. See Prioritize Sound Maps dialog box.
• Reassign Playback Sounds menu item has been added. See MIDI/Audio/Reassign Playback Sounds.

Staff menu

Many functions previously available under the Staff menu are now handled by the Score Manager, including New Staves, New Staves (with Setup Wizard), Delete Staves, Delete Staves and Reposition, and Reorder Staves.

Utilities menu

• Instrument changes can be added or removed by choosing Utilities > Instrument Change > Add/Remove. Since this feature is under the Utilities menu, it is available whenever a region is selected (with any tool that allows regional selection).
• Reset All Groups & Brackets has been added to the Check Notation submenu. See Utilities/Check Notation/Reset All Groups & Brackets. This accompanies the new checkbox Automatic Instrument Family Groups Brackets in Program Options-Edit.

View menu

Show PostScript Preview has been removed from the Show submenu.

Window menu

• The Instrument List has been removed. Most features that were available in Finale 2011's Instrument List are now available under the Instrument List tab of Finale 2012's Score Manager.
• Keyboard shortcut. Press CTRL+K to open the Score Manager.
• Zoom Window and Minimize commands have been added. See Window menu.

Dialog box changes and additions

Font dialog box

Settings have been rearranged and an updated preview window has been added. The Script drop-down menu has been removed. See Font dialog box.

Instrument List

The Instrument List has been replaced with the Score Manager.

MIDI Setup dialog box

The Auto-Detect Input Devices check box has been added to the MIDI Setup dialog box.

Mixer

The Channel controls have been removed from the Mixer. To assign channels, use the Score Manager.

Playback/Record Options dialog box

Send Patches Before Play has been renamed Send Patches to MIDI Device on Playback and moved to the Playback/Record Options dialog box (from the former Instrument List). See Playback/Record Options dialog box.

• Automatic Instrument Family Groups Brackets has been added to Program Options-Edit, which disables Finale's automatic group updating. See Program Options-Edit.

Setup Wizard

• Page 1: Garritan ensembles have been removed. All instruments are now automatically related to Finale's included Garritan sounds with Sound Maps.
• Page 2: The Instrument Set drop-down menu has been removed. Instruments are now designated using the Score Manager. (See Configuring Instrument Playback.)
• Page 2: The Use a Separate Channel for Each Staff check box has been removed. Instruments are now always set to separate channels.
• Page 2: The Generate Linked Parts check box has been removed. Parts are now always generated when starting with the Setup Wizard.

Space Systems Evenly dialog box

The default value for "Space Pages More Than _ Full" has been changed from 25% to 60%.

Staff Attributes dialog box

Several former 'staff attributes' are now part of Finale 2012's new instrument paradigm, including the staff name, transposition, and clef. These settings have been moved to the Score Manager.

These items have moved from the Staff Attributes dialog box to the Score Manager:

• Full Staff Name
• Abbreviated Staff Name
• First clef
• Staff Type (number of lines)
• Notation Style (Tablature and Percussion)
• Alternate Notation
• Transposition
• Color Noteheads

The Note Shapes menu command is no longer under the Notation Style drop-down menu (moved to the Score Manager). This command is now applied using the Use Note Shapes check box and accompanying Settings button available in the revised Staff Attributes dialog box.

Staff Styles dialog box

The Staff Styles dialog box includes Staff Name and Abbreviated Staff Name commands, in addition to the options in the Staff Attributes dialog box. See Staff Styles dialog box.

Tablature Staff Attributes dialog box

The Set Font button has been removed from the "Fret Numbers" section of the Tablature Staff Attributes dialog box. The font for tablature fret numbers is now set in the Notation drop-down menu of Document Options-Fonts. The tablature font for fret numbers can be applied to staves individually using the Independent Notehead Font option in the Staff Attributes dialog box.

Instruments

Finale now includes a new Instrument paradigm that establishes a relationship between all attributes of score instruments, including staff attributes and sound assignments, and also facilitates mid-score Instrument changes. As you add, remove, or change instruments, Finale updates group brackets for instrument families automatically. See Instruments.

The file "Instruments.txt" is no longer included with your Finale installation. Finale's internal default instrument definitions cannot be changed. All visual aspects of Instruments in a document can be changed in the Score Manager.

Percussion and Tablature Notehead Fonts

In Finale 2011 and before, the Tablature and Percussion Notation Styles were set to an Independent Notehead Font in the Staff Attributes dialog box. For Tablature, this font could be changed in Document Options-Fonts, but was not dynamic (i.e. it only applied to tablature staves added after the setting had been changed). In Finale 2012, percussion and tablature staves use the font selected for "Tablature" and "Percussion Noteheads" under the Noteheads drop-down menu in Document Options-Fonts, and the setting is dynamic (i.e. if changed, existing noteheads in percussion and tablature staves will update to the new font). To specify a different tablature or percussion notehead font for any individual staff, use the Notehead Font setting in the Independent Elements section of the Staff Attributes dialog box. See Changing the percussion notehead font.

External MIDI Instruments

To assign non-General MIDI sounds to score Instruments, in the Score Manager, click the drop-down arrow in a slot under the Sound column and choose Edit Patch. See Establishing MIDI sound settings for a score Instrument. (MIDI "instruments" as defined in Finale 2011 and before, and accompanying instrument libraries, are not available in Finale 2012).

Staff Styles

Staff Styles used for instrument changes/instrument doubling, such as transposition, notehead style, and number staff lines have been removed. This functionality has been added to the Utilities menu (Utilities > Change Instruments). See Adding mid-score instrument changes.

The following items related to Staff Styles have changed

• Instrument change Staff Styles have been removed from Finale's included Staff Style library (formerly available in the Staff Style context menu and Apply Staff Style dialog box).
• Items removed from the Staff Attributes dialog box (see "Staff Attributes" above) have also been removed from the Staff Styles dialog box.

Finale 2011 vs. Finale 2012 menu reference chart

Use the following key to identify commands that have moved or changed names since Finale 2011. New commands, menus, and submenus are marked with an asterisk (*). "" means the menu item's name has not changed.

User Manual Home