You are here: What does this do... > Palettes, Tools, Menus, and Dialog Boxes > Interface Changes > Finale 2012 Interface Changes

Finale 2012b Interface Changes

"Program Options" have been renamed "Preferences"

To access the Preferences, choose Edit > Preferences. See Preferences dialog box.

The File menu has been reorganized

Several File menu commands have been moved into new Import and Export submenus, as well as new commands added to 2012b. See File menu.

Undefined text inserts appear gray and do not print

Undefined text inserts, such as those that appear in the first page header after finishing the Setup Wizard, are now gray in color, indicating they will not print. You can update these inserts directly in the score using the Text tool. See Text Inserts.

Staff Styles now support staff transpositions

The ability to include staff transpositions in Staff Styles has been restored (allowing Staff Styles to be an alternative method for creating mid-score instrument changes). See Staff Styles dialog box.

Finale 2012a Interface Changes

Selecting Instrument Types

You can now concentrate the list of families and Instruments to include only those of a certain type, such as Orchestral, Choral, or Jazz. See Setup Wizard and ScoreManager.

Resizable ScoreManager

The ScoreManager window can now be resized. See ScoreManager.

Audio Setup dialog box

Input and output channels can now be selected for ASIO audio drivers. See Audio Setup dialog box.

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

MIDI/Audio menu

Staff menu

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

Utilities menu

View menu

Show PostScript Preview has been removed from the Show submenu.

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 ScoreManager.

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 ScoreManager.

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.

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 ScoreManager.

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

The Note Shapes menu command is no longer under the Notation Styledrop-down menu (moved to the ScoreManager). 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 Notationdrop-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 ScoreManager.

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 ScoreManager, 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

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.

Finale 2011 menu command name Finale 2011 menu Finale 2012 menu Finale 2012 menu command name
File Info File Info "" (see File Info tab of ScoreManager)
Open Finale Worksheet File "" Open Worksheets & Repertoire
- - Utilities *Instrument Change
VST Instruments MIDI/Audio/Instrument Setup MIDI/Audio VST Banks & Effects
- - MIDI/Audio *Sound Map Priority
- - MIDI/Audio *Reassign Playback Sounds
- Instrument Setup (submenu) - -
Instrument List MIDI/Audio/Instrument Setup Window ScoreManager
Instrument List Window "" ScoreManager
Staff New Staves - - (see ScoreManager)
Staff New Staves (with Setup Wizard) - - (see ScoreManager)
Staff Delete Staves - - (see ScoreManager)
Staff Delete Staves and Reposition - - (see ScoreManager)
Staff Reorder Staves - - (see ScoreManager)
- - Utilities/Check Notation/Check Notation *Reset All Groups & Brackets

 

 

Finale User Manual Home
Leave feedback on this topic
Finale 2014 for Windows

7615 Golden Triangle Drive, Suite M

Eden Prairie, MN 55344-3848