To mask a portion of a staff

The following instructions give measurements in points (1/72 inch). If you’ve been working in different units, choose Shape Designer > Rulers and Grid and select Points (with grid lines every 6 points).

1. Click the Expression tool , and click a note or a measure in the staff you want to mask. Click a note at the appropriate end of the staff. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.
2. Click Shape. Proceeding through the dialog boxes, click as follows: Create; Select; Create. You arrive in the Shape Designer. You’re about to draw a mask that’s the height of a standard staff and two inches wide.
3. Click the Rectangle Tool . Note the origin, the small white circle.
4. Click the origin; without releasing the mouse, drag up and to the right, until the number in the “H:” box is 144 and the “V:” box is 28. You’ve just drawn a rectangle.
5. Click the Selection tool , and select the rectangle. Choose Shape Designer > Fill > White. The inside of the rectangle turns white, but the outline is still black.
6. Choose Shape Designer > Line Thickness > None. The black line goes away.
7. Click OK or Select in each dialog box until you return to the document. The shape appears in the score as a whited-out rectangle.

The technique: if you want to cover up everything, attach the expression to a subsequent note. In the following illustration, you can see the difference.

At left, the Expression was attached to the first eighth note, as indicated by the arrow. As a result, the shape only covers up the staff lines. If the shape is attached to a following note (right), the mask covers everything.

If your shape is an expression, however, the white rectangle will always cover everything, including the notes.

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