During a recent thread about music notation programs, some people mentioned Finale PrintMusic.

I see that the 2007 version has new (hopefully updated) scanning software included.

Over the last few months I've been comparing my free Finale Notepad, Noteworthy Composer and recently Lilypond. There are good and bad things about each of them.


My questions about Printmusic are:


1. Can you easily enter notes using only the keyboard? ie use arrows to move notes up/down and other keys to quickly change minims- crotchets etc? I find this very important. Using the mouse can be tricky and over-use can cause serious problems.

2. Can you go back and re-edit titles, composer name etc.

3. Is it easy to convert score to PDF?

4. Can the final layout be 'tweaked' to make it look nicer. e.g. the final bar shortened to make everything fit on the page - rather than the final bar being printed on a 2nd page?


So far, I find Noteworthy is great for entering the music, but doesn't look as nice as Finale Notepad.

Steve

I use it and can answer a couple of your questions. The titles etc can be edited. If I need to I simply delete the original one and retype with any alterations. The final layout can be tweaked. I don't use the computer keyboard to enter notes, only the mouse. I tend to enlarge the stave slightly to make it easier to add chords accurately. I have not had any mouse problems so far, apart from one that got into my studio last week and had to be removed to the garden rapidly! I am able to produce very professional scores with it and don't think that I will use another programme.

I prefer the keyboard simply because I was finding that my wrist was aching after a time.

Re. the mouse, I believe Printmusic 2007 comes with a cat included!

Steve

I am not going to upgrade then. I have two already! Thanks for making me laugh before I start my evening's teaching.