>> BarFly makes ignoring linebreaks an option (except for multi-voice >> music where it isn't practical); what I do sometimes is first let >> the program have a go at doing the layout, then optimize the result >> by putting explicit linebreaks in better places myself. BarFly's >> spacing algorithm is not very sophisticated (monospace type printed >> on elastic), but the same approach would be handy for any program. > As I see music engraving, you should care about linebreak/pagebreak > just before you start printing. You never know the paper size > beforehand do you?
I do. It's always A4, either portrait or landscape. For the tunes on my CD-ROMs, the GIF scores (generated by BarFly) are intended for practical use by folk instrumentalists who operate the way I see them working in Scotland: everybody (beginners to pro ceilidh bands) uses A4 folders with clear plastic pouches. The music in them is usually portrait layout, be it printed, xeroxed or hand- written. So I design for that use; my users will print the tunes themselves as needed and arrange them in whatever categories they want. (Epicycle: I try not to use the full height of A4, so American users can fit my stuff onto their "letter" size without rescaling; I presume they use the plastic pouches too). For the flute CD-ROM, I did every tune in both portrait and landscape; that stuff is significantly more complex than the "Embro, Embro" or Aird tunes, and often landscape layout works better. Harder to use on a stand, but I was expecting people to use the scores for memorization rather than in performance. In many cases (and increasingly as LCD screens become more prevalent) people will simply learn the tunes off the computer screen (maybe aided by sound files) and never print them. There are so many advantages to this format that hopefully I've just killed the printed-and-bound tune anthology. But what I really want is singing digital paper. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU; 0131 6604760 <http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack> * food intolerance data & recipes, Mac logic fonts, Scots traditional music files, and my CD-ROM "Embro, Embro". ------> off-list mail to "j-c" rather than "abc" at this site, please <------ To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
