Font annotation

Noteman says: When you install a new version of Finale on your computer, font annotation settings are not copied from the previous version. To migrate these settings, see To migrate settings and support files from one version of Finale to another.

Font annotation allows you to fine-tune the height and width of each font character, allowing Finale to better handle the selection area for font characters and collision avoidance in Engraver slurs. We’ve provided annotation files for each of the fonts provided by MakeMusic. If you use an alternative music font, you should create your own font annotation file for a smoother integration with Finale.

To automatically annotate a font

  1. Open any file.
  2. Choose Edit > Preferences and select Edit. The Preferences - Edit dialog box appears.
  3. Click the Font Annotation button. The Font Annotation dialog box appears.
  4. Click New. Select the desired font and click OK. You return to the Font Annotation dialog box with a character displayed in the selected font.
  5. Click Auto Annotate All. Finale automatically annotates all characters in the selected font.

    The annotation rectangle is set to match the smallest bounding rectangle for all font characters.

To annotate a font manually

  1. Open any file.
  2. Choose Edit > Preferences and select Edit. The Preferences - Edit dialog box appears.
  3. Click the Font Annotation button. The Font Annotation dialog box appears.
  4. Click New. Select the desired font and click OK. You return to the Font Annotation dialog box with a character displayed in the selected font.
  5. Choose Character > Select. Scroll up and find the first non-empty character in the font. Double-click on it. You return to the Font Annotation dialog box with the selected character in the selected font.
  6. Drag each side of the red bounding rectangle until the lines frame the character as closely as possible. Use the View text box to increase or decrease the size of the character. Use the Hand Grabber Tool (right-click and drag in the character window) to move your view of the character. No part of the character should appear outside the bounding rectangle.
  7. Click Save. The Save As dialog box appears.
  8. Save the file in the Font Annotation folder in your Finale folder. Finale automatically loads all font annotation (FAN files found in the Font Annotation folder) when you start Finale.
  9. Select the next character in the font. Use the arrow buttons or choose Character >Select and double-click on the next character.
  10. Repeat until all characters in the font are annotated.
  11. Click Save, then OK twice. You return to the document. In order to see the effects of the changes you’ve just made, you would need to quit and restart Finale.

See also:

Character sets

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