Character Settings dialog box

How to get there

  1. Choose the Text tool icon. Double-click a text block ClosedhandleA small square which appears on currently "selectable" elements in the score. Handles allow you to select, edit and adjust musical elements in the score.; the editing frame appears. Select the text you want to change.
  2. Choose Text > Character Settings.

What it does

Noteman says: If you find that your selected measurement unit is too large or small to work with, you can override your global choice by including the units or abbreviation when entering values. Or, you can set the default measurement units used in this dialog box by choosing Edit > Measurement Units and selecting the desired units.

The Character Settings dialog box contains all the font settings, as well as the ClosedbaselineAn imaginary line used to align the bottom edge of font characters. Finale displays arrows that control the baseline positioning for lyrics and chords. shift, superscript, and tracking settings (also available separately in the Text menu). Use this dialog box to see what character formats are in use for the selected text, and to make changes to more than one setting at once. Most of these same options are found in the Font dialog box.

  • [Font Example] • Font • Typeface • Size • Effects. See the Font dialog box for details about these options.

    Outline and Shadow are only available in compiled ClosedPostScriptA page-description language that computers and high-resolution printers use to communicate with each other. documents. Also, Finale does not provide special support for bitmap fonts. To get the best screen display results, use PostScript and TrueType fonts. Use PostScript fonts if a TrueType version is not available for display.

  • Baseline Shift. Use this option to adjust the vertical position of the text without affecting the spacing between lines. Enter the amount that Finale should shift the selected text characters vertically above or below the baseline. A smaller value lowers the text and a larger value raises it.
  • Superscript. Use this option to adjust the vertical position of the text, changing the spacing between lines by the same amount. Enter the amount that Finale should shift the selected text characters vertically above or below the baseline. A positive value raises the text (making it superscript) and a negative value lowers the text (making it subscript).
  • Tracking. Enter the amount of horizontal space, in em’s, that Finale should leave between characters for the selected text. One em is equivalent to 1/1000 of the point size. Em’s are proportional measurement units; if you increase or decrease the point size of the text, Finale adjusts the distance between characters accordingly, keeping the same proportional distance relative to the new font size.
  • OK • Cancel. Click OK (or press ENTER) to confirm, or Cancel to discard, the changes you’ve made and return to the score.

See also:

Text

Text tool icon

Font dialog box