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NPS Help
NPS Help
Version 7
User Guide
www.neuratron.com
CONTENTS
HOW TO USE THIS USER GUIDE ....................... 7
INSTALLATION .......................................................... 7
Requirements ............................................................... 7
How many computers can I install PhotoScore on? ... 8
INTRODUCTION................................................ 9
Suitable originals .......................................................... 9
Handwritten music (Ultimate version only) ............... 10
Copyright music ......................................................... 10
Lite version users - Important information ................ 11
GETTING STARTED ......................................... 12
Screen resolution and colors ..................................... 12
The three stages ........................................................ 12
1. SCANNING .................................................. 13
The three scanning interfaces ................................... 13
Scanning a page of music ......................................... 15
Scanning summarized................................................ 17
Scanned page catalog ............................................... 18
Scanning hints............................................................ 18
Longer scores ............................................................ 19
Opening .bmp & TIFF files ......................................... 19
Opening PDF files ...................................................... 20
2. READING .................................................... 21
Reading and the Pages Pane ..................................... 21
What PhotoScore reads (printed music) ................... 24
What PhotoScore reads (handwritten music) ........... 24
3. EDITING .................................................... 26
What to correct .......................................................... 28
Checking for mistakes ............................................... 28
3
INSTALLATION
Requirements
To use PhotoScore, you will need:
Macintosh users
Windows users
Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7
INTRODUCTION
Neuratron PhotoScore is a printed and handwritten (Ultimate version
only) music recognition program - the musical equivalent of a text OCR
program.
Scanning text is difficult for computers to do, and has only achieved
reasonable accuracy in the last few years. Music scanning is much
harder because of the more complicated range of symbols involved,
because of the complex two-dimensional grammar of music, and
because some markings such as hairpins and phrase-marks are of a
variable shape and size.
The difficulty with scanning music or text is that by scanning a page, a
computer does not understand it. As far as the computer is concerned,
scanning a page merely presents it with a grid of millions of black and
white dots, which could be music, text, a photograph or anything else.
The process of actually reading or interpreting music, text or pictures
from this grid of dots is extremely complex. A large part of the human
brain, containing many millions of connections, is devoted solely to
solving this pattern recognition problem.
For this reason, only a handful of music scanning programs have ever
been developed, and past attempts have generally been very inaccurate,
or unable to recognize many standard musical markings.
Neuratron has always been pushing the boundaries of this technology
with PhotoScore and has now made it the worlds first and only dual
engine music scanning software. By combining the recognition results of
two independently developed recognition engines PhotoScores accuracy
is much greater than twice that of each engine alone!
PhotoScore is able to read virtually all markings on a page and is the only
product available capable of reading guitar tab and percussion staves.
As a reflection of Neuratrons commitment and leadership in this field,
we have worked incredibly hard to make PhotoScore the worlds first and
only program designed and capable of recognizing scanned handwritten
music.
Suitable originals
PhotoScore is designed to read originals that satisfy the following criteria:
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fit on your scanner (i.e. the music itself is typically no larger than
Letter/A4 size, though the paper may be slightly larger)
have a staff size of at least 1/8 (3mm)
are reasonably clear - for example, staff-lines should be continuous
and not broken or blotchy, half-note (minim) and whole-note
(semibreve) noteheads and flats should have a continuous
circumference and not be broken or filled in, beams on sixteenthnotes (semiquavers) and shorter notes should have a significant
white gap in between, and markings which are meant to be separate
(e.g. noteheads and their preceding accidentals) should not overlap
or be blotched together.
Music which does not match the above will probably work, but with
reduced accuracy.
Scanning from photocopies is not recommended unless the photocopier
is a particularly good one, as photocopying tends to degrade the quality
of an original significantly. You may be obliged to scan from a reduced
photocopy if your original is bigger than your scanner, but you should
expect lower accuracy.
Handwritten music (Ultimate version only)
PhotoScore Ultimate is the worlds first handwritten music scanning
program and is a breakthrough in the field of computer recognition. A
wide range of handwriting styles are supported and without the need to
describe to PhotoScore the style of handwriting you are scanning.
It should be remembered that recognition of handwritten music is an
incredibly difficult thing for a computer to do, and as yet there is not even
a system available that can read cursive handwritten text from a scanned
image with any accuracy, so this is an important and remarkable
technological breakthrough.
Important: Please read the chapter Reading Handwritten Music to make
the most out of this exciting new technology.
Copyright music
You should be aware that by scanning music without permission you
could infringe copyright. The following are rough guidelines to when
copyright infringement might occur, but are not a full statement of the
law:
10
11
GETTING STARTED
Run PhotoScore using your preferred method (e.g. from the Finder or
Explorer, or from Sibelius).
Unless it has been turned off (only possible on the Macintosh version),
you should see the following toolbar below PhotoScores menu bar:
1. SCANNING
Macintosh users
Important: You need a Mac OS X TWAIN driver for your scanner model to
be installed on your computer if you wish to scan directly into PhotoScore
(a classic Mac OS TWAIN driver will not work); otherwise it will not
recognize your scanner. If you intend to use the Automatic or
PhotoScore scanning interfaces (explained below), the driver
additionally needs to support Mac OS X Image Capture (ICA). It is highly
recommended that you check your scanner manufacturers website for
the latest driver and install this before attempting scanning with
PhotoScore. If a Mac OS X TWAIN driver is not available, you will need
to scan and save TIFF files from the software that came with your
scanner, and then import these into PhotoScore using File>Open.
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Staff-height/type
Resolution
200dpi
300dpi
400dpi
Handwritten Music
300dpi
However you should normally align the top of the page with the left
edge of the scanner to ensure it does not turn out upside-down.
Dont worry though if it is scanned the wrong way up as it is easy to
correct later on.
If you are scanning in gray, then the page does not need to be
completely straight - PhotoScore will automatically make the page
level without loss of detail. It will not be rotated if scanning in black
& white, as this would result in loss of detail, thus giving less
accurate recognition results.
2 Click Scan Pages from PhotoScores File menu or the toolbar.
3 What happens now depends on the interface selected in
File>Scanner Setup:
Automatic scanning interface: (not Lite version):
Your scanner should start working almost immediately (although it
may take some time to warm up if it has not been used for a while).
PhotoScore interface:
Finally, choose the minimum height of the staves you are scanning
and click Scan. Click Cancel if you have changed your mind and no
longer wish to scan.
TWAIN interface:
Select the appropriate region (there is usually a preview button),
resolution, pixel type, brightness settings etc. for your scan (consult
the scanners user guide to find out how, since the interface varies
from scanner to scanner) and then click the button marked Scan (or
equivalent).
4 After a moment, the scanner will whir into life and transfer the page
to your computer. (If this doesnt happen, see Possible problems.)
If you are scanning from a fairly thick book, gently press down the lid
(or the book if easier) during scanning to keep the page flat on the
glass.
5 Unless using the Automatic scanning interface, a dialog box will
appear for you to enter a name for the page, which will be something
like Score 1, Page 1 by default. You can change this to any name
you like - something like Piano p1 would do - then click OK.
Subsequent pages you scan will be automatically numbered e.g.
Piano p2, and a dialog box will not appear.
6 Wait a few seconds while PhotoScore makes the page level, adjusts
the brightness, and locates the staves.
7 PhotoScore will now be ready to scan the next page, possibly after a
prompt to wait for the scanner to stop whirring, so put the second
page of music in the scanner, click on the Scan (or equivalent)
button and proceed as for the first page. If the scanning interface
does not reappear, click Scan Pages from PhotoScores File
menu or toolbar again.
8 Continue until you have scanned all the pages that you want to scan.
Scanning summarized
Once youve scanned a few pages youll rapidly get into the routine of it.
The procedure can be summarized as follows:
1 Place page in scanner
2 Click Scan Pages from PhotoScores File menu or toolbar
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3 If not using the Automatic scanning interface, choose the staffheight or resolution, and if using the TWAIN interface, whether to
scan in shades of gray b/w photo (recommended), or black and
white b/w document
4 If not using the Automatic scanning interface, click Scan or the
equivalent
5 If not using the Automatic scanning interface, enter page name (or
leave the default name)
6 Go on to next page
Scanned page catalog
Its important for you to understand that whenever you scan a page,
PhotoScore adds it to a catalog of scanned pages to be read later.
You do not need to save scanned pages or the catalog they are
stored on your hard disk automatically.
This means that whenever you start PhotoScore, it still remembers any
pages you scanned previously. You can and should delete pages that
you no longer need to keep; well tell you more about this catalog later.
The catalog can be viewed in the pages pane (described at the start of
the next chapter).
Scanning hints
If you want to read a page of music smaller than the size of your
scanner, you should make sure that only that portion is scanned.
If you are using the TWAIN interface, then you will need to read the
supplied TWAIN driver documentation on how to scan only part of a
page. This usually involves use of a preview feature if available.
Ensure that all of the music on the page you are scanning is on the
glass of the scanner, and that no music from the facing page is
scanned. It doesnt matter if your original is larger than Letter/A4, so
long as the music itself will fit onto Letter/A4.
If you are scanning a page that is smaller than Letter/A4 size, it
doesnt matter where on the glass you position the original.
However, it helps if you put the edge of the page flush against the
edge of the glass, to ensure that its straight.
18
If the first page you are scanning has page number 3 (say) printed on
it rather than 1, it will be least confusing if you name the page (say)
Piano p3 rather than Piano p1.
If you are scanning a small music book then you may be able to fit a
double-page spread (two facing pages side-by-side) on the scanner
glass, but dont try this - PhotoScore can only read one page at a
time. Scan each page separately.
For simplicity, we recommend that you scan all the pages in a piece
of music before reading them all. You are allowed to scan a page,
then read it, then scan another and so on (see Advanced features),
but we dont suggest you try anything like this until you are proficient
with PhotoScore.
Longer scores
If you want to scan a score of more than a few pages, scan and read a
sample page first to verify that the scanner and other settings are
correct.
If you use the first page as a sample page and it reads correctly, there
will be no need to re-scan it. Continue scanning from the second page;
you will find that when you have scanned and read all the pages, they will
have been added in the correct order after the first page.
PhotoScore can scan scores of up to 400 pages (Lite version 20
pages), though for scores of 40 pages or more you are strongly advised
to split them into separate pieces, songs, movements or other
convenient sections, and scan, read and edit each section separately.
Opening .bmp & TIFF files
PhotoScore can open TIFF and .bmp (Windows only) files. This is useful if
your scanner is on a separate computer from PhotoScore as you can scan
and save files and transport them to the PhotoScore computer for
opening. Open these files from File>Open ensuring that the
appropriate file type is selected in the Files of type drop-down menu.
The files must be scanned at a suitable resolution and be black & white (2
color) or 256 shades of gray. Multiple files may be selected and opened
at the same time. TIFF files containing multiple images may be opened.
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2. READING
As mentioned earlier, just scanning a page simply presents the computer
with a grid of millions of black and white dots, which as far as it is
concerned could be anything from text to a photograph.
Reading the music is the clever bit, where PhotoScore works out from
the scan where and what the notes and other markings on the page are.
Reading and the Pages Pane
You should see the pages pane (below) at the left of the screen. If not,
you can view it by selecting View>Toggle Pages Pane. Alternatively,
resize it by double-clicking or clicking and dragging its right edge.
Note: If you used PhotoScore 4 or earlier,
this replaces the Scanned pages dialog
box that was available from the View
Pages
toolbar
button
and
View>Scanned pages menu item.
The pages pane is split into two main parts,
Pending Pages and Read Pages:
Pending Pages
At the very top of this area you can choose
whether the next page to be read should
be read as printed or handwritten music
(not Lite version). It is highly important that
you choose the correct option before
opening/scanning/reading pages otherwise
the recognition accuracy will be very poor.
Below this is the list of pages of music that
have been scanned in or opened from PDF, TIFF and BMP files and which
have not yet been read by PhotoScore. If you move the mouse over each
item you will see a thumbnail of the page. Clicking on the thumbnail or
double-clicking on the page name displays the original page in a window
to the right. This is useful for checking whether the page has been
scanned properly.
Whilst hovering over an item, the Read check box at the right will
expand. If the checkbox is marked green this means it is waiting to be
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read. PhotoScore will go through reading all pages with a green checkbox
in order from top to bottom.
If Read pages after scanning/opening is selected in the preferences
(see the chapter Advanced Features) each page scanned in or opened
from a file will have this checkbox set and be read automatically.
It is possible to click and drag a pending page up or down in the list to
change the order it appears in the output score.
While a page is being read, the progress will be shown by a green bar
filling the listed item from left to right. Also, holding the mouse over it will
show Cancel instead of Read and clicking this will cancel reading of
that page. It takes a moment to cancel and during this time Cancelling
will be displayed and the checkbox will be marked red.
Clicking over the name of the page selects it and colors it blue. Further
pages can be selected by holding down X or Ctrl (to add individual
pages) or Shift (to add a series of pages) whilst clicking. Clicking Read
or Cancel on a selected page causes the same action to be performed
on all other selected pages. Therefore, it is possible to select several
pages and, with one click, choose whether or not they should all be read.
Clicking where it says Remove on a selected page allows all selected
pages to be removed.
As each page is read the recognized music is added to the output score
to the right of the pages pane. You can edit the output whilst PhotoScore
is reading the remaining pages. The page listing is also moved from the
Pending Pages area to the Read Pages area, described next.
Read Pages (grouped into scores)
As each pending page is read, it is moved into this area. The pages are
grouped into scores to make them easier to manage. The pages
belonging to a score can be shown or hidden by clicking on the small +
or at the left of the score name (with blue background). Double-clicking
on the score name opens the PhotoScore file associated with the score
as well as showing the pages that make it up. When a score is open,
clicking Remove to the right of the score name removes it from the
Read Pages area.
If PhotoScore is set to read pages automatically after scanning/opening
or if you opened files by dragging and dropping them onto PhotoScore,
each score will be autosaved. Edits subsequently made to that score will
22
also be autosaved. Clicking Remove to the right of its score name also
deletes the output score.
To save an autosaved score to a location of your choice, click File>Save
As (see Saving PhotoScore (.opt) files in chapter AFTER
PHOTOSCORING). After doing this, further edits will no longer be
autosaved. Also, clicking Remove to the right of the score name will no
longer delete the output score.
If you wish to read a set of pages into a new score, you first need to
close the current output score on the right-hand side by choosing
File>Close Score or clicking the small cross at the top right. (If the
score was not autosaved, you will need to save the score first.) Newly
read pages will then appear under a new blue score heading.
Moving the mouse over read pages will display the original scanned page
thumbnail on the left and also a representation of the output page on the
right.
Clicking on the left thumbnail displays the original page in a window to
the right and is useful for checking that PhotoScore has correctly located
the staves if the output looks strange. All staves should be boldly
highlighted in blue, with the correct number of stave lines shown, and all
staves within systems should be joined with a red line. For further
information, see the sections Adjusting detected staves/systems and
Scan window options in the chapter Advanced Features.
Clicking on the right thumbnail displays the output page in a window to
the right. If the page belongs to a different score, PhotoScore will close
the currently open score in order to open the other one. Only one
PhotoScore file can be open at a time.
Pages that have been read but not edited are shown with a * to the left
of the page name to remind you that any mistakes may not have been
corrected yet.
If a page name is drawn bold it means that that page is being displayed
on the right.
Clicking Remove on a selected page in the Pending Pages area
deletes that page from your hard disk. If you do the same in the Read
Pages area, PhotoScore keeps the page for a week before permanently
deleting it. The page is listed only when the output score it is attached to
is open. In this case, Keep is displayed instead of Remove and can be
clicked to prevent deletion. This can be useful if you remove one or more
23
pages but then discover or decide that more work is required on the
score.
What PhotoScore reads (printed music)
PhotoScore reads most musical markings, including:
Notes & chords (including stem direction, beams & flags), rests.
Ultimate version also reads grace and cross-staff notes.
Accidentals. Ultimate version also reads articulation marks
Clefs, key signatures, time signatures
Systems, 5-line staves (normal and small), 6-line guitar tablature
staves, standard barlines. Ultimate version also reads 4- and, 1-,2-,
3- and 5-line percussion staves, double and repeat barlines
The format of the page, including the page size, staff size, margins,
and where systems end
Ties. Ultimate version also reads slurs and hairpins. To switch on/off
slur, tie and hairpin reading, see Advanced features
Tuplets (Lite version simple triplets only). For PhotoScore to read
tuplets, Tuplets (includes advanced rhythm detection) must be
switched on (see Advanced features)
Ultimate version only:
Text including lyrics, dynamics, tempo, instrument names, title &
composer, guitar chords, and note fingering. More details on text
reading are in Advanced features
Guitar chord diagrams. To switch on/off guitar chord diagram
reading, see Advanced features
Various other markings such as codas, segnos, ornaments, pedal
markings and repeat endings, see Advanced features
PhotoScore will ignore less common markings, including some lines such
as 8va, special noteheads and tremolos.
All of these markings can be added back to the score in music programs
such as Sibelius.
What PhotoScore reads (handwritten music)
PhotoScore can read the following handwritten markings:
Notes & chords (including stem direction, beams & flags,
augmentation dots), rests
24
Accidentals
Key signatures
Time signatures are calculated from the music (not specifically read)
Systems, 5-line staves, barlines
Ties and slurs. To switch on/off tie and slur reading, see Advanced
features
The format of the page, including the page size, staff size, margins,
and where systems end
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3. EDITING
As each page is read in the pages pane, PhotoScores interpretation of it
is added to a window called the output window on the right. Here you
can edit any mistakes that have been made.
Quick Editing Guide
To see more exotic sets of symbols click the five buttons at the
top of the keypad.
26
To create other objects: You can create other objects (e.g. clefs,
time signatures) from the Create menu, which you can also get by
Ctrl- (Mac) or right- (Windows) clicking. Choose an object from the
menu, and then click on the score to create it.
The top part of the window (with a slightly yellowish background) shows
you the original scanned page.
The large bottom part of the window (with a light-gray background)
shows PhotoScores interpretation of the scan - that is, what PhotoScore
thinks the original reads. The accuracy of PhotoScore's interpretation
depends on several factors such as the quality of the original print, the
scanner's resolution, etc. Hence this part of the window is where
PhotoScores mistakes can occur.
If you cannot see the top part of the window, this means PhotoScore
cannot locate the original scanned page (for example if it has been
deleted); the whole output window will have a white background instead.
At the top left of the window it says, for example, Page 1 of 7, and by
clicking on the arrows you can move through all of the pages that have
been read. It makes sense to edit the first page completely, then advance
to the second page and so on until the whole output score has been
27
edited. The magnifying glass icon zooms the page to fit the window; 100
scales to 100%; 200 scales to 200%.
To the bottom right of the window is the keypad. This can be
repositioned using its title bar. It has two alternative layouts that can be
toggled by clicking the small double-arrow icon at its bottom right. One
presents all buttons on a single pane and is easier to use for most
beginners. The other is similar to Sibeliuss and corresponds to the
numeric keypad at the right of your computer keyboard. These keys can
be typed instead of using the mouse. You can choose several keys
together (but type the note-value first), e.g. type 4 . / to get a dotted
quarter-note (crotchet) with a tenuto and accent.
At the top right of the output window is a full-detail view of the original
scan that shows the region the mouse pointer is currently over. This can
be moved and resized like a normal window. Both this and the keypad
can be removed by un-checking the appropriate options in the View
menu.
There is a Create menu in the menu bar, which is similar to Sibeliuss
Create menu. Editing features not appropriate for PhotoScore have been
omitted.
What to correct
The minimum amount of correction recommended before transferring the
output score to another music program is to correct rhythmic and key
signature mistakes. Other mistakes such as pitch can usually be
corrected later. We recommend you work this way initially.
Once you are more proficient with PhotoScore, you can correct the music
completely in PhotoScore before sending it to another program. The
advantage of this is that you can spot errors by looking at the scanned
original on the screen instead of having to refer to it on paper.
Checking for mistakes
Check for mistakes by comparing the bottom part of the window with the
original scan at the top. The original scan display is continually updated to
show the region of the page the mouse is pointing at.
Avoid the temptation to compare the output page with the original music
on paper - it is almost always quicker to compare with the scan on the
screen.
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29
Sibelius users
When Sibelius is installed, multiple markings can be selected in the same
way as in Sibelius by holding down X or Shift whilst clicking and
dragging over them.
Note that when you insert musical objects into a staff no extra space
appears for them, so the spacing may get a bit cramped Dont worry
about this, as the music is re-spaced when it is sent to Sibelius.
If the View>Bad Timing menu item is ticked, any bar that apparently
has too few or too many notes in any voice is drawn with horizontal red
dashed lines above and below it and PhotoScore writes, in a color
appropriate to the voice, how much rhythm is missing or in excess. For
instance, if a bar appears to have an extra quarter-note (crotchet) plus a
sixteenth-note (semiquaver), PhotoScore will write a + followed by a
picture of a quarter-note (crotchet) and a sixteenth-note (semiquaver).
Conversely, if the bar is apparently a half-note (minim) short, it will write
a - followed by a picture of a half-note (minim). A notehead with a small
3 or 4 above it denotes a 1/32nd-note (demisemiquaver) or 1/64th-note.
A vertical red dashed line is drawn at the end of a staff if the end barline
is missing (whether intentionally or not). Unless a bar is split over staves,
barlines must be added to mark the end of the bar. If a bar is split over
staves, any rhythm warnings are only displayed on the latter staff.
The procedure to use when correcting rhythm is to first check that the
correct time signature is set. Then look at each bar highlighted with
horizontal red dashed lines, and correct the rhythm in each bar until the
red lines disappear. Once there are no horizontal red dashed lines left on
a page, you can be confident that it is rhythmically correct.
The bad timing navigator (not Lite version)
To help you locate and navigate to bars with bad timing within a score,
PhotoScore Ultimate provides a navigator that lists them. By default, the
bad timing navigator is located in the bottom-left of the PhotoScore
window and is displayed whenever a score is open. It can be
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repositioned by clicking and dragging its title bar. If you cannot see the
navigator, click View>Bad Timing Navigator.
Clicking on each entry listed in the navigator will take you straight to that
bar in the score. When an entry is selected in the navigator, it is
highlighted in red and the red dashed lines above and below the bar in
the score become solid. If there are no bars in the score with bad timing,
the message No bad timing found is displayed.
Initial time signature
If there is no time signature at the start of the first output page
PhotoScore will assume a time signature of 4/4. So, if this is incorrect,
the first thing you should do is input an initial time signature.
To do this, point over the output page and Ctrl-click (Mac) or right-click
(Windows) (this displays the same menu as clicking on Create) and
choose a time signature from the dialog box opened by clicking on Time
signature. Common time signatures can be chosen, or you can create
your own.
Insert the time signature at the start of the score by carefully positioning
the blue pointer after the initial clef. If you get a purple box instead of a
dark blue line, the pointer is over a marking and you will not be able to
insert the time signature.
The same principle applies when placing any other marking - you can only
position markings where the dark blue vertical line appears. If you get a
purple box, the highlighted marking will be replaced with the new one
(unless there are two different types of marking involved, in which case
nothing will happen).
If Tuplets (includes advanced rhythm detection) (see Advanced
Features) is switched on, you may find a red time signature placed at
the start of the page. This is nothing to be alarmed about as it only
shows that PhotoScore could not find one on the page during reading,
and so guessed it. This can be edited or deleted just like any other time
signature.
Pick-up (upbeat) / irregular bars
Scores often start with a short bar, known as a pick-up bar (upbeat
bar) or anacrusis. Such irregular bars which do not add up to the time
signature need special consideration. It is necessary to insert two hidden
time signatures (there is a Hide check box in the Time signature
32
dialog). The first should be inserted at the beginning of the irregular bar
and should be of a value which matches the length of that bar. The
second should be the same value as the original time signature and
should be placed at the beginning of the following bar, so that timing
returns to normal.
Key signatures / transposing instruments
Make key signatures from the Create menu. The normal behavior is for
PhotoScore to create individual key signatures for each staff. If you wish
to create key signatures for all staves in a system (for example if there
are no transposing instruments), hold down X or Ctrl when placing
them. Likewise, deleting in the usual way will remove individual key
signatures from a staff, whereas holding down X or Ctrl when deleting
will remove all key signatures from a system. You should always make
sure that there is a key signature on every staff in a system (or none on
any ) when adding or changing multiple key signatures at the same time otherwise other key signatures may be affected or duplicated.
Sibelius users
Beware that if a key signature has the correct number of sharps/flats on
one system but the wrong number on the next one, and you do not
correct it, the start of the latter system will be regarded as a key change
when the music is sent to Sibelius.
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Attachment
In the same way that the current staff is highlighted in white, when
creating or copying a marking, the staff that the marking will be attached
to is highlighted in white.
So when placing a note or other marking in between two staves, first
move the mouse up or down until the intended staff is highlighted, then
click.
Inserting barlines
Sometimes a bar will not add up because PhotoScore has overlooked a
barline, thus producing a double-length bar. To correct this, simply select
a barline from elsewhere on the page, and copy it into the gap where the
barline should be with z-click or Alt-click. Alternatively you can
Control-click (Mac) or right-click and select a barline from the menu
that appears.
Two or more voices
When music is in two or more voices, PhotoScore marks each
note/chord/rest with an appropriate color (blue, green, orange or purple
for voices 1 through 4). In the example below, the top notes are colored
blue (voice 1) and the bottom ones are green (voice 2).
34
page for that instrument. The Clef dialog box can also be accessed from
the Create menu.
To insert a clef change in the middle of a staff, you can select and copy
the desired clef and paste it where you want the clef change.
PhotoScore will automatically draw it at the smaller size.
If you are rewriting music for an instrument that uses a different clef,
check Rewrite notes in the Clef dialog box to change all clefs for that
instrument and adjust the positions of all notes on its staves accordingly.
Codas and Segnos (not Lite version)
You can create codas and segnos from the Create>Symbol submenu.
If a note or rest is not already selected, you must now click on a note or
rest to place it. A dialog box then appears, and you should type any text
to be associated with the coda or segno and click OK. Leave the text
blank to create the sign alone.
To edit the text of an existing coda or segno, double- or right-click over it
so that the same dialog box as used when creating a coda or segno
appears. Enter the text and click OK.
When a coda or segno is selected (and Attachment is ticked in the
View menu), a dotted line is drawn between the coda or segno and the
note it is attached to. PhotoScore automatically reattaches codas and
segnos to the nearest note when they are added, dragged or when a
note is deleted.
It is possible to create a gap in a system (to mark a separate coda
section) by adding a coda barline from Create>Barline. The gap will be
from the previous barline.
Cross-staff notes (not Lite version)
To move a note to the staff above or below whilst keeping it as part of
the timing of its current staff, select it and choose one of the options
from the Notes>Cross-Staff Notes submenu.
Because the staff it is moved to does not contain the timing of that note
(it remains as part of the original staff) you may need to add invisible
rests to make the bars timing add up (invisible rests pad out a bars
timing but are not printed). To do this, insert a rest at the appropriate
position. Then select it and choose Notes>Hide or Show Rests so
that it turns grey to show it is invisible.
37
now click on a note or rest to place it. A dialog box then appears, and
you should type the repeat ending number and click OK.
To edit the repeat ending number, double- or right-click over it so that the
same dialog box as used when creating a repeat ending appears. Enter
the number and click OK.
Click and drag at the left-hand side of a repeat ending marking to move it
to a different bar. To edit the number of bars it covers move the cursor
just to the right of its left-hand side so that the cursor becomes a
horizontal line with arrows at each end and then click and drag left or
right.
Slurs / hairpins (not Lite version) / ties
Make slurs using the Line submenu found in the Create menu. After
selecting the position of the slur, if a note is not already selected, you
must click on a note to place it. Selecting multiple notes in a passage
before creating a slur causes a slur to be created for the length of the
selection. The start and end position of a slur can be adjusted by clicking
near the ends of the slur and dragging with the mouse. The curvature can
be adjusted by clicking and dragging near the centre of the slur.
Make hairpins using the Line submenu found in the Create menu. After
selecting the direction of the hairpin, if a note is not already selected, you
must click on a note to place it. The start and end position of a hairpin
can be adjusted by clicking near the ends of the hairpin and dragging with
the mouse.
When a hairpin is selected (and Attachment is ticked in the View
menu), a dotted line is drawn between the hairpin and the note it is
attached to. PhotoScore automatically reattaches hairpins to the closest
notes when they are added, dragged or when a note is deleted.
Add/remove ties by selecting the appropriate start note and using the
keypad. The curvature can be adjusted by clicking and dragging near the
centre of the tie.
Text (Lite version tempo text only)
You can create text from the Create menu. The top half of the Text
submenu contains text types that can be attached to notes or rests (staff
text). The bottom half contains types that can be attached directly to the
page (page text). Select the text type to be placed. If you are adding
staff text and a note or rest is not already selected, you must now click
40
on a note or rest to place it. A dialog box then appears into which you
can type the text.
To edit existing text, double- or right-click over it so that a dialog box
appears. The top part of it allows you to change the style of the text
(between say, Lyrics and Expression). The middle part allows you to edit
the text itself, and the bottom part shows you what effect this text will
have on saved MIDI files and playback. If you would like the text to
contain a note symbol (e.g. for a metronome mark), click one of the
buttons next to Symbols:. It is also possible to choose whether the text
should be bold, italic, underlined, or hidden (hidden text is displayed in
grey and does not appear in printouts). Then click OK.
If you wish to edit many occurrences of the same text, you can choose
Edit>Find and Replace or type XF or Ctrl+F (not Lite version).
Under Find what in the dialog box that appears, type the text that
PhotoScore should search for and, if necessary, choose a specific style
(e.g. lyrics) from the drop-down menu. If you would like PhotoScore to
only search for text written in the same case or for whole words only,
check Match case or Find whole words only. Under Replace with,
type the replacement text and select the replacement style or choose
Keep existing. Then click Find next to find each occurrence of the
mistake, Replace to correct the currently selected one, or Replace all
to replace every occurrence in one go.
When text that is attached to notes or rests is selected (and
Attachment is ticked in the View menu), a dotted line is drawn
between the text and the note it is attached to. PhotoScore
automatically reattaches text to the nearest note when it is added,
dragged or when a note is deleted.
More details on text reading can be found in Advanced features.
Triplets and tuplets (Lite version triplets only)
Before creating a tuplet, the duration of the first note to be included
needs to be set equal to the unit length of the tuplet. For example, the
unit length of a triplet lasting the duration of a half-note (minim) is one
quarter-note (crotchet) and the unit length of a duplet lasting a dotted
quarter-note is one eighth-note (quaver). If you wish the duration of the
first note to be different from the unit length, you must change its length
after the tuplet has been created. To create the tuplet, either
41
42
Key signatures
The format of the page, including the page size, staff size, margins,
and where systems end
Clefs and time signatures are not read but calculated from the music and
automatically added by PhotoScore. Systems of staves can be read so
long as the linking barline at the beginning of each line of music has been
drawn. Tuplets/triplets are not read but are calculated from the music
and automatically added by PhotoScore. They can also be manually
added after the score has been read (see chapter 3. EDITING).
43
Scanning
Best results are obtained from a clear, well-contrasted, 8-bit grayscale
scan. If you find that a page, once scanned into PhotoScore, appears
overly black or smudgy, or that the lines are thin and broken you can try
scanning in 1-bit black & white and adjusting your scanners brightness,
contrast and black-to-white threshold settings manually. We recommend
that you scan at a resolution of 300dpi. Once you have gained experience
with PhotoScore, you may find better results at other resolutions but for
most music 300dpi is ideal.
44
AFTER PHOTOSCORING
Once you have scanned the score in, and the pages have been read and
edited, you can reformat it, extract parts, transpose, print, playback
and/or save the music for use in other music programs. In addition you
can send the music directly to Sibelius and even create files suitable for
burning to an audio CD.
Reformatting and extracting parts (not Lite version)
Important: All bad timing errors must be corrected before using either of
these features (for instructions on how to do this, see Editing rhythm and
key signatures in chapter 3. EDITING). We also recommend correcting
any other errors first as these features create a new score that is not
attached to the pages it was originally scanned from.
When creating the output score, PhotoScore automatically keeps to the
format of the scanned pages. If the original score was poorly laid out
(e.g. with notes or staves squashed together) or was written by hand,
you can quickly improve the formatting by choosing Notes>Rescore
and clicking OK to the Rescore dialog box that appears. You will then
be given the opportunity to save the score with its original formatting (if
necessary) before the newly-formatted copy is created.
If you wish to reformat the score for a different page size or change it
from portrait to landscape or vice-versa, choose from the options under
Page size before clicking OK.
The Rescore dialog box can also be used to remove instrumental or
vocal parts from the score. This is useful when you need to create solo
parts from a full score. Alternatively, you may wish PhotoScore to
provide an accompaniment (see Playing below) while you practice your
own part.
To remove one or more staves from the score, click on their names in the
list of Staves and voices to include so that they are no longer
selected and highlighted in blue. Click on a staff name again to include it
once more. After clicking OK you are given the opportunity to save the
full score (if necessary). PhotoScore then creates a new score,
automatically reformatted to remove any gaps left by the removed
staves.
45
output score or choose Play/Pause from the Play menu or type Space.
Do the same again to pause playback (the play button will have become
a pause button) and once more to continue. Click on the blue stop
button next to the play button or choose Play>Stop or type Escape to
stop the music altogether.
While the music is playing, the currently played bar will be highlighted in
dark gray. PhotoScore will display consecutive pages as it plays through
them. When playback is paused, the bar that PhotoScore has reached
will remain highlighted.
To play from a particular position on a page, select a note or rest in the
bar that you would like playback to start from. PhotoScore will then
commence from the start of that bar. To play back one or more
instruments without the others, uncheck Always play whole system
in PhotoScores Advanced preferences (see PhotoScore Preferences in
the chapter ADVANCED FEATURES) and select notation in each staff
belonging to those instruments. Playback will begin from the start of the
first bar containing a selection.
Within the same preferences, check Ignore repeats if you would like
PhotoScore to ignore all repeat signs during playback.
Depending on the Espressivo, Swing and Reverb settings under the
Play menu, the playback will vary slightly (not Lite version). Refer to their
descriptions in Saving MIDI files later in this chapter.
To give a staff a different instrument sound, change its name by doubleclicking to the left of it and choosing Rename from the dialog box.
To alter the tempo or dynamics add Tempo or Expression text from
the Create menu to the note on the score where you would like the
effect to begin (see Text in chapter 3. EDITING). If PhotoScore couldnt
find a tempo marking during reading, it will have automatically added one
in red to the beginning of the score. Double- or right-click on it to change
it to the desired tempo.
Note: If you have more than one MIDI device the default will be used, but
this can be changed from the System Preferences (Mac) or Control
Panel (Windows). PhotoScore for Windows offers a shortcut Computer
audio properties button in the General pane of the preferences
dialog.
47
Saving
If PhotoScore is set to read pages automatically after scanning/opening
or if one or more files are opened by dragging and dropping them onto
PhotoScore, each new score is saved automatically. Edits subsequently
made to the score are also autosaved.
To save an autosaved score to a location of your choice, click File>Save
As (see Saving PhotoScore (.opt) files below). After doing this, further
edits will no longer be autosaved but can be saved by clicking the Save
button at the top of the output window.
You can also choose a different file type/format to save the score in, by
selecting a choice from the pop-up menu/combo box at the bottom of the
dialog box. Note that some formats store less information about the
scanned score than others (e.g. MIDI does not store specific slur,
articulation-mark, note-stem or beam-direction information). Also note
that not all music programs are able to open all the file formats listed.
Once saved, you can run your favorite music program, load the
PhotoScored music and use it like any other.
Sibelius users
To send your score to Sibelius, simply click the Send to Sibelius button
next to Save at the top of the output window to launch Sibelius. Within
Sibelius, a dialog will open asking you to choose instruments (Sibelius v3
and higher only) and the page size. After a second or two, the music will
pop up in another window as a Sibelius document.
Once the music is in Sibelius you can do anything you like to it, just as if
you had inputted it yourself.
Note: Versions of Sibelius earlier than v5 cannot import all of the musical
information from PhotoScore 6 files. Here is a table to summarize (details
listed in successive versions are not repeated):
v3.0 to v3.x will not read percussion staves or scores containing more
than 2 voices. Later versions import files more accurately.
v4.0 to v4.x will not read codas, segnos, ornaments, pedal markings,
repeat endings, fermatas on rests or cross-staff notes.
48
If you have Sibelius version 3 or 4 installed (versions 1 and 2 will not work
with PhotoScore 6) you may find that it refuses to open files made from
PhotoScore 6. In this case you should find an additional file type in the
type/format drop-down box which allows PhotoScore files to be saved in
an older format that these versions of Sibelius can open.
Saving MusicXML & NIFF files
Save MusicXML and NIFF files if you want to open PhotoScores output in
a notation product other than Sibelius, for example Finale. Finale 2006
can open MusicXML files from the File menu. In Finale 2003 to 2005 use
the Dolet Light plug-in to open MusicXML files.
Please check www.neuratron.com/fileformats.htm for the latest
information including which programs open these file formats.
Saving MIDI files
MIDI files were developed to store musical playback information, as
opposed to printed notation, and as a result have a few limitations when
it comes to storing scanned music. However, they are still very useful
since virtually every music-editing product can read this type of file.
Two options are available when saving a MIDI file: When Optimize for
playback is checked in the save dialog, the file is saved with repeats
and expression, swing, or reverb if selected for playback (not Lite
version). Check Create a track for each voice if you need to separate
voices into different MIDI tracks (not Lite version).
Please observe the following when saving MIDI files:
49
which can be over the top for some kinds of music. It works well for
large groups of instruments, where it helps to separate the different
lines.
These effects may only be noticeable when the file is played back
from a MIDI editing/playback package.
(not Lite version) If selected from the Play menu, the file will be
saved with swing a jazz convention in which two notated eighths
(quavers) are performed approximately as a triplet quarter-note plus
eighth-note (triplet crotchet plus quaver). The various swing options
are:
None i.e. no swing.
Light / Standard / Heavy for a small amount to almost triplets.
Notes Ingales triplet quarter-note plus eighth-note (crotchet
plus quaver), used in some early music.
Dotted Eighths (quavers) rarely used.
(not Lite version) If selected from the Play menu, reverb (similar
effect to the echo you hear in a room) is added to playback. This can
be set to various presets between Dead and Cathedral, or a
percentage can be entered. Note that this feature will only work on
devices that respond to and recognize standard general MIDI reverb
messages.
(not Lite version) PhotoScore also plays back appoggiaturas, or
grace notes. As these do not fit the regular timing of a bar, they are
played for around half the duration indicated, and the timing is taken
from the following note. If you hear strange effects or notes hanging
on, try shortening the notes to a quaver or less. If they are played
back with a normal notes duration they are probably cue notes; you
can easily change them to appoggiaturas using the keypad see
chapter 3. EDITING.
Saving Wave & AIFF files (not Lite version)
Windows users
This feature requires Windows 98 or later and a full-duplex
soundcard most modern soundcards are adequate. DirectX 8.1 or
51
Click File>New Playlist and type a suitable name for your CD.
Ensure the name you typed is highlighted on the left side of the
iTunes window by clicking on it if necessary.
Click and drag your saved AIFF files from Finder onto the right-hand
side of the window.
Windows users
Click and drag your saved Wave files from Explorer onto the Burn
List on the left-hand side of the window.
52
Click File>New Playlist and enter a name for the collection of files
you want to convert. Ensure the name you typed is highlighted on the
left side of the iTunes window by clicking on it if necessary.
Click and drag your saved AIFF files from Finder onto the right-hand
side of the window.
Select one of the songs you have converted and click File>Show
Song File to display it in the Finder. From here you should be able to
copy and use the file as you need.
Windows users
Unless you already own third party software for encoding MP3 files,
we recommend the use of LAME, a free open source MP3 encoder
from www.mp3-tech.org. Please note that Neuratron Ltd accepts no
responsibility for the use of this software or for any consequences
that may arise from the use of it.
Move the mouse over the page name in the pages pane that you
wish to save so that you see a thumbnail of the page.
Click on the thumbnail or double-click on the page name to display
the original page in a window to the right.
Click File>Save As and enter the filename and path you wish to
save to and also choose whether to save as a TIFF or Windows
bitmap (Windows only) file from the Files of type drop-down menu.
The file saved will be 2 color black & white and be identical to the image
you see on screen, minus stave markings and at 100% zoom. Please note
that if you attempt to reopen this file in PhotoScore, it may complain
about it only being in two colors do not worry about this as PhotoScore
has already processed the file to make it more suitable for reading music
from.
55
CLEANING UP
Sibelius users
Once youve finished PhotoScoring a piece of music and have sent it to
Sibelius, you end up with a Sibelius file, which you should save in the
normal way.
After you have edited and saved the output score it can be closed so that
you are able to start working on a new score.
Note that it is only possible to have one score open at a time in
PhotoScore.
Closing the output score
To close the output score, close the output window in the standard way
using File>Close score or by clicking the small cross button at the top
right.
If you forget to close the output score before scanning the next piece of
music, the new pages you scan and read will be appended to the end of
the previous output score. However, you can delete the old pages
individually from the output score by selecting Edit>Delete Page from
the menu for each one.
Deleting unwanted scans
PhotoScore automatically saves each page you scan. This occupies a not
insignificant amount of hard disk space, so you should regularly delete
scans that have been read. You do not, however, have to delete the
scans before scanning the next piece of music.
To delete unwanted scans:
If the pages pane is not currently visible, select View>Toggle
Pages Pane.
Select the pages you wish to delete by clicking on the first and then
select further ones by holding down X or Ctrl (to add individual
pages) or Shift (to add a series of pages) whilst clicking.
Click Remove on one of the selected pages. PhotoScore will then
ask you to confirm that you want to remove the pages before going
ahead. If the page is in the Read Pages area, for one week it will
still appear when the output score it is attached to is open. To
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57
POSSIBLE PROBLEMS
Scanning takes a long time or wont work
If there are no signs of scanning happening - I.e. if after clicking on
the Scan or Preview button the scanner remains silent with no
lights moving or flashing - communication between the computer
and the scanner has probably been interrupted.
Check that the scanner is switched on and that the cable between it
and the computer is firmly connected at both ends. If this doesnt
help, try reinstalling your TWAIN or WIA scanner driver software.
Windows users should note that some scanners need to be
switched on before the computer is turned on, otherwise they are
not detected.
If PhotoScore crashes when trying to scan, or the scanned page
doesnt look right - Try getting the latest version of the scanner driver
software from your dealer. Alternatively, select the TWAIN
scanning interface from the File>Scanner Setup dialog box, and
try again.
Not all staves/systems are detected
If after scanning a page you find that not all staves are boldly highlighted
in blue, the incorrect number of stave lines is shown, or the staves are
not correctly joined into systems by a thick red vertical line, this may be
because:
The original was not flat on the scanner glass: Always close the lid
when scanning, unless scanning a thick book. It may also help if you
press down gently on the scanner lid during scanning.
The page was scanned at too low or too high a resolution (i.e. the
staves are smaller than you think): Check the staff size, alter the
scanner setting accordingly, and re-scan.
You tried scanning a double-page spread: PhotoScore cannot read
both pages of a double-page spread (e.g. from a miniature score) at
once. Re-scan each of the pages separately. Ensure that the music
on the facing page is completely off the glass, or adjust the scanned
region so that it is not scanned - if any of it impinges on the scan,
PhotoScore may not read the music correctly.
58
The staves are not clear enough in the original to be detected: In this
case, you can tell PhotoScore where any missing staves are located
on the page - see the Advanced features section. Alternatively,
you can go ahead and read the page, but music on any undetected
staves will be ignored.
Reading takes a long time
If you have text reading switched on, reading will take longer. It may
sometimes be faster to read the music without detecting text, and to
re-input it in a separate music program. Interrupt reading if
necessary (see below), switch the text reading option off, and then
read again.
If the page was scanned without being flat on the glass or with the
lid open, you will get a black border around the page that may spread
across and obliterate some of the music. This can occasionally make
PhotoScore take an extremely long time to read the page. If this
happens, interrupt reading (see below), and then re-scan the page.
If not all staves were detected after scanning (i.e. some were not
boldly highlighted in blue), this can slow reading down. See Not all
staves are detected.
Music reads inaccurately
If you find music seems to be reading very inaccurately, this may be
because:
the original is printed and Read as Handwritten music is checked
in the pages pane.
the original is handwritten and Read as Printed music is checked
in the pages pane.
the original is of poor quality, e.g. a photocopy or an old edition;
the music was scanned in black & white and was not straight
enough: It is recommended that you scan in shades of gray, unless
this causes the scan to end up looking too blocky or disjointed;
the music was scanned at too low (less than 200dpi) or too high a
resolution (more than 400dpi). Try increasing or decreasing the
resolution the page is scanned at;
the scanned page is too dark or light (when viewed at 100% many
symbols are blocky and joined to others, or note stems and staff lines
59
are disjointed). Try scanning using the TWAIN interface (select from
File>Scanner Setup) and manually adjusting the brightness;
the original was not straight enough when scanned and Make
scans level was not selected in the PhotoScore Preferences
dialog box;
the music symbol designs used in the original are of a non-standard
shape or size.
If PhotoScore repeatedly fails to read one page from a sequence of
pages, omit the page and insert the bars into the score manually using a
separate music program.
Handwriting recognition problems
If you are finding that PhotoScore fails altogether, or almost completely,
even on very simple clear handwritten music, check the following for
basic problems:
Scanning resolution: Is your scanner set to scan at 300dpi? This
resolution is recommended for handwritten music. By all means
experiment with other resolutions to improve results that are already
good, but 300dpi is usually best.
Image type: Make sure that your scanner is set to produce a
grayscale image. This is the type that PhotoScore prefers.
Image quality: Check that your scan is a good, clean image with
everything clear and crisp and without any blotches. Also check that
there arent any variations in the tone or any areas of the image that
are missing.
Warning messages
Most of PhotoScores messages are self-explanatory: for instance, it will
warn you if you scan at an unsuitable resolution, or if your hard disk has
run out of space, and it will normally tell you what to do next.
If all else fails...
Please contact your PhotoScore supplier.
60
ADVANCED FEATURES
PhotoScore has many features and options for more advanced use.
You are strongly recommended to familiarize yourself with this whole
section before embarking on any intensive scanning, such as
orchestral/band scores or scores with many pages.
Choosing between scanners
In the event that you have more than one scanner connected to your
computer, you can choose between multiple scanner drivers in Scanner
Setup from PhotoScores File menu.
Scanning only one page
If you only need to scan one page into PhotoScore, click Scan One
Page from PhotoScores File menu. This will perform the scanning
operation as usual, with the exception that PhotoScore will not prompt
for a new page at the end of the scan.
Adjusting detected staves/systems
When you scan a page, PhotoScore highlights staves it detects with bold
blue lines (thin blue lines if it is uncertain about the exact number of lines
or position), and joins them into systems with bold vertical red lines.
However, if the original is of poor quality some of the staves/systems
may not be detected and you should tell PhotoScore where they are,
otherwise the music will not be read correctly.
The easiest method of telling PhotoScore the position of a staff
which it has missed, is to select the nearest similar blue staff (by
clicking on it) and then to copy it by zclicking or Alt-clicking over the
center line of the missing staff (the horizontal position is not important).
Alternatively, you can create a blue staff from scratch by clicking and
dragging it out with the (left) mouse button.
PhotoScore attempts to automatically clip the staff in place as you drag,
by adjusting the position and size of it. It also recalculates the number of
stave lines present, unless X or Ctrl is held down. The text Aligned
will appear in green under the staff and the lines will embolden when
PhotoScore is confident about its position.
To tell PhotoScore that a staff contains a different number of
lines, select it and key the correct number between 1 and 6.
61
possible to remove from the list any instruments that have not been
allocated by clicking Delete. Click Close when you have finished.
Then go through each staff in the output window (from top to
bottom), right-clicking to the left of it and choosing the appropriate
instrument name from the menu. If you are unable to select a
particular instrument, it is probably because the ordering of the
instruments is not correct, and should be changed by following the
instructions in the previous paragraph.
You must do this with care otherwise a lot of confusion can arise.
Reading slurs / hairpins (not Lite version) / ties
To toggle slur/tie/hairpin reading, open PhotoScores preferences dialog
box and click on Reading. Click Ties, Slurs and Hairpins to
select/deselect it and then click OK. If Display these options before
reading is selected in the preferences, you will be given the opportunity
to update the reading preferences at the start of each read.
Reading appoggiaturas and cue notes (not Lite version)
Appoggiatura (also known as grace note) and cue note recognition can
be switched on/off from the PhotoScore Preferences dialog box, as
for slurs / hairpins / ties see above.
If you find PhotoScore has recognized a cue note as an appoggiatura (or
vice versa), you can correct this from the keypad see chapter 3.
EDITING. You can normally check for these mistakes by looking for bars
containing rhythmic errors (marked with horizontal red dashed lines
above and below).
Reminder: An appoggiaturas duration is not included in the rhythm of a
bar, whereas a cue notes duration is. Both look similar, written as
smaller sized notes, but you can tell the difference from the keypad.
Reading text (not Lite version)
Text reading can be switched on/off from the PhotoScore Preferences
dialog box, as for the above options.
In addition, the Advanced button lets you choose which text types
PhotoScore will attempt to read, and also which language is to be read.
The language selected alters the way PhotoScore reads text in the
following ways:
65
Performance mode
Performance mode can be selected from the output windows toolbar,
the View>Performance Mode menu item, or by typing XM or
Ctrl+M.
In performance mode the output score is displayed full screen and
formatted so that it is easily read from a small distance. Pages are split in
sensible positions where necessary and using the cursor keys allows you
to turn to different pages or sections of pages. You can alternatively use
foot controlled page turning devices like the Bili Footime Page Turner.
This allows you to perform from your computers monitor and quickly and
easily change page using your foot whilst you are playing.
Performance mode can be switched off by clicking with the mouse or
keying Escape or XM or Ctrl+M.
PhotoScore preferences
The PhotoScore Preferences dialog box can be opened from the
toolbar or the application (Mac) or File (Windows) menu. The
preferences are divided into four categories Scanning, Reading,
Editing and Advanced. You can select a different category by clicking
the appropriate title at the left (Mac) or top (Windows) of the dialog box.
Scanning Interface
See chapter 1. Scanning for an explanation of the three scanning
interfaces.
66
Scanning Automation
Make scans level: With this switched on, PhotoScore will work out
the angle of a scan, and then rotate it so that the staves are level. It
is recommended that this is left selected.
Read pages after scanning/opening: With this switched on,
PhotoScore will automatically begin reading pages after they are
scanned in or opened from files.
Reading Handwritten / Printed
Read as handwritten music: When selected, PhotoScore is able
to read handwritten music. It is highly important that this is switched
on when scanning handwritten music (Ultimate version only) and off
when scanning printed music otherwise accuracy will suffer
considerably.
Reading What to read
Advanced Miscellaneous
69
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
XA or Ctrl+A
Select all objects
Copy object to clipboard
XC or Ctrl+C
Find and replace
XF or Ctrl+F
XX or Ctrl+X
Cut object to clipboard
Paste object from clipboard
XV or Ctrl+V
Undo last editing action
XZ or Ctrl+Z
XY or Ctrl+Y
Redo last undone editing action
F7
Display Common notes Keypad layout
F8
Display More notes Keypad layout
F9
Display Beams Keypad layout
F10
Display Articulation Keypad layout
F12
Display Accidentals Keypad layout
Tab
Select next object
Shift+Tab
Select previous object
Cursor left/right
Select previous/next object
Xor Ctrl+cursor left/right Select first object in previous/next bar
Shift+cursor left/right
Extend selection to previous/next object
Xor Ctrl+Shift+cursor left/right Extend selection to previous/next barline
Delete or Backspace
Delete selected object(s)
Xkeypad+ or Ctrl+keypad+
Zoom in to display
Xkeypad- or Ctrl+keypad- Zoom out of display
Display clef menu
Q (Windows)
K (Windows)
Display key signature menu
Display line menu
L (Windows)
T (Windows)
Display time signature dialog box
Display multi-rest dialog box
Alt+B (Windows)
H (Windows)
Create crescendo
Create diminuendo
Shift+H (Windows)
S (Windows)
Create slur (above staff)
Create slur (below staff)
Shift+S (Windows)
Ctrl+Alt+T (Windows)
Create tempo text
XL or Ctrl+L
Create lyrics text
Create bar rest
XB or Ctrl+B
Create chord diagram
Shift+K (Windows)
Create chord symbol
XK or Ctrl+K
Create tuplet of typed number
X2to 9 or Ctrl+2to 9
Normal staff: Higher interval to add to note
2 to 9
Shift+2to 9
Normal staff: Lower interval to add to note
70
0 to 9
X
Cursor up/down
Alt+cursor up/down
P (Windows)
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GLOSSARY
AIFF (.aif) File formats saved by PhotoScore Ultimate which can be opened
by various audio programs and which can easily be converted to MP3 or
burned to audio CD.
Bitmap (.bmp)
TIFF (.tif) File formats saved by PhotoScore Ultimate and other scanning
programs that contain basic scanned image information. These files do
not contain any musical information as such, only the grid of black and
white dots that make up the image.
dpi dots per inch - the unit of scanning resolution. The more dpi you scan
at, the higher the resolution is, and the more detailed the resulting scan.
200dpi to 400dpi is a normal range of resolutions for scanning music;
higher resolutions such as 600dpi are often used for scanning photos and
graphics.
Grayscale Shades of gray.
MIDI A standard specifically designed for the communication and storage of
the data that a music sequencer records and plays. Also a file format
(.mid) saved by PhotoScore that can be opened by most music programs.
MusicXML (.xml)
NIFF (.nif) File formats saved by PhotoScore Ultimate which can be opened
by various notation programs. See www.neuratron.com/fileformats.htm.
OCR Optical Character Recognition; usually applied to scanning text, but also
to music.
Original The page or score you are scanning from.
Output Music which has been read from scans.
Read to work out what all the notes and other symbols in the scan are.
Resolution The level of detail at which a page is scanned; measured in dpi.
Scan The image produced when a page has been scanned. In PhotoScore,
scans are always displayed with a buff background.
Scanned music (SCMS/.opt) The special music file format designed by
Neuratron to store PhotoScored music pages, and to make it easier to
transfer such music to music notation programs such as Sibelius.
Scanner driver The program which tells the computer what type of
scanner you have; analogous to a printer driver. They generally conform
to one of two standards TWAIN or WIA (Windows only).
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LICENSE AGREEMENT
This license states the terms and conditions upon which the Software is licensed to
you. By using or attempting to use the Softwares installation CD or by
returning the registration card or registering the Software with The
Developer by any other means, you are agreeing to become bound by the
terms of this License. If you do not agree to these terms, return the entire
contents of the software package intact and unused to your supplier.
1. Definitions
The Developer means Neuratron Limited. The Software means Neuratron
PhotoScore Ultimate or Neuratron PhotoScore Lite, whichever product this license
was included with. The Documentation means the Neuratron PhotoScore Ultimate
or Neuratron PhotoScore Lite user guide.
2. License
The Developer grants you a personal non-transferable non-exclusive license, as
follows:
(a) You may install and use a single copy of the Software on one stand-alone
computer system, and will ensure that the Software is not installed or used on
more than one stand-alone computer system at a time.
(b) You will not copy or attempt to copy the Softwares installation CD in
whole or in part. You will be deemed personally responsible for any illegal copies
of the Software, or files created by it, which bear your Softwares product id number
or are otherwise traceable to your copy of the Software.
(c) You may install a single copy of the Software on another stand-alone computer
system if and only if you first delete the Software from the computer on which it was
previously installed.
(d) You will not decompile or otherwise attempt to reveal the source code or
operation of the Software.
(e) You will not modify, adapt, rent, lease, loan, resell, distribute or create derivative
works based on the Software or any part thereof unless expressly permitted above
or in the Documentation.
(f) You will not copy the Documentation in whole or in part or store it in a retrieval
system in any form, photocopying, recording, electronic or otherwise.
3. Term
This License is effective until you terminate it:
(a) by destroying your copy of the Software and Documentation, or
(b) by failing to comply with the conditions of this License.
4. Limited Warranty and Disclaimer
(a) The Developer warrants that the CD on which the Software is supplied is free
from physical defects in materials and workmanship. The Developer will replace a
defective CD if returned. You must fill in, sign and return the enclosed
registration form or register the Software with the Developer by some
other means in order to be eligible for this warranty.
(b) The Software is supplied as is without warranty as to its specification except
that it is of merchandisable quality.
(c) The Developer will not be liable for any damage, loss of profits, goodwill or for
any indirect or consequential loss arising from any use or misuse of the Software,
even if the Developer has been advised of the possibility of such loss.
These conditions supersede any prior agreement between you and the Developer
relating to the Software.
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