1. After note entry, respace staves globally so that they are much further apart than you'll ever need, lock number of measures in each system throughout entire piece, determine reduction if necessary, and optimize. It will help if you have determined in advance stem direction for each frame and the like.
2. Determine distance between systems on each page (i.e. the number that shows up in the system margins). Crush two systems enough so that they are on one page. Measure distance between bottom line of bottom staff and bottom line of top staff of next system, note this number (it is different than the number in the system margins because you're measuring more space) Call it "distance between systems." Mine changes for each score depending on number of staves. I try to keep it constant for the entire piece but it's not necessary (obviously it would change for solo piano, e.g.)..
3. Determine where the bottom line of bottom staff on each page will sit, note that number, prepare guide.
4. Determine where bottom line of top system on each page will sit, note that number, prepare guide (it will be different on first page due to title)
5. Find your constant space between staves according to these formulae:
For more than one system on page:
((bottom staff) - (top staff) - ((distance between systems) X (number of systems - 1)) / ((number of staffs on page) - (number of systems)).
For one system on page or to respace just one system: ((bottom staff) - (top staff))/(number of staffs in system - 1)
Note this number, call it K. If one system, go to 7.
6. Explode each system on page enough to kick next system to next page (manual dragging, number is not necessary, just need to move bottom staff). If you have four systems to go on one page you will have four pages with one staff on them from that point in your score.
7. top staff guide + K = next staff guide. Next staff guide + K is following staff guide, etc. Make guide and repeat until you have enough guides for the biggest system if they are not equal.
8. Line staves to guides using bottom line of each staff, starting with last system to go on page and work backward. When you have aligned the last staff in the first system, all systems should appear on page, and will be close to perfect if not so. Because there are errors with the addition of decimal numbers, the bottom staff may not sit exactly on the bottom guide. If this happens, respace last staff within the partial page (new K number, formula still works).
9. Do this for the entire piece (some pages may not need formula if their structures are the exact same on a previous page -- you can just make your guides and adjust the staves), then articulate, adjusting staves manually for thickness of articulation if necessary as you articulate.
If you have done this correctly your systems will be perfectly spaced within the page. Doing it this way allows me to plan ahead and budget my time for a piece according to thickness of articulation. I also know precisely how many pages my score will be. I would love a plugin that does just this, but it's not really all that necessary, because since I devised this it takes about an hour to adjust 25 - 30 pages worth of score, even quicker if there are many pages that will have the same exact structure. If I need more space, I can "borrow" from the space of another system or staff and make my adjustments in an algebraic fashion.
After a few scores, you can build excel sheets that determine all guide numbers for you and all you have to do is position the guides according to these numbers. I have sheets that determine the distances, but in a pinch I just simply copy and paste from a scientific calculator, thereby reducing the entire operation to mere grunt work.
E.G..
1. Folio sized sheet, 20 staffs to go on one page, two systems. First system has 9 staves, second has 11 staves.
2. Bottom line of top staff of first system sits at 279 EVPUs. Bottom staff of second system sits at 3528. Space between systems turned out to be 208.
3. Drag 9th staff in first system far enough that second system kicks to next page.
4. Plug in numbers to formula: (3528-279-208)/(20-2) = K
5. 279 + K = guide2, guide2 + K = guide3, guide3 + K = guide4, etc. up to guide11 (for 11 staves in 2nd system).
6. Adjust 2nd system according to guides using bottom line of each staff, adjust 1st system according to guides in the same manner. At this point the bottom staff of the second system should kick back to the target page and bottom line should sit at 3528. If it doesn't because of decimal error (it should always be above), new formula is (3528 - bottom line of top staff in second system) / (11-1) = K ... readjust from bottom line of top staff in second system. Adjustments will be slight enough that it will not visibly noticeable within the page without a micrometer but when you position pages against each other the bottom staff of each bottom system will be at the exact same place on each page (3528 in this instance), which is important.
7. Position guides if there are other pages with exact structure (2 systems, 9 staves::11 staves), and reposition those pages.
8. Repeat for each different structure for entire piece.
Note to those inevitable pundits that will say I'm "doing it the hard way" and all I have to do is respace using the respace/bottom handle when staffs are optimized -- during devising, I tried this method and I was unable to develop a formula that allowed for the spacing between the systems for the entire page, and it turned into a trial/error situation, which I consider unacceptable. Trial/error eats up your deadline time, and should be completely avoided if possible.
Keef.
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