The following is true for Finale (Mac) 2006 and unfortunately, 2007.
I'm on a quest to create a usable long slur. Thanks a lot, Robert
Patterson, for getting me started on this! -- I erroneously thought
"how hard could this be?" and it turns out, it is very hard!
Anyway, I thought I would try the custom line tool and then put on
custom "arrowheads" on the beginning and end of the line. These
custom arrowheads would actually be shaped like the first part of a
slur and the last part of the slur. With the proper positioning, I
was hoping to make it look like a flat long slur that had the ability
to stretch with the music. (I'm not sure it was going to look great,
but I thought I would try it anyway.)
In theory you can make the "arrowhead" anything that you can design
in the shape designer.
Problems & Bugs:
1) The shapes in the custom line arrowhead designer are a mirror
image of what shows up in the score. You nudge the shape one way, it
flies the other. A convex curve looks concave in the score.
2) You can assign any number for the custom arrowhead that
corresponds to the shape designer library, but only a select few are
actually in the arrowhead "library." That means you can only edit
these other shapes by going into the expression tool and following
the rabbit hole down there.
3) Shapes that you create from scratch are put in the arrowhead
"library," but they can disappear from that library if you edit them
and drag an object while holding down the option key. The object is
still in the shape designer library, but now you can only edit it
through the expression tool.
I discovered that holding down the option key while dragging an
object actually duplicates that object. This can be very useful in
some graphics.
I also discovered that the option-command, click and drag the mouse
moves not only the score around, but also works in the shape designer
and the custom line designer!
I think these two discoveries are not documented as far as I can tell.
The long and short of all of this is that the shape designer is buggy
and inconsistent and is a total PITA to work with. And also, Finale
really should have a flat long slur in it's arsenal, period.
-Randolph Peters
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