What’s New in Finale 2009b for
Macintosh® OS X & Windows®
Finale 2009b is a free maintenance update available to Finale 2009
registered users. The
following new features and fixes apply to both Macintosh and Windows
unless otherwise
noted. It also includes the new features and fixes documented below
that were released in
Finale 2009a. Full Read Me documentation with more information on
fixes in the initial
release of Finale 2009 is included in the updater download.
New Features in Finale 2009a
• Staff Assignment Lists for Expressions. Apply dynamics and other
expressions to
multiple staves simultaneously using Finale's new Assignment Lists.
• Expression Assignment Shortcuts. Finale now includes several
additional shortcuts
for expression assignment. For example, select an expression and
press Ctrl-up/down
arrow to add the expression to adjacent staves.
• Layer Assignment Improvements for Expressions. In measures with
multiple
layers, you can now assign expressions to the active layer or all
layers using a new
option under the Expression Menu. You can now apply layer colors to
expressions by
checking Layer Colors Apply To All Layer Items in Program
Options-Display
Colors.
• Improved Category Designer. The Music Font and all positioning
options are now
available for all categories.
• Expanded Score Lists. The number of Score Lists (previously called
“Staff Lists”)
has been increased from 4 to 8.
• Score Lists can now be renamed in the Score List dialog box.
• Maintain Expression Attachment when Dragging/Nudging. This new
option, in
Program Options-Edit, allows you to lock an expression's attachment
point while
dragging or nudging without using a modifier key.
• Improved SmartScore Lite Scanning with support for triplet
recognition and
improved results while scanning polyphonic music.
• Improved MusicXML. Finale’s updated MusicXML capabilities include
enhanced
recognition of chord symbols and fretboards.
• Graphic Export Settings are now preserved between Finale sessions.
• Ambience Reverb. Customize the room size, delay, and many other
settings to finetune
the reverb effect of playback. (Macintosh only)
• Clearing Staff Styles is Now Easier. With the Staff Tool selected,
pressing the Clear
key now clears any existing Staff Styles in the selected region.
(Press Clear twice to
clear the music.) (Macintosh only)
• Clearing Staff Styles is Now Easier. With the Staff Tool selected,
pressing the
Backspace key now clears any existing Staff Styles in the selected
region. (Press
Backspace twice to delete the music.) (Windows only)
• Improved Cross-Platform Font Handling. Finale now offers the option
to reset the
list of recognized symbol fonts, or update the document based on
Finale's list of
symbol fonts.
• Show Items Attached to Notes is now available for all Alternate
Notation Styles in
the Alternate Notation dialog box.
• Windows Vista Manifest File. The appearance of Finale’s interface
in Windows
Vista has improved. (Windows only)
Fixes in Finale 2009b
EPS Graphics
• Ties are now included in exported EPS files.
Expressions
• In measures with multiple layers, expressions on beat 1 no longer
base their
positioning and scaling on the incorrect layer.
• Right and center justified expressions are no longer justified
incorrectly when
attached to reduced or enlarged entries.
Fixes in Finale 2009a
Articulations
• Articulations in some files are no longer placed inappropriately
(too close to the
note).
• Articulations over rests are no longer off-centered (too far to the
left).
• Rolled chord articulations no longer cause crashes during playback
in certain files.
(Windows only)
• Typing a symbol in the Symbol Selection dialog box now highlights the
corresponding slot. (Macintosh only)
Copying
• Copying non-stack regions that contain voices no longer inserts
unwanted rests.
Document Options
• Include Seconds in Time Stamp is now checked in Document Options-Text.
(Macintosh only)
• The Note Shapes characters in Document Options-Notes and Rests are
no longer set
to numbers.
Document Styles
• The Left Page Margin of the General – Copyist Document Style is no
longer at .5
inch, forcing the staff names off the page. (Windows only)
Edit Menu
• Deleting a shape in the Shape Selection dialog box does now creates
an undo
transaction.
Expressions
• Hidden expressions in old files no longer lose their hidden status
when opened in
Finale 2009.
• Deleting text out of a custom Smart Shape no longer deletes
Expressions in some
files.
• The font selection list in the Expression Tool’s text editor no
longer lists Maestro
Times Bold instead of Maestro Times. (Windows only)
• Note Expressions in old files on one-bar repeat measures now appear
when opened in
Finale 2009.
• Highlighting the top Expression in a Score List and pressing Clear
now appropriately
resets the positioning for all Expressions in the Score List.
Pressing tilde-Clear now
appropriately resets the positioning for just the top Expression.
• Expressions in old files that use a Score List with Top/Bottom
checked, which are
also set to show Expressions and Repeats for Parts, now convert
correctly.
• Expressions in old files that include a Score List with Top Staff
checked for Score
and Bottom Staff checked for Parts now appear in the Parts.
• The Alt key override for moving expressions without changing the
attachment point
now works with the Selection Tool. (Windows only)
• The Option key override for moving expressions without changing the
attachment
point now works with the Selection Tool. (Macintosh only)
• The tilde (accent) override key for moving master expressions now
works with the
Selection Tool.
• Note Expressions in old files attached to notes with multiple
voices no longer move
vertically when opened in Finale 2009.
• Expressions that appear correctly in Linked Parts no longer use the
"Score" list
instead of the "Part" list on Part Extraction.
• When deleting Expressions from the Expression Selection dialog box
that are used in
the score, Finale now displays a warning dialog box that allows the
choice to delete
them from both the score and the Expression Selection dialog box or
leave them
alone.
• The default category settings for dynamics have been updated. They
are now:
Justification: Center, Horizontal Alignment: Left of Primary,
Notehead Offset: 0,
Vertical Alignment: Below Staff Baseline or Entry, Additional
Baseline Offset: 16
EVPUs, (Additional Entry Offset: -72 EVPUs).
• Note Expressions in old files no longer shift horizontally when the
file is opened in
Finale 2009 (due to Staff Reduction).
• When exploding music non-score list Expressions are now copied into
target staves.
• Non-score list expressions are now deleted if their parent note is
deleted in Simple or
Speedy Entry.
• Expressions now remain attached to their parent note when copied so
that the beats
rebar to a different time signature. (Windows only)
• The enclosure designer’s default settings for height and width are
now 18 evpus (for
rehearsal marks and measure numbers).
• Measure Expressions attached to overfilled measures no longer shift
horizontally on
conversion to Finale 2009a.
• A rectangle no longer appears around measures when Option-dragging
an Expression
in an optimized system. (Macintosh only)
• Screen resolution changes no longer hide Selection dialog boxes
such as Expression
selection. (Macintosh only)
• It is no longer possible to get duplicate items in the Manage VST
Plug-ins dialog box.
(Windows only)
• The Dynamic Text category font is no longer set to nothing for the
Choral and
Orchestral document styles. (Windows only)
• The Shape Expression library is no longer empty. (Windows only)
•
FinaleScript
• The FinaleScript Palette now uses correct colors for buttons in
Windows Vista.
(Windows only)
• Invoking Export as SmartMusic from FinaleScript no longer corrupts
the undo stack.
• The Tools Menu error message no longer refers to the non-existent
Options Menu.
• Renaming new folders no longer results in corrupted FinaleScript
folder structures.
• The “None” button in the FinaleScript Edit Keyboard Shortcut
context menu will now
remove an existing shortcut.
Fonts
• Jazz font flat character (using the ASCII character 132) now
converts correctly in
score name insert when the file is opened cross-platform.
• Finale no longer prompts to add fonts to the MacSymbolFonts.txt
that are already
included when opening file across platform.
• Finale no longer crashes with some files that include Japanese
Characters.
Graphics
• Printing n-up pages with graphics no longer sometimes results in
blank pages.
• Graphics placed on page 1 now print when using the Book Style:
Column view.
(Macintosh only)
• The page size for A4 has been corrected in pagesizes.txt to fix
inDesign problems
with EPS.
Human Playback
• If you choose MIDI/Audio Menu > Human Playback > Custom to open the
Human
Playback Custom Style dialog box, when you close that dialog, Finale
no longer loses
focus requiring closure through the Task Manager. (Windows only)
• “Pizz.” expressions in measures with tempo changes are now
interpreted properly.
• The Rubato and Mood sliders in the Human Playback Custom Style
dialog box are
now labeled in Windows. (Windows only)
• With Human Playback enabled, layer 2 is now recorded when saving an
audio file
with Save as Audio (a problem isolated to specific files). (Windows
only)
• The HP.dat file's permissions are no longer set so that only the
creator account has
rights to read and write. (If another user account tries to playback
after the HP.dat file
was created Finale will no longer crash).(Macintosh only)
• If you access the Human Playback Preferences or the Human Playback
Custom Style
dialog boxes from the MIDI/Audio > Human Playback submenu, your
cursor no
longer transforms to a spinning note. (Macintosh only)
• The slidders in the HP Prefs dialog box now visually refresh the
numeric values
without requiring a relaunch of the dialog box.
• Tempo Changes immediately following a fermata no longer have uneven
tempos.
• Expression fermatas over blank measures with large time signatures
no longer freeze
Human Playback.
• Switching to another pan while a technique folder is selected no
longer corrupts the
preferences.
Lyrics
• Word extensions attached to a note in a tuplet are no longer an
incorrect length if
Stretch to Note Duration is select in the Word Extensions dialog box.
• Rebeam to Lyrics no longer defaults to All Choruses instead of All
Lyrics.
(Macintosh only)
Measures
• Inserting measures no longer causes a crash when Automatic Update
Layout is off
and a linked part exists that ends with a multi-measure rest.
• It is no longer possible to add notes to measures that do not yet
exist. Finale now adds
measures when necessary while copying and pasting.
• Selection now appears in the Measure Attributes dialog box.
(Macintosh only)
• Time Style box is no longer resizable. (Macintosh only)
Measure Numbers
• Displayed measure numbers in Scroll View are no longer mis-numbered
if there are
10 or more measure number regions.
Misc.
• It is no longer possible to run menu commands via keyboard
shortcuts while modal
dialogs are active. (Macintosh only)
Ossia
• Ossia Items to Display now lists Expressions (not Measure
Expressions).
• If you Change the Attach To setting in the Ossia Measure Designer,
the previously
selected option is now deselected. (Windows only)
Page Layout
• Page Layout handle selection no longer changes unexpectedly while
dragging
Playback
• Finale no longer plays out of left channel exclusively if you have
an audio interface.
(Macintosh only)
• Clicking OK in the SoftSynth Settings dialog box when MIDI System
is set to "none"
no longer crashes Finale. (Macintosh only)
Plug-ins
• The Cautionary Accidental plug-in now treats C#s preceded by rests
correctly.
• The No Cautionaries On Repeated Notes checkbox is no longer missing
from the
Cautionary Accidentals plug-in. (Windows only)
PostScript
• 0-width lines now draw as hairlines. (Macintosh only)
• When exporting several pages as EPS graphics, the Font Warning
dialog will no
longer appear for each page if a font in the document is not found on
the system.
• Finale's EPS and PDF files are now completely black and white. 2-3%
of the output is
no longer in 4-color.
• High-bit ASCII symbols are no longer missing/altered in EPS
exports. (Macintosh
only)
• Compile PostScript Listing no longer generates blank pages on Intel
Macs.
(Macintosh only)
Printing
• Finale no longer prints extra blank pages when printing parts.
(Macintosh only)
• Graphics added to blank pages are no longer missing when n-up
printing.
• When printing using n-up to put two portrait pages on a landscape
sheet of paper, a
page reduction is no longer applied causing the margin on the
right-hand page to be
too close to the fold (a problem for booklet printing). (Windows only)
Repeats
• Handles on the repeat endings no longer get separated from the
ending when dragged
if there is a repeat ending and a multi-measure rest that begins a
system.
Staves
• The & (ampersand) character in Staff Style names now appears in the
Staff Style
context menu. (Windows only)
• Applying Staff Styles to adjacent measures no longer replaces the
previous measure
with a blank style.
• “Show Items Attached to Notes” is now checked in Finale’s default
files for One-Bar
and Two-Bar Repeat Staff Styles.
Save/Open
• If more than 7 notes are entered on a single beat in a single layer
in a clef other than
treble, notes will no longer be deleted on file close/open.
• Quitting with the Expression Selection Dialog open no longer causes
a crash.
(Macintosh only)
• The preferences menu option no longer disappears from the Finale
2009 Menu when
the menu is opened with dialog boxes active. (Macintosh only)
• Autosaving unnamed files no longer requires a force quit in OS X
10.5. (Macintosh
only)
ScoreMerger
• If two files merged vertically are off by 1 measure, extra measures
are no longer
added.
• The About Box no longer lists the incorrect version of ScoreMerger.
(Windows only)
SmartMusic
• SmartMusic export is no longer inappropriately available when the
SmartMusic
Accompaniment File Compatibility dialog box is open. (Windows only)
Staves
• Staff Styles on adjacent measures no longer replace the previous
measure with a
blank style. (Macintosh only)
Templates
• The Boomwhacker templates no longer use a staff reduction of 150%
(Replaced by a
system reduction)
• Multimeasure Rests are no longer set to the wrong shape in the Jazz
Font Default file
and the Handwritten Style document style. (Windows only)
Text Tool
• The caret drawing behavior in text blocks (text/lyric/chord
on-score editing, edit text
dialog, etc.) now follows standards.
Ties
• Ties are no longer absent at random locations in some files.
(Macintosh only).
• Tie playback is more consistent. (Macintosh only)
TGTools Plug-ins
• Align/Move Dynamics is now compatible with Finale 2009's expression
enhancements.
• Process Extracted Parts is now compatible with Finale 2009's
expression
enhancements.
• Smart Cue Notes is now compatible with Finale 2009's expression
enhancements.
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