Finale Libraries

Finale’s libraries contain reusable sets of musical elements: expression markings, for example, or chord-symbol suffixes. A basic set came with your Finale package; they’re in a folder called Libraries within your Finale folder.

You add a library’s contents to the active document by choosing Load Library from the File menu, or by clicking Load Library in the Document options dialog box. Feel free to modify these libraries, or to create new libraries containing your own sets of symbols. For more information on libraries, consult the appropriate entries, such as Expressions, Document Options-Music Spacing, Chord symbols, and so on. See also the Save Library dialog box for an explanation of the different types of libraries. You can include any combination of the available score elements in the same library file.

Finale’s Articulation Designer dialog box lets you add intelligence to the markings you design. You can train them to jump into place on a note, a specific distance from the notehead. You can also designate a secondary, “upside-down” symbol (called the Flipped Symbol) for Finaleto substitute if the note’s stem direction changes.