# Large page layouts



## Mike Marino (Nov 28, 2012)

Hey guys,

I have a project in Sibelius (6.2) where I have 32 staves. It seems a little futile to cram all of this onto an 8.5x11 sheet of paper and still be readable as a master score to follow the music while it's being played. I've adjusted the following parameters in the Engraving Rules menu:

* spaces between staves
* spaces between systems

Also, in Document set-up I've dropped the staff size waaaayyyy down (to 2) and also opened up my staff margins on all pages.

Are there any other parameters you would recommend I take a look at?

- mike


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## Farkle (Nov 28, 2012)

Mike Marino @ Wed Nov 28 said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> I have a project in Sibelius (6.2) where I have 32 staves. It seems a little futile to cram all of this onto an 8.5x11 sheet of paper and still be readable as a master score to follow the music while it's being played. I've adjusted the following parameters in the Engraving Rules menu:
> 
> ...



The quick and dirty way is to re-format your file to fit on legal (8.5 x 14)... that's what I used to print out conductor scores. It looks much better, spaces much better, etc.

If you have the specialized printer, you can print out (and format Sibelius) to 11x17, but that's a more expensive printer, etc.

My recommendation? Change your project's format to legal, portrait... head out to Staples and get a ream of 96/24lb. legal paper, and print away. Looks very nice, and prints in a ratio that is very similar to the full conductor scores.

Mike


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## JJP (Nov 28, 2012)

As mentioned above, if you don't have a way to print 11x17 / A3, legal size is your best option.


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## Mike Marino (Nov 29, 2012)

Got it; thanks guys!


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## composeradrian (Dec 11, 2012)

Another thing that may not be too cumbersome to save up some space is *reducing separate parts to a single staff* (i.e. Flute 1 and Flute 2 = Flute 1+2).

For much of the writing/arranging I do on a daily basis, I often reduce parts to a single staff, especially if the parts are fairly parallel to each other. No reason to have 4 separate trombone parts on the master score if they're playing block chords the entire time. This is where the Reduce plugin comes in handy and it does a nice job compiling everything on a single staff without having to do too much editing or input it the two parts manually. Often times, I just tag which part if there's a difference, or an add an "a2",etc. for clarification of the single line.

_However_, this option is dependent on the style and difficulty of the music. This method works well with popular styles, but parts more independent from each other or something involving advanced techniques could be more trouble than it's worth.

That's the disadvantage Sibelius had again Finale: the percentage tool. I can't tell you how many charts I've done where I have a big tutti section that defines the staff size for the entire chart. In Finale, you can simply change the size for that one page by % and optimize the rest (i.e. hide staves). Yeah, I know I could lock the format and just create two separate files to print out the staff size difference, but that's another few steps I don't want to deal with, especially if edits come after the readings. Even though I strive for publisher quality, there are some things given the time constraints I have that are not simply worth the extra effort. Nine times out of ten, the chart usually stays within our organization. But that's another matter.

Hope this helps!


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## stonzthro (Dec 11, 2012)

format your score for tabloid, print as a .pdf and take it to officemax or some place where they will print that size for you - shouldn't cost too much.


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## Mike Marino (Dec 11, 2012)

Thanks guys. I'm composing for:

* Orchestral bells
* Xylo/crotales
* 5 marimbas (grand staff)
* 4 vibes
* 2 synths (grand staff)
* drum set
* 2 aux. percussion racks (single stave for each)
* Bass guitar
* Marching percussion (snare, tenors, bass, and cymbals.....all single staves)

I'll look into some of the plug-in features described above.

- Mike


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