Ever find yourself performing a repetitive task in Finale and wishing you could complete it with a single keystroke? FinaleScript offers an easy and intuitive solution. FinaleScript is Finale’s integrated scripting utility, which allows you to specify and execute a series of commands in order to automate repetitive tasks.

To get a sense of how easy it is to use, navigate to Plug-ins menu > FinaleScript > FinaleScript Palette and experiment with the provided sample scripts. They’re clearly named, so there’s little guesswork. You might Swap layers 1 and 2, Set page size to folio, Print Booklet, or convert SATB to piano. As helpful as these scripts are, the real power comes with your ability to create (or customize) scripts specific to your workflow.

While the idea of scripting might seem daunting, the language used is descriptive and intuitive. If you want to choose the Selection Tool, just type Selection Tool into the FinaleScript Editor. If you want to access a menu item, simply type menu item “Manage Parts” to access the Manage Parts dialog box. (A complete list of commands can be found in the Finale User Manual, which you can access by clicking the large ? in the FinaleScript Palette or by clicking here.)

To show how easy this is, let’s create a script. First open a copy of a Finale file to experiment with; an old score with no linked parts would be great, but any file will work. We’ll create a script  to set the page size for parts, change the page orientation, create multimeasure rests, apply note spacing, set the number of measures per system in parts, and re-generate parts. Really! Here are the steps:

1. Navigate to Plug-ins menu > FinaleScript > FinaleScript Palette.
2. Click the Create a new script button.
3. Double-click the new script to open it.
4. Copy and paste the following text into the Script Editor:

menu item “manage parts”
button “part creation preferences”
check “create multimeasure rests”
check “apply note spacing”
check “fit measures per system”
type “6” next to “measures per system”
button “page format for parts”
dropdown “letter (8.5 x 11)” near “page size”
check “landscape”
button “ok”
button “ok”
button “generate parts”
button “yes”
button “ok”

5. Click Run Script to try it out.
6. Now navigate to Document menu > Edit Part and select a part to see the results.
7. To save the Script, name the script next to Script Name and click Save and Close.

Next you could customize the above script by changing the part size and formatting to those of your preference. Once you’ve saved such a script you’d never have to perform this task manually again.

If you read through the above sample script language, I think you’ll get the sense of how easy this can be. Want more info?  The aforementioned FinaleScript entry in the User Manual also includes a great tutorial and explanation of the scripting process.

Here’s one more time-saving tip: You can also create a keyboard shortcut for a script by pressing Select next to Use Shortcut in the Script Editor. Define a shortcut, then press OK. You can now use this shortcut to run the script whenever you want.

I encourage you to experiment and be creative, and I hope you find FinaleScript as fun and useful as I do. Let us know how it’s going for you by clicking on “Comments” below.