When I’m composing and inspiration strikes, I move fast, and don’t even think about how things look. Sometimes the results of such a session might sound great but look like this:

Finale allows for intricate placement of Expressions and SmartShapes. This means you can place them anywhere you desire. This also means you can inadvertently place them in a haphazard manner as I’ve done above. This is a bit of an extreme example, but now I can demonstrate a great time-saving feature in Finale.

With the Selection Tool, select a measure or region of measures (Shift + click) that include some misaligned dynamic markings. From the Plug-ins menu choose TG Tools and select the Align/Move Dynamics plug-in. This plug-in allows for alignment of dynamic markings to a number of different points, and also lets you select what markings you wish to adjust.

Choose the alignment option that applies best for your score. With one click of Go, the markings will be beautifully aligned:

What are TG Tools? They’re a collection of powerful plug-ins, like this one, created by German composer/software engineer Tobias Giesen. To learn more about other time-saving plug-ins included with Finale, go to Finale’s Help menu, select User Manual, and search for Plug-ins.