That sounds like a feature that could be added to the New Score Wizard - on the New Score Wizard screen for Time Signature, Number of Measures, etc., right under the interface for designating the number of beats in the "Pick Up Measure" could be a similar interface for designating the number of beats in the final measure of the score.
But in the meanwhile, there is already a way to have an "incomplete measure at the end." Simply right click on the final measure. In the second section of the resulting pop-up dialog box, "Measure Duration," enter in the field beside "Actual:" the number of beats you want that measure to have. If you need something other than a whole number of beats, change the denominator as well, using the drop down menu beside the field; for example, if your score is in 4/4 time and you need 2 1/2 beats in the final measure, rather than typing "2" in the field, you would type "5" and then choose "/8" from the drop-down menu. Incidentally, if you need to insert an anacrusis in a score that you have already started, you can use the same procedure: insert the extra measures at the beginning, right click on the first one to make into the pick-up measure, and enter the number of anacrusis beats in the pop-up dialog.
Alternatively, you could just leave the final measure its normal length, with rests at the end marking the unused beats corresponding with the anacrusis - I have seen published music following this procedure as well.
The idea of having an option to set the score up this way by default has come up before. One complication is that it is by no means clear what should happen if you then insert or append measures.
As discussed elsewhere recently, development builds of the "master" branch of the code that will eventually become MuseScore 3 currently allow you to shorten a measure by selecting the notes or rests you want to delete and then pressing Ctrl+Delete. There are some reservations about this, but here is a situation where it could be useful - rather more straightforward (if still not easy to discover) than using Measure Properties.
The more I think about it, the better I like the idea of being able to shorten or lengthen measures like this as long as there is the visible feedback discussed in the other thread.
Comments
Right click->Bar properties->Set the actual duration
That sounds like a feature that could be added to the New Score Wizard - on the New Score Wizard screen for Time Signature, Number of Measures, etc., right under the interface for designating the number of beats in the "Pick Up Measure" could be a similar interface for designating the number of beats in the final measure of the score.
But in the meanwhile, there is already a way to have an "incomplete measure at the end." Simply right click on the final measure. In the second section of the resulting pop-up dialog box, "Measure Duration," enter in the field beside "Actual:" the number of beats you want that measure to have. If you need something other than a whole number of beats, change the denominator as well, using the drop down menu beside the field; for example, if your score is in 4/4 time and you need 2 1/2 beats in the final measure, rather than typing "2" in the field, you would type "5" and then choose "/8" from the drop-down menu. Incidentally, if you need to insert an anacrusis in a score that you have already started, you can use the same procedure: insert the extra measures at the beginning, right click on the first one to make into the pick-up measure, and enter the number of anacrusis beats in the pop-up dialog.
Alternatively, you could just leave the final measure its normal length, with rests at the end marking the unused beats corresponding with the anacrusis - I have seen published music following this procedure as well.
In reply to That sounds like a feature… by Glenn Blank
The idea of having an option to set the score up this way by default has come up before. One complication is that it is by no means clear what should happen if you then insert or append measures.
As discussed elsewhere recently, development builds of the "master" branch of the code that will eventually become MuseScore 3 currently allow you to shorten a measure by selecting the notes or rests you want to delete and then pressing Ctrl+Delete. There are some reservations about this, but here is a situation where it could be useful - rather more straightforward (if still not easy to discover) than using Measure Properties.
In reply to The idea of having an option… by Marc Sabatella
The more I think about it, the better I like the idea of being able to shorten or lengthen measures like this as long as there is the visible feedback discussed in the other thread.