why wasn't i able to print my music
I wanted to show my friend at school something neat and i noticed that their was a print button so i looked in the handbook for musescore and found the save/export/print subcategory and i read the print part, but when i did what the handbook said all I did was create a new file and i wasn't able to print the score. I need some help.
Comments
Welcome on board.
It is not clear. If you exported the score as a PDF you can print it as any other file, eg. a text document.
The button opens the dialog box of printers installed on the OS.
If you suspect that something is not working you can try https://musescore.org/en/handbook/revert-factory-settings
You can print a score directly from the MuseScore file by simply clicking the 'print' icon in the main toolbar, but the better way to do this is to export the mscz file to PDF format first, save that file in a separate directory, and then open that file in your PDF viewer/editor and print it from there.
To export to PDF, click on File>Export in the main menu, then choose PDF in the 'Save as type...' dropdown at the bottom of the export dialogue panel (PDF is usually selected by default, but if it is not, click the arrow and select PDF from the expanded list of file types).
The advatage of creating a PDF first is that the score is 'locked' into a stable graphic state, and will not change every time you open it. MuseScore mscz files will automatically regenerate the page layout everytime you open them. Even a minor change to something in the score--such as inverting a stem--can cause the page make-up of the entire score to change. This won't happen with a PDF. Every time you open it, it will appear exactly the same as the previous time.
In reply to You can print a score by Recorder485
Hmmm... I'm not quite sure about your stated advantage of pdf export. It's true that the pdf format is 'locked', and appears exactly the same as when created. No changes to it - such as inverting a stem - can be made, so the page make-up of the entire score will not change.
It's also true that MuseScore mscz files 'regenerate the page layout everytime you open them'. However, if no changes - such as inverting a stem - are made, the score should appear exactly the same as the previous time. Or have you experienced otherwise? Do you mean, upon re-opening an mscz file, something like a stem inversion can occur spontaneously (with no user input) during score regeneration - with a resulting relayout of the entire score?
Regards.
In reply to Hmmm... I'm not quite sure by Jm6stringer
Well, it may happen that a score produced in, say, 2.0.2, renders slightly different in 2.0.3. The PDF, exported from 2.0.2, will still look the same in that case.
In reply to Well, it may happen that a by Jojo-Schmitz
Compatability/display issues regarding mscz files created, then subsequently opened, in differing MuseScore versions is a valid example, but I don't think the OP is experiencing a versioning problem..
Simply clicking the 'print' icon in the main toolbar, as stated, should work.
The OP was advised:
You can print a score directly from the MuseScore file... but the better way to do this is to export the mscz file to PDF format first....
Regards.
In reply to Compatability/display issues by Jm6stringer
Obviously, that this is a 'better' way to work is my opinion, not any sort of natural (or digital) law. ;o)
Here is my reasoning, for the record:
1. Most users leave the automatic update feature of MuseScore turned on, so the program will update to a newer version everytime one is released. This could produce those display compatability problems Jojo mentioned.
2. Leaving that aside, a MuseScore file is an extremely complex document running to thousands of lines of code. A read- or write-error generated by an OS glitch, a fleck of dust in the hard-drive, or even a simple power fluctuation can introduce a 'micro-change' into the file, which MuseScore will then diligently re-layout accordingly. We experience such micro-faults relatively infrequently in MuseScore files, but it happens on a distressingly regular basis with MS WORD. (WORD also re-does layout every time a file is opened, and it is extremely frustrating to have to reformat an entire document because the initial drop-cap in column 1 was read wrong.)
3. In addition, if a user wishes to add introductory or explanatory text material to his printed score, this is much easier to create using a word-processing program designed for that sort of work. Combining WP files with mscz files into a single document can only be done by converting both to a common format--PDF is the primary choice for this--and then using an editor to assemble the pages in the desired order. Because of the way printer-drivers configure page imposition for booklet printing, the document must consist of a single, continuous file, normally in page order. (The exception is when a single-sheet/four-page part needs a right-hand fold, something which is unique to music printing. In that case, page 1 must be placed in the spot normally occupied by page 4.)
4. Finally, if a user wants to send his music digitally to, lets say, other members of his performing group so that they can print their own copies for practise purposes, all the scores and parts must match when the group meets for rehearsal. There is no assurance that (a) all the group members will have MuseScore on their computers, or (b) that even if they do, they will all be using the same version or the same OS. For the sake of consistency, sending a PDF is the only practical solution.
using the printer icon or menu entry brings up a print dialog, if there you select a pseudo printer, like e.g. "Microsoft Print to PDF" or "Microsoft XPS Document Writer", rather than a real physical printer, this generates a (PDF or XPS) file rather than a printout.