Page numbering and screen layout

• Apr 5, 2023 - 15:01

I am composing a song that is eight pages long. I would like the first page to be page one and for each page 'pair' (pages 1 and 2, pgs. 3 and 4, etc.) to be next to each other on the screen (no break). However, I can't seem to accomplish without either the the numbering being wrong or the 'break' on the screen between pages showing incorrectly. Is there a way to do this?

Thanks,
Philip

Comments

• Apr 5, 2023 - 15:47

I'm not sure I understand what you are asking, but think about how this actually works when printing. Eight pages is four sheets of paper. Stacked normally, Page one appears by itself by itself, then when you flip it over page two is on the back, facing page three. Pages four & five are similarly facing pages, then six & seven, and then page eight is by itself on the back of 7. That's how paper works, so it's how MuseScore works.

If you want your printed music to have pages 1 & 2 facing each other way, the only way I know to physically accomplish that is to have an extra empty or title page before the first actual page of the score. So, it would be five sheets of paper, with the front pf page 1 blank, also the back of page 10. Again, that's how paper works, so it's how MuseScore works too.

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• Apr 5, 2023 - 16:06

"That's how paper works, so it's how MuseScore works"

Absolutely correct - page 1 as a solo page, then 2+3, then 4+5 and so on. But it's not how Adobe Acrobat works. In the case of Acrobat, the menu path View > Page Display >Two Page View (or Two Page Scrolling) displays pairs of pages as 1+2, then 3+4, then 5+6 and so on.

So when I am trying to proofread a transcription, I always generate a PDF in MuseScore, because this gives a much better chance of matching the 2-up page view between MuseScore and the transcription source (usually a PDF from IMSLP).

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• Apr 5, 2023 - 18:39

Thank you for your response. The reason for wanting to set up the composition in this way is that I am putting the song in a three-ring binder and want to minimize page turns. If pages 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and so on face each other, I only have to turn the page three times, not four.

I think your suggestion will work, but I'm not sure how to execute it. How do I create a blank page before my current first page?

Thanks,
Philip

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• Apr 5, 2023 - 18:42

Indeed, if you're putting it into a three-ring binder, you'll quickly discover what I said is exactly true - the only way to get pages 1 & 2 to face each other is to leave the front side pf page 1 blank. To get that, just insert a vertical frame before the current title frame (or before the first measure if there is no title frame) and then add a page break to it (e.g., by selecting it and pressing Ctrl+Enter).

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• Apr 5, 2023 - 19:03

Thanks. I was able to add the blank page at the front. However, I'm afraid it doesn't solve the problem. I am still not seeing the first two pages of my score as a pair on the screen. As there does not seem a way to both correctly number the pages and pair the pages as I would like, is there a way to 'unpair' the score pages? That would be preferable to an 'incorrect' pairing.

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• Apr 5, 2023 - 19:36

Hmm, I'm not understanding. It works for me when I do what I described. So either I'm not understanding what you want, or you're not understanding what I'm describing :-). Best to attach your score so we can understand and assist better.

As for "unpairing", that's controlled by the two-sided option in Format / Page settings. But, againjk, best to attach your score so we can help you get done what you actually want.

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• Apr 6, 2023 - 10:57

I think your right: a visual example is needed. I have attached two versions of the score. The first has the page numbering correct, but the pages are paired beginning with page 2 (2 and 3, 4 and 5, etc.). The second version has the blank page at the front and the numbering is correct, but the pairing is still not as I would like it and the page number now shows on the first page of music.

Also, I unchecked the two sided option in Page Settings, but it had no effect on the pairing of the pages on the screen.

Attachment Size
Disobedience2.mscz 26.08 KB
Disobedience3.mscz 7.9 KB

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• Apr 6, 2023 - 12:52

I remember to have needed the same thing as you described:
The first page appearing on the left (unlike where it would appear in a book).
Just for proofreading I added a blank page and left the
blank page with number 1 (instead of 0).
Eventually I deleted the blank page to restore the correct page-numbering...

page.JPG

Even quicker would be to:

page 4.JPG

Ideally MuseScore should simply provide an option
whether the first page should appear on the left or on the right.
Adobe Reader can change that. The settings is called "Show cover page" or so.

PS: Here's the problem. Page 0 actually appears on the left:
page 2.JPG

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• Apr 6, 2023 - 13:49

I see, there seems to be a bug where setting first page numbers to 0 messes up the normal display of the pages. This should be reported on GitHub. Even though you're using MuseScore 3, I have confirmed the bug still exists in 4.0.2. The problem doesn't appear until you save and reload the score.

I thought the two-side option was supposed to suppress this, but I guess not. Not sure if it's a bug or just an unimplememted feature, but either way, it's worth opening a separate issue on GitHub for this as well.

Meanwhile, I guess the workaround is to add the extra page but don't reset its numbering to 0 while working on the score, then set it to 0 just before printing.

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