Increase font size in the Musescore 2 interface?
Is it possible to increase the font size of the user interface (menu items, etc. )? I am not concerned about fonts in the scores, because I can do that. But the small font size when using the user interface makes it difficult to use the software for me. I don't want to have to change my system's font, just the UI for Musescore 2. Thank you.
Comments
Try the -x option, see https://musescore.org/en/handbook/command-line-options-0
There are more changes for this in the pipeline, some are in the nightly builds, more are pending, check https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/pull/2296
The sizes used for menus and icons in MuseScore come directly from your OS settings and should thus be the same as all other applications on your system. Presumably you want larger menus on all programs, not just MuseScore, so you need to find the place in your OS where you can control the oveall application font size and increase it to whatever works for you.
The "-x" oiption specifically does *not* change menu or icon sizes; it's meant only to overcome problems with high resolution monitors on certain systems. Setting the default application in your OS is the way to increase font sizes in MuseScore as well as all other programs.
In reply to The sizes used for menus and by Marc Sabatella
Marc, thanks for the response. The font size in Musescore 2 is quite a bit smaller than my system font. I still have a copy of Musescore 1.3, and I was able set the font size for that version, and it's a bit larger than my system font. But I don't see any way to set font size in Musescore 2. All my other programs are fine.
(EDIT) I found the place in Musescore 1.3, under the "Edit" menu..... Edit>Preferences>General near the bottom is the "Application Font" dialogue box. This isn't present in Musescore 2.
In reply to Marc, thanks for the by bill2reg
Hmm, that shouldn't be the case. What OS are you on? What is your screen resolution? What application font size do you have set in your OS? Can you post a screenshot? Works fine on all Windows, Mac, and Linux systems I have tried. If you have a high DPI monitor, then items *other* than menu items and icons might be small, and the "-x" option allows you to override that. But menus and icons should always respect the OS settings.
In reply to Hmm, that shouldn't be the by Marc Sabatella
Hi Marc. Using Win7. Screen resolution is the same as it has been when I was using 1.3. I never change it for any software I use, ever. As I said in my last post which I edited so maybe you may not have seen this:
"I found the place in Musescore 1.3, under the "Edit" menu..... Edit>Preferences>General near the bottom is the "Application Font" dialogue box. This isn't present in Musescore 2."
Worked great in 1.3 and it did in fact change the font for the entire program, menus, etc. and they were larger than the system font. This was perfect for me because it made the Musescore interface customizable without having to change my system font, monitor res, etc.
In reply to Hi Marc. Using Win7. Screen by bill2reg
Can you post screenshots that show what other programs look like on this system and also what MuseScore looks like? As I said, it is supposed to just work automatically, showing all menus the same size as other programs on your system, unlike in previous in versions of MuseScore where your system settings were ignored so you had to manually change the sizes to be more like other programs. So we need to figure out why this isn't working on your system, and the first step would be seeing what you are seeing so we can understand better.
In reply to Can you post screenshots that by Marc Sabatella
Well, that is exactly the problem Marc. Musescore 2.0.2 IS using the system font. But I want a larger font for the Musescore interface only, and this WAS possible in the old (1.3) version because it had the dialogue box to select the application font. (Edit>Preferences>General tab, "Application Font" dialogue box lower left corner). That was perfect, because I could set the Musescore interface (and ONLY the Musescore interface) font to my preference, without having to change anything else on my system such as system font or monitor resolution, etc. I would love to see that same option available on the new (2.0.2) version.
In reply to Well, that is exactly the by bill2reg
I still don't understand why you'd want MuseScore and MuseScore alone to be a different size than everything else. But anyhow, yes, I realize that in older versions of MuseScore that were not smart enough to detect the system font size, there was an option to set this manually as a kind of manual workaround for this inability to detect the system font size automatically. So just getting MuseScore to look like everything else required this manual workaround. Now that MuseScore is smart enough to detect the system font size automatically, the manual method was no longer needed, so it was removed. That is what I have been trying to explain.
If you could explain *why* you need MuseScore's fonts to be different than everything else on your system, it might increase the chance of this being added back. But as it is, for the purpose that option was originally intended for, it is no longer needed. People who like larger fonts normally like them in *all* programs, and they normally want to set that option just once, not have to set it over and over for each program. You appear to have some different need, and that is what I am trying understand.
Originally it seemed like you were saying MuseScore was smaller than everything else; if this were true, it would be a bug affecting and we would need more informatiom to be able to reproduce it and then fix it. But now it seems like you are saying it is work as it should, but you are requesting the ability to make MuseScore *different* from the system font, and again, we'd need more information to understand why.
In reply to I still don't understand why by Marc Sabatella
OK so yes you understand correctly. Why do I want the Musescore font larger? Because for whatever reason, the small font size is difficult for me to use. Maybe it's just the way the menus are laid out, but it was just better, for me at least, to have the option. I find that , even though I do like many of the new features, I use the old version instead of the newer one. Unless it's really difficult to add this option to the new version, it seems it wouldn't do any harm to have that option available. But if it can't be done, then I guess that's the way it will be.
I do appreciate your time and patience, Marc, not to mention the work you've done to bring this great software to us all.
In reply to OK so yes you understand by bill2reg
I get that small fonts can be difficult to read or work with. But I'm still having trouble understanding if the font you are seeing in MuseScore is the same as or smaller than other applications. Which is why I'd really like to see screenshots to help me understand. If it truly is smaller, this is a bug, and we'd like to fix it. But if it truly is the same size as every other program, I still don't understand why you wouldn't all all your programs made bigger in the same way.
In reply to I get that small fonts can be by Marc Sabatella
Marc, I don't think it's a bug. The font in Musescore IS the same as my other applications. (System font). However, it was just a lot easier for me (and maybe only for me?) to have the option to use a larger font, since the option was available. Maybe it was more of a luxury than a necessity, but I just found it easier to use with a larger font. Maybe it's because I use the menu items so much more in Musecore than I do in other software. Things like Photoshop, Blender and others I tend to use icons rather than menus, so font size isn't a concern with those programs.
In reply to Marc, I don't think it's a by bill2reg
The last sentence helps me understand. But still, it seems if the fonts szize is the same as other programs, and it's too small in MuseScore, it would still behoove you to up your system fonts. Your other programs that use icons instead of menus won't be affected, but other programs that *do* use menus will be helped. It's the right solution, it still seems to me.
Hi. I downloaded Musescore 2.0.2 today and I have a similar problem. The font is very tiny as opposed my other programs which have big fonts, there is no setting in Musescore to make it bigger like before and the -x option doesn't affect the menus at all.
![tinyfont.png]( "tinyfont.png")
I'm on Linux Mint 17 xfce.
In reply to Hi. I downloaded Musescore by BlindNed
The "-x" option is not meant to affect menus; they are supposed to respond to the OS setting. I see you have set a custom DPI setting - is that actually the correct value? Also, you say yu are using 2.0.2, but the current version - the one that for the first time is supposed to automatically respond to DPI - is 2.0.3. So try that (use the AppImage version from the Downloads menu at right of this page if it is not otherwise available for your particular distro).
In reply to The "-x" option is not meant by Marc Sabatella
Ah, that's better! I downloaded the appimage version and menus and dialogs have bigger font. I will report back when I get 2.0.3 from the repository which I can't do at the moment.
Now, how do I disable animations? Should I start another thread?
In reply to Ah, that's better! I by BlindNed
Not sure what kind of animations you mean, but sure, if you are having a different problem, then a different thread makes sense.
OK ...I find an adjustment in MuseScore 3 :
Edit-> Preferences -> Theme- Font Size