How to Print Staff Paper in Dorico: A Comprehensive Guide

Creating custom staff paper in Dorico can seem daunting at first, but once you grasp the process, it becomes remarkably efficient and logical. Whether you need standard staff paper with barlines or completely blank manuscript paper, Dorico offers the flexibility to tailor it to your exact needs. This guide will walk you through the steps to easily Print Staff Paper directly from Dorico, enhancing your music composition and arrangement workflow.

Creating Staff Paper with Barlines in Dorico

This method allows you to create lined staff paper, perfect for general music writing and exercises, complete with barlines for measure divisions. Follow these step-by-step instructions to set up your custom staff paper:

Step 1: Setting Up a New Project

Begin by launching Dorico and initiating a new project.

From the Dorico Hub, click on “Create New” located in the top tab.
In the New Project window, select “Empty” from the options on the left panel.
Choose your desired paper size and orientation. For standard staff paper, A4 or Letter size in portrait or landscape orientation are common choices. You can adjust these settings to your preference.
Ensure the “Key signature” box is unchecked as staff paper typically doesn’t require a predefined key signature.

Step 2: Configuring Players and Staves

Next, you need to define the staff for your paper.

Select “Solo Player”.
In the “Add Player” dialog, type “Staff” (or any name you prefer for your staff paper).
Choose “Treble Clef Staff” from the clef options. While we will make the clef invisible later, selecting a clef is necessary at this stage.
Click “Add” to include the staff in your project.

Step 3: Hiding Time Signature and Adding Invisible Clef

To create standard staff paper, we need to hide the time signature and use an invisible clef.

Enter “Write” mode.
Select the time signature displayed on the staff.
In the Properties panel (usually on the lower left), check the box labeled “Hide time signature”.
With the first bar rest selected, activate the “Clef” tool from the right-hand panel.
In the Clef pop-up, click the dropdown arrow on “Uncommon Clefs”.
Locate and select the invisible clef symbol (it’s typically the 4th option down in the left-hand column). This will replace the visible clef with an invisible one, giving you a clean staff paper appearance.

Step 4: Adjusting Bar Length and Layout Options

To extend the staff paper and customize the layout:

Ensure the first bar rest is still selected. Type poopies-B, then enter 64 and press Return. This command adds 64 bars, totaling 72 bars in your document.
Press Ctrl+Shift+L (or Cmd+Shift+L on Mac) to open Layout Options.
Navigate to “Brackets and Braces” on the left menu and select “No brackets” to remove any brackets.
Go to “Staves and Systems” on the left and set both “Staff labels” options to “None” to hide staff labels.
Scroll down to “Indents” and change “Indent first system” to 0 to remove indentation on the first line.
Scroll down to “Casting Off” and check both “Fixed number of bars per system” and “Fixed number of systems per page”. Set both to 6 to have 6 bars per system and 6 systems per page – adjust these numbers as needed for your preferred staff paper layout.
Uncheck “Scale number of systems” to maintain consistent system spacing.
Click on “Bar Numbers” on the left and select “None” to remove bar numbers.
Select “Players” on the left, then go to “Bar rests and Multirests” and uncheck “Show bar rests in empty bars” to hide rests in empty measures.
Click “Apply and Close” to save these layout settings.

Step 5: Customizing Notation Options

Further refine the appearance of your staff paper through Notation Options.

Press Ctrl+Shift+N (or Cmd+Shift+N on Mac) to access Notation Options.
Select “Barlines” from the left menu.
Under “Automatic barline at end of flow”, choose “Normal barline” to ensure a barline at the end of your staff paper.
Scroll down to “Systemic barline” and for both options (“Start of system” and “End of system”), select “Show for one or more” to display barlines consistently across systems.
Click “Apply and Close”.

Step 6: Engraving Mode and Master Page Setup

Finalize your staff paper layout in Engrave Mode.

Enter “Engrave” mode.
Double-click on the “Default” master page located on the right panel. This will display two pages (left and right).
On the left page, select and delete both the green text frames by clicking on them and pressing Delete.
Select the blue music frame. Click and drag the top handle of the frame upwards until it aligns with the top margin of the page.
With the blue frame still selected, in the Properties panel, click to set both “Top padding” and “Bottom padding” to zero. This ensures the staff lines extend to the very top and bottom margins.
Click the “L>R” icon at the top of the screen to copy the layout from the left page to the right page, ensuring consistency across all pages.
Click “Apply and Close”.
Right-click on “Page 1” at the top right, and select “Insert Page Template Change”.
Ensure “From this page onwards” is selected and that “Default” master page is chosen in the dropdown box.
Click “OK”. Your staff paper with barlines is now ready.

Creating Blank Staff Paper in Dorico

For completely blank staff paper without barlines, Dorico offers an even quicker method:

Step 1: Accessing Engrave Mode and Master Pages

Go directly to “Engrave” mode.
Double-click the “Default” Master page on the right panel.

Step 2: Selecting Blank Staves Layout

In the Master Page editor, locate the blue dropdown box at the top left corner, which likely displays “Flows”.
Click on this dropdown and select “Blank staves” from the options.

Step 3: Adjusting Staff Count

Select the blue frame on the page.
In the Properties panel, you can adjust the number of staves using the available options.
Click “Apply and Close”. Dorico is designed to create blank staff paper very efficiently, making it ideal for quick sketches or manuscript paper needs.

By following these steps, you can easily print staff paper tailored to your specific requirements directly from Dorico. Whether you need standard lined paper or completely blank sheets, Dorico provides the tools to customize and print staff paper efficiently, streamlining your musical workflow.