Neuratron PhotoScore

Version 8
User Guide

www.neuratron.com

Edition 1 1997, Edition 2 1998, Edition 3 1999

Edition 4, 5, 6 2000, Edition 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 2001
Edition 12 2002, Edition 13, 14, 15 2003
Edition 16, 17 2005, Edition 18 2006
Edition 19, 20 2007, Edition 21 2009
Edition 22 2011, Edition 23 2015
This User Guide was written by Martin Dawe, Ben Finn and David Dawe.
Published by Neuratron Limited.
Neuratron PhotoScore was written by Martin Dawe, Richard Cheng, David Dawe,
Andrew Hills, Chunhua Hu, Graham Jones and Tristan McAuley.
The handwritten music recognition engine was written by Anthony Wilkes.
PhotoScore image designed and modeled by Zara Dawe.
Neuratron PhotoScore Copyright 1995 2015 Neuratron Limited
Neuratron PhotoScore User Guide Copyright 1997 2015 Neuratron Limited
OCR (Text recognition) and Linguistic technology by Image Recognition Integrated
Systems S.A. 2000 I.R.I.S. S.A. All rights reserved
PDF technology in PhotoScore is powered by PDFNet SDK copyright PDFTron
Systems Inc., 2001-2015, and distributed by Neuratron Ltd. under license. All rights
reserved.
All rights reserved. This User Guide may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, recording,
mechanical, photocopying or otherwise - in whole or in part, without the prior written
consent of the publisher. Although every care has been taken in the preparation of
this User Guide, neither the publisher nor the authors can take responsibility for any
loss or damage arising from any errors or omissions it may contain.
Neuratron, PhotoScore, PhotoScore Ultimate, PhotoScore Lite, NotateMe,
neuratron.com, photoscore.com, notate.me, musicscanning.com, musicocr.com,
and Recognizing Intelligence are all registered trademarks or trademarks of
Neuratron Ltd. Sibelius is a registered trademark of Avid Technology, Inc.
Espressivo is a trademark of Avid Technology, Inc. Dolet is a trademark of
Recordare LLC. Finale is a registered trademark of MakeMusic Inc. iTunes is a
registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Windows Media Player and DirectX
are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Footime is a trademark or registered
trademark of Bili, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the
property of their respective owners. All specifications are subject to change without
prior notice.
Remember, it is illegal to scan copyrighted music without the owner's permission.

CONTENTS
ABOUT THIS USER GUIDE .................................7
INSTALLATION ..............................................................8
Requirements ...............................................8
How many computers can I install PhotoScore &
NotateMe on? ................................................9
INTRODUCTION ...............................................10
Suitable originals ......................................... 10
Handwritten music ....................................... 11
Copyright music ........................................... 11
Lite version users - Important information ........... 12
GETTING STARTED ..........................................13
Screen resolution and colors ............................ 13
The three stages .......................................... 13
1. SCANNING ...................................................14
The three scanning interfaces .......................... 14
Scanning a page of music ................................ 16
Scanning summarized .................................... 19
Scanned page catalog .................................... 19
Scanning hints ............................................. 19
Longer scores.............................................. 20
Opening JPEG, TIFF & .bmp files....................... 20
Opening PDF files ......................................... 21
2. READING ......................................................22
Reading and the Pages Pane ............................ 22
What PhotoScore reads (printed music) ............... 24
What PhotoScore reads (handwritten music) ......... 25
3. EDITING ......................................................27
What to correct ........................................... 29
Checking for mistakes.................................... 29
3

Mouse and keys ........................................... 29

Selecting ................................................... 30
Multiple selections ....................................... 30
Position of markings ...................................... 31
Re-reading a page ........................................ 31
Re-scanning a page ....................................... 31
Deleting a page ........................................... 31
EDITING RHYTHM & KEY SIGNATURES ...............................31
The bad timing navigator (not Lite version).......... 32
Initial time signature ..................................... 33
Pick-up (upbeat) / irregular bars ...................... 33
Key signatures / transposing instruments ............. 33
Altering note-values...................................... 34
Inserting notes/rests ..................................... 34
Deleting notes/rests ..................................... 34
Attachment ................................................ 35
Inserting barlines ......................................... 35
Two or more voices ...................................... 35
Grace-notes and cue notes .............................. 36
Editing hints ............................................... 36
EDITING OTHER MARKINGS ............................................36
Copying markings ......................................... 37
Deleting markings ........................................ 37
Accidentals and articulation marks .................... 37
Barlines .................................................... 37
Beams ...................................................... 37
Clefs ........................................................ 37
Codas and Segnos (not Lite version) ................... 37
Cross-staff notes (not Lite version) .................... 38
Fingering (not Lite version) ............................. 38
Guitar Chord Diagrams & Symbols (not Lite version) 38
Instrument names ........................................ 39
Multirests .................................................. 39
Ornaments (not Lite version) ........................... 39
Pedal markings (not Lite version) ...................... 40
4

Pitch ........................................................ 40
Repeat endings (not Lite version)...................... 40
Slurs / hairpins (not Lite version) / ties .............. 40
Text (Lite version tempo text only) ................. 41
Triplets and tuplets (Lite version triplets only) ... 42
READING HANDWRITTEN MUSIC....................43
Capabilities ................................................ 43
Scanning ................................................... 44
AFTER PHOTOSCORING ...................................45
Reformatting and extracting parts (not Lite version)45
Transposing ................................................ 46
Printing (not Lite version)............................... 46
Playing ..................................................... 46
Saving ...................................................... 47
Saving PhotoScore (.opt) files .......................... 48
Saving MusicXML & NIFF files ........................... 49
Saving PDF files ........................................... 49
Saving MIDI files........................................... 49
Saving Wave & AIFF files (not Lite version) .......... 51
Burning to audio CD (not Lite version) ................ 52
Converting to MP3 (not Lite version) .................. 52
Saving files containing rhythmic mistakes ............ 53
Saving page and system format ........................ 53
Saving multi-staff instruments.......................... 54
Saving Bitmap (.bmp) and TIFF files ................... 54
CLEANING UP ............................................................56
Closing the output score................................. 56
Deleting unwanted scans ................................ 56
POSSIBLE PROBLEMS ......................................57
Scanning takes a long time or wont work ............ 57
Not all staves/systems are detected .................. 57
Reading takes a long time ............................... 58
Music reads inaccurately ................................ 58
5

Handwriting recognition problems ..................... 59

Warning messages ........................................ 59
If all else fails... .......................................... 59
ADVANCED FEATURES .....................................60
Choosing between scanners ............................. 60
Scanning only one page .................................. 60
Adjusting detected staves/systems .................... 60
Scan window options ..................................... 62
Omitted staves ............................................ 62
Multi-staff instruments .................................. 63
Instruments/staves introduced after the start ....... 63
Reading slurs / hairpins (not Lite version) / ties .... 64
Reading appoggiaturas and cue notes (not Lite
version) .................................................... 64
Reading text (not Lite version) ......................... 64
Performance mode ....................................... 65
PhotoScore preferences ................................. 65
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS ..................................69
GLOSSARY ........................................................71
LICENSE AGREEMENT ..........................................73

ABOUT THIS USER GUIDE

This user guide describes PhotoScore the part of PhotoScore &
NotateMe that allows scores to be scanned and converted into a digital
form (for editing, playback, printing, etc.). The other part, called
NotateMe, allows a digital score (of any size ranging from solo to
orchestral) to be created by writing on a touchscreen device with a stylus
or finger. (It can also be used with a mouse but this is less
recommended.) It recognizes a wide range of handwriting styles and
musical symbols but also allows additional symbols to be dragged and
dropped onto the score. Lyrics and chord symbols can also be added.
Once a score has been created, it can be transferred to PhotoScore so
that, amongst other things, it can be printed, exported, or have parts
created from it. NotateMe is described in full in a separate user guide
which can be opened from PhotoScore & NotateMe by clicking
Help>NotateMe Help...

PhotoScore is highly sophisticated with many advanced features. Please

read this entire user guide, with the exception of the Advanced features
section, before you begin.
If you intend to scan relatively complex scores such as orchestral/band
music, or scores of many pages, we strongly recommend that you start
with more simple music until you are proficient with PhotoScore, and
then familiarize yourself with the Advanced features section.
There are two main versions of this software: PhotoScore & NotateMe
Ultimate (containing PhotoScore Ultimate) and PhotoScore & NotateMe
Lite (containing PhotoScore Lite). The former allows printing and saving
of music in a variety of formats, and the latter has reduced functionality.
All can be run on Mac OS X and Windows operating systems. As the
interface varies slightly between these versions, parts of this user guide
are specifically aimed at different users. These sections are highlighted
with gray backgrounds, and the type of user they are aimed at is printed
at the top. E.g. Macintosh users (like below) or Sibelius users.
Further to this, Macintosh and Windows systems typically have different
keyboards and, as such, keyboard shortcuts are executed differently.
Where necessary, both shortcuts are written with the Macintosh one
first. E.g. xXA or Ctrl+Shift+A.
Please also note that where it proves easier for explanations, to
PhotoScore is used as a verb meaning to scan and read music.
7

INSTALLATION
Requirements
To use PhotoScore & NotateMe, you will need:
Macintosh users

An Apple Macintosh Intel with Mac OS X 10.6.7 or higher. At least

512 MB RAM is recommended. More than 512 MB may be desirable
if you need to scan small staves a lot, or for scanning photos and
graphics.
Your computer should also have a reasonable amount of free hard
disk space - at least 40Mb and preferably rather more.
Sibelius users note: Although PhotoScore & NotateMe will work with
Sibelius version 3.0 and higher, it is recommended that you use
Sibelius 5 or higher as it has greatly improved PhotoScore &
NotateMe importing capabilities.
A scanner (probably connected to your computer via a USB, Printer
or SCSI port), and installed Mac OS X TWAIN driver software (it is
highly recommended you visit your scanner manufacturers
website and download the latest version also note that classic Mac
OS TWAIN drivers will not work). You may need to contact your
scanner manufacturer for information on installing a suitable TWAIN
driver. If a Mac OS X TWAIN driver is not available for your
scanner, you will need to scan using separate software, save
suitable TIFF files, and open these in PhotoScore & NotateMe.
Windows users

An IBM compatible Pentium III (or equivalent AMD processor) or

higher PC. At least 512Mb RAM is recommended.
A Microsoft Surface Pro with the Surface Pen is recommended for
NotateMe
Windows Vista/7/8
Your computer should also have a reasonable amount of free hard
disk space - at least 40Mb and preferably rather more.
Sibelius users note: Although PhotoScore & NotateMe will work with
Sibelius version 3.0 and higher, it is recommended that you use
Sibelius 5 or higher as it has greatly improved PhotoScore &
NotateMe importing capabilities.
8

A scanner (probably connected to your computer via a USB, Printer

or SCSI port), and installed TWAIN or WIA driver software.
How many computers can I install PhotoScore &
NotateMe on?
Unless you hold a multi-user site license, you are only permitted to use
one copy of PhotoScore & NotateMe on one computer at a time. All
copies are serial numbered; illegal copies can easily be traced back to
their original owner.

INTRODUCTION
PhotoScore is a printed and handwritten (Ultimate version only) music
recognition program - the musical equivalent of a text OCR program.
Music scanning is much harder than scanning text because of the more
complicated range of symbols involved, because of the complex twodimensional grammar of music, and because some markings such as
hairpins and phrase-marks are of a variable shape and size.
The difficulty with scanning music or text is that by scanning a page, a
computer does not understand it. As far as the computer is concerned,
scanning a page merely presents it with a grid of millions of black and
white dots, which could be music, text, a photograph or anything else.
The process of actually reading or interpreting music, text or pictures
from this grid of dots is extremely complex. A large part of the human
brain, containing many millions of connections, is devoted solely to
solving this pattern recognition problem.
Neuratron has always been pushing the boundaries of this technology
with PhotoScore and, by combining the recognition results of two
independently developed recognition engines, PhotoScores accuracy is
much greater than twice that of each engine alone!
Suitable originals
PhotoScore is designed to read originals that satisfy the following
criteria:
fit on your scanner (i.e. the music itself is typically no larger than
Letter/A4 size, though the paper may be slightly larger)
have a staff size of at least 1/8 (3mm)
are reasonably clear - for example, staff-lines should be continuous
and not broken or blotchy, half-note (minim) and whole-note
(semibreve) noteheads and flats should have a continuous
circumference and not be broken or filled in, beams on sixteenthnotes (semiquavers) and shorter notes should have a significant
white gap in between, and markings which are meant to be separate
(e.g. noteheads and their preceding accidentals) should not overlap
or be blotched together.
Music which does not match the above will probably work, but with
reduced accuracy.
10

Scanning from photocopies is not recommended unless the photocopier

is a particularly good one, as photocopying tends to degrade the quality
of an original significantly. You may be obliged to scan from a reduced
photocopy if your original is bigger than your scanner, but you should
expect lower accuracy.
Handwritten music
A wide range of handwriting styles are supported and without the need
to describe to PhotoScore the style of handwriting you are scanning.
It should be remembered that recognition of handwritten music is an
incredibly difficult thing for a computer to do. Please read the chapter
Reading Handwritten Music to make the most out of this exciting new
technology.
Important: If you would like to use PhotoScore & NotateMe to handwrite
music onto a touchscreen device with a stylus or finger, please refer to
the NotateMe user guide which can be opened from the Help menu.
Copyright music
You should be aware that scanning music is a form of copying.
Therefore, by scanning music without permission, you may potentially
infringe copyright. Evaluating whether you can legally scan a particular
work or edition of that work is a rather complex subject that primarily
depends on your local laws and regulations. It also depends on
numerous other factors such as the date of death of anybody who
contributed to the creation of the work (e.g. the composer, lyricist,
arranger or editor), on the date the precise edition of the work was
published, and on many specific copyright provisions and exceptions
(such as fair use or fair dealing, copying for personal or educational
use, adaptations for special classes of users, special provisions for
urtext, scientific or scholarly editions, applications of the Rule of the
Shorter Term or of the Editio Princeps doctrine).
The following references provide useful information to evaluate the
copyright status of a specific work or edition:
http://imslp.org/wiki/IMSLP:Copyright_Made_Simple
http://imslp.org/wiki/Public_domain
In the case of doubt, we recommend that you contact a qualified
intellectual property attorney to verify whether a certain work or edition of
that work is in the public domain in your country, or if scanning it does
11

not require permission under fair use, fair dealing or other applicable
provisions.
Lite version users - Important information
Lite version users
If using PhotoScore & NotateMe Lite you will find that a number of menu
items, toolbar buttons and check boxes are permanently grayed-out.
This is not a bug these are simply features unavailable in the Lite
version. If you find you regularly need to use the grayed-out options, we
recommend upgrading to PhotoScore & NotateMe Ultimate.

12

GETTING STARTED
Run PhotoScore & NotateMe using your preferred method (e.g. from the
Finder or Explorer, or from Sibelius).
Unless it has been turned off (only possible on the Macintosh version),
you should see the following toolbar below PhotoScore & NotateMes
menu bar:

Clicking these buttons is equivalent to selecting the menu items

File>Scan Pages (for scanning pages of music), File>Open PDFs
(for converting PDFs to music files), File>New NotateMe Score (for
handwriting with a stylus, finger or mouse to create new scores or edit
existing ones see the NotateMe user guide from the Help menu) and
File>Open (for opening saved scanned images, PhotoScore files, and
NotateMe files), respectively. The three buttons to the right correspond
to the menu items File>Preferences (for changing PhotoScores
preferences) Help>View Help... (for PDF help), and
Help>Neuratron Web Site (for the Neuratron web site).
Screen resolution and colors
We recommend that you use PhotoScore on a display with a high
screen resolution, such as 1024 x 768 or 1280 x 1024. A display with at
least 16-bit color quality is also recommended.
The three stages
There are three main stages when using PhotoScore Scanning,
Reading and Editing:
1. Scanning a page simply makes PhotoScore take a photograph of
your original. It is also possible to open PDF files containing sheet
music.
2. Reading is the clever bit - this is where PhotoScore reads the
scanned pages to work out what the notes and other markings are.
3. Editing is where you correct any mistakes that PhotoScore has
made. Editing within PhotoScore works in much the same way as
editing music in the music notation program Sibelius.
After doing the above, you will then be able to transpose, play-back,
re-format, extract parts, print, save your music for use in other music
13

programs and even burn your music to CD (not all features available
in PhotoScore Lite).

1. SCANNING
Macintosh users

Important: You need a Mac OS X TWAIN driver for your scanner model
to be installed on your computer if you wish to scan directly into
PhotoScore (a classic Mac OS TWAIN driver will not work); otherwise it
will not recognize your scanner. If you intend to use the Automatic or
PhotoScore scanning interfaces (explained below), the driver
additionally needs to support Mac OS X Image Capture (ICA). It is highly
recommended that you check your scanner manufacturers website for
the latest driver and install this before attempting scanning with
PhotoScore. If a Mac OS X TWAIN driver is not available, you will need
to scan and save TIFF files from the software that came with your
scanner, and then import these into PhotoScore using File>Open.
The three scanning interfaces
Depending on how much control you need over scanner settings,
PhotoScore offers up to three different interfaces for scanning,
depending on the version of Mac OS X/Windows you are using and your
scanner softwares capabilities. Ensure your scanner software is
installed and that your scanner is powered on and connected to your
computer and then click Scanner Setup from PhotoScores File
menu to see the interfaces available. The window should look something
like this:

14

Automatic scanning (not Lite version)

If available (see requirements below), PhotoScore automatically selects
suitable settings for you and performs the scan immediately,
automatically cropping the image afterwards.
If your scanner takes a very long time to scan each page and you are
not scanning handwritten music, tick the Scan more quickly check
box and PhotoScore will scan at a lower resolution (usually 200dpi
instead of 300dpi).
PhotoScore interface
If available (see requirements below), PhotoScores interface allows you
to select the minimum height of the staves on the page(s) you are
scanning so that it can select the most appropriate resolution. If
scanning with a flatbed scanner (as opposed to a scanner with an
automatic sheet feeder) it also allows you to select the area of the
scanner glass to be scanned. This is useful, for example, when scanning
A5 books, where more than one page may end up on the scanner glass,
since PhotoScore can only read one page per scan.
TWAIN interface
This is the standard interface that you will often see when scanning with
other software. It generally allows more advanced scanner settings to be
adjusted, for example the pixel type, brightness and contrast. This
interface is usually most useful when scanning very heavily or lightly
15

printed music so that the brightness setting can be adjusted accordingly.

Please note that PhotoScore only accepts scans made with a resolution
between 72 dpi (depending on the quality of the scan) and 600 dpi, and
with black & white (also known as b/w document or 1-bit) or the
recommended, more accurate, 256 grayscale (also known as b/w photo
or 8-bit grayscale) pixel types. Do not choose color, 12-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit
or 32-bit pixel types. Also ensure that any scaling option is set to 100%
or 1:1 to avoid resizing of the image before PhotoScore sees it. Here are
recommended resolutions depending on the minimum height of staves
and types of music you are scanning (handwritten music should always
be scanned at 300 dpi for the best results):
Staff-height/type

Resolution

1/4 (6mm) or more

3/16 1/4 (4-6mm)
1/8 3/16 (3-4mm)

200dpi
300dpi
400dpi

Handwritten Music

300dpi

Requirements for the Automatic and PhotoScore interfaces:

Mac OS X: requires 10.4 or higher; Mac OS X TWAIN drivers supporting
Mac OS X Image Capture (ICA) and compatible with your scanner
model must be installed.
Windows: requires Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/8/10 with installed WIA
drivers compatible with your scanner model; if using earlier versions of
Windows some TWAIN drivers will also allow this feature. However if a
message pops up saying your scanner is not fully TWAIN compliant or
other problems occur, you should choose the TWAIN interface instead.
Once you have selected your preferred scanner interface, ensure your
scanner is the one selected in the drop-down menu or TWAIN scanner
selection dialog (whether you are able to choose from a drop-down
menu or the TWAIN scanner selection dialog depends on the scanner
driver being used by PhotoScore).
The remaining options on the Scanner Setup dialog (which is also the
first pane in the PhotoScore preferences) are explained in the
PhotoScore preferences section of Advanced features.
Scanning a page of music
For your first scan, try a page or two of simple keyboard music or
something similar. Please note, some of these instructions only apply
16

when using a flat bed scanner without an automatic sheet feeder if

using an automatic sheet feeder (it is likely you will know if you have
one), follow the instructions supplied with your scanner for information
on page placement):
1 Put the page of music (the original) into your scanner, facedown
and with the top of the page pointing away from you.
Put one edge of the original flush against the raised edge of the
glass. You can put the page on its side if it fits better. PhotoScore
will automatically rotate the page by 90 degrees if necessary.
However you should normally align the top of the page with the left
edge of the scanner to ensure it does not turn out upside-down.
Dont worry though if it is scanned the wrong way up as it is easy to
correct later on.
If you are scanning in gray, then the page does not need to be
completely straight - PhotoScore will automatically make the page
level without loss of detail. It will not be rotated if scanning in black
& white, as this would result in loss of detail, thus giving less
accurate recognition results.
2 Click Scan Pages from PhotoScores File menu or the toolbar.
3 What happens now depends on the interface selected in
File>Scanner Setup:
Automatic scanning interface: (not Lite version):
Your scanner should start working almost immediately (although it
may take some time to warm up if it has not been used for a while).
PhotoScore interface:

17

Click Select region to scan (not available if using an automatic

sheet feeder) to make PhotoScore take a quick scan of the whole
scanner glass area. Once the scanned preview of your page of
music appears, use the mouse to click and drag out the region you
wish to have PhotoScore read. To adjust an existing region, click
and drag its edges. Then, click Scan selected region in the
toolbar to return to the original dialog box, shown above. Your
selected region will be used for all future scans made using the
PhotoScore interface, until this region-selecting process is
repeated.
Finally, choose the minimum height of the staves you are scanning
and click Scan. Click Cancel if you have changed your mind and no
longer wish to scan.
TWAIN interface:
Select the appropriate region (there is usually a preview button),
resolution, pixel type, brightness settings etc. for your scan (consult
the scanners user guide to find out how, since the interface varies
from scanner to scanner) and then click the button marked Scan (or
equivalent).
4 After a moment, the scanner will whir into life and transfer the page
to your computer. (If this doesnt happen, see Possible problems.)
If you are scanning from a fairly thick book, gently press down the lid
(or the book if easier) during scanning to keep the page flat on the
glass.
5 Unless using the Automatic scanning interface, a dialog box will
appear for you to enter a name for the page, which will be
something like Score 1, Page 1 by default. You can change this to
any name you like - something like Piano p1 would do - then click
OK.
Subsequent pages you scan will be automatically numbered e.g.
Piano p2, and a dialog box will not appear.
6 Wait a few seconds while PhotoScore makes the page level, adjusts
the brightness, and locates the staves.
7 PhotoScore will now be ready to scan the next page, possibly after a
prompt to wait for the scanner to stop whirring, so put the second
page of music in the scanner, click on the Scan (or equivalent)
button and proceed as for the first page. If the scanning interface
18

does not reappear, click Scan Pages from PhotoScores File

menu or toolbar again.
8 Continue until you have scanned all the pages that you want to
scan.
Scanning summarized
Once youve scanned a few pages youll rapidly get into the routine of it.
The procedure can be summarized as follows:
1 Place page in scanner
2 Click Scan Pages from PhotoScores File menu or toolbar
3 If not using the Automatic scanning interface, choose the staffheight or resolution, and if using the TWAIN interface, whether to
scan in shades of gray b/w photo (recommended), or black and
white b/w document
4 If not using the Automatic scanning interface, click Scan or the
equivalent
5 If not using the Automatic scanning interface, enter page name
(or leave the default name)
6 Go on to next page
Scanned page catalog
Its important for you to understand that whenever you scan a page,
PhotoScore adds it to a catalog of scanned pages to be read later.
You do not need to save scanned pages or the catalog they are
stored on your hard disk automatically.
This means that whenever you start PhotoScore, it still remembers any
pages you scanned previously. You can and should delete pages that
you no longer need to keep; well tell you more about this catalog later.
The catalog can be viewed in the pages pane (described at the start of
the next chapter).
Scanning hints
If you want to read a page of music smaller than the size of your
scanner, you should make sure that only that portion is scanned.
If you are using the TWAIN interface, then you will need to read the
supplied TWAIN driver documentation on how to scan only part of a
page. This usually involves use of a preview feature if available.
Ensure that all of the music on the page you are scanning is on the
glass of the scanner, and that no music from the facing page is
19

scanned. It doesnt matter if your original is larger than Letter/A4, so

long as the music itself will fit onto Letter/A4.
If you are scanning a page that is smaller than Letter/A4 size, it
doesnt matter where on the glass you position the original.
However, it helps if you put the edge of the page flush against the
edge of the glass, to ensure that its straight.
If the first page you are scanning has page number 3 (say) printed
on it rather than 1, it will be least confusing if you name the page
(say) Piano p3 rather than Piano p1.
If you are scanning a small music book then you may be able to fit a
double-page spread (two facing pages side-by-side) on the scanner
glass, but dont try this - PhotoScore can only read one page at a
time. Scan each page separately.
For simplicity, we recommend that you scan all the pages in a piece
of music before reading them all. You are allowed to scan a page,
then read it, then scan another and so on (see Advanced features),
but we dont suggest you try anything like this until you are proficient
with PhotoScore.
Longer scores
If you want to scan a score of more than a few pages, scan and read a
sample page first to verify that the scanner and other settings are
correct.
If you use the first page as a sample page and it reads correctly, there
will be no need to re-scan it. Continue scanning from the second page;
you will find that when you have scanned and read all the pages, they
will have been added in the correct order after the first page.
PhotoScore can scan scores of up to 400 pages (Lite version 20
pages), though for scores of 40 pages or more you are strongly advised
to split them into separate pieces, songs, movements or other
convenient sections, and scan, read and edit each section separately.
Opening JPEG, TIFF & .bmp files
PhotoScore can open JPEG files created by a camera as well as TIFF
and .bmp (Windows only) files. The last two are useful if your scanner is
on a separate computer from PhotoScore as you can scan and save
these files then transport them to the PhotoScore computer for opening.
Open all three of these file types from File>Open ensuring that the
appropriate file type is selected in the Files of type drop-down menu.
20

JPEGs must be photos taken with a camera at a resolution of no less

than 4MP. A resolution of 8MP is recommended. Scanned files must be
scanned at a suitable resolution and be black & white (2 color) or 256
shades of gray. Multiple files may be selected and opened at the same
time. TIFF files containing multiple images may also be opened.
Opening PDF files
It is possible for PhotoScore to open and read PDF files. Open PDF files
from File>Open PDFs. If the file is protected, PhotoScore will ask you
to enter a suitable password.
For PDFs with more than one page, you are given the opportunity to tell
PhotoScore which pages you would like it to open and read. This is
particularly useful if you wish to only open one movement/section from a
PDF of a larger work or if the PDF has a title page that shouldnt be read
by PhotoScore.
To open all pages in the PDF, simply click OK. To open a range of
pages, enter the first and last page numbers with a hyphen between
them. An individual page can be opened by entering its page number
and multiple separate pages can be opened by entering their numbers
with commas between them. Multiple ranges of pages can also be
opened through the combined use of hyphens and commas. After
clicking OK to proceed, hold down Escape if you decide you want to
stop PhotoScore opening the file.
Multiple PDFs can be opened at the same time. For each PDF,
PhotoScore automatically creates a separate score in the Read Pages
pane (see chapter 2. READING). If the PDFs are dragged and dropped
onto PhotoScore or are set to be read automatically by PhotoScore (see
Reading and the Pages Pane in chapter 2. READING), each score will
be automatically saved. Thus, PhotoScore can be left to work on an
entire library of PDFs over night without any fear of a power failure
undoing all of its hard work.

21

2. READING
As mentioned earlier, just scanning a page simply presents the
computer with a grid of millions of black and white dots, which as far as it
is concerned could be anything from text to a photograph.
Reading the music is the clever bit, where PhotoScore works out from
the scan where and what the notes and other markings on the page are.
Reading and the Pages Pane
You should see the pages pane (below) at the left of the screen. If not,
you can view it by selecting View>Toggle Pages Pane. Alternatively,
resize it by double-clicking or clicking and dragging its right edge.
Note: If you used PhotoScore 4 or earlier,
this replaces the Scanned pages dialog
box that was available from the View
Pages
toolbar
button
and
View>Scanned pages menu item.
The pages pane is split into two main
parts, Pending Pages and Read Pages:
Pending Pages
At the very top of this area you can choose
whether the next page to be read should
be read as printed or handwritten music
(not Lite version). It is highly important
that you choose the correct option before
opening/scanning/reading pages otherwise
the recognition accuracy will be very poor.
Below this is the list of pages of music that
have been scanned in or opened from
PDF, JPEG, TIFF and BMP files and which have not yet been read by
PhotoScore. If you move the mouse over each item you will see a
thumbnail of the page. Clicking on the thumbnail or double-clicking on
the page name displays the original page in a window to the right. This is
useful for checking whether the page has been scanned properly.
Whilst hovering over an item, the Read check box at the right will
expand. If the checkbox is marked green this means it is waiting to be
read. PhotoScore will go through reading all pages with a green
checkbox in order from top to bottom.
22

If Read pages after scanning/opening is selected in the preferences

(see the chapter Advanced Features) each page scanned in or opened
from a file will have this checkbox set and be read automatically.
It is possible to click and drag a pending page up or down in the list to
change the order it appears in the output score.
While a page is being read, the progress will be shown by a green bar
filling the listed item from left to right. Also, holding the mouse over it will
show Cancel instead of Read and clicking this will cancel reading of
that page. It takes a moment to cancel and during this time Cancelling
will be displayed and the checkbox will be marked red.
Clicking over the name of the page selects it and colors it blue. Further
pages can be selected by holding down X or Ctrl (to add individual
pages) or Shift (to add a series of pages) whilst clicking. Clicking Read
or Cancel on a selected page causes the same action to be performed
on all other selected pages. Therefore, it is possible to select several
pages and, with one click, choose whether or not they should all be
read. Clicking where it says Remove on a selected page allows all
selected pages to be removed.
As each page is read the recognized music is added to the output score
to the right of the pages pane. You can edit the output whilst PhotoScore
is reading the remaining pages. The page listing is also moved from the
Pending Pages area to the Read Pages area, described next.
Read Pages (grouped into scores)
As each pending page is read, it is moved into this area. The pages are
grouped into scores to make them easier to manage. The pages
belonging to a score can be shown or hidden by clicking on the small +
or at the left of the score name (with blue background). Double-clicking
on the score name opens the PhotoScore file associated with the score
as well as showing the pages that make it up. When a score is open,
clicking Remove to the right of the score name removes it from the
Read Pages area.
If PhotoScore is set to read pages automatically after scanning/opening
or if you opened files by dragging and dropping them onto PhotoScore,
each score will be autosaved. Edits subsequently made to that score will
also be autosaved. Clicking Remove to the right of its score name also
deletes the output score.
To save an autosaved score to a location of your choice, click
File>Save As (see Saving PhotoScore (.opt) files in chapter
23

AFTER PHOTOSCORING). After doing this, further edits will no longer

be autosaved. Also, clicking Remove to the right of the score name will
no longer delete the output score.
If you wish to read a set of pages into a new score, you first need to
close the current output score on the right-hand side by choosing
File>Close Score or clicking the small cross at the top right. (If the
score was not autosaved, you will need to save the score first.) Newly
read pages will then appear under a new blue score heading.
Moving the mouse over read pages will display the original scanned
page thumbnail on the left and also a representation of the output page
on the right.
Clicking on the left thumbnail displays the original page in a window to
the right and is useful for checking that PhotoScore has correctly located
the staves if the output looks strange. All staves should be boldly
highlighted in blue, with the correct number of stave lines shown, and all
staves within systems should be joined with a red line. For further
information, see the sections Adjusting detected staves/systems and
Scan window options in the chapter Advanced Features.
Clicking on the right thumbnail displays the output page in a window to
the right. If the page belongs to a different score, PhotoScore will close
the currently open score in order to open the other one. Only one
PhotoScore file can be open at a time.
Pages that have been read but not edited are shown with a * to the left
of the page name to remind you that any mistakes may not have been
corrected yet.
If a page name is drawn bold it means that that page is being displayed
on the right.
Clicking Remove on a selected page in the Pending Pages area
deletes that page from your hard disk. If you do the same in the Read
Pages area, PhotoScore keeps the page for a week before permanently
deleting it. The page is listed only when the output score it is attached to
is open. In this case, Keep is displayed instead of Remove and can be
clicked to prevent deletion. This can be useful if you remove one or
more pages but then discover or decide that more work is required on
the score.
What PhotoScore reads (printed music)
PhotoScore reads most musical markings, including:
24

Notes & chords (including stem direction, beams & flags), rests.
Ultimate version also reads grace and cross-staff notes.
Accidentals. Ultimate version also reads articulation marks
Clefs, key signatures, time signatures
Systems, 5-line staves (normal and small), 6-line guitar tablature
staves, standard barlines. Ultimate version also reads 4- and, 1-,2-,
3- and 5-line percussion staves, double and repeat barlines
The format of the page, including the page size, staff size, margins,
and where systems end
Ties. Ultimate version also reads slurs and hairpins. To switch
on/off slur, tie and hairpin reading, see Advanced features
Tuplets (Lite version simple triplets only). For PhotoScore to read
tuplets, Tuplets (includes advanced rhythm detection) must
be switched on (see Advanced features)
Ultimate version only:
Text including lyrics, dynamics, tempo, instrument names, title &
composer, guitar chords, and note fingering. More details on text
reading are in Advanced features
Guitar chord diagrams. To switch on/off guitar chord diagram
reading, see Advanced features
Various other markings such as codas, segnos, ornaments, pedal
markings and repeat endings, see Advanced features
PhotoScore will ignore less common markings, including some lines
such as 8va, special noteheads and tremolos.
All of these markings can be added back to the score in music programs
such as Sibelius.
What PhotoScore reads (handwritten music)
PhotoScore can read the following handwritten markings in scanned
music:
Notes & chords (including stem direction, beams & flags,
augmentation dots), rests
Accidentals
Key signatures
Time signatures are calculated from the music (not specifically read)
Systems, 5-line staves, barlines
25

Ties and slurs. To switch on/off tie and slur reading, see Advanced
features
The format of the page, including the page size, staff size, margins,
and where systems end

26

3. EDITING
As each page is read in the pages pane, PhotoScores interpretation of it
is added to a window called the output window on the right. Here you
can edit any mistakes that have been made.
Quick Editing Guide

To select an object click on it so that it turns a different color. To

change the selected note within a chord hold down Alt whilst using
the up/down cursor keys. To select a whole chord double-click in the
centre of one of its notes.
Notes can be dragged up and down with the mouse or up/down
cursor keys.
To add a note click a note-value on the keypad at the bottom right
of the window, then click on a staff to input the note at the pitch
where you click. The keypad button stays pressed down so you can
click more notes onto the staff. Input several notes, one above the
other, to make a chord. To stop creating notes, press Esc to
deselect all the keypad buttons. A note can quickly be added to an
existing chord by selecting the chord and double-clicking in the
desired position.
To edit notes: You can select a note and edit its stem-direction,
articulations, accidental, etc. just by choosing the relevant keypad
button. To edit a notes length, choose a note-value on the keypad.
A flag or beam can also be chosen in this way. Type the left/right
arrows to move between notes.
To add/edit rests: To add rests, do the same as for adding a note,
but also click on the bottom left rest button in the keypad to convert
the note to a rest. Rests can be edited in the same way as notes.
To see more exotic sets of symbols click the five buttons at the top
of the keypad.
To change the voice of a note or rest, click one of the buttons
marked 1 2 3 4 at the bottom of the keypad (only voices 1 and 2 in
Lite version). Individual notes within a chord may be split into
different voices, and chords in different voices may be joined into
single chords in this way.
To copy and paste you can use XC or Ctrl+C and XV or Ctrl+V
respectively (clicking where you want to paste), but its quicker to
27

duplicate an object in a single action by selecting it, pointing

somewhere else and clicking with the z or Alt key held down. Try
this with a note or some text. Multiple notes that belong to the same
staff can also be copied and pasted in one go.
To delete selected objects type Delete.
To edit guitar tablature notes: The fret number of a note can be
entered using the number keys.
To edit other objects: Most objects such as clefs, time signatures
and barlines can be changed by double- or right-clicking over them
to bring up an appropriate dialog box or menu.
To create other objects: You can create other objects (e.g. clefs,
time signatures) from the Create menu, which you can also get by
Ctrl- (Mac) or right- (Windows) clicking. Choose an object from the
menu, and then click on the score to create it.
To reposition/resize objects: Most objects can be moved around
the page by clicking and dragging. Some objects such as slurs and
hairpins can be resized in a similar manner by clicking and dragging
their left or right edges.
The top part of the window (with a slightly yellowish background) shows
you the original scanned page.
The large bottom part of the window (with a light-gray background)
shows PhotoScores interpretation of the scan - that is, what PhotoScore
thinks the original reads. The accuracy of PhotoScore's interpretation
depends on several factors such as the quality of the original print, the
scanner's resolution, etc. Hence this part of the window is where
PhotoScores mistakes can occur.
If you cannot see the top part of the window, this means PhotoScore
cannot locate the original scanned page (for example if it has been
deleted); the whole output window will have a white background instead.
At the top left of the window it says, for example, Page 1 of 7, and by
clicking on the arrows you can move through all of the pages that have
been read. It makes sense to edit the first page completely, then
advance to the second page and so on until the whole output score has
been edited. The magnifying glass icon zooms the page to fit the
window; 100 scales to 100%; 200 scales to 200%.
To the bottom right of the window is the keypad. This can be
repositioned using its title bar. It has two alternative layouts that can be
28

toggled by clicking the small double-arrow icon at its bottom right. One
presents all buttons on a single pane and is easier to use for most
beginners. The other is similar to Sibeliuss and corresponds to the
numeric keypad at the right of your computer keyboard. These keys can
be typed instead of using the mouse. You can choose several keys
together (but type the note-value first), e.g. type 4 . / to get a dotted
quarter-note (crotchet) with a tenuto and accent.
At the top right of the output window is a full-detail view of the original
scan that shows the region the mouse pointer is currently over. This can
be moved and resized like a normal window. Both this and the keypad
can be removed by un-checking the appropriate options in the View
menu.
There is a Create menu in the menu bar, which is similar to Sibeliuss
Create menu. Editing features not appropriate for PhotoScore have
been omitted.
What to correct
The minimum amount of correction recommended before transferring
the output score to another music program is to correct rhythmic and key
signature mistakes. Other mistakes such as pitch can usually be
corrected later. We recommend you work this way initially.
Once you are more proficient with PhotoScore, you can correct the
music completely in PhotoScore before sending it to another program.
The advantage of this is that you can spot errors by looking at the
scanned original on the screen instead of having to refer to it on paper.
Checking for mistakes
Check for mistakes by comparing the bottom part of the window with the
original scan at the top. The original scan display is continually updated
to show the region of the page the mouse is pointing at.
Avoid the temptation to compare the output page with the original music
on paper - it is almost always quicker to compare with the scan on the
screen.
Mouse and keys
Broadly speaking, you can:
select and move markings using the (left) mouse button
copy markings using z-click, Alt-click or clicking with the middle
mouse button.
29

create markings using the Create menu

delete markings with Delete
edit notes and rests using the keypad.
Selecting
To select a marking:
Point at the marking so that it is highlighted with a purple box
Click with the (left) mouse button - the marking goes blue if in voice
1, green if voice 2, orange if voice 3 or purple if voice 4.
It is also possible to move left and right to select different markings by
using the left and right arrow keys. Hold down Ctrl at the same time to
jump to the start of the current or next bar.
The purple box makes it easier to compare the top and bottom parts of
the output window, and also helps you select the intended marking when
the music is cramped.
Note that, in the bottom part of the window, only the staff where the
mouse cursor is currently located is highlighted in white. This staff
corresponds to the part of the scanned image displayed at the top of the
window.
Multiple selections
Note that you can select several markings at once by holding down the
(left) mouse button and dragging a box around the markings to be
selected. You can then edit or delete all the markings at once. If you
have selected several notes, you can also cut or copy and paste them.
This can save a lot of time. Alternatively you can select further individual
notes by holding down X or Ctrl, or a series of notes by holding down
Shift, and clicking.
Sibelius users

When Sibelius is installed, multiple markings can be selected in the

same way as in Sibelius by holding down X or Shift whilst clicking and
dragging over them.
It is also possible to select additional markings to the left and right by
holding down Shift whilst using the left and right arrow keys. Similarly
use xX or Ctrl+Shift to select up to the start or end of a bar.

30

Position of markings
PhotoScore positions markings wherever it sees (or thinks it sees) them
on the page. It does not attempt to re-layout the music. Hence
PhotoScore is quite happy for markings to overlap, or not to align. You
can click and drag most objects left and right if they do overlap.
Note that it is possible to tell PhotoScore to reformat the entire score
(not Lite version) see Reformatting and extracting parts in the
chapter AFTER PHOTOSCORING.
Re-reading a page
If you want to re-read a page, perhaps because you have adjusted the
recognition setting, double-click on the yellowish top part of the output
window to view the scan, then click on Read this page. You can also
choose where the resulting page is to end up in the output score by
clicking the small arrow immediately to the right of Read this page and
then choosing one of the options available.
Re-scanning a page
If you want to re-scan a page after reading it - perhaps if inadequate
scanner settings were used - double-click on the yellowish top part of the
output window to obtain the scan, then click on Re-scan. After
scanning, click Read this page at the top of the window to re-read it.
Deleting a page
Selecting Edit>Delete page from the menu removes the currently
displayed page from the output score, which is useful if you accidentally
scanned the same page twice.
Dont use this if you want to re-scan the page, as PhotoScore adds
newly scanned pages to the end of the output score rather than inserting
them in the middle. Instead, see Re-scanning a page (above).

EDITING RHYTHM & KEY SIGNATURES

Rhythm is the main source of errors because rhythms are harder to read
than pitch.
Sibelius users

Unlike Sibelius, PhotoScore does not pad out bars with rests to make
sure they always add up because it is not always obvious from which
part of a bar the rhythm is missing.
31

Note that when you insert musical objects into a staff no extra space
appears for them, so the spacing may get a bit cramped Dont worry
about this, as the music is re-spaced when it is sent to Sibelius.
If the View>Bad Timing menu item is ticked, any bar that apparently
has too few or too many notes in any voice is drawn with horizontal red
dashed lines above and below it and PhotoScore writes, in a color
appropriate to the voice, how much rhythm is missing or in excess. For
instance, if a bar appears to have an extra quarter-note (crotchet) plus a
sixteenth-note (semiquaver), PhotoScore will write a + followed by a
picture of a quarter-note (crotchet) and a sixteenth-note (semiquaver).
Conversely, if the bar is apparently a half-note (minim) short, it will write
a - followed by a picture of a half-note (minim). A notehead with a
small 3 or 4 above it denotes a 1/32nd-note (demisemiquaver) or 1/64thnote.
A vertical red dashed line is drawn at the end of a staff if the end barline
is missing (whether intentionally or not). Unless a bar is split over staves,
barlines must be added to mark the end of the bar. If a bar is split over
staves, any rhythm warnings are only displayed on the latter staff.
The procedure to use when correcting rhythm is to first check that the
correct time signature is set. Then look at each bar highlighted with
horizontal red dashed lines, and correct the rhythm in each bar until the
red lines disappear. Once there are no horizontal red dashed lines left
on a page, you can be confident that it is rhythmically correct.
The bad timing navigator (not Lite version)
To help you locate and navigate to bars with bad timing within a score,
PhotoScore Ultimate provides a navigator that lists them. By default, the
bad timing navigator is located in the bottom-left of the PhotoScore
window and is displayed whenever a score is open. It can be
repositioned by clicking and dragging its title bar. If you cannot see the
navigator, click View>Bad Timing Navigator.
Clicking on each entry listed in the navigator will take you straight to that
bar in the score. When an entry is selected in the navigator, it is
highlighted in red and the red dashed lines above and below the bar in
the score become solid. If there are no bars in the score with bad
timing, the message No bad timing found is displayed.

32

Initial time signature

If there is no time signature at the start of the first output page
PhotoScore will assume a time signature of 4/4. So, if this is incorrect,
the first thing you should do is input an initial time signature.
To do this, point over the output page and Ctrl-click (Mac) or right-click
(Windows) (this displays the same menu as clicking on Create) and
choose a time signature from the dialog box opened by clicking on Time
signature. Common time signatures can be chosen, or you can create
your own.
Insert the time signature at the start of the score by carefully positioning
the blue pointer after the initial clef. If you get a purple box instead of a
dark blue line, the pointer is over a marking and you will not be able to
insert the time signature.
The same principle applies when placing any other marking - you can
only position markings where the dark blue vertical line appears. If you
get a purple box, the highlighted marking will be replaced with the new
one (unless there are two different types of marking involved, in which
case nothing will happen).
If Tuplets (includes advanced rhythm detection) (see Advanced
Features) is switched on, you may find a red time signature placed at
the start of the page. This is nothing to be alarmed about as it only
shows that PhotoScore could not find one on the page during reading,
and so guessed it. This can be edited or deleted just like any other time
signature.
Pick-up (upbeat) / irregular bars
Scores often start with a short bar, known as a pick-up bar (upbeat
bar) or anacrusis. Such irregular bars which do not add up to the time
signature need special consideration. It is necessary to insert two hidden
time signatures (there is a Hide check box in the Time signature
dialog). The first should be inserted at the beginning of the irregular bar
and should be of a value which matches the length of that bar. The
second should be the same value as the original time signature and
should be placed at the beginning of the following bar, so that timing
returns to normal.
Key signatures / transposing instruments
Make key signatures from the Create menu. The normal behavior is for
PhotoScore to create individual key signatures for each staff. If you wish
to create key signatures for all staves in a system (for example if there
33

are no transposing instruments), hold down X or Ctrl when placing

them. Likewise, deleting in the usual way will remove individual key
signatures from a staff, whereas holding down X or Ctrl when deleting
will remove all key signatures from a system. You should always make
sure that there is a key signature on every staff in a system (or none on
any ) when adding or changing multiple key signatures at the same time
- otherwise other key signatures may be affected or duplicated.
Sibelius users

Beware that if a key signature has the correct number of sharps/flats on

one system but the wrong number on the next one, and you do not
correct it, the start of the latter system will be regarded as a key change
when the music is sent to Sibelius.
Sibelius v2 or higher users: When transferring a transposing score to
Sibelius, ensure that This is a transposing score is checked in
Sibeliuss Open PhotoScore file dialog.
Altering note-values
To alter a note-value, simply select the note or rest in question, and then
use the keypad.
If several notes have the wrong note-value, bear in mind that you can
drag a selection box around them to select them all, and then correct
them all with a single key-stroke.
Inserting notes/rests
To insert a note somewhere, use the keypad. Alternatively, select
another note or rest of the same value and copy it where you want it to
go with z-click or Alt-click.
If PhotoScore has overlooked a note/rest when reading the music, it will
just leave a gap. You can correct this by simply copying a note/rest into
this gap.
If you wish to quickly add a note to an existing chord, select the chord
and then double-click where you would like the new note to be added.
Deleting notes/rests
PhotoScore may sometimes mistake some other marking for a note or
rest, leaving you with an extra note or rest in a bar. To remove the
note/rest, simply select it and press Delete. You can select several
notes/rests for deletion by dragging a selection box around them first.
34

Because PhotoScore does not attempt to pad out bars with rests,
deleting a note simply removes it rather than turning it into a rest. You
can explicitly turn a note into a rest by using the keypad if you like.
Sibelius users

Unlike Sibelius, deleting a rest will not leave an invisible rest in its place,
so you neednt worry about leaving invisible rests lying about.
Attachment
In the same way that the current staff is highlighted in white, when
creating or copying a marking, the staff that the marking will be attached
to is highlighted in white.
So when placing a note or other marking in between two staves, first
move the mouse up or down until the intended staff is highlighted, then
click.
Inserting barlines
Sometimes a bar will not add up because PhotoScore has overlooked a
barline, thus producing a double-length bar. To correct this, simply
select a barline from elsewhere on the page, and copy it into the gap
where the barline should be with z-click or Alt-click. Alternatively you
can Control-click (Mac) or right-click and select a barline from the
menu that appears.
Two or more voices
When music is in two or more voices, PhotoScore marks each
note/chord/rest with an appropriate color (blue, green, orange or purple
for voices 1 through 4). In the example below, the top notes are colored
blue (voice 1) and the bottom ones are green (voice 2).

To change the voicing of a selected note/chord/rest, press z1 or Alt+1

to put it into the first voice, z2 or Alt+2 to put it into the second voice,
z3 or Alt+3 for the third voice or z4 or Alt+4 for the fourth voice.
Alternatively you can use the keypad.
PhotoScore shows rhythmic mistakes for each voice independently in an
appropriate color for the voice at the end of the bar. Take care, when
35

correcting any rhythmic mistakes, that all voices end up with the correct
number of beats in a bar.
A common source of rhythmic errors is simply that one or more notes
are in the wrong voice. PhotoScore may assume that a bar with stems
both up and down is in two voices, when in fact it is only in one. You can
correct this by dragging a selection box over all the notes so they are
highlighted, then typing z1 or Alt-1 to put the notes into a single voice.
Grace-notes and cue notes
PhotoScore will often correctly recognize grace notes; however, it
assumes that they are cue notes and will therefore include them in the
rhythm of the bar.
Because of this, you are recommended to delete any grace-notes and
re-input them in a separate music program; otherwise bars with gracenotes in will end up with the wrong number of beats.
Cue-notes, however, do contribute to the rhythm in a bar, so you can
leave these in.
Editing hints
If you make a mistake (e.g. by deleting the wrong marking) you can
undo this action by pressing XZ or Ctrl+Z. You can reverse an undo
(called redo) by pressing XY or Ctrl+Y. PhotoScore remembers, and
thus you can undo, up to the last hundred editing actions performed.
When you are proficient with editing rhythms, you can save time by not
bothering to fill in any rests that may be missing from the ends of bars.
This is because when a MIDI file is saved, or a score is sent to Sibelius,
any bars that are too short (according to the prevailing time signature)
will be automatically padded out with rests for you.
If you are PhotoScoring a long score, it is recommended for safety
reasons that you save your score to disk after editing each page.

EDITING OTHER MARKINGS

As mentioned earlier; you may want to edit other markings in another
music program rather than PhotoScore, particularly while you are still
learning to use PhotoScore. Therefore, if you like, you can skip this
section for the time being.

36

Copying markings
To copy a marking, simply select it, point elsewhere and click with z or
Alt held down. You can copy almost any type of marking.
Deleting markings
To delete any marking, simply select it and press Delete. Hold down X
or Ctrl when deleting key signatures to remove all of them from a
system.
Accidentals and articulation marks
These can be applied to the selected note using the keypad.
Barlines
You can correct an incorrectly recognized barline by double- or rightclicking over it and selecting the correct one from the menu that
appears. You can create special barlines from the Create menu.
Beams
You can alter the beaming of notes using the keypad.
Clefs
In general it is not assumed that an instrument retains the same clef
throughout a score, so the clef at the start of a staff can be wrong even if
it was correct on the previous staff. Should this occur, it is easily
corrected simply by double- or right-clicking over the faulty clef and
selecting the correct one from the dialog box that appears. Correcting a
clef to a percussion clef will correct every clef on the currently displayed
page for that instrument. The Clef dialog box can also be accessed
from the Create menu.
To insert a clef change in the middle of a staff, you can select and copy
the desired clef and paste it where you want the clef change.
PhotoScore will automatically draw it at the smaller size.
If you are rewriting music for an instrument that uses a different clef,
check Rewrite notes in the Clef dialog box to change all clefs for that
instrument and adjust the positions of all notes on its staves accordingly.
Codas and Segnos (not Lite version)
You can create codas and segnos from the Create>Symbol submenu.
If a note or rest is not already selected, you must now click on a note or
rest to place it. A dialog box then appears, and you should type any text
37

to be associated with the coda or segno and click OK. Leave the text
blank to create the sign alone.
To edit the text of an existing coda or segno, double- or right-click over it
so that the same dialog box as used when creating a coda or segno
appears. Enter the text and click OK.
When a coda or segno is selected (and Attachment is ticked in the
View menu), a dotted line is drawn between the coda or segno and the
note it is attached to. PhotoScore automatically reattaches codas and
segnos to the nearest note when they are added, dragged or when a
note is deleted.
It is possible to create a gap in a system (to mark a separate coda
section) by adding a coda barline from Create>Barline. The gap will
be from the previous barline.
Cross-staff notes (not Lite version)
To move a note to the staff above or below whilst keeping it as part of
the timing of its current staff, select it and choose one of the options from
the Notes>Cross-Staff Notes submenu.
Because the staff it is moved to does not contain the timing of that note
(it remains as part of the original staff) you may need to add invisible
rests to make the bars timing add up (invisible rests pad out a bars
timing but are not printed). To do this, insert a rest at the appropriate
position. Then select it and choose Notes>Hide or Show Rests so
that it turns grey to show it is invisible.
Fingering (not Lite version)
You can create note fingering from the Create>Text submenu.
A dialog appears allowing you to enter up to five fingering values from
dropdown boxes.
Click OK to place the marking in the score. If a note is not already
selected, you must click on a note to place it. This marking can be
repositioned by clicking it and dragging with the mouse, and can be
edited by double- or right-clicking over it.
Guitar Chord Diagrams & Symbols (not Lite version)
You can create guitar chord diagrams and symbols from the Create
menu and the Create>Text submenu.
A dialog appears allowing you to add/edit the chord symbol text in the
top half and the diagram in the bottom half. Please note that PhotoScore
38

does not synchronize the symbol and the diagram, so it is possible to

create a diagram and symbol combination that does not make sense.
If Show chord symbol is checked, then you can choose the chord,
type and bass components of the symbol from the drop-down menus.
If Show chord diagram is checked, it is possible to click on the
appropriate strings and frets in the diagram to add finger position
markings. Click at the top of a string to alternate between open string
and silent. Click the arrows to the right of the diagram to adjust the
starting fret.
Click OK to place the marking in the score. If a note or rest is not already
selected, you must now click on a note or rest to place it. This marking
can be repositioned by clicking it and dragging with the mouse, and can
be edited by double- or right-clicking over it.
Instrument names
If the instrument names of the staves in each system are not written or
have not been read correctly, you can and should edit them to the
names of the actual instruments used in the score:
1 Locate the area to the left of any stave, where the instrument name
should be written, and double-click to open a dialog box.
2 Go through each instrument in the list, selecting it, clicking
Rename and choosing the new name from the list of standard
instruments, or entering it manually.
If some systems in the original have staves missing, or if new
instruments or staves are introduced after the first system (e.g. where
strings divide), see Advanced features.
Multirests
You can create multirests from the Create>Bar Rest submenu.
Choose the number of bars you want the multirest to last for and click
OK to place the marking. Drag it horizontally to adjust its size.
Ornaments (not Lite version)
You can create ornaments (trills, mordents and turns) from the
Create>Symbol submenu. If a note or rest is not already selected, you
must now click on a note or rest to place it. This marking can be
repositioned by clicking it and dragging with the mouse, and can be
edited by double- or right-clicking over it.

39

Pedal markings (not Lite version)

You can create pedal on and off markings from the Create>Symbol
submenu. If a note or rest is not already selected, you must now click on
a note or rest to place it. This marking can be repositioned by clicking it
and dragging with the mouse, and can be edited by double- or rightclicking over it.
Pitch
You can correct pitches by dragging notes up and down, or by typing the
up/down arrow keys. We recommend using the arrow keys where
possible, as the mouse can be more difficult to accurately position notes
with.
If a chord has a notehead missing, select the chord and double-click
where you want to add it. Alternatively select another notehead in the
same chord and copy it with z-click or Alt-click to where you want to
add it.
Note that you cant alter the vertical position of rests, but this is a fairly
rare requirement anyway. You can always adjust their position later on
in another music program if necessary.
Repeat endings (not Lite version)
You can create repeat endings using the Create>Line>Repeat
Ending menu item. If a note or rest is not already selected, you must
now click on a note or rest to place it. A dialog box then appears, and
you should type the repeat ending number and click OK.
To edit the repeat ending number, double- or right-click over it so that
the same dialog box as used when creating a repeat ending appears.
Enter the number and click OK.
Click and drag at the left-hand side of a repeat ending marking to move
it to a different bar. To edit the number of bars it covers move the cursor
just to the right of its left-hand side so that the cursor becomes a
horizontal line with arrows at each end and then click and drag left or
right.
Slurs / hairpins (not Lite version) / ties
Make slurs using the Line submenu found in the Create menu. After
selecting the position of the slur, if a note is not already selected, you
must click on a note to place it. Selecting multiple notes in a passage
before creating a slur causes a slur to be created for the length of the
selection. The start and end position of a slur can be adjusted by clicking
40

near the ends of the slur and dragging with the mouse. The curvature
can be adjusted by clicking and dragging near the centre of the slur.
Make hairpins using the Line submenu found in the Create menu.
After selecting the direction of the hairpin, if a note is not already
selected, you must click on a note to place it. The start and end position
of a hairpin can be adjusted by clicking near the ends of the hairpin and
dragging with the mouse.
When a hairpin is selected (and Attachment is ticked in the View
menu), a dotted line is drawn between the hairpin and the note it is
attached to. PhotoScore automatically reattaches hairpins to the closest
notes when they are added, dragged or when a note is deleted.
Add/remove ties by selecting the appropriate start note and using the
keypad. The curvature can be adjusted by clicking and dragging near
the centre of the tie.
Text (Lite version tempo text only)
You can create text from the Create menu. The top half of the Text
submenu contains text types that can be attached to notes or rests (staff
text). The bottom half contains types that can be attached directly to the
page (page text). Select the text type to be placed. If you are adding
staff text and a note or rest is not already selected, you must now click
on a note or rest to place it. A dialog box then appears into which you
can type the text.
To edit existing text, double- or right-click over it so that a dialog box
appears. The top part of it allows you to change the style of the text
(between say, Lyrics and Expression). The middle part allows you to
edit the text itself, and the bottom part shows you what effect this text
will have on saved MIDI files and playback. If you would like the text to
contain a note symbol (e.g. for a metronome mark), click one of the
buttons next to Symbols:. It is also possible to choose whether the text
should be bold, italic, underlined, or hidden (hidden text is displayed in
grey and does not appear in printouts). Then click OK.
If you wish to edit many occurrences of the same text, you can choose
Edit>Find and Replace or type XF or Ctrl+F (not Lite version).
Under Find what in the dialog box that appears, type the text that
PhotoScore should search for and, if necessary, choose a specific style
(e.g. lyrics) from the drop-down menu. If you would like PhotoScore to
only search for text written in the same case or for whole words only,
check Match case or Find whole words only. Under Replace
41

with, type the replacement text and select the replacement style or
choose Keep existing. Then click Find next to find each occurrence
of the mistake, Replace to correct the currently selected one, or
Replace all to replace every occurrence in one go.

When text that is attached to notes or rests is selected (and

Attachment is ticked in the View menu), a dotted line is drawn
between the text and the note it is attached to. PhotoScore
automatically reattaches text to the nearest note when it is added,
dragged or when a note is deleted.
More details on text reading can be found in Advanced features.
Triplets and tuplets (Lite version triplets only)
Before creating a tuplet, the duration of the first note to be included
needs to be set equal to the unit length of the tuplet. For example, the
unit length of a triplet lasting the duration of a half-note (minim) is one
quarter-note (crotchet) and the unit length of a duplet lasting a dotted
quarter-note is one eighth-note (quaver). If you wish the duration of the
first note to be different from the unit length, you must change its length
after the tuplet has been created. To create the tuplet, either
1) Click on the first note to be in the tuplet and type Xn or Ctrl+n
where n is the number displayed over the notes, or
2) Choose Tuplet from the Create menu. You can then either enter a
single number, or a ratio in the form n:p, where n notes are played in the
time of p. You can also choose whether a bracket should be displayed,
plus adjust the brackets on all tuplets in a score and in future scores. In
the output window, if the tuplet ratio is not 'standard', the ratio will be
written instead of a solitary number.
It is also possible to click and drag tuplets to alter their vertical position.

42

READING HANDWRITTEN MUSIC

(Ultimate version only)

This chapter describes PhotoScores handwritten music recognition for

scores that have been scanned into it. If you would like to handwrite
music onto a touchscreen device with a stylus or finger, please refer to
the NotateMe user guide which can be opened from the Help menu.
A wide range of handwriting styles are supported and there is no need to
describe to PhotoScore the style of handwriting being scanned. Once
you have finished editing the output score, quickly and easily reformat it
for publishing by using PhotoScores Rescore feature (see
Reformatting and extracting parts in the chapter AFTER
PHOTOSCORING).
Important: Ensure Read as Handwritten Music is selected in the
pages pane (see chapter 2. READING) or PhotoScore preferences (see
chapter ADVANCED FEATURES).
Capabilities
Currently PhotoScore is capable of reading the following handwritten
musical symbols:
Notes & chords (including stem direction, beams & flags)
Rests, augmentation dots (single and double)
Sharps, flats, and naturals
Key signatures
Slurs and ties
Barlines, 5-line staves, systems of staves
The format of the page, including the page size, staff size, margins,
and where systems end
Clefs and time signatures are not read but calculated from the music and
automatically added by PhotoScore. Systems of staves can be read so
long as the linking barline at the beginning of each line of music has
been drawn. Tuplets/triplets are not read but are calculated from the
music and automatically added by PhotoScore. They can also be
manually added after the score has been read (see chapter 3.
EDITING).

43

Scanning
Best results are obtained from a clear, well-contrasted, 8-bit grayscale
scan. If you find that a page, once scanned into PhotoScore, appears
overly black or smudgy, or that the lines are thin and broken you can try
scanning in 1-bit black & white and adjusting your scanners brightness,
contrast and black-to-white threshold settings manually. We recommend
that you scan at a resolution of 300dpi. Once you have gained
experience with PhotoScore, you may find better results at other
resolutions but for most music 300dpi is ideal.

44

AFTER PHOTOSCORING
Once you have scanned the score in, and the pages have been read
and edited, you can reformat it, extract parts, transpose, print, playback
and/or save the music for use in other music programs. In addition you
can send the music directly to Sibelius and even create files suitable for
burning to an audio CD.
Reformatting and extracting parts (not Lite version)
Important: All bad timing errors must be corrected before using either
of these features (for instructions on how to do this, see Editing rhythm
and key signatures in chapter 3. EDITING). We also recommend
correcting any other errors first as these features create a new score
that is not attached to the pages it was originally scanned from.
When creating the output score, PhotoScore automatically keeps to the
format of the scanned pages. If the original score was poorly laid out
(e.g. with notes or staves squashed together) or was written by hand,
you can quickly improve the formatting by choosing Notes>Rescore
and clicking OK to the Rescore dialog box that appears. You will then
be given the opportunity to save the score with its original formatting (if
necessary) before the newly-formatted copy is created.
If you wish to reformat the score for a different page size or change it
from portrait to landscape or vice-versa, choose from the options under
Page size before clicking OK.
The Rescore dialog box can also be used to remove instrumental or
vocal parts from the score. This is useful when you need to create solo
parts from a full score. Alternatively, you may wish PhotoScore to
provide an accompaniment (see Playing below) while you practice your
own part.
To remove one or more staves from the score, click on their names in
the list of Staves and voices to include so that they are no longer
selected and highlighted in blue. Click on a staff name again to include
it once more. After clicking OK you are given the opportunity to save the
full score (if necessary). PhotoScore then creates a new score,
automatically reformatted to remove any gaps left by the removed
staves.
It is also possible to remove voices from one or more staves. To do this,
click on the number of each voice next to the name of the staff it is on.
Click in the same place again to add one back in.
45

If you would like to change the vertical position of a staff in the score
(e.g. if youve changed the instrument it is to be performed by), use the
Up and Down arrow keys to change which staff in the list is highlighted
by the dotted outline. Then use the arrow buttons running down the left
hand side of the dialog box to move that staff up or down. Alternatively,
click on the staff name to highlight it with the dotted outline, reposition
the staff with the arrow buttons and then click on its name again to select
it.
Transposing
To transpose the score or an individual instrument, for example to bring
it within an easier-to-play/sing range, choose Notes>Transpose.
First select Whole Score or the instrument you want to transpose from
the top box. Then set the interval by which you want to transpose by
clicking Up or Down, and then choose the main interval from the righthand box.
In the left-hand box, Major/Perfect leaves the main interval unaltered,
Augmented adds a half-step (semitone), Minor/Diminished
subtracts a half-step.
Select Transpose key signatures if you wish the key signatures to be
transposed. This usually has the effect of reducing the number of
accidentals added to notes.
Printing (not Lite version)
You can print one or more pages of the output by choosing
File>Print. You will be presented with a standard Windows or Mac
OS X print dialog which you should use in the normal way.
Playing
You can have the PhotoScored music played back to you. Your
computer will need a MIDI device (a component of most modern sound
cards) and relevant drivers installed to make use of this feature.
Display the page where you would like playback to commence. To play
from the beginning of the page, ensure that nothing is selected by
clicking on an area of the page with no notation, or by pressing Escape.
Then click the green triangular play button in the top-left corner of the
output score or choose Play/Pause from the Play menu or type Space.
Do the same again to pause playback (the play button will have become
a pause button) and once more to continue. Click on the blue stop
46

button next to the play button or choose Play>Stop or type Escape to

stop the music altogether.
While the music is playing, the currently played bar will be highlighted in
dark gray. PhotoScore will display consecutive pages as it plays through
them. When playback is paused, the bar that PhotoScore has reached
will remain highlighted.
To play from a particular position on a page, select a note or rest in the
bar that you would like playback to start from. PhotoScore will then
commence from the start of that bar. To play back one or more
instruments without the others, uncheck Always play whole system
in PhotoScores Advanced preferences (see PhotoScore Preferences
in the chapter ADVANCED FEATURES) and select notation in each
staff belonging to those instruments. Playback will begin from the start
of the first bar containing a selection.
Within the same preferences, check Ignore repeats if you would like
PhotoScore to ignore all repeat signs during playback.
Depending on the Espressivo, Swing and Reverb settings under the
Play menu, the playback will vary slightly (not Lite version). Refer to
their descriptions in Saving MIDI files later in this chapter.
To give a staff a different instrument sound, change its name by doubleclicking to the left of it and choosing Rename from the dialog box.
To alter the tempo or dynamics add Tempo or Expression text from
the Create menu to the note on the score where you would like the
effect to begin (see Text in chapter 3. EDITING). If PhotoScore couldnt
find a tempo marking during reading, it will have automatically added
one in red to the beginning of the score. Double- or right-click on it to
change it to the desired tempo.
Note: If you have more than one MIDI device the default will be used,
but this can be changed from the System Preferences (Mac) or Control
Panel (Windows). PhotoScore for Windows offers a shortcut Computer
audio properties button in the General pane of the preferences
dialog.
Saving
If PhotoScore is set to read pages automatically after scanning/opening
or if one or more files are opened by dragging and dropping them onto
PhotoScore, each new score is saved automatically. Edits subsequently
made to the score are also autosaved.
47

To save an autosaved score to a location of your choice, click

File>Save As (see Saving PhotoScore (.opt) files below). After
doing this, further edits will no longer be autosaved but can be saved by
clicking the Save button at the top of the output window.
You can also choose a different file type/format to save the score in, by
selecting a choice from the pop-up menu/combo box at the bottom of the
dialog box. Note that some formats store less information about the
scanned score than others (e.g. MIDI does not store specific slur,
articulation-mark, note-stem or beam-direction information). Also note
that not all music programs are able to open all the file formats listed.
Once saved, you can run your favorite music program, load the
PhotoScored music and use it like any other.
Sibelius users

To send your score to Sibelius, simply click the Send to Sibelius

button next to Save at the top of the output window to launch Sibelius.
Within Sibelius, a dialog will open asking you to choose instruments
(Sibelius v3 and higher only) and the page size. After a second or two,
the music will pop up in another window as a Sibelius document.
Once the music is in Sibelius you can do anything you like to it, just as if
you had inputted it yourself.
Note: Versions of Sibelius earlier than v5 cannot import all of the
musical information from PhotoScore 7 files. Here is a table to
summarize (details listed in successive versions are not repeated):

v1 and v2 cannot read files produced by PhotoScore 7 you should

use an earlier version of PhotoScore.

v3.0 to v3.x will not read percussion staves or scores containing

more than 2 voices. Later versions import files more accurately.

v4.0 to v4.x will not read codas, segnos, ornaments, pedal markings,
repeat endings, fermatas on rests or cross-staff notes.

Saving PhotoScore (.opt) files

PhotoScores native file format (designed to store all scanned notation
information) has the .opt Windows file extension.
Currently only PhotoScore and Sibelius can read this format. It is
recommended that you save longer works regularly in this format in the
unlikely event of a software or power failure.
48

You can open a PhotoScore file in PhotoScore by using the Open

dialog box.
Sibelius users

Scanned music files can be imported into Sibelius by opening them from
the standard Open dialog box.
If you have Sibelius version 3 or 4 installed (versions 1 and 2 will not
work with PhotoScore 7) you may find that it refuses to open files made
from PhotoScore 7. In this case you should find an additional file type in
the type/format drop-down box which allows PhotoScore files to be
saved in an older format that these versions of Sibelius can open.
Saving MusicXML & NIFF files
Save MusicXML and NIFF files if you want to open PhotoScores output
in a notation product other than Sibelius, for example Finale. Finale 2006
can open MusicXML files from the File menu. In Finale 2003 to 2005 use
the Dolet Light plug-in to open MusicXML files.
Please check www.neuratron.com/fileformats.htm for the latest
information including which programs open these file formats.
Saving PDF files
Save PDF copies of your scores to share them with others who do not
own a music notation program, or to view them on other computers and
mobile devices that do not have music notation software installed.
Saving MIDI files
MIDI files were developed to store musical playback information, as
opposed to printed notation, and as a result have a few limitations when
it comes to storing scanned music. However, they are still very useful
since virtually every music-editing product can read this type of file.
Two options are available when saving a MIDI file: When Optimize
for playback is checked in the save dialog, the file is saved with
repeats and expression, swing, or reverb if selected for playback (not
Lite version). Check Create a track for each voice if you need to
separate voices into different MIDI tracks (not Lite version).
Please observe the following when saving MIDI files:
If the MIDI file is to be imported into a music notation program,
Optimize for playback should be turned off to improve accuracy.
Otherwise it should be left on, as it improves the realism of
playback.
49

Note-stem and beam-direction, end-of-stave & page positioning,

staff size, and multiple-voice-per-staff separation cannot be stored.
If a file is to end up in a separate music program, then the final
results are dependent on how that program interprets the music.
Musical features such as slurs, clef changes, rests, articulation
marks, dotted notes, tuplets, dynamics, expression markings and
ties also cannot be stored as objects in a MIDI file. However, if they
are present PhotoScore will emulate them for playback. To clarify: If
the MIDI file is played back from a MIDI editing/playback program,
the features should be heard, but the features will not necessarily be
present if opened and displayed in a music notation program.
Although features such as time signatures, key signatures, and text
(like lyrics and title, but not dynamics as these are used to emulate
changes in playback volume) are saved in a MIDI file, not all music
programs will necessarily use or display them. You may find there is
an option in your music program to ignore or make use of such
information.
Instruments allocated to each staff are stored according to the
General MIDI standard. To give a staff a different instrument sound,
change its name by double-clicking to the left of it and choosing
Rename from the dialog box. PhotoScore intelligently chooses
the correct MIDI instrument.
(not Lite version) The file will be saved with expression for more
human playback, dependant on the current selection from the
Espressivo menu (under the Play menu). There are five different
degrees of expression for different styles of music:
Meccanico ('mechanical') plays the score absolutely literally, with
no dynamics or articulations except where marked.
Senza espress. ('without expression') adds only tiny fluctuations of
volume and slight accents at the start of bars and note-groups, with
no overall dynamic changes.
Poco espress. ('slight expression') has slight dynamics following
the contour of the music. Suitable for a fast, fairly mechanical style
(such as Baroque music).
Espressivo is the default option, with more dynamics added.
Molto espress. ('lots of expression') produces lots of expression,
which can be over the top for some kinds of music. It works well for
50

large groups of instruments, where it helps to separate the different

lines.
These effects may only be noticeable when the file is played back
from a MIDI editing/playback package.
(not Lite version) If selected from the Play menu, the file will be
saved with swing a jazz convention in which two notated eighths
(quavers) are performed approximately as a triplet quarter-note plus
eighth-note (triplet crotchet plus quaver). The various swing options
are:
None i.e. no swing.
Light / Standard / Heavy for a small amount to almost triplets.
Notes Ingales triplet quarter-note plus eighth-note (crotchet
plus quaver), used in some early music.
Dotted Eighths (quavers) rarely used.
(not Lite version) If selected from the Play menu, reverb (similar
effect to the echo you hear in a room) is added to playback. This
can be set to various presets between Dead and Cathedral, or a
percentage can be entered. Note that this feature will only work on
devices that respond to and recognize standard general MIDI reverb
messages.
(not Lite version) PhotoScore also plays back appoggiaturas, or
grace notes. As these do not fit the regular timing of a bar, they are
played for around half the duration indicated, and the timing is taken
from the following note. If you hear strange effects or notes hanging
on, try shortening the notes to a quaver or less. If they are played
back with a normal notes duration they are probably cue notes; you
can easily change them to appoggiaturas using the keypad see
chapter 3. EDITING.
Saving Wave & AIFF files (not Lite version)
Windows users
This feature requires Windows 98 or later and a full-duplex
soundcard most modern soundcards are adequate. DirectX 8.1 or
later must also be installed the latest version should be available
from Microsofts web site.
Save AIFF (Mac) or Wave (Windows) files if you want to burn your
music to audio CD or convert it to MP3 format (e.g. for playback on a
portable digital music player). Wave and AIFF files (with the file
51

extensions .wav and .aif) store music in a similar way to CDs and as
such retain no information regarding musical structure. The advantage
gained is that these files sound the same (allowing for speaker
differences etc) no matter what software or hardware they are played
back from. The quality of the output depends on the quality of your MIDI
device - PhotoScore effectively plays back your scanned music as MIDI
and records it at the same time (although you cannot hear the music).
Saving a Wave or AIFF file typically takes about the same amount of
time as playing back the entire score from PhotoScore.
Burning to audio CD (not Lite version)
Macintosh users
It is possible to burn audio CDs using iTunes, available from Apple.
The following instructions should work if using version 12:
Click File>New>Playlist and type a suitable name for your CD.
Ensure the name you typed is highlighted on the left side of the
iTunes window by clicking on it if necessary.
Click and drag your saved AIFF files from Finder onto the right-hand
side of the window.
Insert a blank CD-R or CD-RW into your recordable CD drive.
Click File>Burn Playlist to Disc.
Windows users

It is possible to burn audio CDs using Windows Media Player,

available from Microsoft. The following instructions should work if
using version 12:
Click on the Burn tab on the top bar
Click and drag your saved Wave files from Explorer onto the Burn
List on the right-hand side of the window.
Insert a blank CD-R or CD-RW into your recordable CD drive.
Click Start Burn and wait while your CD is created.
Converting to MP3 (not Lite version)
Macintosh users
It is possible to convert AIFF files to MP3 format using iTunes,
available from Apple. The following instructions should work if using
version 12:
52

Click on iTunes>Preferences, click on the General tab, and then

on the Import Settings button.
Select MP3 Encoder in the Import Using... drop-down menu and
choose a desired quality level from the Setting drop-down menu. (It
will not be necessary to repeat this step for future conversions
unless a different encoder has been selected.)
Click and drag your saved AIFF files from Finder onto the right-hand
side of the window.
Select the files you wish to convert and then click File>Create
New Version>Create MP3 Version.
Select one of the songs you have converted and click File>Show
Song File to display it in Finder. From here you should be able to
copy and use the file as you need.
Windows users

Unless you already own third party software for encoding MP3 files,
we recommend the use of LAME, a free open source MP3 encoder
from www.mp3-tech.org. Please note that Neuratron Ltd accepts no
responsibility for the use of this software or for any consequences
that may arise from the use of it.
Saving files containing rhythmic mistakes
If you save a file containing bars that dont add up, bars that are too
short will be lengthened, and those that are too long will be shortened.
To do this, the lengths of the bars are compared with the prevailing time
signature. If a bar is too short, rests are simply inserted at the end. If a
bar is too long, it is shortened by omitting one or more notes/rests at the
end of the bar.
Although the lengths of the bars are adjusted like this, you are strongly
advised to correct faulty rhythms in PhotoScore in the first place rather
than trying to fix them in another music program afterwards, as it will
save you extra work.
Saving page and system format
Sibelius users
Sibelius uses Make Into System and Make Into Page
(Layout>Format submenu) to ensure that the format of the music is
the same as the original. However, if the notes seem uncomfortably
close together or far apart in the end result, try changing the staff size in
53

the Layout>Document Setup dialog box. Alternatively, if you dont

need the format of the music to match the original, select the whole
score (XA or Ctrl+A) and unlock the format (xXU or Ctrl+Shift+U).
Saving multi-staff instruments
Sibelius users
PhotoScore treats all staves as separate instruments. This means that
multi-staff instruments such as keyboards will be sent to Sibelius as two
separately-named staves without a brace.
For many purposes you dont need names to appear anyway, so you
may just want to alter the House Style setting of the score to switch
them off.
Alternatively, if you want to brace two keyboard staves together and give
them a single name, the easiest way to do it is to create another
keyboard in Sibelius (e.g. Piano), copy the music from the un-braced
keyboard onto the new braced one (using two staff passages), then
delete the un-braced keyboard.
The same procedure applies for multi-staff instruments such as Flutes
1+2, if you want them to be written as two sub-bracketed staves with a
single name.
If your original contains instruments that have a different number of
staves on different systems - e.g. strings that are sometimes divisi - then
see Advanced features.
Saving Bitmap (.bmp) and TIFF files
You may wish to save your original scanned page from PhotoScore, for
example to print copies, or to email to another person for proof reading
alongside the PhotoScored output:
If the pages pane is not currently visible, select View>Toggle
Pages Pane.
Move the mouse over the page name in the pages pane that you
wish to save so that you see a thumbnail of the page.
Click on the thumbnail or double-click on the page name to display
the original page in a window to the right.
Click File>Save As and enter the filename and path you wish to
save to and also choose whether to save as a TIFF or Windows
bitmap (Windows only) file from the Files of type drop-down
menu.
54

55

CLEANING UP
Sibelius users

Once youve finished PhotoScoring a piece of music and have sent it to

Sibelius, you end up with a Sibelius file, which you should save in the
normal way.
After you have edited and saved the output score it can be closed so
that you are able to start working on a new score.
Note that it is only possible to have one score open at a time in
PhotoScore.
Closing the output score
To close the output score, close the output window in the standard way
using File>Close score or by clicking the small cross button at the top
right.
If you forget to close the output score before scanning the next piece of
music, the new pages you scan and read will be appended to the end of
the previous output score. However, you can delete the old pages
individually from the output score by selecting Edit>Delete Page from
the menu for each one.
Deleting unwanted scans
PhotoScore automatically saves each page you scan. This occupies a
not insignificant amount of hard disk space, so you should regularly
delete scans that have been read. You do not, however, have to delete
the scans before scanning the next piece of music.
To delete unwanted scans:
If the pages pane is not currently visible, select View>Toggle
Pages Pane.
Select the pages you wish to delete by clicking on the first and then
select further ones by holding down X or Ctrl (to add individual
pages) or Shift (to add a series of pages) whilst clicking.
Click Remove on one of the selected pages. PhotoScore will then
ask you to confirm that you want to remove the pages before going
ahead. If the page is in the Read Pages area, for one week it will
still appear when the output score it is attached to is open. To
remove all pages belonging to an entire score, click Remove to the
right of the score name in the Read Pages area.
56

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS
Scanning takes a long time or wont work
If there are no signs of scanning happening - I.e. if after clicking on
the Scan or Preview button the scanner remains silent with no
lights moving or flashing - communication between the computer
and the scanner has probably been interrupted.
Check that the scanner is switched on and that the cable between it
and the computer is firmly connected at both ends. If this doesnt
help, try reinstalling your TWAIN or WIA scanner driver software.
Windows users should note that some scanners need to be
switched on before the computer is turned on, otherwise they are
not detected.
If PhotoScore crashes when trying to scan, or the scanned page
doesnt look right - Try getting the latest version of the scanner
driver software from your dealer. Alternatively, select the TWAIN
scanning interface from the File>Scanner Setup dialog box, and
try again.
Not all staves/systems are detected
If after scanning a page you find that not all staves are boldly highlighted
in blue, the incorrect number of stave lines is shown, or the staves are
not correctly joined into systems by a thick red vertical line, this may be
because:
The original was not flat on the scanner glass: Always close the lid
when scanning, unless scanning a thick book. It may also help if
you press down gently on the scanner lid during scanning.
The page was scanned at too low or too high a resolution (i.e. the
staves are smaller than you think): Check the staff size, alter the
scanner setting accordingly, and re-scan.
You tried scanning a double-page spread: PhotoScore cannot read
both pages of a double-page spread (e.g. from a miniature score) at
once. Re-scan each of the pages separately. Ensure that the music
on the facing page is completely off the glass, or adjust the scanned
region so that it is not scanned - if any of it impinges on the scan,
PhotoScore may not read the music correctly.
The staves are not clear enough in the original to be detected: In
this case, you can tell PhotoScore where any missing staves are
57

located on the page - see the Advanced features section.

Alternatively, you can go ahead and read the page, but music on
any undetected staves will be ignored.
Reading takes a long time
If you have text reading switched on, reading will take longer. It may
sometimes be faster to read the music without detecting text, and to
re-input it in a separate music program. Interrupt reading if
necessary (see below), switch the text reading option off, and then
read again.
If the page was scanned without being flat on the glass or with the
lid open, you will get a black border around the page that may
spread across and obliterate some of the music. This can
occasionally make PhotoScore take an extremely long time to read
the page. If this happens, interrupt reading (see below), and then
re-scan the page.
If not all staves were detected after scanning (i.e. some were not
boldly highlighted in blue), this can slow reading down. See Not all
staves are detected.
Music reads inaccurately
If you find music seems to be reading very inaccurately, this may be
because:
the original is printed and Read as Handwritten music is
checked in the pages pane.
the original is handwritten and Read as Printed music is checked
in the pages pane.
the original is of poor quality, e.g. a photocopy or an old edition;
the music was scanned in black & white and was not straight
enough: It is recommended that you scan in shades of gray, unless
this causes the scan to end up looking too blocky or disjointed;
the music was scanned at too low (less than 200dpi) or too high a
resolution (more than 400dpi). Try increasing or decreasing the
resolution the page is scanned at;
the scanned page is too dark or light (when viewed at 100% many
symbols are blocky and joined to others, or note stems and staff
lines are disjointed). Try scanning using the TWAIN interface (select
from File>Scanner Setup) and manually adjusting the
brightness;
58

the original was not straight enough when scanned and Make
scans level was not selected in the PhotoScore Preferences
dialog box;
the music symbol designs used in the original are of a non-standard
shape or size.
If PhotoScore repeatedly fails to read one page from a sequence of
pages, omit the page and insert the bars into the score manually using a
separate music program.
Handwriting recognition problems
If you are finding that PhotoScore fails altogether, or almost completely,
even on very simple clear handwritten music, check the following for
basic problems:
Scanning resolution: Is your scanner set to scan at 300dpi? This
resolution is recommended for handwritten music. By all means
experiment with other resolutions to improve results that are already
good, but 300dpi is usually best.
Image type: Make sure that your scanner is set to produce a
grayscale image. This is the type that PhotoScore prefers.
Image quality: Check that your scan is a good, clean image with
everything clear and crisp and without any blotches. Also check that
there arent any variations in the tone or any areas of the image that
are missing.
Warning messages
Most of PhotoScores messages are self-explanatory: for instance, it will
warn you if you scan at an unsuitable resolution, or if your hard disk has
run out of space, and it will normally tell you what to do next.
If all else fails...
Please contact your PhotoScore supplier.

59

ADVANCED FEATURES
PhotoScore has many features and options for more advanced use.
You are strongly recommended to familiarize yourself with this whole
section before embarking on any intensive scanning, such as
orchestral/band scores or scores with many pages.
Choosing between scanners
In the event that you have more than one scanner connected to your
computer, you can choose between multiple scanner drivers in Scanner
Setup from PhotoScores File menu.
Scanning only one page
If you only need to scan one page into PhotoScore, click Scan One
Page from PhotoScores File menu. This will perform the scanning
operation as usual, with the exception that PhotoScore will not prompt
for a new page at the end of the scan.
Adjusting detected staves/systems
When you scan a page, PhotoScore highlights staves it detects with bold
blue lines (thin blue lines if it is uncertain about the exact number of lines
or position), and joins them into systems with bold vertical red lines.
However, if the original is of poor quality some of the staves/systems
may not be detected and you should tell PhotoScore where they are,
otherwise the music will not be read correctly.
The easiest method of telling PhotoScore the position of a staff which
it has missed, is to select the nearest similar blue staff (by clicking on it)
and then to copy it by zclicking or Alt-clicking over the center line of
the missing staff (the horizontal position is not important).
Alternatively, you can create a blue staff from scratch by clicking and
dragging it out with the (left) mouse button.
PhotoScore attempts to automatically clip the staff in place as you drag,
by adjusting the position and size of it. It also recalculates the number of
stave lines present, unless X or Ctrl is held down. The text Aligned
will appear in green under the staff and the lines will embolden when
PhotoScore is confident about its position.
To tell PhotoScore that a staff contains a different number of lines,
select it and key the correct number between 1 and 6.
60

If a highlighted staff is badly positioned, or it is not long enough, the

text May Require Manual Adjustment may be displayed beneath it
and you should use the following guidelines to aid PhotoScore:
You can drag any staff up and down with the (left) mouse button.
You can drag the ends of staves around, and even put them at an
angle.
You can alter the height of any staff - pull the bottom rectangular
handle in the middle of the staff up or down. PhotoScore can read
pages that have a mixture of staff sizes, and each staff can have a
different size.
The top circular handle allows you to change the curvature of the
staff. This is useful when scanning pages from thick books, where it
is not possible to prevent the page from being curved at the edges.
PhotoScore may not allow you to do this if it is already very
confident about the position of the staff.
It is important that staves are joined into systems properly, as this
cannot be corrected after reading. If staves are not joined into systems
correctly use these guidelines:
To join two adjacent staves together into the same system, click
on one staff so it becomes selected, then z-click or Alt-click the
other staff. They will be joined near the left-hand end by a thick
vertical (or near-vertical) red line.
To separate two joined staves into two separate systems, do exactly
the same as for joining two staves.
PhotoScore automatically guesses whether staves should be joined
together or not when new ones are created, or existing ones are
repositioned.
Also check that the stave is marked with the correct number of
stave lines. PhotoScore reads 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 line staves (5 and 6
line staves only in Lite version), and automatically recognizes the type of
staves present (e.g. normal, guitar TAB or percussion). However, very
occasionally it will detect the wrong number of lines and you should try
dragging the staff around slightly until PhotoScore recognizes correctly.
If any scanned staff is left with no blue staff on top of it, the scanned staff
and any music on it will be ignored when the page is read. This can
slow reading down but is otherwise harmless.
61

If youve messed up editing the staves you can undo an action by

pressing XZ or Ctrl+Z. You can reverse an undo (called redo) by
pressing XY or Ctrl+Y. If you want to start again, X-double-click or
Ctrl+double-click the scan, and PhotoScore will reset the blue
highlighted staves to their original positions.
Scan window options
There are various further options and buttons available on the scan
window:
Clicking the Read this page button reads just the displayed scan.
Clicking the arrowed part of the button opens a menu that lets you
choose where in the output score to insert this page once it has
been read. The page is moved to the top of the pending pages list in
the pages pane whilst reading, to ensure it is the next page to be
read. This also temporarily cancels any other reading taking place.
The Arrow buttons display the previous or next page in the list of
scanned pages.
The magnifying glass icon zooms the page to fit the window; 50
zooms to 50%; 100 zooms to 100%. See the View menu for other
ways to zoom.
Upside-down quickly rotates the page by 180 degrees, in case it
was scanned the wrong way up.
On side quickly rotates the page by 90 degrees anti-clockwise, in
case it was scanned on its side.
Re-scan allows the page to be re-scanned.
Omitted staves
In scores for many instruments, particularly orchestral scores, unused
staves are often omitted.
If you need to correct the recognized instrument names at the start
of the score, on subsequent systems PhotoScore will allocate
instruments to staves in order from the top down. Hence, if a page
omits an instrument from one system, then in the output window
some of the staves may have the wrong names.
In this situation, first ensure you have already correctly named all
the instruments used anywhere in the score so they are easily
identifiable: Double-click on the area to the left of any staff and then
62

go through the list of instruments in the dialog box that appears,

renaming any if necessary by selecting it and clicking Rename.
Then go through each incorrectly allocated staff in the output
window (from top to bottom), right-clicking over the existing
instrument name to the left of the staff in question and choosing the
correct instrument from the menu that appears. If you are unable to
select a particular instrument, it is probably because the ordering of
the instruments is not correct, and should be changed by following
the instructions in Instruments/staves introduced after the start
(below).
On any system that has staves omitted you will probably have to correct
several instrument names like this. Do it with care otherwise confusion
may arise.
Multi-staff instruments
For multi-staff instruments such as keyboards and divided wind and
strings, PhotoScore treats each staff as a separately named instrument.
Wherever any of the instruments staves are omitted, follow Omitted
staves (above).
N.B. If the number of staves for the instrument increases (say from 1 to
2) during the score, and the second staff has not occurred before, treat it
by following Instruments/staves introduced after the start (below).
Instruments/staves introduced after the start
Some scores include instruments or staves that are not shown on the
first system.
When this happens you should do the following:
First, ensure PhotoScore knows about the existence of all staves for
all instruments (PhotoScore treats staves for multi-staff instruments
separately):
Double-click over the area to the left of any staff so that a dialog box
appears. Then ensure the name of each instrument is correct if it
needs changing select it and click Rename. If there are not
enough instruments listed, click New... to add new ones. Ensure
they are listed in the order they would appear if they were all written
in one system: To reorder one, select it and use the yellow up and
down arrows to the left of the list (these work in the same way as
those in the Scanned pages dialog box see above). It is
63

possible to remove from the list any instruments that have not been
allocated by clicking Delete. Click Close when you have finished.
Then go through each staff in the output window (from top to
bottom), right-clicking to the left of it and choosing the appropriate
instrument name from the menu. If you are unable to select a
particular instrument, it is probably because the ordering of the
instruments is not correct, and should be changed by following the
instructions in the previous paragraph.
You must do this with care otherwise a lot of confusion can arise.
Reading slurs / hairpins (not Lite version) / ties
To toggle slur/tie/hairpin reading, open PhotoScores preferences dialog
box and click on Reading. Click Ties, Slurs and Hairpins to
select/deselect it and then click OK. If Display these options before
reading is selected in the preferences, you will be given the opportunity
to update the reading preferences at the start of each read.
Reading appoggiaturas and cue notes (not Lite version)
Appoggiatura (also known as grace note) and cue note recognition can
be switched on/off from the PhotoScore Preferences dialog box, as
for slurs / hairpins / ties see above.
If you find PhotoScore has recognized a cue note as an appoggiatura (or
vice versa), you can correct this from the keypad see chapter 3.
EDITING. You can normally check for these mistakes by looking for bars
containing rhythmic errors (marked with horizontal red dashed lines
above and below).
Reminder: An appoggiaturas duration is not included in the rhythm of a
bar, whereas a cue notes duration is. Both look similar, written as
smaller sized notes, but you can tell the difference from the keypad.
Reading text (not Lite version)
Text reading can be switched on/off from the PhotoScore
Preferences dialog box, as for the above options.
In addition, the Advanced button lets you choose which text types
PhotoScore will attempt to read, and also which language is to be read.
The language selected alters the way PhotoScore reads text in the
following ways:
Instrument names are expected to be in that language, and will be
recognized more accurately if they are.
64

Extra language-dependant characters are more likely to be

recognized (such as , , etc.)
PhotoScore looks for language-specific features of words, to improve
accuracy.
More languages are available for download from the Internet by clicking
More online.
300dpi is the optimum resolution for text recognition.
Sibelius users

When reading text, PhotoScore automatically guesses its type (e.g. title,
lyrics, technique). When the music is sent to Sibelius each text object is
set to the default font and size for its type.
Performance mode
Performance mode can be selected from the output windows toolbar,
the View>Performance Mode menu item, or by typing XM or
Ctrl+M.
In performance mode the output score is displayed full screen and
formatted so that it is easily read from a small distance. Pages are split
in sensible positions where necessary and using the cursor keys allows
you to turn to different pages or sections of pages. You can alternatively
use foot controlled page turning devices like the Bili Footime Page
Turner. This allows you to perform from your computers monitor and
quickly and easily change page using your foot whilst you are playing.
Performance mode can be switched off by clicking with the mouse or
keying Escape or XM or Ctrl+M.
PhotoScore preferences
The PhotoScore Preferences dialog box can be opened from the
toolbar or the application (Mac) or File (Windows) menu. The
preferences are divided into four categories Scanning, Reading,
Editing and Advanced. You can select a different category by clicking
the appropriate title at the left (Mac) or top (Windows) of the dialog box.
Scanning Interface

See chapter 1. Scanning for an explanation of the three scanning

interfaces.

65

Scanning Automation
Make scans level: With this switched on, PhotoScore will work out

the angle of a scan, and then rotate it so that the staves are level. It
is recommended that this is left selected.
Read pages after scanning/opening: With this switched on,
PhotoScore will automatically begin reading pages after they are
scanned in or opened from files.
Reading Handwritten / Printed
Read as handwritten music: When selected, PhotoScore is able

to read handwritten music. It is highly important that this is switched

on when scanning handwritten music (Ultimate version only) and off
when scanning printed music otherwise accuracy will suffer
considerably.
Reading What to read
Ties, Slurs (and Hairpins if printed music): See Reading

slurs/hairpins/ties (above).
Articulation marks (not Lite version, printed music only) : This
does not slow reading down much, so we suggest you leave this on.
Appoggiaturas and cue notes (not Lite version, printed music
only) : Unless these smaller sized notes are often picked up
incorrectly, or you wish PhotoScore to read slightly more quickly, we
suggest you leave this on. Also see Reading appoggiaturas and
cue notes (above).
Guitar chord diagrams (not Lite version, printed music only) :
This does not slow reading down much, so we suggest you leave
this on.
Text (dynamics, lyrics etc.) (not Lite version, printed music
only) : See Reading text (above).
Tuplets (includes advanced rhythm detection): With this
option switched on, tuplets/triplets are recognized/calculated (Lite
version simple triplets only). This option also makes PhotoScore
attempt to correct any musical errors after reading (not Lite version):
If a time signature is missing, it tries to guess what it is. If
successful, it inserts one at the start of the page; it will be colored
red as a warning for you to check it. Furthermore, PhotoScore
analyzes the music it has read, and attempts to correct any rhythmic
mistakes using general musical rules. Although this will generally
66

increase accuracy, if you are scanning scores with unusual timing it

may be best left off.
Transposing scores (not Lite version) : With this option switched
on, PhotoScore is able to read transposing instruments with different
key signatures for each staff, otherwise they are all set to be equal.
Editing - Formatting
Automatic page margins: This ensures that a sensible margin is

always present around each page of the score, so that it looks

attractive when printed out.
Editing Output window
Attach scanned staff panel to current staff: In the output

window, this puts the original scanned staff panel just above the
highlighted staff instead of at the top of the window. This means you
have to move your eyes less when comparing the output with the
original, but the effect can be confusing. We recommend you leave
this option off until you are used to editing music in PhotoScore.
Drag paper by: This can either be set to Dragging or Holding
Command/Shift and Dragging. If the former is selected, then
dragging music around the screen is done with only the mouse, and
selecting an area of music is done by dragging with the mouse but
with the X (Command) or Shift key held down. If the latter option
is selected then these operations are reversed.
Keypad layout: Choose either the standard Sibelius keypad
layout, or PhotoScores flat version offering all buttons at once.
Advanced Playback

You can select the MIDI playback device PhotoScore uses for
playing back from the drop down box (not Mac version).
System playback properties (not Mac version) : Clicking here
opens your computers audio properties dialog box so that you can
change playback settings etc.
Ignore repeats: When this is checked, PhotoScore will ignore all
repeat signs in the score during playback.
Always play whole system: Uncheck this option if you would like
PhotoScore to only play back those instruments whose staves
contain notation you have selected. Playback will start from the
beginning of the first bar that contains a selection.
67

Advanced Miscellaneous
Display splash screen at startup: When switched on, the

PhotoScore splash screen is displayed at program startup.

Autosave backup file: Here it is possible to specify the time
interval at which PhotoScore saves your current score to a special
backup file. In the unlikely event that your computer crashes,
PhotoScore will offer you the possibility of opening this file the next
time it is opened, so as to limit any loss of work.
If you change any of these options and click OK, they will remain in the
new settings until you change them again. Clicking Cancel returns
them to their original settings when the dialog box was opened.

68

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
XA or Ctrl+A
Select all objects
XC or Ctrl+C
Copy object to clipboard
XF or Ctrl+F
Find and replace
XX or Ctrl+X
Cut object to clipboard
XV or Ctrl+V
Paste object from clipboard
XZ or Ctrl+Z
Undo last editing action
XY or Ctrl+Y
Redo last undone editing action
F7
Display Common notes Keypad layout
F8
Display More notes Keypad layout
F9
Display Beams Keypad layout
F10
Display Articulation Keypad layout
F12
Display Accidentals Keypad layout
Tab
Select next object
Shift+Tab
Select previous object
Cursor left/right
Select previous/next object
Xor Ctrl+cursor left/right Select first object in previous/next bar
Shift+cursor left/right
Extend selection to previous/next object
Xor Ctrl+Shift+cursor left/right Extend selection to previous/next barline
Delete or Backspace
Delete selected object(s)
Xkeypad+ or Ctrl+keypad+
Zoom in to display
Xkeypad- or Ctrl+keypad- Zoom out of display
Q (Windows)
Display clef menu
K (Windows)
Display key signature menu
L (Windows)
Display line menu
T (Windows)
Display time signature dialog box
Alt+B (Windows)
Display multi-rest dialog box
H (Windows)
Create crescendo
Shift+H (Windows)
Create diminuendo
S (Windows)
Create slur (above staff)
Shift+S (Windows)
Create slur (below staff)
Ctrl+Alt+T (Windows)
Create tempo text
XL or Ctrl+L
Create lyrics text
XB or Ctrl+B
Create bar rest
Shift+K (Windows)
Create chord diagram
XK or Ctrl+K
Create chord symbol
X2to 9 or Ctrl+2to 9
Create tuplet of typed number
2 to 9
Normal staff: Higher interval to add to note

69

Shift+2to 9
0 to 9
X
Cursor up/down
Alt+cursor up/down
P (Windows)

70

Normal staff: Lower interval to add to note

Tablature staff: Fret number of selected note
Flip selected notes stem
Normal staff: Move note up/down
Tablature staff: Select note above/below in chord
Select note above/below in chord
Play/pause score

GLOSSARY
AIFF (.aif) File formats saved by PhotoScore Ultimate which can be opened
by various audio programs and which can easily be converted to MP3 or
burned to audio CD.
Bitmap (.bmp)
TIFF (.tif) File formats saved by PhotoScore Ultimate and other scanning
programs that contain basic scanned image information. These files do
not contain any musical information as such, only the grid of black and
white dots that make up the image.
dpi dots per inch - the unit of scanning resolution. The more dpi you scan
at, the higher the resolution is, and the more detailed the resulting scan.
200dpi to 400dpi is a normal range of resolutions for scanning music;
higher resolutions such as 600dpi are often used for scanning photos
and graphics.
Grayscale Shades of gray.
MIDI A standard specifically designed for the communication and storage
of the data that a music sequencer records and plays. Also a file format
(.mid) saved by PhotoScore that can be opened by most music
programs.
MusicXML (.xml)
NIFF (.nif) File formats saved by PhotoScore Ultimate which can be
opened
by
various
notation
programs.
See
www.neuratron.com/fileformats.htm.
OCR Optical Character Recognition; usually applied to scanning text, but
also to music.
Original The page or score you are scanning from.
Output Music which has been read from scans.
Read to work out what all the notes and other symbols in the scan are.
Resolution The level of detail at which a page is scanned; measured in dpi.
Scan The image produced when a page has been scanned. In
PhotoScore, scans are always displayed with a buff background.
Scanned music (SCMS/.opt) The special music file format designed by
Neuratron to store PhotoScored music pages, and to make it easier to
transfer such music to music notation programs such as Sibelius.

71

Scanner driver The program which tells the computer what type of scanner
you have; analogous to a printer driver. They generally conform to one
of two standards TWAIN or WIA (Windows only).
SCSI (pronounced scuzzy) A standard for connecting scanners, hard disk
drives and other devices to computers. Requires a SCSI card and SCSI
cable (which are analogous to a MIDI card and MIDI cable).
TWAIN A translator between scanners and scanning software.
USB A standard for connecting scanners, mice, web-cams and other
devices to computers. Requires a USB port and USB cable (which are
analogous to a MIDI card and MIDI cable).
Wave (.wav)
WIA A Windows-only translator between scanners and scanning software.

72

LICENSE AGREEMENT
This license states the terms and conditions upon which the Software is licensed to
you. By using or attempting to use the Softwares installation CD or by returning
the registration card or registering the Software with The Developer by any other
means, you are agreeing to become bound by the terms of this License. If you do
not agree to these terms, return the entire contents of the software package intact
and unused to your supplier.
1. Definitions
The Developer means Neuratron Limited. The Software means Neuratron
PhotoScore & NotateMe Ultimate or Neuratron PhotoScore & NotateMe Lite,
whichever product this license was included with. The Documentation means the
Neuratron PhotoScore and NotateMe user guides.
2. License
The Developer grants you a personal non-transferable non-exclusive license, as
follows:
(a) You may install and use a single copy of the Software on one stand-alone
computer system, and will ensure that the Software is not installed or used on
more than one stand-alone computer system at a time.
(b) You will not copy or attempt to copy the Softwares installation CD in whole or
in part. You will be deemed personally responsible for any illegal copies of the
Software, or files created by it, which bear your Softwares product id number or are
otherwise traceable to your copy of the Software.
(c) You may install a single copy of the Software on another stand-alone computer
system if and only if you first delete the Software from the computer on which it was
previously installed.
(d) You will not decompile or otherwise attempt to reveal the source code or
operation of the Software.
(e) You will not modify, adapt, rent, lease, loan, resell, distribute or create derivative
works based on the Software or any part thereof unless expressly permitted above
or in the Documentation.
(f) You will not copy the Documentation in whole or in part or store it in a retrieval
system in any form, photocopying, recording, electronic or otherwise.
3. Term
This License is effective until you terminate it:
(a) by destroying your copy of the Software and Documentation, or
(b) by failing to comply with the conditions of this License.
4. Limited Warranty and Disclaimer
(a) The Developer warrants that the CD on which the Software is supplied is free
from physical defects in materials and workmanship. The Developer will replace a
defective CD if returned. You must fill in, sign and return the enclosed
registration form or register the Software with the Developer by some other
means in order to be eligible for this warranty.
(b) The Software is supplied as is without warranty as to its specification except
that it is of merchandisable quality.
(c) The Developer will not be liable for any damage, loss of profits, goodwill or for
any indirect or consequential loss arising from any use or misuse of the Software,
even if the Developer has been advised of the possibility of such loss.
These conditions supersede any prior agreement between you and the Developer
relating to the Software.

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