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I have a 2017 Macbook Air running High Sierra 10.13.6, with 8 GB of memory. It would be great to get the dropbox link.
Either update it to Mojave or create an APFS Volume, Download Mojave from the App Store and install it on that Volume.
Add, delete, or erase APFS volumes in Disk Utility on MacRemove the spaces and decode the email address and I will reply with the link.
The problem you describe first appeared in macOS High Sierra 10.13.0. Apple was the culprit. The font issue was resolved in 10.13.01 released a few days later but one has to reset the fonts in any file opened in 10.13.0.
There are other problems such as measure endings that were never resolved in High Sierra but were resolved by Mojave 10.14.4. Mojave requires a metal graphics compatible Mac built between 2012–2018 — doesn’t run on anything built earlier or later. I have a 2012 MacBook Pro that runs Encore and little else.
The last build of Mojave is 10.14.6 To take advantage of this, you must be running Encore 5.0.7 build 5.0.6 1303m (yes, that’s weird). Andres and I both have it. I can be emailed l o w b f l a t (at) a o l dot c o m. I’ll reply with a Dropbox link to the installer.
This is probably because of Pdf to Music Pro.
Specifically, PDFtoMusic Pro 2, much improved over the old version that I considered useless.
I paid the $199 because using it for free takes too much of my time. In Trial mode, it exports the first page only of a multi-page pdf. Here’s how to use it anyway:
Open your multi-page pdf in Preview and print-to-pdf one page at a time. Now open each page in PDFtoMusic Pro and export as MusicXML.
The problem in Finale is that importing a MIDI or xml file overwrites previous content. Here is a workaround:
Have your preferences set so that double-clicking on the xml opens automatically in Finale (or Dorico, Sibelius, MuseScore…). Name your file, then add as many measures as needed for your project and Save. Next, double-click the next page xml file—this opens a new Finale document Untitled. Now, in Edit mode, Select All and Copy. Go back to your named Finale doc, click on the first empty measure and Paste, then Save. You can Close and discard Untitled. Repeat till you get all the pages imported.
Or pay the two bills and export/import everything in one pass.
I find this much better on Encore pdf files than any version of SmartScore which is still useful on scans, something that PDFtoMusic Pro 2 cannot do.
MuseScore has an indirect OCR feature…
It’s still a scan, not very anccurate and it puts you into MuseScore. No thanks. MS5 is supposed to be good if you believe the hype but it’s not here yet. The current version, like all of those previous, is just not ready for prime time, IMO.
Encouraging.
I’ve been spending the last few weeks helping Apple Support with the latest Sequoia update. Oh boy… Hopefully, Apple will be releasing updated Support documents soon.
Meanwhile, I’ve stumbled across a relatively easy way to import PDF files generated by Encore into Finale/Sibelius/MuseScore. There’s even a free way to do this as long as one is willing to do it one page at a time.
I’ll try to get it edited and posted this weekend.
And since it will need to compete with the powerhouses mentioned, what on earth would make you think the new re-written Encore will be simplistic?
In my conversations with Don, I’ve tried to emphasize that competing with the powerhouses as you call them is not what most of us want. I had similar conversations with Richard, too.
Finale has been doing my heavy lifting since 1989 and will probably continue to do so—it runs great over Sequoia and I’ve made an external drive that will boot any Mac made between 2012–2025 to run 27 if that’s what I want.
I’ll check out MuseScore 5 when it’s released and may see if I can get used to Dorico, seeing as I have had a license since 2018. Never had a use for Sibelius and not about to start now.
Would it mean that MuseScore is planning to become unavoidable?
I do believe that is their plan.
Doesn’t mean I am going to follow, however. As MuseScore gets closer to being a pro notation app, it will become more complicated to use than it already is.
I still believe that there’s a place for a compact, easy to use, relatively simple app like Encore — but with better looking output, MusicXML 3.0 export and some of the annoying bugs squashed, especially the copy/paste bug that deletes data in other staves when you paste (don’t know if this is Mac only or not).
The current version of MuseScore 4.4 is no longer horrible (I’ve had it since the beginning). I don’t think it’s very good either -— certainly does not equal Encore’s ease of use. Its open-source model is dead and Cyprus based Muse Group has hired a small army of developers and AI engineers to build MuseScore 5 which they hope will rival Finale/Dorico/Sibelius as a professional notation app.
Muse Group began as Russian based Guitar Unlimited has Billion$ at its disposal and intends to dominate the world of music publishing where the really big money is — which is why they bought Hal Leonard, the world’s largest music publisher last December.
No reason not to try MuseScore. It’s free and will continue to be. BTW, Muse Group makes a lot of money on this free app through their subscription service where people upload scores for free, done in MuseScore only, while millions of subscribers pay $30 a year to download what they want from MuseScore.com while Hal Leonard makes sure that all the rights holders are paid. It’s a brilliant business model.
I converted to Notion 6 for Desktop by Presonus
I’ve had N6 for years. The included VIs are nice but incomplete. I’m not a fan of the workflow but I used it with one of my clients until he finally upgraded his copy of Sibelius earlier this year. Now we use MusicXML 4.0 and I do his work in Finale 27.
On the Mac, Notion 6 cannot use 64bit only VIs and so many of my libraries and instruments no longer support 32/64. Fender promised Notion 7 “coming soon” November 2021 but I’d settle for an update to 6 that adds 64 bit binary support. Heck, if LilyPond freeware could do it a month ago, surely Fender can, right?
I’ve had the Notion apps for iOS and iPadOS since the beginning when they were the same. They are updated regularly as of last week but it’s looking to me that Fender is not seeing a future in desktop notation. If I’m wrong, I’ll be glad to try Notion 7 if it ever exists but I am not holding my breath.
A long, long time ago… Finale could open MT and Encore files—I go back to those days. Otherwise, I converted my MusicTime files to Encore decades ago. Last I checked, Encore on the Mac still opens them—I think but won’t swear to it.
Being a Print Music owner, you can take advantage if the $149 crossgrade offer to Dorico. This includes a license to Finale 27 with MusicXML 4.0 and a year of tech support. 27 will open your Print Music files and save copies as .musx, the Finale format introduced in PM/Finale 2014.
For Mac, it is 5.0.7 but there are a number of builds. The correct build reads 5.0.6 m1333 in the About window.
If the model year of your Mac is 2012–2018, you can add an APFS Volume in Disk Utility and install Mojave. This is the best way to run Encore 5.0.7.
Apple has support documents on how to do this and a Mojave Installer can still be downloaded from the App Store.
Add, delete, or erase APFS volumes in Disk Utility on Mac
APFS Volumes are similar to Partitions but they share empty drive space and are much easier to create and delete.
With VST/VST2 now depreciated by Steinberg, no point in offering any version other than VST3. When, if….
Songwriter was last offered in 2012, correct? A friend of mine still uses it over Windows 10. Since I have PrintMusic and Finale 2014.5, I can run them on my Mojave Mac, the same one I use for Encore 5. Although Finale 27 also runs on that MacBook, why 2014.5? The 32bit versions of Finale have the Band-in-a-Box plug-in, a huge timesaver for infomercial scores on a deadline back when those were a thing. I may have to run it again someday.
I have Dorico Pro 5, Finale 27 and a bunch of other apps. Finale does all my heavy lifting, something that Encore could never do.
Having had it since v.2 in 2018, I’ll be exploring Dorico to see if I get used to it. It tries to force you into Elain Gould’s rules as laid out in her 702 page book, Behind Bars…. By version 5, it’s fairly elegant once you get used to the workflow. You can change everything in Layout Mode.
I still want Encore 6, dammit. Nothing is as fast or easy for my church and lead sheet work. If the printed output didn’t look so bad, I would still be happy with Encore 5, frankly. Ties look good on the screen but slurs don’t and both suuuuuuuuuck!!!! when printed in a way that is absolutely unacceptable. I’m even ok with the MusicXML 1.3 output though xml 3.0 is much, much, Much better.
It depends. Encore 5 for a lot of my church work but its amateurish printout is unacceptable for publication.
I’ve been using Finale since 1988 for heavy lifting, publication and large works. I’ve had Dorico, MuseScore, Notion 6 and Overture 5 for many years. Now that Finale is EOL, time to explore Dorico Pro 5 seeing that I own a copy.
MuseScore 5 will be big but it isn’t here yet. They want it to be the de facto notation app for Hal Leonard Publishing, acquired by Muse Group 10 months ago. Whether 5 allows me to take it seriously remains to be seen. MS4 is not very good but it is no longer horrible, IMO.
