Change Expression Assignments dialog box

How to get there

Choose the Selection tool , and select a region of measures.
Choose Utilities > Change > Expressions.

What it does

Using this command, you can swap one expression for another, adjust the positions of selected expressions at once (for example), or clean up the positioning of all expressions in a region.

Position All Expressions. Select this option if you want Finale to adjust the position of every expression in the selected region. How it moves them depends on your setting from the Add to… drop-down menu (see below); this item simply specifies which markings will be moved.
Position Selected Expressions • Select. If you only want to move all occurrences of a specific marking, enter its number into the text box. (Finale numbers its Expressions from left to right, top to bottom, in the Expression Selection dialog boxes.) It may be more convenient, of course, to click Select; Finale displays the Expression Selection dialog box containing all the text and shapes you’ve created in (or loaded into) the current document. Double-click the one you want to move; you return to this dialog box, where the correct number appears in the text box. Once again, how Finale moves the expression type you’ve selected depends on your setting in the Add to… drop-down menu (see below).
Change All Expressions (or Selected Expression) to Expression ___ • Select. Click this check box if, instead of moving all Expressions (or the selected articulation marking, depending on your choice of the top two options), you want to replace them with a different Expression. You could replace all marks with marks, for example. To do so, enter the replacement symbol’s number in the text box, or click Select, and double-click your selection in the Expression dialog box that appears. Of course, if you enter numbers into the H: and V: text boxes, you can move the expressions as you replace them.
Add to Default Position • Add to Current Position. If you decide to adjust the positions of Expression, use this drop-down menu to specify how.
- Choose Add to Default Position to move each expression from the center of the notehead (the topmost note in a chord) and adjust by using the distances specified in the H: and V: text boxes (see below).
- Choose Add to Current Position to simply slide each marking—from its current position—by the distance you’ve specified in the H: and V: text boxes (see below).
H: • V:. Type numbers into these text boxes to specify how far Finale should move the specified markings. A positive or negative H: value moves them to the right or left, respectively. A positive V: value moves the marking above the staff; a negative V: value moves the marking below the staff.
OK • Cancel. Click OK to proceed with the expression transformation; click Cancel to return to the score without changing anything.