Configuring MacSymbolFonts.txt

Each Finale installation includes a file named MacSymbolFonts.txt. This file can be edited to address two different situations:

• Sharing files between a Mac and a Windows machine, Finale uses this file on the Mac to determine which fonts, such as music symbol fonts, should not be converted.
• Using custom music fonts or symbol fontsA Symbol Font, with regards to Finale, is a font that is not re-encoded when a document is opened cross-platform. Maestro is a symbol font. It has exactly one encoding (character #247 always equals the same symbol regardless of platform). Some characters in non-Symbol Fonts (such as Times) are encoded differently on Windows than on Mac (for example, character #247 on Mac may be represented by #233 on Windows). Finale detects files that were last saved across platform and must re-encode all non-symbol fonts. MacSymbolFonts.txt is a list of all Symbol Fonts. Finale refers to MacSymbolFonts.txt while re-encoding to ensure no font listed in MacSymbolFonts.txt is re-encoded., you will need to add these fonts to the list.

It is essential that the MacSymbolFonts.txt file be placed in the application folder for both Windows and Mac users (note that in spite of its title, this is a required file for Windows). This user-editable text file contains the names of all the Mac fonts that are symbol fonts and therefore do not need to be converted (as opposed to text fonts which will be converted).

To edit the MacSymbolFonts text file

1. Quit Finale.
2. Navigate to the Configuration Files folder (see Finale Installation Details).
3. Open the MacSymbolFonts.txt file in a text editor such as WordPad or SimpleText.
4. Add each font name to the font list on its own line.

See also:

Font Utilities

Preferences - Open dialog box