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Metatools

Noteman says: View the Using Metatool shortcuts QuickStart Video to get acquainted with Finale's powerful Metatools.

Keyboard equivalents for mouse, menu, and dialog box actions (also known as macros) can dramatically increase your efficiency in working with Finale. One kind of macro is already built into Finale: Metatools. These Metatools are always programmed to the number keys and the letter keys on your computer keyboard. By using a Metatool to place an expression marking into the score, for example, you can bypass three dialog boxes and several mouse clicks. See the individual tool below for instructions for programming Metatools.

The "Add Again" Metatool

The Add Again Metatool allows you to add the marking you just added. Every time you add a marking, whether choosing it from a selection dialog box, or adding it with a Metatool key, you are also resetting the Add Again Metatool key to the marking you chose.

Selection Metatools

Selection tool Metatools are program-specific, not document-specific like other Metatools. You can hold down CTRL and press 3, 4, 5, and 6-9 to invoke these Metatools with any tool that allows regional selection. (CTRL 1, 2, and 3 are used to change the view percentage.)

Staff Style Metatools

Key Signature Metatools

Time Signature Metatools

Clef Metatools

Tuplet Metatools

Smart Shape Metatools

Articulation Metatools

Expression Metatools

If you use a Metatool to place a Shape Expression into the score, you create a duplicate of that shape. This gives you an important advantage when you’re placing several of the same Shape Expression into a score, because it means that you can reshape or resize each copy individually. If you didn’t use a Metatool to place Shape Expressions into the score—and placed them instead by selecting them from the selection box directly—you would reshape every occurrence of a shape when you adjusted any one of them.

Repeat Metatools

Chord Metatools

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