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Expression Designer-Positioning dialog box

How to get there

Click the Expression tool , and double-click a note or measure.
Click Create, or click a text expression and then click Edit.
Click the Positioning tab.

What it does

These options control the default positioning of the expression relative to the note, barline, or music.

Use __ Category Positioning. Check this box to use the positioning defined for this category in the Category Designer dialog box. Uncheck this box to unlock the positioning options below that allow you to define these settings for this specific expression only.
Break Multimeasure Rest. Select this check box to force a multimeasure rest to break where this expression is placed, such as for a rehearsal mark.
Justification: Left • Center • Right. From this drop-down menu, choose the desired justification relative to the Horizontal Alignment point and Offset.
Horizontal Alignment: Horizontal Click Position • Left of All Noteheads • Left of Primary Notehead • Stem • Center of Primary Notehead • Center of All Noteheads • Right of All Noteheads • Left Barline • Start of Time Signature • After Clef/Key/Time/Repeats • Start of Music • Center Between Barlines • Center Over/Under Music • Right Barline. Use these options to specify the alignment of the expression relative to the notehead, barline, or music, as illustrated by the diagram in this dialog box. To place the expression at the horizontal position clicked in the score, choose Horizontal Click Position. To align the expression to the left edge of the notehead (or left-most notehead of a chord), choose Left of All Noteheads. To align the expression with the left edge of the notehead (or primary notehead of a chord), choose Left of Primary Notehead. To align the expression with the stem, choose Stem. To center the expression based on the primary notehead (changes if added to a chord containing an interval of a second), choose Center of Primary Notehead. To align the expression on the center of a notehead, or, if added to a chord with a second, center the expression between the notes, choose Center of All noteheads. To Align the expression with the right edge of the notehead, choose Right of All Noteheads. To align the expression with the left barline, choose Left Barline. To align the expression with the left edge of the time signature, choose Start of Time Signature. To align the expression with the end of the clef, key signature, time signature, or repeat bar, choose After Clef/Key/Time/Repeats. To align the expression with the first entry in the measure, choose Start Of Music. To center the expression between the left and right barline, choose Center Between Barlines. To center the expression based on where the music starts and ends (taking into account "Before" and "After" spacing in Document Options-Music Spacing), choose Center Over/Under Music. To align the expression with the right barline, choose Right barline.
Additional Horizontal Offset. Enter a value here, positive or negative, to make an additional adjustment to the horizontal positioning of the expression.
Vertical Alignment: Vertical Click Position • Above Staff Baseline • Below Staff Baseline • Top Note • Bottom Note • Above Entry • Below Entry • Above Staff Baseline or Entry • Below Staff Baseline or Entry. Use these options to specify the vertical positioning of the expression relative to the note or staff. To position the expression based on the vertical distance you clicked from the top staff line choose Vertical Click Position. To position the expression on the baseline above or below the staff (akin to lyrics and chords) choose Above Staff Baseline or Below Staff Baseline. To "fasten" the expression to the top or bottom note of the chord, choose Top Note or Bottom Note from the drop-down list. If you choose Top Note or Bottom Note, the value for vertical positioning in the Expression Assignment dialog box represents the distance from the top or bottom note in the chord (as in Finale version 2003 or earlier). To place the expression on the above or below staff baseline, or, if the expression collides with the note, above or below the note, choose Above Staff Baseline or Entry or Below Staff Baseline or Entry.
Additional Baseline Offset. This option appears only when Above/Below Staff Entry or Baseline is chosen. Enter a value here to specify an offset from the baseline above or below the staff.
Additional Vertical Offset. Enter a value here, positive or negative, to make an additional adjustment to the vertical positioning of the expression.
Additional Entry Offset. Enter a value here, positive or negative, to make an additional adjustment to the vertical positioning of the expression relative to the entry.
OK • Cancel. Click OK (or press enter) to return to the Expression Selection dialog box, where your new (or edited) text expression appears in the list— or to return to the score. Note that when you edit an expression, your editing will affect every occurrence of the marking in the score. Click Cancel to return to the Expression Selection dialog box (or to the score) without creating or editing a text expression.