Here's some text I clipped (without permission) from the Sibelius 5 Reference Manual, relating to breaks, staff spacing, and lock/unlock. Let me first say that the only time I ever lock the format is just before I use the Sib-Access command to look at the pages/system/bars report. Then I always unlock it again. So none of the caveats below apply to my situation. These clips are all in the manual, but I've only clipped relevant parts, so they are not consecutive. 7.1 Layout and formatting Layout means how music looks on the page. Formatting is the process of creating a good layout. Sibelius knows so much about music engraving that it automatically formats music to produce an instant, excellent layout. In most other music notation programs, formatting is largely left up to the user, which can waste hours of time. But Sibelius also lets you adjust the layout manually. Described below is the armory of methods at your disposal; most of these options are on the Layout menu. For instance, you can put your own page-turns into parts, or force a score to fit into a convenient number of pages. Because Sibelius reformats the score in a fraction of a second, you can instantly adjust the layout at any stage, even when the music is finished, which eliminates the need to plan layout in advance. The three main weapons in your formatting armory are to adjust the page and staff size, the vertical spacing, and the horizontal spacing. There are also options to force a passage of music to fit into a system or page, and to lock the music so that it can't reformat. Vertical spacing Changing the vertical spacing means, in effect, moving the staves. The various options open to you are: * Moving staves up and down to change the gap between them - see7.9 Staff spacing * Moving systems up and down, by dragging the top staff of the system - see7.9 Staff spacing * Modifying the House Style > Engraving Rules settings for staff and system justification - * Hiding empty staves - see2.23 Staves * Creating a page break; this is an easy way to reduce the number of staves on a page, particularly in parts. The remaining staves will be spaced out proportionally without you having to drag them - see7.4 Breaks.Horizontal spacing (from section 7.4) System and page breaks If you need to change Sibelius's default formatting, you can insert manual system and page breaks at any barline - see7.4 Breaks. Make Into System/Page You can force any passage to fit into a system or a page. Simply select the passage, then from the Layout > Format submenu choose Make Into System (shortcut Shift+Alt+M) or Make Into Page (shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Alt+M). It will remain locked as a system or page thereafter, even if you reformat the score. To undo this, unlock the format (see below). As with other formatting overrides, you should not routinely make passages into systems/pages. Doing so can produce undesirable formatting elsewhere if you don't know what you're doing - it is intended for special circumstances only. Lock Format If you have input a passage of music that requires very special formatting that you don't want to mess up, you can lock it. This stops the bars from reflowing onto other systems (though it doesn't prevent spacing changes within a system, e.g. moving a note left or right). To lock the format, simply select the passage in question and choose Layout > Format > Lock Format (shortcut Ctrl+Shift+L). When you lock the format or use Layout > Format > Make Into System/Page, invisible elves and pixies place little layout symbols on each barline to stop the bars moving around. These icons are visible when View > Layout Marks is switched on. Unlock Format To undo Lock Format, re-select the bars and choose Layout > Format > Unlock Format (shortcut Ctrl+Shift+U). This makes the blue icons disappear, and the bars are free to flow from system to system once more. Unlock Format also removes page breaks, system breaks, and undoes Make Into System/Page, Keep Bars Together and the effects of the Make Layout Uniform plug-in. Removing lots of breaks To remove page and system breaks in the score or in a passage of bars: * Select the bars in question (or type Ctrl+A to select the whole score) * Choose Layout > Format > Unlock Format (shortcut Ctrl+Shift+U). The music will reformat back to how it was originally, including removing formatting produced by the Layout > Format options. However, special page breaks are not removed by Unlock Format. (from section 7.9) Restoring default staff spacing To restore the default staff spacing (i.e. the settings on the Staves page of the House Style > Engraving Rules dialog) to a staff or staves, select the desired passage and choose Layout > Reset Space Above Staff or Layout > Reset Space Below Staff. Dave Carlson Tastefully composed and transmitted from somewhere in the Western United States, using a Dell Latitude E6520 and Windows 7 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Farfar at Work" <dgcarlson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <sib-access@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 12:40 Subject: [sib-access] Re: Preparing for magnetic lay out Kevin, I think Dale is correct. The hard system breaks are preserved by locking, but not the vertical spacing between staves. I'll go to the Reference Manual and see what I can dig up. Dale -- thanks for the credit, BTW. Dave Carlson Tastefully composed and transmitted from somewhere in the Western United States, using a Dell Latitude E6520 and Windows 7 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin L Gibbs" <kevjazz@xxxxxx> To: <sib-access@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 10:24 Subject: [sib-access] Re: Preparing for magnetic lay out Dale, You are correct. but if hard breaks are fixed in place, you won't be able to optimize staves correctly. I'm pretty sure that's how it goes. so, unlock format and then go to it. On Mar 5, 2012, at 12:23 PM, Dale Lieser wrote: > Actually, I don't think the score does have to be unlocked to make those > changes. Locking the score makes whichever line breaks presently in place > to > become permanent, I think, but the function of locking a score is not like > that of protecting a file, or anything like that. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: sib-access-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:sib-access-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ramy Moustafa > Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 1:12 PM > To: sib-access@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [sib-access] Re: Preparing for magnetic lay out > > Ok, but, must I unlock the score before opening? > Or when can I unlock it? > > > Cheers: > Ramy Moustafa > Owner and producer of Harmony recording studios > skype: > roma30 > Facebook: > moustafa.ramy@xxxxxxxxx > Twitter: > Ramymoustafa > youtube chanael: > www.youtube.com/ramymoustafasaber > > -----Original Message----- > From: sib-access-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:sib-access-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dale Lieser > Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 7:59 PM > To: sib-access@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [sib-access] Re: Preparing for magnetic lay out > > Kevin, > > I cannot take credit for all of that. Dave contributed, too, when we were > discussing this about a year ago. I'm glad to have this list. > > Dale > -----Original Message----- > From: sib-access-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:sib-access-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kevin Gibbs > Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 12:51 PM > To: sib-access@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [sib-access] Re: Preparing for magnetic lay out > > Dale, > > I knew about select all and optimize staff spacing but didn't know about > needing to use the set spacing above and below. Thanks for that. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Mar 5, 2012, at 11:37 AM, Dale Lieser <dale.lieser@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> You'll be working without speech feedback as you do these following > things: >> 1. Select the entire score in Sibelius 6, via ctrl+a. >> 2. Alt+l, v, to reset staff spacing above. >> 3. Alt+l, w, reset staff spacing below. >> 4. Ctrl+shift+n, to reset note spacing. >> 5. Alt+l, then choose optimize staff spacing. >> >> Be aware that all these things will likely help, but they are not always >> a >> magic cure for what a sighted person might still have to tweak. >> >> Dale >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: sib-access-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >> [mailto:sib-access-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ramy Moustafa >> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 12:25 PM >> To: sib-access@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >> Subject: [sib-access] Preparing for magnetic lay out >> >> >> >> Hi all: >> >> >> >> I'm writing in sibelius 5, and now I will print from sibelius 6, what I >> must do exactly to use the magnetic lay out, and optemising staff > spacing? >> >> But please I need this reply now, as soon as u can >> >> >> >> Cheers: >> >> Ramy Moustafa >> >> Owner and producer of Harmony recording studios >> >> skype: >> >> roma30 >> >> Facebook: >> >> moustafa.ramy@xxxxxxxxx >> >> Twitter: >> >> Ramymoustafa >> >> youtube chanael: >> >> www.youtube.com/ramymoustafasaber >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message >> with the single word, unsubscribe - in the Subject line to: >> sib-access-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >> >> If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message >> with the single word, unsubscribe - in the Subject line to: >> sib-access-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message > with the single word, unsubscribe - in the Subject line to: > sib-access-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message > with the single word, unsubscribe - in the Subject line to: > sib-access-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message > with the single word, unsubscribe - in the Subject line to: > sib-access-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message > with the single word, unsubscribe - in the Subject line to: > sib-access-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message with the single word, unsubscribe - in the Subject line to: sib-access-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message with the single word, unsubscribe - in the Subject line to: sib-access-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message with the single word, unsubscribe - in the Subject line to: sib-access-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx