Creating your own house style

[Kevin]

Have any of you done such a thing? Can you offer any tips on how to do it?

[Ed Sharpe]

Sorry Kevin, I have never tried to setup my own house style. In fact I have never looked into the idea of setting up my own house style.

[Deleted]

Quite simple, really, once you realise what a House Style IS.

Get a score looking the way you want it - choice of fonts, edited Text and Line Styles, custom Instruments... all that stuff. You can see what gets saved by trying Import House Style and looking at the options. Then Export House Style. Or maybe Export Manuscript Paper, then you get the instrumt layout as well.

This is probably better asked in the main Sibelius forum. You only got this reply through a reference in a Facebook group. Despite its name, this forum doesn't really specialise in Sibelius expertise.

[ttw]

I don't have a true "house style" in the usual sense (I'm not a publisher). However, I do have a bunch of templates (Finale templates) that cover what I like in font, spacing, playback, percussion maps, etc. I try to grab an old piece and edit it into shape. It's somewhat like my computer programming style; I take an old program in debug it into a new one. I assume that Sibelius has the equivalent of Finale's templates and libraries.

[Kevin]

That makes a bit of sense. Finding an existing style and making some adjustments to it.

[wizzarts]

But do not move items on the screen. Adjust those with the properties. Important: switch of magnetic layout. These adjustments have to be made later on. Don't worry too much about collisions that appear in the first place.

Also check settings in very narrow bars.

[Deleted]

I export the house style of scores that I write (Appearance/House Style/Export), because importing a house style is the only way to transfer information from the playback dictionary from one score to another in Sibelius. (If there is any other way, please let me know!) Sibelius makes a concession that one doesn't need to import EVERY aspect of a house style in order to import a playback dictionary, but one has to import the ENTIRE playback dictionary and so replace the playback dictionary that is already there. One can't merge playback dictionaries, in other words. Again, a great inconvenience.

[ttw]

link

There's a good discussion of styles here. It's limited but house styles are mentioned.

[ttw]

Just for your information, there's a new website devoted to discussions of notation (rather than notation programs).

notat.io/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2

[Kevin]

Apart from the standard styles in sibelius is there anywhere that you can look at others? I have been tweaking around lately but would love to look at others!

[wizzarts]

I highly recommend to look at some existing sheets form major publishers like Schott or Henle. Pick the one you like and copy it.

[Kevin]

That would be a good idea but very difficult to replicate I would have thought.

[wizzarts]

Disable the magnetic feature at all.... Then, when doing the positioning and sizing, always use the property-box. Do not just drag things around. Always remember you want every placement being done automatically.

Later on you can start adjusting the behaviour of the magentic layout feature.

[Kevin]

Seems like it is going to have to quite a big job then!