Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Printing music in A5? (Read 6535 times) previous topic - next topic

Printing music in A5?

Could anyone tell me if there is a way to print the music out in A5 style like in a booklet form? ie you have the left hand side of an A4 page (in landscape) for the music to be printed then when it reaches the bottom of the left hand side the music continues at the top of the right hand side of the A4 page?

Re: Printing music in A5?

Reply #1 –
OK, OK, unlike the previous messages I posted, this definately hasn't been answered.. just to prove it, I seached for 'A5' in both the 'message text' and 'subject line' and all that came up was my message... LOL
So if anyone has any thoughts on this one (hoping I haven't cheesed you off from my last 3 attempts to seek help without consulting all the previous messages first)

Re: Printing music in A5?

Reply #2 –
Hi Simon,
there are several possibilities...

1) use print preview and copy to the clipboard.  There's a button on the print preview for exactly this task, open a wordprocessing document or other DTP application, format the page as landscape and then paste from the clipboard into it.

Position (and size if necessary) the pasted object on the left half of the page, then back to NWC and copy the next page, back to your WP and paste on the right side of the page and off you go...

2) I have seen printers that allow you to specify multiple page printing to a single piece of paper where the software does all the resizing and positioning for you.

3) I seem to recall 3rd party utilities that act as virtual printers that allow layout manipulation prior to printing.

4) Anything similar your fertile imagination can think up... :)

Unfortunately NWC does not do this natively.

Lawrie

Re: Printing music in A5?

Reply #4 –
Have you looked at the programs available with your printer?
My Canon Pixma 1500, a cheap printer allows printing "in booklet form" where it automatically prints the pages in proer order etc.  I have to say though that it may not work as you want when printing from NWC scores.

Re: Printing music in A5?

Reply #5 –
Here's something I have done successfully in the past.  Since I'm in the US, A4 and A5 paper are foreign to me, so I'll just use our standard 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches paper to describe the technique.  The same idea will apply to European paper size.

The first thing I do is to define the proper margins to print on the left side of the page (in landscape mode).  Let's say I want a 1/2 inch margin all around.  I set top and bottom to 1/2 inch; I set left margin to 1/2 inch; then I set the right margin to 7 inches (half of 11 inches, plus the 1/2 inch margin I need).

Then, I put my paper into the printer and tell NWC to print only page 1.  This will print only on the left side of the page.  Once it's printed, I reverse the left and right margins, so the left margin is now 7 inches and the right margin is 1/2 inch.  I re-insert the paper that I just printed on back into the printer (so that it prints on the same side) and I then tell NWC to print only page 2.  This will print only on the right side of the page.

You can do this for multiple pages and even multiple songs, to create a booklet.  It takes a little time to do it, but not too much time.  If you want a booklet of multiple songs folded down the middle (where pages 1 and 2 might be on different pieces of paper), then I usually just create a blank dummy booklet and mark which pages go where.  I have used this technique several times to create church bulletin inserts of special music we are doing.  Once I've printed the master, I usually just photocopy the results, collate the pages, fold them, and then using a saddle stapler, create my booklets.

NWC won't do this automatically, but this technique has worked well for me.

Hope this helps.

John
 

Re: Printing music in A5?

Reply #6 –
NWC is flexible in printing sizes- I have printed B3, A4 and B4 books.
You have the choice to setup the pages in a standard size like A4 and re-size at the print stage or set them directly A5 with the appropriate margins and appearance.
The real part of book printing is the next phase, pagination and printing. A laser capable of double sided printing makes it easier.
If the work can be edge stapled or spiral bound you can print directly from NWC, with mirrored margins. Double sided printing can usually be done by re-inserting the paper for the second side. (Print left and right hand pages separately.)

Booklet printing (saddle stitched, stapled through the middle back) requires 'imposition', the pages have to be arranged in print order. This is not difficult to do by hand. Make a mock-up on plain paper of the proposed booklet and number all the pages, pull it apart and you will see where each one goes. You will need to allow for the inside and outside margins as well, when you finally set it out. I these are setup the same in NWC you will get the right system sizes.

A layout program is the next essential. Copy each page separately from NWC to an EMF labelling them with their sequence. These can then be placed in suitable software for printing. If your layout program cannot handle EMF files these can be converted to other graphical formats quite easily.
Other limitations are how many pages can the layout program handle and at what resolution? Some experimentation may be needed. (The old 300dpi graphics printing standard is still OK  and may allow something to be printed that may not otherwise work.)
Setting up the pages in the layout program is quite easy. Assuming that you are imposing the pages: for A5 pages choose a page size of A4 landscape. Set matching margins and place the pages according to the mockup. Use a template so page numbers can be put in the same place. These will have to entered by hand. You will get pairs of rt hand an lft hand pages each with two A5 pages on them. They can be printed as a whole or in sections as needed.

There is software for booklet printing. Microsoft Publisher works well for small jobs. Open Office resizes the work and hung on a 40, A4, page test. I use Pagemaker 6.5. even then I have to split the printing sometimes but this may be caused by insufficient printer memory.