No matter what notation software you use, Finale, Sibelius, Notion, Overture, or others, you can save your scores in PDF format and share them with others who do not own the software. PDF stands for Portable Document Format and was created by Adobe. It is the standard print format for all applications. A PDF file has the file extension that you would expect: .pdf.
FREE Options…
Mac OSX
If you are using Mac OSX, you can create PDFs from any application. It is built into the operating system. Simply select File > Print and click the PDF button at the bottom of the Print window and select “Save as PDF.” I often save in PDF format to post on web pages and to share with others.
Check out this PDF file I created in Sibelius. It is snare drum exercises my brother John Rudolph created. John plays in the Toronto Symphony.
Windows
Windows does not come with a built-in PDF converter but you can download free programs such as PDF Creator, or PDF995. With your notation software launched and your file of choice open, choose Print from the File menu. Then, select the PDF option you downloaded. I have PDF Creator installed on Windows. It works great.
The option that will cost you money….
The other option is to purchase Acrobat (not Acrobat Reader which is free). The current version is Acrobat Standard 8 which lists for $299.00. It does a lot more than save PDF files. You can open and edit PDF files and more. But, it does have a pretty high price tag.
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Another free utility that I use is called Cute PDF writer. It works great! And the price is right!
Charlie
Tom,
Welcome to the blogosphere! I am so glad that you decided to become a blogger! Can I count you as one the Hundred New bloggers we are trying to get for music education?
-Best regards,
J. Pisano -mustech.net
Tom,
I often have to send sheet music files to colleagues or students who use different notation software, and using PDF files has been a huge help.
A couple other advantages:
- If you’re concerned users might manipulate the music files (changing notes, re-arranging the music, etc.) then PDF files are the way to go because the content can’t be altered. The same would be true of any document, like an MS Word file you wouldn’t want people to re-write.
- You can intermingle PDF files from different software sources, such as music notation and Word, to create music textbooks or reports with musical examples.
Thanks for passing along this valuable tip!
Steve
Steve:
Great points! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas. It is a good idea when sharing files when you don’t want people to manipulate them.
I will be addressing the concept of capturing notation and moving it into programs such as Word in a future post.
Tom
Thanks for the information about PDF Creator.
I’m on the road and needed to send a file from my Windows laptop to someone without notation software. So I remembered this article and downloaded the program, and it did the job!
good article and very helpful…jg
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