General Preferences

General

Language

Allows you to select the language that is used for text in the user interface.

Preferred unit of measurement

Helps you to convert between the internal units and points that are used in Dorico and your own preferred units. For example, the information box to the right of Space size in the Page Setup section of the Layout Options dialog uses your selected unit to help you determine the staff size.

Window

Theme

Allows you to switch to different program colors.

Open new windows maximized

If you activate this option and open a new window, the window is maximized to fit the screen. This does not affect windows that are already open.

When the last window is closed

Allows you to specify what happens when you close the last project window.

View

Default zoom

Allows you to determine the zoom scaling factor that is used when you create a new project.

Default view type

Allows you to select the view type for new projects.

Files

Show complete path for recent files

If you activate this option, the paths for recently used files are displayed in the Hub and on the File menu together with the file names.

Editing

Default click-drag behavior

Allows you to select the selection tool that you want to use by default in your projects.

Double-click in Setup or Engrave mode switches to Write mode

If you activate this option, you can switch to Write mode from either Setup mode or Engrave mode by double-clicking.

Allow multiple items to be created with the mouse

If you activate this option, you can select items in panels and input them on multiple notes without having to reselect items each time for each note.

Creating items with the mouse

Allows you to set your preference for mouse input. You can either input items at the position of the note or item currently selected in the music area, or you can load items onto the cursor and then click where you want to input them.

Play

Audio Device Setup

Opens the Device Setup dialog.

Open VST plug-in windows when opening projects

If you activate this option, the VST plug-in that you selected for your project opens in a separate window when you open your project.

Suspend audio device in background

Allows other applications to play back via your audio hardware even though Dorico is running. If you activate this option, the audio device that you use is suspended when Dorico loses focus so that other applications may use it.

Note

Make sure that other audio applications accessing the audio hardware are set to release the audio driver.

Enable MIDI input

If you activate this option, you can input notes using any MIDI input device, such as a MIDI keyboard that is connected to your computer.

Play notes during note input and selection

If you activate this option, notes are played back in the following circumstances:

  • Selecting notes

  • Inputting notes

  • Navigating through selections using the arrow keys

  • Clicking the noteheads of individual notes or a stem in a chord

Follow playhead during playback

If you activate this option, the event display in Play mode advances when the playhead reaches the right-hand side of the display. This keeps the music being played in view.

Show playhead when stopped

If you activate this option, the playhead is displayed during playback and when stopped. If you deactivate this option, the playhead is only displayed during playback.