Hiding/Showing empty staves

You can hide/show empty staves differently in each layout independently. For example, you can show all staves, including empty staves, in a full score layout for the conductor but hide empty staves in a full score layout intended for reference only.

Procedure

  1. Press Ctrl/Cmd-Shift-L to open Layout Options.
  2. In the Layouts list, select the layouts in which you want to hide/show empty staves.

    By default, the layout currently open in the music area is selected when you open the dialog. You can select other layouts by using the selection options in the action bar, Shift-clicking adjacent layouts, and Ctrl/Cmd-clicking individual layouts.

  3. Click Vertical Spacing in the category list.
  4. In the Staff Visibility section, choose one of the following options for Hide empty staves:
    • After first system

    • All systems

    • Never

  5. Activate/Deactivate Allow individual staves of multi-staff instruments to be hidden.
  6. Optional: For Players excluded from Hide Empty Staves, activate the checkbox for each instrument you want to be shown regardless of your choice for Hide empty staves.
  7. Click Apply, then Close.

Result

Empty staves in the selected layouts are hidden/shown according to your choice. If you activated Allow individual staves of multi-staff instruments to be hidden, any single empty staves in multi-staff instruments, such as piano or harp, can be hidden in the selected layouts.

Note
  • Instruments that have extra staves added to them are not affected by Allow individual staves of multi-staff instruments to be hidden, even if some of their staves are empty.

  • Systems containing divisi changes are always shown, even if their staves are empty.

  • You cannot hide one staff of multi-staff instruments if you have chosen to show chord symbols between the staves, which you can do in the Position section of the Chord Symbols page in Engrave > Engraving Options.