Dorico is based on a number of key concepts that come from its design philosophy.
The user interface of Dorico Pro is designed to keep all of the important tools at your fingertips. This chapter introduces you to key aspects of the user interface.
In addition to opening and importing/exporting projects and other file formats, project and file handling also includes auto-save and project backups.
Setup mode allows you to set up the fundamental elements of the project: instruments and the players that hold them, flows, layouts, and videos. You can also determine how they interact with each other; for example, by changing the players assigned to layouts.
Write mode allows you to input and edit your music, including changing the rhythmic positions of items, changing the pitch of notes, and deleting notes and items. The available toolboxes and panels allow you to input all the notes and notation items that are most commonly used.
Engrave mode allows you to manipulate and modify every item in your project, but without deleting them, moving them rhythmically, or changing the pitch of notes. You can also determine how the pages in each layout of your project are formatted for printing or exporting.
Play mode allows you to change how your music sounds in playback, including by adjusting the mix, changing the playback template, and assigning VST instruments.
Print mode allows you to print your layouts or to export them as graphics files, such as PDF and SVG.
The formatting of pages in Dorico Pro is determined by a number of factors, including the layout’s staff size, page margins, the page template applied to them, any casting off values applied to them, system and frame breaks, and frame padding.
Properties are settings that apply to individual notes and items and allow you to edit them, such as by changing their appearance or position. You can access properties in the Properties panel.
The Key Editor is a MIDI editor that comprises multiple components. It allows you to edit notes and other playback items, including note velocity, MIDI CC, and tempo. You can access the Key Editor in the Key Editor panel in the lower zone.
The Mixer allows you to control the volume, panning, and sounds of channels in playback.
In Dorico Pro, the library is the total compilation of visual items and options that are available in all projects on your computer. It combines factory default settings, custom items/options you have saved as default, and items/options only available in the current project.
A Dorico Pro file that can contain multiple flows and layouts. See also flow and layout.
