Lengthening/Shortening stems

You can lengthen/shorten the stems of individual notes, independently of your project-wide settings. You can do this for the current layout and frame chain only, or for all layouts and frame chains.

Prerequisite

  • Graphic Editing Graphic Editing button is selected in the Engrave toolbox.

  • You have chosen the appropriate property scope for local properties.

Procedure

  1. In Engrave mode, select the stems you want to lengthen/shorten.
  2. Lengthen/Shorten the stems by moving the selected stem handles in any of the following ways:
    • To move them upwards/downwards a standard amount, press Alt/Opt plus the corresponding arrow key. For example, press Alt/Opt-Up Arrow to move handles upwards. This moves handles by 1/8 space per press.

    • To move them upwards/downwards a large amount, press Ctrl/Cmd plus the standard key command; for example, Ctrl/Cmd-Alt/Opt-Up Arrow. This moves handles by 1 space per press.

    • To move them upwards/downwards a moderate amount, press Shift plus the standard key command; for example, Shift-Alt/Opt-Up Arrow. This moves handles by 1/2 space per press.

    • To move them upwards/downwards a small amount, press Ctrl/Cmd-Shift plus the standard key command; for example, Ctrl/Cmd-Shift-Alt/Opt-Up Arrow. This moves handles by 1/32 space per press.

    • Click and drag them upwards/downwards.

Result

The selected stems are lengthened/shortened. For example, moving the end of downwards-pointing stem upwards shortens the stem. If the property scope was set to Locally, this change only takes effect in the current layout and frame chain.

Tip
  • Stem adj. in the Notes and Rests group of the Properties panel is activated when you lengthen/shorten stems.

    You can also use this property to lengthen/shorten stems by changing the value in the value field. However, the Notes and Rests group is only available when the notehead is selected rather than the stem.

    Deactivating the property resets the selected stems to their default length.

  • You can change the default length of all stems project-wide in the Stems section of the Notes page in Engraving Options. There are different options for stems in different contexts.