How to embed fonts in worship aid?
  • lmassery
    Posts: 424
    I'm hoping someone more techy than me can chime in here. I reprint a lot of antiphons and other such things in the bulletin each week. I'm getting complaints that the text is too small and blurry. Even if I re-typeset it to fit more comfortably into the narrow column, make sure the image isn't compressed, and enlarge the font, it still looks blurry because it's an image that I'm pasting in. Is there a better way to do this so that the texts are embedded? Sometimes I just put the melody in and manually put the text into a textbox beneath the melody. It's annoying to do that but at least the text looks as clear as any other text. There's got to be a better way, right?
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,332
    I use Finale. If I'm using Palatino size 12 in the document, I change the lyrics' font in Finale to Palatino size 15. In a legal-sized Word document, it comes out pretty close to the size of the regular text.

    I use the graphics tool to clip the music out of Finale and save it as a TIFF file at medium-high resolution, like 300. 72 frequently comes out blurry for me, too.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    Export your images from Finale (or scan them) in one of the following formats:
    PNG
    GIF
    BMP
    TIFF

    and NOT:
    jpg
    jpeg

    If scanning - use "Black and White" mode, NOT full color and NOT grayscale.

    Scan or export at 300 dpi or better (I usually use 600).

    You will have dark, crisp music images this way.

    ----
    Reasons:

    -jpg is an image format designed for photos, not line art. The file format, and rendering programs, make certain extrapolations (essentially, blurring things) to make it more realistic looking. This does NOT work for typography and line art.

    -images for screen display look excellent at 72dpi (unless you have one of those new fangled screens) printers typically print much higher (300 is normal). I use 600 because I want to still work if I resize it.

    -color mode is often overlooked in scanning, because the default in most programs is full color. Scanning in black and white ensures the computer isn't guessing and extrapolating what some of your pixels look like (this causes a usually yellowish blur around text).

    -----

    I am constantly dismayed at blurry, fuzzy, distorted music scans in programs. There is no reason that normal people with normal computers should not be able to put clean, crisp music images into their programs.


    Thanked by 3lmassery Ben eft94530
  • donr
    Posts: 971
    That's awesome advice Adam thanks
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
  • lmassery
    Posts: 424
    Adam Wood - please forgive my ignorance, but how do I get the GIF into the bulletin document (which is made in publisher)? The ones I use from our reprint licenses appear to be very high res GIFs. Also, I use Musescore, not finale. Can I export them as a 600 dpi in musescore?
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    but how do I get the GIF into the bulletin document (which is made in publisher)?


    I don't use publisher, but I bet its the same as any other image file.
    (Check the Help)

    Also, I use Musescore, not finale. Can I export them as a 600 dpi in musescore?


    I also don't use Musescore. But I assume the answer is yes, if you can export at all. There is usually (in similar programs) an options screen (typically, in the save dialog) for specifying file parameters. 300 is fine. 600 is probably overkill, but that's how I roll.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    Also, if Publisher (or whatever) doesn't take GIFs, you can convert it to another similar format (PNG, TIFF), via all sorts of tools.
  • lmassery
    Posts: 424
    Ok this works pretty well. But I am still curious if there is a way to make the text look truly embedded. Even if I do it the way described above, a text that is approximately size 10 font will still not look as clear as if I actually typed in size 10 font into the document. How do publishers of hymnals do it so that the notes and text look perfect?
  • Marc Cerisier
    Posts: 541
    The publishers work looks so clear because they never convert the music to an pixel-based image format. By working with vector image files (EPS, PDF), there is never a loss of resolution.

    In Finale, you use the option--Fixed Size--to ensure that text is the size you want it to be. In our office, we scale the page to 88%, and then use Minion Pro 10 point fixed for the lyrics. We also enlarge the leading a bit (.2" between the verses).

    (Finale isn't alone in treating font sizes with little regard. Even the venerable Score requires a quick tweak to make the fonts their true size.)

    For anyone who can, I highly recommend learning InDesign. It's fleuency with vector files is second to none (Adobe did invent postscript after all.) With creative cloud's easy monthly fee, it makes it easier to stay on top of the current releases.
    Thanked by 1BruceL
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    Or just re-engrave everything like I do. More work, but it fits perfectly, everything matches, and it's all pristine.
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    Here's one I did for a guy
    Thanked by 1JulieColl
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    Or just re-engrave everything

    B-I-N-G-O
    B-I-N-G-O
    B-I-N-G-O
    and BINGO was his name-o.
  • lmassery
    Posts: 424
    Yes, Ben, that looks pristine indeed - that's exactly what I want to do - can you walk me through how you did that? Sorry I'm not very good at this kind of stuff. Did you use Musescore or Finale?
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