Program/Worship Aid-making: help needed!
  • Gaudium
    Posts: 51
    Hi all,

    I have moved to a church that uses weekly programs/worship aids. I love it and it gives me so much flexibility with the music. I'm currently using One License, Source & Summit, downloading Chabanel psalms, etc. I'm sure there are people on this forum who can help me navigate the best way to make this all look as uniform, beautiful, and easy-to-read as possible. As of now, I'm downloading most as PDFs, using Adobe Acrobat Pro to crop and do what I need, then exporting as a PNG file into the program (using Publisher). It seems as though some turn out better than others. Do I really need to do all these steps? Is PNG and TIFF files best for putting in programs? PDFs are not as good, or is there a printing option? Technology help, please! I'll try to attach a PDF of this past weekend's program as an example. Thanks for any advice.
    Assumption of the BVM.pdf
    3M
    Thanked by 2rich_enough ServiamScores
  • davido
    Posts: 943
    You need PNG and TIFF files for publisher. Publisher won’t do pdf files.
    You can crop the image files directly in publisher though, which will save you a step.

    The only way to make the music look uniform is to re-engrave everything, which is what I do. I use Lilypond, but you can use Sibelius or Finale - or MuseScore which is free. It is very time consuming though.
    Most of my hymn files are available here (including PNG melody files): https://github.com/musicamecclesiae/English-Hymns

    Thanked by 2Chrism Gaudium
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,084
    If it helps, using this site to convert pdfs to an image file (JPEG or PNG) is convenient for me before cropping, resizing and assembling the images into a Publisher file:
    https://pdftoimage.com/
  • francis
    Posts: 10,825
    If you are willing to make the jump to 'graphic-arts hyperspace', you would be better using InDesign, hands down. Not sure if there is a discount for churches as there is for educators.
    Thanked by 1marymezzo
  • Chrism
    Posts: 872
    @davido - Great work! You should print a hymnal
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,890
    The only way to make the music look uniform is to re-engrave everything, which is what I do.


    I also re-engrave everything (in Dorico). My editing program of choice is Affinity Publisher, which is essentially inDesign but costs a pittance by comparison.

    For best quality, you want to use PDF and SVG files, since these are vectors and can be scaled to any size and maintain pristine quality. If you are forced to use image files, make sure you use the maximum resolution possible. I'd also suggest you try and double-check that everything is true black (which is difficult with image files). If you don't ensure true black, somethings will print and they won't be fully dark.

    I'm attaching an example of what my worship aids look like (11x17 trifold) as well as a screenshot so you can get a sense of the amount of graphic work it takes on the back end.
    21st in OT (B) • FINAL Draft.pdf
    1M
    Screen Shot 2021-08-18 at 2.33.56 PM.png
    3838 x 2038 - 3M
    Thanked by 5a_f_hawkins janetgorbitz Don9of11 Gaudium ncicero
  • davido
    Posts: 943
    I’m thinking about it
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    A Catholic Book of Hymns is available as a PDF of the entire hymnal for anyone to use freely in programs, bulletins, podcasts, streaming - any use at all - no licenses or permissions required. The PDF for this is $5.

    We all eagerly await the day when Emojis appear here!

    LINK!
    Thanked by 1ServiamScores
  • marymezzomarymezzo
    Posts: 236
    Here is a corrected link to the pdf version of A Catholic Book of Hymns:

    https://www.sacredmusiclibrary.com/product/a-catholic-book-of-hymns/
  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,048
    You can also "convert" pdfs to images by using the "Snapshot" feature in Adobe Acrobat.
  • CGM
    Posts: 699
    If you're using a Mac, the free Apple Preview software (included with every Mac) can convert a PDF to an image file, on a page-by-page basis.
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,483
    Oh simply convert your pdf into a jpeg and insert it in publisher
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,890
    Gaudium, now that you've added an example of your own work, I feel I must congratulate you and tell you that if the example you posted is representative of your normal work, you are doing very well for your congregation. I cannot count the number of awful worship aids that have been foisted upon me in the pews; I would be quite pleased to use one of your worship aids. They are lovely and well done.

    (I'm not sure why only a few bits of music have boxes around them though.)
    Thanked by 2ncicero Gaudium
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