PHOTOSCORE ULTIMATE ID SOFTWARE
PHOTOSCORE ULTIMATE ID MAC

Drag and drop from the OS is not supported, and while there is an overall logic to it all itвЂ™s far from intuitive. The function of the mouseвЂ‘overs and tickboxes overlap strangely, and there are inconsistencies like being able to easily change the page order of Scans via mouse drags, but not Scores, where you might really need it. I say вЂshouldвЂ™ because thereвЂ™s room for aВ lot of improvement here. MouseвЂ‘over commands in the scans list initiate character recognition, and once complete (a matter of perhaps 5вЂ‘10 seconds per page in Printed score mode) the Scores list beneath fills up with editable notation documents. Then, conceptually, it should all be very straightforward. Here your pages exist largely in an unanalysed state, except for an initial assessment of how many systems and staves each contains: userвЂ‘modifiable, albeit with some very specific mouse techniques.

Whichever way you work youвЂ™ll end up with content in the Scans panel. However, if aВ flatbed is aВ bit too 1990s for you, scores can be imported as PDFs or graphics files too, and IВ did quite aВ bit of my testing with an iOS document scanning app. Pages can also be rotated at aВ later point in the workflow in case of mistakes or recalcitrant bindings. The system can handle multiвЂ‘page scores, and thereвЂ™s no particular need to scan them dead straight. PhotoScore offers you tips about optimum scanning settings, and these are of absolutely vital importance if youвЂ™re to enjoy success. (Not that IВ had performed aВ flatbed scan, IВ realised, for perhaps half aВ decade before undertaking this review).

PHOTOSCORE ULTIMATE ID MAC

Clicking the Scan Pages button opens aВ floating window that in Mac OS, at least, gives you familiar OSвЂ‘level functionality. Most work in PhotoScore centres around its single main window. The potential time savings are huge: how is it in practice? Scans & Scores

PHOTOSCORE ULTIMATE ID SOFTWARE

The software has some editing and basic engraving/printing facilities of its own, too, so can stand alone for many jobs. That can be passed on to Sibelius (directly), to other notation applications via MusicXML or NIFF export, or to your DAW as MIDI.

It then extracts pitch, rhythm, lyrics, guitar tab and more, turning it into live notation data. The software provides aВ flatbed scanning interface, imports PDFs and other graphics files, and accepts handwritten symbols through touchвЂ‘enabled tablets and laptops. ThatвЂ™s where PhotoScore & NotateMe Ultimate, the subject of this review, comes in: itвЂ™s essentially optical character recognition (OCR) for music. The ease with which beautifully proportioned, accurately laidвЂ‘out scores can be generated and manipulated would have been unthinkable even 50 years ago.ДЄt the same time, they can be horribly labourвЂ‘intensive, and copying existing printed music is particularly tedious. Let Neuratron take the misery out of copying musical notation.Д®ngraving and scoring applications like Sibelius, Musescore, Dorico and Finale are one of the wonders of the modern age for musicians. There are tiny errors in the live notation (like the missing grace note next to the highlighted note), easy to spot against the display of the original scan at the top, but overall the accuracy is excellent. It took about 5 seconds to generate this detailed, clean notation from aВ printed original scan.

Photoscore ultimate id