Header and footer

Updated 3 months ago

    Not to be confused with the top vertical frame and text added to the first page, when a new score is created from certain templates, see Create your first score and Using frames for additional content chapters.

    Overview

    The header and footer are text automatically added to the top and the bottom area of each page respectively. To add text to certain page(s) only, use frame and Musescore Text objects instead, see Entering and editing text chapter.

    Style Window, Header & Footer

    1. From the main menu, select Format→Style→Header & Footer.
    2. Check the "Header Text" and "Footer Text" boxes as required.

    Note: To create a header or footer for a Part, open and view that Part first.

    Entering information

    Style Window, Header & Footer

    • From the main menu, select Format→Style→Header & Footer:
      • The area on the top is for headers, area below it is for footers.
      • Both of them are divided into two rows, labelled Odd, and Even, for content on odd and even pages respectively.
      • They are also divided into three columns, labelled Left, Middle, and Right, representing the corresponding areas.
    • There are three kinds of valid input:
      • plain text,
      • placeholder text, or special symbols, that converts into information automatically, they include
        • read-only information such as the current page number, and
        • editable metadata, see "Using metadata" section.
    • To see a list of available placeholder text or special symbols, hover the mouse cursor over any text input area and wait for a popup box to appear. Shown below is the list for Musescore 4.2.
    • Placeholder text or special symbols are case-sensitive, they must be entered letter-for-letter with the correct case. For example
      • $d converts into current date
      • $D converts into creation date
      • $:movementNumber: converts into "Moverment number" metadata
      • $:movementnumber: is invalid because of the wrong lower case 'n'

    • Part name placeholder text is only available in a Part, but not the "Full Score". Its placeholder text is $I, $i, or $:partName: . To rename a Part's name, see Parts: Renaming chapter.

      A list of available placeholder text or special symbols for Musescore 4.2

    Using metadata

    Metadata are digital information, or tags, assigned in File→Project properties, use $:[metadata tag]: syntax to add them to header and footer. See the example in "Entering information" section, and the main chapter Project properties.

    Style Window, Header & Footer

    • From the main menu, select Format→Style→Header & Footer:
      • Show on first page
      • Different odd/even pages: Use different content on odd pages and even pages.

    Header and footer respect page margins configured in Format→Page Settings (see the main chapter Score size and spacing). Page margins are always left blank, Musescore resizes the staffs area to show content of header and footer. Additional margin can be achieved by adjusting the Offset in style profiles, font options are also available there, see "Header and footer Style" section.

    Header and footer are not Musescore Text objects, it is not possible to select and use Properties panel to change properties of a header or footer on a particular page separately. To settings for all headers and footers, change values in the style profiles, see "Header and footer Style" section below.

    To add text to certain page(s) only, use frame and Musescore Text objects instead, see Entering and editing text chapter.

    See the main chapter Templates and styles

    • Page numbers, only when referenced using the $p or $P symbols, will use the Page number text style, which can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Page numbers
    • Copyright text, only when referenced using the $c or $C symbols, will use the Copyright text style, which can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Copyright
    • All other text in the header fields will use the Header style, which can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Header

    • All other text in the footer fields will use the Footer style, which can be edited in Format→Style→Text styles→Footer

      Editing values in Style for text inside Header, similarly for Footer

    See also

    • Specify a custom starting page in Format→Page Settings : First page number. See also the main chapter Score size and spacing.