by Justin Bartoo and Howard B. Richman
This article shows specific steps to take to help you CONVERT Finale Files into Dorico Files.
Why?
In August 2024, MakeMusic, Inc sent out an announcement that Finale notation software would no longer be supported and encouraged people to transition to Steinberg’s Dorico notation software. (Ugh!!!) Obviously this has caused tremendous stress for thousands of users of Finale. Many users are already accustomed to their routine and dread the prospect of learning another system. But if you see yourself ever needing to revisit an older Finale file, a little preparation and planning now, will help prevent frustration in the future.
Do we Really Have to Switch?
Actually…. NO! If you are really happy with Finale, and you don’t want to switch to another system, you might consider the following two options:
For MAC users, install your current version on a dedicated computer that is NOT hooked up to the internet so you know that the operating system will NEVER update automatically. If you are ok that your current version of Finale is working the way you want and that you are ok that it would never be updated, you can continue to use your favorite software for many years to come without having to make any changes. The inconvenience would be just that you could not send files directly via the internet but you could save from this dedicated computer to a usb drive and then plug THAT into another computer where you have internet access and then you could send files as normal. Note: The above recommendation is the “safest” way to do this if you still want to continue using Finale on a Mac. However, you can technically, still keep the Mac online. You would just need to disable automatic updates. That way it won’t progress to a new version of the OS without asking you first.
For WINDOWS users, it does seem a little easier because when the operating system updates, most software still works. However, another nifty feature of Windows is that you can run all software in OLDER versions of Windows. This is called “compatibility mode.” You can search on Google how to do this for any program, including Finale. So, for example if your computer upgrades to a new version of Windows and Finale no longer works, you can change the settings for only that program to work in a prior version of Windows operating system, and then you can continue using Finale the way you like.
Save to Multiple Formats
Regardless of your decision to switch to Dorico or any other notation software, it is just considered good housekeeping to go through all your files and save them in multiple ways. This way 20 years later, when things will likely be different, you will be ready to adapt just in case whichever system you want to use can no longer read a Finale file.
MUSX
MIDI
PDF
XML
AIFF or WAV or MP3
If you have a lot of files, there are ways to batch convert if you research this.
Can Dorico Open Finale Files?
We hope in the future that this will be possible but right now, it is necessary to first convert your Finale files to an XML file.
Exporting From Finale
Open the Finale file you wish to export
In Finale go to the top left dropdown menu. Navigate to
File>Export>musicXML
Name the XML file, select a location to save the file, choose Compressed
MusicXML
Click Save
Prepare Dorico Before Importing MusicXML
Open Dorico
In Dorico go to the top left dropdown menu. Navigate to
Dorico>Preferences
Select MusicXML Import on the left side of the window
Check boxes for whether Dorico should follow the layout from the file or use its default layout.
Click Apply, then close.
Importing MusicXML
In Dorico go to the top left dropdown menu. Navigate to
File>Import>MusicXML
Select the musicXML file
Click Open
Additional Points
While the score should retain the vast majority of the same formatting as the original Finale file, there will likely be some cleanup work to be done in Dorico. Review the score in Dorico to make sure that everything still looks close. You can try playing with the Dorico MusicXML Import settings, discussed above that give you the best results for your situation.
Ultimately it is to your advantage to get familiar with Dorico so that once things are converted, you will have an easy time making any further changes to the document.
Extra Help Available
Hopefully you find these tips useful. If you feel the need for additional support to make your transition, Justin Bartoo would be happy to assist. If you need help learning to use Dorico software program itself (or any other notation software), we have additional experts who are available.
