Logic Pro (X) Score page appearance

Marcusmax

Logician
Does anyone know how to change the look of the paper (background) in the score editor? I find with the default grainy style, which looks very nice on screen, if I print it to a pdf it comes out looking unclear, as if the 'print' quality has been compromised by the look of the page. I'd like to get it back to the clear page, and therefore clearer pdf result hopefully, as it was in Logic 9.

Thanks
 
Check on page 712 of the manual:

  • Choose the color mode for the Score Editor m Choose one of the following from the View > Colors submenu in the Score Editor menu bar:
    • Normal: Colors are assigned in accordance with the color settings in staff styles and note attributes. As long as these settings haven't been changed in new projects, the result is a regular black-and-white printout, and black notes on a yellow background onscreen.
    • Show Pitch: Applies colors in accordance with note pitches. The colors of notes can be edited in the Functions > Note Attributes > Colors window. This window also allows you to determine whether notes with accidentals match the color of those without accidentals, or if each note in the chromatic scale has its own color.
    • Show Velocity: Applies eight different colors, in accordance with MIDI velocity. These colors can also be edited in the Layout > Colors window.
    • Show Voice Assignment: Assigns different colors to different voices. This setting only makes sense in staff styles that contain more than one voice. This mode employs the colors of the User Palette, which can also be found and edited in the Layout > Colors window, or by opening File > Project Settings > Score > Colors.
    Force Black & White: Does exactly what the name implies. This mode is useful when color options have been used in staff styles, or have been assigned to notes using note attributes, but you want to print a black-and-white score.
 
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Thanks for that but I've tried it. This doesn't affect the actual appearance of the 'page' that the score is on, particularly in Page View mode. As a result the output to a pdf is the same as it was, i.e. very unclear compared to the same output in Logic 9.

Here are a couple of pics to illustrate what I mean. The first is from Logic P. X and the second is from Logic 9. You should be able to see that the one from L. 9 is much clearer.

To re-iterate: it's the background I need to change to pure white as I imagine that should yield the same output as 9 did. I have searched through the manual but can't find any reference to this aspect of the display. Of course, I may have missed something obvious..
 

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It looks to me like the Logic X snapshot has a shadow behind everything which makes it all look fuzzy.

I see that on my system too if I print, though the shadow doesn't show on screen.
I am however getting the score on pure white background.

You should report this to Apple...
 
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Yes, that's exactly how it looks. I can't see how to get the pure white background but from what you say it looks like it makes no difference to the output. If you get the chance could you try 'printing' to a pdf and see how that looks?

I will indeed report this. Maybe a bug.
 
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That's exactly what I did in fact - printed to a PDF.
It looks crappy (technical term) with shadows as I mentioned above. I haven't done any in-depth testing though...

PS - I'll also report this.
 
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Ok thanks. That suggests that there is a problem with this beyond just the default grainy background. You're getting the (crappy!) shadows even with a clear white background.

I reported it earlier. I wonder if anyone else is experiencing this, or has found a way around it?
 
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The more people that report this the better. The "powers that be" at Apple need to know that there are people who depend on scoring in Logic and some of us stay with Logic because of the integration of scoring with the rest of the DAW.

Karen
 
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The more people that report this the better. The "powers that be" at Apple need to know that there are people who depend on scoring in Logic and some of us stay with Logic because of the integration of scoring with the rest of the DAW.

Karen

Hello Karen. You may remember me from that other, sadly now-defunct Logic forum.. Nice to see you here. :) Yes, I am using the score feature a lot more these days.

Another problem I am having, this time in the Piano Roll editor, is I can't move notes sideways in small increments. The manual says to hold down Control and Shift but this doesn't work for me. In 9 it used to be Control only if I remember right but it did used to work. Another bug perhaps, or am I doing something wrong?
 
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Another problem I am having, this time in the Piano Roll editor, is I can't move notes sideways in small increments. The manual says to hold down Control and Shift but this doesn't work for me. In 9 it used to be Control only if I remember right but it did used to work. Another bug perhaps, or am I doing something wrong?

Hi Marcus,

I have the same problem. I discussed it lengthly with an Apple Logic technician. It probably has to do with conflicting settings if both Logic 9 and X are installed.
A workaround is to DISABLE the 'Limit dragging to one direction' setting in the preferences/General/editing
 

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The more people that report this the better. The "powers that be" at Apple need to know that there are people who depend on scoring in Logic and some of us stay with Logic because of the integration of scoring with the rest of the DAW.

Karen


I am not seeing this here.
 

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I have no fuzziness, no shadows either when looking at the score on the monitor or when it's printed out. I'm on Logic 10.0.5, and using Adobe Reader 11.0.0.4

Karen
 
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You need to look at PDF files that were generated via the Print command from Logic X inside Adobe applications like Reader and Acrobat.

The problem is most obvious when you zoom in on the PDF scores.

When you print one of these PDF files from an Adobe application with a real printer the quality of the printout will be sub optimal although nit that bad.

If you look at or print these same PDF files in Apple's Preview application there will be no problems.

If you print to paper directly from LX there is no problem.

I.e. The problem is about how Adobe apps deal with LX generated PDF files.

Also...
PDF files generated by LX's Camera Tool do not suffer from this problem either.
 
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Not having this here. I wonder if it is related to the printer driver, since we export to PDF in that dialog box?

Are you sure?

Have you printed off a PDF file using one of Logic X's Print To PDF Command and viewed that PDF file within an Adobe application, like Reader or Acrobat with a high zoom level?

If not, then you won't be able to see what we're talking about.

I thought I didn't have the issue either.

Note:
If you view these PDF files in Apple's Preview application you won't see the issue.
If you use Logic X's Camera Tool to generate the PDF file you won't see it either.
If you print one of these PDF files from an Adobe application, the hard-copy printout will look OK but not as crisp as it should.
If you print a hard copy directly from Logic X it will look fine.
If you print one of these PDF files from Preview it will probably be as crisp as it should be, but I haven't actually tried this yet myself.

I.e. The problem only relates to the way that Adobe applications handle Logic X generated PDF files via the Print to PDF Commands.

When viewed from and/or printed to a printer from an Adobe application all the fonts in the PDF file are rendered as bitmap graphic images with a low resolution.
When viewed within Preview you will see vector graphics of the fonts, which is as it should be with a properly generated PDF file.
Vector representations of font characters look the same at any magnification and when printed to paper with a real printer can make use of that printer's highest resolutions.
Bitmap representations of font characters only look right at one magnification level.
And Adobe applications treat the fonts in LX generated PDF files as bitmap images using a low resolution, probably 72 dpi, which looks OK on screen but not on printout from a laser printer which usually expects 300dpi or higher resolution.
 
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Joe, I just did the following:
1. I opened a Logic score.
2. I pressed command-P to open the print dialogue box and chose 'save as pdf."
3. I closed Logic.
4. I opened the pdf in Adobe Reader and printed it out on my HP Laserjet.

No shadows.
 
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Joe, I just did the following:
1. I opened a Logic score.
2. I pressed command-P to open the print dialogue box and chose 'save as pdf."
3. I closed Logic.
4. I opened the pdf in Adobe Reader and printed it out on my HP Laserjet.

No shadows.

Again...
Did you zoom in on the file from within Adobe Reader?

At the Actual Size zoom level, which is also what your Laserjet will print, you probably won't notice the shadows per se.
But if you have any experience with how crisp these types of files *should look* you'll notice that the quality is sub standard.
Again, the issue is between low resolution bitmap graphics vs vector graphics which look just as good at any resolution.
 
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