[coolaun]

In forScore I am used to being able to define a certain page range of a score as an "item", which creates a virtual score in the library without affecting the original PDF. For instance, the ten Rachmaninoff Preludes opus 23 are all in one PDF, but I have defined each one as a separate piece that can be included in a setlist.

Is there a similar function in MobileSheets?

[Rey_a]

Yes you can.

Use the snippet tool as described on page 92 of the manual. It creates a new score, based on an existing one. You can specify a page range or specific pages of the original score for the snippet if you like. It will not duplicate the original pdf of the original score, but it will use it again. So If you create 10 snippets of a master score, which happens to be a 100 page pdf. That 100 page pdf will exist only once in the library, but you will end up having 11 different scores in Mobilesheets (all referring to one pdf) to use as you please .... 

If you want to review/change the pages used by an existing score, open the edit screen for that score and go to the 'Files' tab. In the bottom left of the screen, the page order field will allow you to view or change the current settings.

hope that helps

Rudy

[coolaun]

Many thanks Rudy.

I have created a snippet. Now I find that annotations I make in it do not appear in the original score, nor do annotations I now make in the original score appear in the snippet. Is there a way to synchronise the new annotations between snippet and original?

[Zubersoft]

You can embed them in the underlying PDF if you want those changes to be shared by every song that uses that PDF. You will lose access to some features with embedded annotations (and you have to enable the option to allow editing of embedded PDF annotations if you need to edit them), but if you don't really need to edit those annotations after the fact, then this won't be an issue. Perhaps in the future I'll support a way to link annotations between songs using the same PDF, or at the very least, a way to copy annotations from one song to another, so that embedding isn't necessary.

Mike

[coolaun]

Perhaps in the future I'll support a way to link annotations between songs using the same PDF

That's what I need. I want to be able to keep working on a piece, adding or removing annotations, and to keep the snippet version and the version in the complete pdf in sync.

[Zubersoft]

Embedding the annotations will do that in the meantime, and can optionally turn on the option to automatically embed annotations (it gets reset back to off by default when the application is loaded as a security precaution, so that users don't accidentally embed annotations and permanently modify the underlying PDF without realizing it).

Mike

[coolaun]

Thanks, I hadn't realised about embedding annotations. I find it very tiresome that this setting gets automatically turned off, though. I am used to options staying as I set them, and I may easily forget to turn this setting back on each time I load the application. 

What are the downsides of embedding annotations? I see that it stops me from drawing highlights behind content, but I don't need this anyway. I can still edit the annotations by choosing the appropriate setting, I don't need to edit the annotations in another application and I have no problem with the underlying PDF being modified. I would prefer to have this setting permanently enabled. Is there any other downside I'm missing?

[Zubersoft]

Once an annotation is embedded, there is no reversing that. For text annotations, you may not be able to edit the text anymore, and some of the text settings will be gone (as the PDF specification does not support as many options). For stamps, they will be converted to images that can't be edited. This is also true for things like crescendos, piano staves, and arrows. Freeform annotations should still be editable while embedded, and this is the same for most of the supported shapes and highlights. Leaving the option enabled to allow editing of embedded annotations requires reloading the PDF in an editable state (due to limitations with the PDF library) which breaks the seamless transition between viewing and annotating the score. In some rare cases with some PDFs, users have had stability issues with that setting enabled due to conflicts with the PDF library. 

As far as why I don't let it stay enabled, it only takes me getting a few emails from furious users that encounter problems related to the annotations being embedded and the change being irreversible for me to not want to deal with the headaches of that customer support. Some users have encountered issues in rare cases where their settings seem to have been switched or modified without them actually making those changes, so if this setting was turned on due to that, it could cause some very big problems for users very quickly as all of their annotations suddenly become embedded when they go to annotate without them realizing it. Very few users have requested leaving that setting enabled. It's also enabled for the entire session - it's only when restarting the app that it gets toggled back off. 

Like most things, if the majority of users start requesting that setting to be something that can be left on, then I will consider making the change. When only a few users ask for it, I'd rather take the safe stance that doesn't result in me having to deal with very upset users after their library gets messed up. My preference is still to solve this problem without the need for embedding (i.e. to add an option to sync annotations automatically between a snippet and the original, or a way to quickly copy annotations).

Mike

[coolaun]

Many thanks for the detailed explanation, Mike. Nearly all my annotations are freeform, so I didn't notice the drawbacks you mention with text and stamps. 

I agree with you that this would be the best solution:

My preference is still to solve this problem without the need for embedding (i.e. to add an option to sync annotations automatically between a snippet and the original, or a way to quickly copy annotations).

Once again, thanks. I really appreciate the time you take to reply to everybody here.