Scanning input using PhotoScore First included with Sibelius
- tarokoike
- May 21
- 5 min read
Sibelius comes with PhotoScore & NotateMe First (hereinafter referred to as “PhotoScore First”), a simplified version of Neuratron PhotoScore & NotateMe Ultimate, a music score scanning software.
Compared to other professional music notation software, Finale does not have a scanning function since v25 released in 2016, and Dorico does not have it from the beginning.
The fact that only Sibelius has a scanning function may be one of the reasons for Finale users who have made heavy use of the scanning function in v2014 and earlier, to get Sibelius as well as Dorico during the crossgrade sale period.
Moreover, unlike Finale's scanning function, which did not have a post-scan correction function and usually required a lot of correction work after import, PhotoScore First has a full range of functions to check and correct errors before exporting to Sibelius after scanning, so you can expect better scanning results than Finale.
In this article, I’d like to give an overview of this function built into Sibelius.
[Table of Contents]
1. Functional limitations of PhotoScore First
2. Try using PhotoScore First
2-1. Importing a file
2-2. Editing
--------
1. Functional limitations of PhotoScore First
1-1. General functional limitations
Immediately after launching PhotoScore First, the following panel will be displayed.
This lists the main functional limitations of PhotoScore First in comparison with PhotoScore Ultimate, the paid version sold separately.
In summary, the specification is that “only notes/rests for up to two staves written using standard rules can be imported”.
In other words, expressions, articulations, chord symbols, lyrics, etc. are not imported, so the user must enter all of this themselves. Also, since only two staves can be imported, this function would be primarily used for melody and piano scores.
(Back to table of contents)
1-2. Check the impact of functional limitations in advance
If you are aware of the functional limitations above, you can get a rough idea of what corrections will be required after scanning.
This time, I will use a PDF file of the first page of Chopin's Etude Op.25-7, a public domain file obtained from IMSPL, as an example.
As mentioned above, PhotoScore First does not read double sharps, double dotted notes, or 32nd notes, so in this piece, at least these areas will definitely require corrections.
Finger numbers and grace notes, which are also not read by PhotoScore First, may be misrecognized as notes/rests, and we can predict that some kind of problem will occur if there is no time signature, as in the first measure of this piece.
(Back to table of contents)
2. Trying out PhotoScore First
Now, let's actually load this file into PhotoScore First.
2-1. Importing a file
PhotoScore First can load files in bitmap (.bmp), TIFF (.tif), pictogram (.pict), or PDF (.pdf) formats. Since we are working with PDF files, select Open PDFs from the File menu and select the PDF file from the specified file.
You will then be asked to select a resolution, but you do not need to change this to the default Medium.
(Back to table of contents)
2-2. Editing
This is the state immediately after loading. The original score where the mouse is over is displayed at the top of the screen, and an enlarged view of it is displayed at the top right, making it easy to make edits while comparing.
As expected, there are problems with double sharps, double dotted notes, finger numbers, and grace notes, but you can also see that there are problems with dots, naturals, and sharps.
It may be easier to edit small notes after loading them into Sibelius, but especially for beats and note values, you should edit them in PhotoScore First to make the overall work easier.
PhotoScore First has the same style numeric keypad as Sibelius, so people who are familiar with Sibelius should be able to make corrections intuitively.
As for the first measure, after correcting the missing dots, it will be displayed as 10 quarter notes missing, so in this case I set a 10/4 time signature to this measure only, assuming that the time signature will be hidden after importing into Sibelius.
This can be set in the “Create menu > Time Signature”.
(Back to table of contents)
2-3. Exporting to Sibelius
Once you have completed the corrections, click the “Send To Sibelius” button.
The interface will then switch to Sibelius, and you can set how you want to import this into Sibelius. *
*The default setting for instrument settings is “Sibelius will choose instruments”, but this time I manually selected piano from “Choose Instruments” because the piano was not automatically selected as the instrument for this particular piano piece after importing.
This is the state after it was imported into Sibelius. Now the work in PhotoScore First is all set, and from now on all the remaining work such as entering expressions, articulations, lines, etc. will be done in Sibelius.
(Back to table of contents)
3. Copyright considerations when using music scanning software
Finally, let's briefly touch on the legal issues surrounding the scanning function.
On page 53 of the official Sibelius user manual, “Sibelius Reference Guide.pdf”, there is the following note about using PhotoScore First:
Music copyright
Scanning someone else's music without permission is copyright infringement. Infringing copyright through scanning is illegal.
Most music pieces state whether they are copyrighted and who the copyright owner is. If you are unsure of the copyright status of the music you want to scan, contact the publisher, composer, or arranger of that music.
Also, the website of Neuratron, the developer of PhotoScore First, has the following statement at the bottom of the page, albeit in small letters:
Scanning, recording and transcribing copyright music without permission is illegal.
KAWAI's ScoreMaker is also well-known as a sheet music scanning software, but the following special page on the ScoreMaker product page may also be helpful when considering legal issues regarding the scanning function.
▼ScoreMaker and Copyright (Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co., Ltd. website)
As stated on this page, scanning sheet music may be claimed as violating the “publication rights” of the sheet music creator, even if the music itself is in the public domain and the copyright has expired.
For more information on publication rights, see the following page.
▼Frequently Asked Questions (Japan Association of Music Publishing website)
--------
There is one incident I personally can't forget about the scanning function of music notation software.
The new feature of Finale v25, released in 2016, which allowed scanning input from PDF files, was heavily promoted by developer MakeMusic, which sparked legal debate about the scanning function in the United States, where the company is located, and as a result, the scanning feature was permanently removed from Finale.
While Finale was the only app that was forced to remove the scanning feature for legal reasons, it is unclear why Sibelius and ScoreMaker still have the scanning feature.
However, looking back, it seems that MakeMusic's subsequent shift to developing the instrument practice app SmartMusic was not unrelated to this incident.
You can still read about the details of that time on the MakeMusic blog.
▼Restrictions may apply*
(Back to table of contents)
