I have a PC. I see there's freeware like ABC Navigator and also shareware like ABC2WIN where you have to pay for some of the things I want to do. I can't find a comprehensive review of the features of each program. Am I missing out on something if I just go for the freebie?
"Am I missing out on something if I just go for the freebie?"
Navigator is very good, the one thing that I sometimes miss is a Help File!
You can organise all your ABC tunes in what is probably a big database file, and pull out a selection to make up sets, You can cut and paste tunes in eg from here, edit it (and see the score change and hear the changed output)
You can play back at different speeds and pitches (I don't think it can transpose - ie shift tunes to another key ... but I may not have found that)
You can configure the printout to a certain extent, though there are limits (and getting page breaks where you want them can be tricky)
You have to pay a bit to print more than one tune in ABCWin (about £20). ABCWin has a quickhelp - all the available commands on an A5 page. You can get the most tunes on a page with ABCWin
I haven't found a decent spec for ABCNav yet and there certainly isn't any help or quickguide like ABCWin has. It looks nice but I have never got to grips with it.
Hi Mark - you can print pdf files direct from ABC navigator (single tunes or tunes in the Print List) by printing to a postscript file first. There's lots of free software that does this instantly - just tried this http://www.pdf995.com/download.html and the free version did a good job (but you do get pop-up adverts while you're using it). I have a full copy of Acrobat so generally use this instead.
Just tried the other method adding a postscript printer driver and then using a free converter - worked fine with ABC Navigator and I didn't get all the annoying pop-ups that came with the other link. You'll find instructions on this page: http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=6467
its free, opensource, easy to use, no popups etc, just use it like a regular printer.
For the ABC I would go for ABC Navigator, its a good program & ABC2WIN just aint worth the $20
Here's another freeware pdf writer/driver, no adds or popups. Also can use to create (PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP, PCX, PS, EPS). Can combine multiple pdfs to a single multipage file.
Hi Mark,
I'd second the suggestion of ABC Navigator. (There is no need to go through PDF format in between, though that's obviously a good idea for some purposes.)
There are two things I particularly like about the Navigator, and the one that is relevant here is that you can see your dots evolving in one window as you edit the ABC text in another.
It has quite a bit of scope for adjusting the size and spacing of the dots, which, of course, also gives you scope to go wrong and takes a bit of getting used to.
The other thing I like about it is that it handles sets well, though ABCMus is better on rhythms and also on searching.
I'm in Leichhardt - why not come round and see it in operation?
To Will and John Bull and anyone else who recommended the tune-o-tron, I've been using that for a long time now, but I can't get it to print more than one tune out on one page, unless you miss out the X header for the 2nd tune, but then it becomes impossible to add details of source/composer etc for both tunes because it treats the whole lot as just one tune. Have you found a way round this? I want something like Navigator so I can do proper page breaks and stuff.
Since no one has mentioned it yet ... If you're comfortable with command line apps, and don't care about bells and whistles, I recommend abcm2ps + Ghostscript for rendering ABC to either Postscript or PDF with excruciatingly precise control over many aspects of the print layout and high-quality output. I think this is the software that underlies the online Tune-O-Tron converter. The programs are open source or freeware, and well-documented.
I use concertina.net's Tune-O-Tron. It won't print out everything (e.g., chord symbols) and the midi music files don't handle repeats too well but the print quality is superb. One small quibble would be that you can't control the amount of space (depth-wise) between the staves. Another would be that if you add a grace note before a double-stop the slur joins the grace note to the bottom note of the chord. Another would be....
Mark - I hope I'm not missing the point here or stating the obvious, but to get more than one tune on a page in ABC Navigator you open an archive ABC file (I make a lot of use of one that came from a French Yahoo group with 12444 tunes/versions in it). Then you right-click on each tune that you want printed, and select Add to Print List from the submenu. Then if you click on Print List tab at the bottom left of the screen you can see the ones in your print list,. You can click and drag the tunes in the print list to change the order, and you can insert page breaks using the icon with the up and down arrows, and click and drag these into different positions. This is really brilliant and I didn't know it existed until recently. Then you can print the pages with multiple tunes on each page, each with its own title header. You can also print to a postscript file using instructions above and then use the free converter to create a pdf file, or use any of the other methods outlined above.
But I'm sure you can do all this 'cos you're an expert in writing ABC (which I'm not). But you might just be missing the point that anything that can be viewed in print preview and sent to a printer can be turned into a pdf and there's a multitude of ways of doing it.
Dow, you're correct that there's no way to print multiple tunes per page using Concertina.net. You might want to try corresponding with Paul about it -- I've discussed the converter with him before and he's open to suggestion (although I've never actually gotten him to change anything .
ABC software
ABC software
I have a PC. I see there's freeware like ABC Navigator and also shareware like ABC2WIN where you have to pay for some of the things I want to do. I can't find a comprehensive review of the features of each program. Am I missing out on something if I just go for the freebie?
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by Dow
Re: ABC software
Oh btw the main thing I want to be able to do is print pdf sheetmusic from the abc.
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by Dow
Re: ABC software
Dow you can do this already by plugging the ABC file into the Tune-o-tron on concertina.net. No need to clog up your PC with ABC software.
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by Martin Milner
Re: ABC software
"No need to clog up your PC with ABC software."
I'd hardly call less than 2MB of installed files, and no background processes when not in use, clogging up your PC!
But whatever floats yer boat.
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by Tigermoth
Re: ABC software
"Am I missing out on something if I just go for the freebie?"
Navigator is very good, the one thing that I sometimes miss is a Help File!
You can organise all your ABC tunes in what is probably a big database file, and pull out a selection to make up sets, You can cut and paste tunes in eg from here, edit it (and see the score change and hear the changed output)
You can play back at different speeds and pitches (I don't think it can transpose - ie shift tunes to another key ... but I may not have found that)
You can configure the printout to a certain extent, though there are limits (and getting page breaks where you want them can be tricky)
Generally a very handy (and small) program
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by spindizzy
Re: ABC software
You have to pay a bit to print more than one tune in ABCWin (about £20). ABCWin has a quickhelp - all the available commands on an A5 page. You can get the most tunes on a page with ABCWin
I haven't found a decent spec for ABCNav yet and there certainly isn't any help or quickguide like ABCWin has. It looks nice but I have never got to grips with it.
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by geoffwright
Re: ABC software
Hi Mark - you can print pdf files direct from ABC navigator (single tunes or tunes in the Print List) by printing to a postscript file first. There's lots of free software that does this instantly - just tried this http://www.pdf995.com/download.html and the free version did a good job (but you do get pop-up adverts while you're using it). I have a full copy of Acrobat so generally use this instead.
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by RichardB
Re: ABC software
Just tried the other method adding a postscript printer driver and then using a free converter - worked fine with ABC Navigator and I didn't get all the annoying pop-ups that came with the other link. You'll find instructions on this page: http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=6467
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by RichardB
Re: ABC software
then you go here http://www.ps2pdf.com/convert/convert.htm
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by RichardB
Re: ABC software
Or you could just use PDFCreator, which you can get here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
its free, opensource, easy to use, no popups etc, just use it like a regular printer.
For the ABC I would go for ABC Navigator, its a good program & ABC2WIN just aint worth the $20
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by farmer barleymow
Re: ABC software
Here's another freeware pdf writer/driver, no adds or popups. Also can use to create (PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP, PCX, PS, EPS). Can combine multiple pdfs to a single multipage file.
http://www.pdfforge.org/products/pdfcreator
Used here a lot (medical school), with no problems to workstations, i.e. spyware.
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by Agnes Nutter
Re: ABC software
I use the Tune-o-Tron at concertina.net myself. Easy, and you get a very clean, high quality sheet music.
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by Will CPT
Re: ABC software
Another free app is ABCedit. You just need to get a registration code, which is free:
http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/j.coolegem/abceditinfo.html
works with ghostscript and provides very nice, customisable pdf-versions of your music.
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by brotherstorm
Re: ABC software
Hi Mark,
I'd second the suggestion of ABC Navigator. (There is no need to go through PDF format in between, though that's obviously a good idea for some purposes.)
There are two things I particularly like about the Navigator, and the one that is relevant here is that you can see your dots evolving in one window as you edit the ABC text in another.
It has quite a bit of scope for adjusting the size and spacing of the dots, which, of course, also gives you scope to go wrong and takes a bit of getting used to.
The other thing I like about it is that it handles sets well, though ABCMus is better on rhythms and also on searching.
I'm in Leichhardt - why not come round and see it in operation?
# Posted on February 21st 2007 by Lingpupa
Re: ABC software
To Will and John Bull and anyone else who recommended the tune-o-tron, I've been using that for a long time now, but I can't get it to print more than one tune out on one page, unless you miss out the X header for the 2nd tune, but then it becomes impossible to add details of source/composer etc for both tunes because it treats the whole lot as just one tune. Have you found a way round this? I want something like Navigator so I can do proper page breaks and stuff.
# Posted on February 22nd 2007 by Dow
Re: ABC software
Since no one has mentioned it yet ... If you're comfortable with command line apps, and don't care about bells and whistles, I recommend abcm2ps + Ghostscript for rendering ABC to either Postscript or PDF with excruciatingly precise control over many aspects of the print layout and high-quality output. I think this is the software that underlies the online Tune-O-Tron converter. The programs are open source or freeware, and well-documented.
# Posted on February 22nd 2007 by MTGuru
Re: ABC software
I use concertina.net's Tune-O-Tron. It won't print out everything (e.g., chord symbols) and the midi music files don't handle repeats too well but the print quality is superb. One small quibble would be that you can't control the amount of space (depth-wise) between the staves. Another would be that if you add a grace note before a double-stop the slur joins the grace note to the bottom note of the chord. Another would be....
# Posted on February 22nd 2007 by DonaldK
Re: ABC software
Mark - I hope I'm not missing the point here or stating the obvious, but to get more than one tune on a page in ABC Navigator you open an archive ABC file (I make a lot of use of one that came from a French Yahoo group with 12444 tunes/versions in it). Then you right-click on each tune that you want printed, and select Add to Print List from the submenu. Then if you click on Print List tab at the bottom left of the screen you can see the ones in your print list,. You can click and drag the tunes in the print list to change the order, and you can insert page breaks using the icon with the up and down arrows, and click and drag these into different positions. This is really brilliant and I didn't know it existed until recently. Then you can print the pages with multiple tunes on each page, each with its own title header. You can also print to a postscript file using instructions above and then use the free converter to create a pdf file, or use any of the other methods outlined above.
# Posted on February 22nd 2007 by RichardB
Re: ABC software
But I'm sure you can do all this 'cos you're an expert in writing ABC (which I'm not). But you might just be missing the point that anything that can be viewed in print preview and sent to a printer can be turned into a pdf and there's a multitude of ways of doing it.
# Posted on February 22nd 2007 by RichardB
Re: ABC software
Yup, I know you can print out multiple tunes per page in Navigator, but I've been trying to find a way to do it on the Tune-O-Tron.
# Posted on February 22nd 2007 by Dow
Re: ABC software
Dow, you're correct that there's no way to print multiple tunes per page using Concertina.net. You might want to try corresponding with Paul about it -- I've discussed the converter with him before and he's open to suggestion (although I've never actually gotten him to change anything
.
# Posted on February 22nd 2007 by srt19170