IWBNI it were possible to specify that the tips of all up stemlets should end at the same vertical position and similarly, that the tips of all down stemlets should end at the same vertical position. Up stemlets are those which are above rests. Down stemlets are those which are below rests.

As it is now, all stemlets have the same length as shown in the following figure:

With the feature proposed here, it would be possible to have the tips of stemlets be vertically aligned as shown in the following figure:

This could be implemented by replacing the edit control called Half-Stem Length on the Music Options dialog box with a button called Stemlets. This button would display a new dialog box called Stemlets that could have the following controls:

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Stemlets Dialog Box

Stemlet Length:

( ) Fixed Length: _____ (e.g. 27 EVPUs)

( ) Stemlet Tips Vertically Aligned
    Up Stemlets (from Top Staff Line): _____ (e.g. -8 EVPUs)
    Down Stemlets (from Bottom Staff Line): _____ (e.g. 8 EVPUs)
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The option Fixed Length could be selected to specify a length to be used for all stemlets. This would yield the same results as the Half-Stem Length edit control on the Music Options dialog box in the current version of Finale. When Stemlet Tips Vertically Aligned is selected, one could specify the vertical position of the tips of up (down) stemlets relative to the top (bottom) staff line.

Created: February 10, 2000
Last Updated: February 10, 2000
Version: Finale 2000b