IWBNI there were separate settings for the thickness of the horizontal and vertical line segments that form a tuplet bracket and the following smart shapes: bracket, dashed bracket, double-ended bracket, dashed double-ended bracket, and solid or dashed custom lines with hooks.

For the same reasons that some prefer to have the thickness of vertical lines such as stem lines and barlines be a different than that of horizontal lines such as staff lines, some prefer to have the thickness of the vertical segment of a bracket be different from that of the horizontal segment.

For example, consider the following measure:

In this example, the thickness of the staff lines, stems and barlines is 3 pixels, 4 pixels and 5 pixels, respectively. The horizontal and vertical segments of the tuplet bracket have a thickness of 4 pixels. (Note: Some would prefer to make staff lines thicker than stems. However, in music that is rhythmically complex, it can be useful to make stems thicker than staff lines, as has been done in this example, as this style more clearly indicates the horizontal position or time at which notes occur.)

In the following figure, the horizontal segment of the tuplet bracket has been thinned to be the same thickness as the staff lines (3 pixels). The vertical segment of the tuplet bracket has not been changed and is the same thickness as the stem lines (4 pixels).

This could be implemented by replacing the text box called Tuplet Bracket on the Lines dialog box with the following controls:

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Lines Dialog Box

Tuplet Bracket:
    Horizontal: _____
    Vertical: _____
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And, the following controls could be added to the Smart Shape Options dialog box:

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Smart Shape Options Dialog Box

Bracket Thickness:
   Horizontal: _____
   Vertical: _____
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Also, the Hook radio buttons and associated hook-length text boxes in the End Point Style section of the Smart Line Style dialog box could be replaced by the following controls:

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Smart Line Style Dialog Box

( ) Hook Length: _____ Thickness: _____
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Created: August 22, 2000
Last Updated: August 22, 2000
Version: Finale 2000b