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Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 12:59 pm
by joeloduca
Hi All,
Wondering if anyone has some experience taking a graphics document like a PDF file of written music and somehow importing that into Notion for future editing and MIDI conversion. I run Notion 6 on IPAD and also run the windows version of that plus Studio 1 .. Technically, I have probably any graphics app under the sun to make the source file about anything. I can make the source file a PDF, jpg, png etc.... you name it, I can probably make it. I have google searched this and found some and demoed them, but nothing seems to be able to make sense of the PDF of music.

thanks much!

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2016 9:20 am
by gianfrancocalvi
SmartScore X2 Pro: PDF -->> Music XML

Import Music XML in Notion.

Job done

Bye
GF

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2016 9:55 pm
by christopherrussell
NotateMe & PhotoScore IAP. $70. Take picture with iPhone or Android phone, export to MusicXML. Edit in Notion.

PhotoScore Ultimate is available for $249, and can open a PDF. Same deal.

In my experience, PhotoScore is FAR more accurate (even on iPhone) than SmartScore...although their most recent version (SmartScore) is much better than it used to be.

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:15 pm
by dianacalder
Another option is Sheet Music Scanner from the App Store. It's much cheaper and does at least as good a job of recognition, plus it will import saved files (PDF and various image files, though I've only tried PDF) or take photos where NotateMe with PhotoScore only works with the camera directly. That means it's easier to get a clean scan for import as a desktop scanner will always get a sharper scan than handheld photos from the device.

Sheet Music Scanner also is being actively developed. NotateMe hasn't had an update since mid 2015, aeons ago in app terms.

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 3:40 am
by andrewflack
I have Sheet Music Scanner and it is very good.
I tried the demo of Playscore and the free version of NotateMe and they both also did a good job of scanning and recognising. So all performances being equal Sheet Music Scanner was the most economical choice for me. Its Music XML export is excellent (depending on the results of the source scan.) I have imported into both Notion and Symphony Pro on my iPad Mini.
I haven't been able to scan from a pdf with it yet but jpg photos work fine (make sure the file extension is .jpg and not .jpeg). Taking a photo direct in the app is good - the grid lines really help)

[EDIT] I have now successfully converted a PDF file. The problem with my previous attempt was to do with the integrity of the source file and not a failing in Sheet Music Scanner.

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:48 pm
by christopherrussell
dianacalder wroteAnother option is Sheet Music Scanner from the App Store. It's much cheaper and does at least as good a job of recognition, plus it will import saved files (PDF and various image files, though I've only tried PDF) or take photos where NotateMe with PhotoScore only works with the camera directly. That means it's easier to get a clean scan for import as a desktop scanner will always get a sharper scan than handheld photos from the device.

Sheet Music Scanner also is being actively developed. NotateMe hasn't had an update since mid 2015, aeons ago in app terms.


My previous post predated Sheet Music Scanner. If you want the best chance for accuracy, NotateMe/PhotoScore IAP is still the best bet. Sheet Music Scanner is a favorite, too--but it doesn't scan everything yet (e.g. triplets). The developer is working on it.

So...can you manually adjust triplets for a $5 app versus a $70 app? That depends on how much your time is worth. :D

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 4:02 am
by anthonywilkes
PlayScore is better for export because it reads all of music not just notes and rests. Repeats, slurs, articulation, dynamics, trills, turns, fermata, tremolo, hairpins etc. It is completely free with no ads for eg piano music.

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 5:04 pm
by annabelia
anthonywilkes wrotePlayScore is better for export because it reads all of music not just notes and rests. Repeats, slurs, articulation, dynamics, trills, turns, fermata, tremolo, hairpins etc. It is completely free with no ads for eg piano music.

Yes,PlayScore really better for export!Agree with you!

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2018 9:30 pm
by christopherrussell
PlayScore is much improved, but still one page at a time.

NotateMe (with the in-app purchase) is a very powerful tool as well that can pull in lyrics.

All that said, I still find a lot of success with Sheet Music Scanner, which is very affordably priced, and can open PDFs from the iPad directly ("open in").

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 10:11 pm
by gbwhatsapp1
PlayScore is better for fare since it peruses all of music not simply notes and rests. Rehashes, slurs, explanation, elements, trills, turns, fermata, tremolo, barrettes and so on. It is totally free without any promotions for eg piano music.

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2018 9:33 pm
by raylevi
Sheet Music Scanner from the App Store is much cheaper.
192.168.0.1

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 4:16 am
by anthonywilkes
Try PlayScore 2 - just released (2019). Multi page, pdf, transposition, full music, dynamics, articulation etc, even fingering! And you can create playable score documents that others can interact with free.

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2019 11:52 am
by mikerosen
I use SmartScore Pro on my desktop Mac. Yes, it costs, and there is a learning curve. The big advantage is that you can easily spot and correct scanning errors before you export the XML for work in Notion, Finale, or Sibelius. Many things are easier to deal with beforehand.

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2019 7:26 pm
by erinbloke1
I know this is an old post, but was wondering if anyone had any updated recommendations? I've seen one called scanscore: https://scan-score.com/en/ but was wondering if it is worth it/any good? Thanks!

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2019 4:05 am
by jobinkhan
These things have been around for over 20 years. Photoscore is probably the most well known tool and can import scans into Sibelius files. The ultimate version of the program is very good and we use it constantly in the publishing industry.

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 9:42 am
by testamonmerlin
PlayScore is better for export because it reads all of music not just notes and rests. Repeats, slurs, articulation, dynamics, trills, turns, fermata, tremolo, hairpins etc. It is completely free with no ads for eg piano music.

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 5:21 pm
by marloforma
Sheet Music Scanner from the App Store is much cheaper. ;)
SmartScore X2 Pro: PDF -->> Music XML
19216811-login[/quote]

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 1:19 am
by saracovar
anthonywilkes wrotePlayScore is better for export because it reads all of music not just notes and rests. Repeats, slurs, articulation, dynamics, trills, turns, fermata, ringtones, tremolo, hairpins etc. It is completely free with no ads for eg piano music.

I agree with you.

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:20 am
by silverbogan
Use some applications that convert your PDF music to plain text.

Re: Importing PDF of manuscript music?

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 4:41 am
by nhangelo
Is it possible handwriting on score? Draw or freehand text