Printable Version of Topic
Click here to view this topic in its original format
GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ Converting Pdf Scores
Posted by: Matt23 May 8 2009, 05:21 PM
Recently, I started learning the lead violin part (on the guitar), of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. I have a full score for the concerto, in PDF form, and a program called Sibelius, which is essentially, a musical notation version of Guitar Pro. I want import the PDF file into Sibelius, so I can play along with it, with the lead violin muted. I do know a program that will let you do this, but it costs £25.
What I'm asking, is does anyone know a program that will let you import PDF scores into Sibelius, or convert them to MIDIs etc, that costs less than £25, or is free?
Matt 
Posted by: Emir Hot May 8 2009, 05:54 PM
What I'm asking, is does anyone know a program that will let you import PDF scores into Sibelius, or convert them to MIDIs etc, that costs less than £25, or is free?
Matt
Sibelius has an extension which recognises scanned notes from a page. You can open your PDF in Photoshop and save as picture then go and find that option in Sibelius and try to trace that picture. It might work. I think it's somewhere in the file menu.
Posted by: Artemus May 8 2009, 06:29 PM
Really? Wow, that's rather impressive - at least I think so. I might have to look into this for my own purposes..
Thanks Emir
Posted by: Jesse May 8 2009, 06:30 PM
that's advanced technology right there:D
Posted by: Emir Hot May 8 2009, 06:52 PM
Thanks Emir
Cheers man. Let me know if it worked. I have never tried it but heard all the best about that option.
Posted by: Matt23 May 8 2009, 07:10 PM
Right Emir, thanks for your help. I don't have Photoshop, but I have something very similar called Photoimpact. I can't open Pdfs in it though.
It's quite annoying, because if I had got Sibelius a bit later, I would have got the upgraded version of Photoscore (program that comes with sibelius that can convert scanned images), which can import Pdfs. As it is though I have to pay for the new version.
I'm going to see if a screenshot would work, even if it's very slow, it would be better than copying out the music. Any other help would still be appreciated though.
Posted by: Emir Hot May 8 2009, 07:43 PM
I have never tried it so I can't tell but can you only pay for that extension and install with the current Sibelius?
Posted by: Matt23 May 9 2009, 11:59 AM
I don't think so. It doesn't seem to work either, becuase I can take a screenshot of the PDF, open it in Photoscore, and when I try to read it to Sibelius I just get a blank score. The PDF isn't of the best quality though (image-wise). I'll try some different scores and settings and stuff and see if I can get it to work. Thanks anyway for your help Emir.
Posted by: Emir Hot May 9 2009, 12:20 PM
PDF is actually the best quality. You can render PDF into any resolution without losing quality. PDF data is vector based (fonts, notes etc...).
Of course screenshot can't be of help as its resolution is 72dpi. You need at least 300 to make it work.
Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 9 2009, 05:07 PM
Of course screenshot can't be of help as its resolution is 72dpi. You need at least 300 to make it work.
PDF enables best quality, but if the score is scanned in low res, there isn't much that can be done. Just wanted to say that sometimes it happens.. I've had some scanned material in PDF that was not very good, so it is possible that the quality is low. Possibly some free PDF creator/converter can be applied?
Posted by: Matt23 May 9 2009, 06:00 PM
This is the quality of the PDF. Do you think it's good enough, even if I did have software to read it?
Powered by Invision Power Board (http://www.invisionboard.com)
© Invision Power Services (http://www.invisionpower.com)