Converting Powerpoint Files to ForScore

Here's a quick and easy guide to converting your Powerpoint files to work with ForScore 2!

Step 1: Convert Your PowerPoint files to PDF

If you're using Microsoft Office on a MAC all you have to do is open the file, select "Save As", and then in the drop down menu select PDF! If you're on a PC all you need to do is download a free Print to PDF program and once installed you open the Powerpoint file and then select print. When the print screen comes up change the printer to PDF and hit print. This will save it as a PDF file and you're good to go!

Step 2: Import Your PDF to ForScore
There are a few ways you can do this. The first way is to connect your iPad to your computer and then drag the files into it. Another great way is to use Dropbox (click see my tutorial on setting up Dropbox) which is quick and easy to use.

Step 3: Adjust Your PDF To Fit The Screen
When you see the file loaded into ForScore you'll notice that it does not stretch to fit the screen entirely. To fix this tap the title of the file in the gray bar at the top of the screen and a pop-up window will appear just like the picture below. In the pop-up window you'll see a view of the file as it appears on the screen and right below that is a slider that adjusts your zoom. Use your finder to slide it until you can't see white on the right and left edges. Once you lift your finger you'll notice the file in the background adjusts so you can see if you zoomed the correct amount. When you're happy with it just tap outside of the pop-up window and it will disappear and save the settings to your file. Note that this will apply to all pages in that file not just the first one.

Step 4: Your Done!


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Using Dropbox To Import Files to ForScore

There are several ways to get your files from your computer to your iPad but what's the best way? The answer can depend on your workflow or just personal opinion but using Dropbox has several advantages and is very easy to do.

What is Dropbox?
Dropbox is a cloud based service that allows you to store your files on the internet so that you can have access to them anywhere and on several devices such as your iPad or iPhone. The free version gives you 2GBs of storage, which for our purposes is more than plenty, but you can get up to 8GBs free by inviting others to join. You can also share folders that you create with other Dropbox users making it easy to share files with one another. Now that you know what Dropbox is, let's look at the steps to getting the files to Dropbox and then to ForScore 2.

Step 1: Go to http://www.dropbox.com and create a free account.

Step 2: Once your logged in, create a folder where you will place all your music to be uploaded to your iPad. You can also download the Dropbox application to your MAC or PC which makes uploading even faster and easier!

Step 3: Upload your PDF files to the folder you created in Dropbox

Step 4: Go to the App Store on your iPad and download the Dropbox App and get logged in.

Step 5: Click on the folder where your music is located and press the Export button in the very top right of the screen. You will see a drop down menu appear showing applications you can open the file in. ForScore should be listed so choose it. (See screen shot below)

Step 6: Your done! Once it opens in ForScore the file is saved in the program.

As you can see this is extremely easy to do. If you have a lot of files ready to go and you want to import them all at once then I would recommend using iTunes since you can drag and drop all the files at one time. The advantage to using Dropbox, however, is that your team can have access to whatever files they need and if someone else creates a new song they just upload it and you just go get it and import it!

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ForScore App: Turn Your iPad Into A Sheet Music Viewer

I was fed up with using paper for chord charts! It was expensive to constantly print out new lead sheets each week and it was difficult to shuffle the papers around during a live performance. I decided to buy an iPad 2 to use as a music reader so I could get rid of paper once and for all! That part was easy but the hard part was choosing a music reader app! After doing tons of research looking for articles and reviews I struggled to find much useful information. In the end I finally came across an app called ForScore 2.

ForScore 2 is only $4.99 and works with both the iPad and the iPad 2. It's design and layout is elegant and easy to use. The app allows you to create set lists, search for songs easily by title, artist, etc., and supports a footswitch so that you can flip pages without using your hands. Support for Dropbox is built in which makes it much easier to transfer files between your computer and your iPad. It also has Bluetooth sync'ing so if you have friends or your entire band using iPads you can easily send your music directly to them. The last thing really worth mentioning is that the developers are constantly trying to improve their product and are very responsive to feedback and bug fixes. This is very important and I was impressed that they fixed issues I reported in two days!

Later I will post some tutorials on using ForScore 2 but for now go check out the app at http://forscoreapp.com. Download the manual and look it over as it will give you a good feel for the app before you commit to buying it. Enjoy!

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