The Ohio State University on behalf of its Department of Dance, Sullivant Hall,1813 N. High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43210 U.S.A. (hereinafter referred to as LICENSOR) grants the use of the LabanWriter program subject to the following conditions:
1. Definition As used herein, the term "LabanWriter" shall refer to a computer software program and accompanying documentation which is used for recording dance movements in Labanotation. 2. Grant LICENSOR hereby grants LICENSEE a non-exclusive revocable license to use LabanWriter. LICENSEE is permitted to make copies for internal purposes only and in no event shall LICENSEE modify the program or make copies for commercial distribution. LICENSOR is the copyright owner of LabanWriter and reserves all rights, title and interest in LabanWriter, including but not limited to the right to modify and distribute the software.
3. Distribution
4. Term
5. Rights Fee
6. Termination
7. Warranties
8. Disclaimer
9. Indemnification |
To add surface ticks use the Manipulate Palette (2nd row, 4th button from the left) after selecting the symbol.
To change a part into a limb use the Manipulate Palette (2nd row, 2nd button from the right) after selecting the symbol.
To change size see Enlarge/Reduce
A bow can be resized by selecting it, typing cmd-R or choosing Resize in the Manipulate menu, then grabbing the handles to lengthen and/or widen it. The addressing bows, the support bows and the "omit" bows have more than one part that can be lengthened or shortened.
The lines can be doubled, dashed or the thickness changed by using the Manipulate Palette, 1st row, 3rd button from the right.
Small floor plans next to staffs may be drawn by using the stretchable floor plan symbol in the Bow palette. They are drawn and moved like a bow using select mode and cannot be manipulated in floor plan mode.
Small premade bows that do not stretch are found in the palette with a caret and a bow on it.
Impulsive/Impactive bows can be made by combining one of the four accent signs at the bottom of the dynamics palette with a curved bow.
To remove part of a line or circle or square, make a very small shape with this tool, place it on the line where the space is wanted and add Whitespace (cmd-shift-W).
To place a circle around text, select the text, then select Enclose in the Type menu and choose the surrounding shape. See Circle/Spiral Palette
The lines for spirals will appear darker and thicker on the screen, but will print out as fine lines.
Note that you need a color screen to view this and a color printer to print it out.
Selecting any symbol(s), holding down the Shift key and clicking on an arrow key will move the symbol one column width to the right or left and 7 pixels (the width of a column) up or down on the page. This is an easy way to count what column you are placing a symbol in.
Note: To change the number of outside columns for a staff, select Change under the Staff menu and select the number of columns for each side of the staff . Or, with the staff selected, take the cursor to the bounding box of the staff where it changes into a double arrow and drag the columns in or out. Or before beginning a document, set the number of default outside columns in Preferences.
See Align to line up symbols in the same column.
Or drag from LW4 to the Scrapbook, that works too.
This is a quick and easy way to update all of your documents. WARNING: Do proof your new 4 document as spacing may shift slightly and fonts may have changed.
When you copy & paste from LW3 directly into LW4 the material arrives as a picture and cannot be manipulated.
To copy to another drag-aware document do the same thing but it is not necessary to hold down the Option key. Programs that predate drag and drop, and therefore are not drag-aware, include: Word 5, SuperPaint, LabanWriter 3.x.
See Copying from LW4 to LW3 and Copying from LW3 to LW4
See Flipping
See Staffs
Add an arrowhead by using that feature in the Manipulate Palette (bottom row, 3rd button from the right). You can also place an arrowhead by hand by selecting an arrowhead from the Pin palette.
Let us know if some of your needs are not met here: labanwriter@osu.edu
To copy the staffs or floorplans with their contents, select them, hold down Option and drag.
Two symbols in one column are often refered to as "Butterflies."
Note: Duplicate is best for copying a single symbol, often several times, since becoming the cursor it is very easy to place. When a group of selected symbols is duplicated, they do not hold their formation, but bunch together and have to be separated. Best to use click Option drag in that case.
If you wish smaller symbols, select the half of the line closest to the central diagonal line.
Note: If you find it difficult to click onto the resize handles, enlarge them by going to the Edit menu, choosing Preferences and enlarging them by a number of pixels.
For non stretchable symbols: Select the symbol, choose either the increase button on the Manipulate Palette (top row with the arrow slanted upwards) or the decrease button with the arrow slanted downwards. Choose changing by 1, 2, 5 or 10 points at a time and click increase or decrease until the desired size is achieved.
OR To increase/decrease size by a particular percentage select Enlarge/Reduce in the Manipulate Menu at the top of the page and type in the percentage. When first selected the symbol is at 100% so 50% will make it half the size, 200% will double the size, etc.
Using the Export command from the File menu, you have evenmore flexibility. You can save the entire document as one image, each page as a separate image, or only specified pages as either PICT, JPEG or a PNG file. The Export command also gives you the option of including the page headers with your image.
PICT files allow you to export your document into painting and drawing applications. PICT files have an upper size limitation so large scores can't be saved in this format. JPEG and PNG images are useful for web pages and CDROM work.
You can also make a PICT of specified symbols by selecting them and dragging them directly to another application, or to the desktop for use later.
See Scrapbook
Finger symbols generated by the finger palette come in two sizes. Symbols for whole fingers are made smaller, but for special combinations of knuckles, LW creates a larger, more legible version.
OR select the top left button on the Manipulate Palette and choose operations from there
OR go to the Manipulate menu and select the kind of flip.
To draw a FloorplanSelect the floorplan icon from the main tool palette, and a Floorplan menu will appear in the menu bar. Select Add from the Floorplan menu at the top, choose from the options in the dialog box, click OK. A text box below and wing space at the sides of floor plans can be selected so that text or pins in those areas will be attached to the floorplan and move with it. As guidelines you may choose to have a grid, a center mark as well as horizontal marks for wings and horizontal paths and vertical marks for vertical paths. These do not print unless Print Floorplan Marks is selected in Preferences.Make your floorplans as you go along rather than lay them all out in the beginning. Note that when pins are placed directly on floorplans they now change size slightly. This change was made to be able to center the nose with a path line drawn directly from the nose. Fill in the first floorplan then select the plan (in floorplan mode) and Option drag to place it where the next plan will be. With it still selected, choose Copy End Points from the Floorplan menu. This will place a pin (female pin is the default if you have not chosen another sex in Preferences under the Edit menu) where each arrowhead finished on the previous plan. If an arrowhead has been added "by hand" rather than via the Manipulate Palette or Circle/Spiral Palette, copy End Points is not available. Adjust the facing of the pin, if necessary, and change the sex of the pin using the dialog box in the Manipulate Palette (last button top row). One sixteenth pins that require two "noses" on the staff will change to a single "nose" when placed on the floor plan. To change a FloorplanSelect Floorplan mode, select the floorplan(s), select Change from the Floorplan menu at the top, choose from the dialog box that appears, click OK. Note: the floorplan will change but not the contents in it.To copy a floorplanSelect floorplan mode, select the floorplan, hold down the option key, click and drag to place. This copies the floor plan and its contents. To copy the floorplan alone, after selecting it choose duplicate (cmd-D) in the edit menu or copy (cmd-C) and paste (cmd-V) in the same menu.To draw Lines, Curves, Rectangles and SquaresSelect the Line tool in the Main Palette, click to place and drag the desired length. Hold down the Shift key to draw a vertical, horizontal or 45 degree angle line and Option to fine tune. Add an arrowhead by using that feature in the Manipulate Palette (bottom row, third button from the right). You can also place a single or double arrowhead by hand by selecting an arrowhead from the Pin palette.The curve tool draws clockwise curves. Hold down Control to draw counterclockwise curves, and Option to fine tune. The curves can be flipped horizontally or vertically using cmd-1 and cmd-2 or choosing those options from the Manipulate menu. Small floorplans next to staffs may be drawn by using the stretchable floor plan symbol in the Bow palette. They are drawn and moved like a bow using select mode and cannot be manipulated in floorplan mode. |
If you want to disregard the grid momentaily to adjust the size of a symbol pixel by pixel, hold down the Option key while dragging. If you want to place a symbol so that it doesn't jump into a column, hold down the cmd key.
See also Floorplans
If you need to change headers frequently in a document, you will find it easier to use the Text tool, to insert them by hand.
You can also drag a PICT file in from the scrapbook or another program.
Note: You cannot use the key commands A or S or F or M when in the text mode as you will type only a letter. The Escape (esc) key will take you to the selection mode or click on the appropriate mode on the Main Palette.
To show more than one level within a symbol draw the symbol selecting the central level in the symbol if there are three. Then use the Manipulate Palette, 1st row, 2nd button, to add one or more levels from the bottom or the top of the symbol. The default is to fill by square but there is the option to select filling "by pixel." Always click the top arrow to fill whether you are filling from the top or bottom and the bottom arrow to remove the filling.
Distance between stripes in a high level symbol and in turns can be changed. See bottom of the Change Level Palette in the Manipulate Palette. Click the top arrow to increase the space and bottom arrow to decrease it.
Add an arrowhead by using that feature in the Manipulate Palette (bottom row, 3rd button from the right). You can also place an arrowhead by hand by selecting an arrowhead from the Pin palette.
To increase the thickness of a line or make it dashed, select the line then click on the line button in the Manipulate palette (top row, 3rd from the right) and increase or decrease the thickness or double the line or make it dashed. The contact, support and addressing bows can be doubled and dashed. Distance between double lines can also be increased or decreased. Paths, turns, horizontal bows, lines, and circles can also have dashed lines.
Also see Curves.
Top Row from left to right:Flip symbols, Change Levels, Turn Symbols, Increase Symbols, Decrease Symbols, Make Line Changes, Change Degrees of Symbols, Change Sex of PinBottom row:Add Whitespace, Number of Ad Lib Oscillations, Edit Repeats, Add Tick Marks to Body Parts, Make Areas Around a Joint, Add Arrowheads to Lines and Curves, Make Limbs from Joints, Springs/Jumps (Motif Notation) |
Insert MeasuresSelect measure mode (M) in the Main Palette below the Circle tool. You can add a measure above or below so select a measure and from the Measure menu that will appear choose Insert Before or Insert After, make selections in the dialog box and click OK.Change MeasuresClick into measure mode ( M), select the measure or hold the shift key while selecting several measures, select the "Change" menu item from the Measure menu and choose a different number of beats or squares per beat or make ticks invisible. Click OK. Use this procedure for mixed meters.Number MeasuresClick into staff mode (S), select the staff(s) to be numbered, select Numbering from the Staff menu, type in the number to begin with, changing font or size if desired, click OK. Note: If staffs are connected, select only the left one for numbering.Change Measure NumbersSelect staff mode (S), select staff(s), select Numbering under the Staff menu at the top, type in the new starting number . OR In select mode (A) select the numbers and drag them to another position, or delete them. OR In text (T) mode select the numbers and type new ones as with any text.Enclose Measure NumbersSet off numbers of sections, etc. by enclosing them in a circle, rectangle or diamond. When one of these shapes is selected, the text it surrounds stays to the front so you can continue to work on the text. To select the shape to delete it, send the text to the back using the Manipulate menu, deselect then reselect the enclosed text and hit delete.Hide MeasuresYou may want text to appear between measures or it may help keep entrances and exits lined up or it may help line up tricky page layouts. Select the measure you want to hide and choose Hide from the Measure menu. It disappears but still exists. Select the measure you want to reappear and choose Show from the Measure menu.Delete MeasuresSelect measure mode (M), select the measure(s) to be deleted, hit the delete key.Change Bar LinesSelect measure mode (M), select the measure(s) and from the Measure menu choose the type of bar line. |
See Repeats
Note you can select one measure and then choose to change all measures above in that staff.
Some find it helpful to set up a staff with only the center line and perhaps tick marks which can serve as a guide for making a Motif score. In staff mode select New under the Staff menu at the top and deselect outside lines and any other items not needed. The center line can be removed on completion of the score by selecting staff mode, choosing Change in the Staff menu and unclicking the center line and anything else not needed.
Individual symbols can be enlarged (to make flashcards for example) in several ways. See Enlarge/Reduce.
Select the correct mode, select the item and drag anywhere on the same document or drag onto another document. This will work only if you can drag and drop LabanWriter symbols between various drag-aware programs. Programs that predate drag and drop include: Word 5, SuperPaint, LabanWriter, 3.x .
To copy and move symbols see Copying.
Music notes can be rotated singly by using Turn from the Type Menu (cmd-T )or by clicking on "rotate one unit counterclockwise" in the Manipulate Palette. After placing rotated music notes above one another in the score, use the Alignment Palette under the Manipulate menu to align them.
Increase or decrease their size by using the Manipulate Palette (top row, 4th and 5th buttons in).
Add a page(s)Select Add Page in the Layout menu at the top (cmd-shift-A).Delete a pageSelect Delete Page in the Layout menu at the top. Fill in the dialog box and hit OK. Remember the number must be the page number for the computer which is not necessarily the page number of your entire document.Numbering a pageSelect Headers in the Layout menu. Type in the starting page number in the Page Numbers Starting box. Select the number style (arabic or roman) and whether to place them at the outside edge of the top of the page or centered at the bottom. Numbering at the top is especially for printing on both sides of the paper, upper right corner for odd pages and upper left for even ones.Redrawing a PageIf part of a symbol or staff seems to have disappeared or if extra lines appear after resizing a symbol, using Redraw (cmd-U) under the Layout menu to redraw the page may fix this problem.Size of Page & Page OrientationSelect the size of page and page orientation by going to Page Setup under the File menu. In order to use A4 or paper other than US letter, you must change this setting under File when you begin your document. And you must check that the page is set that way before working on the document on reopening it, and again before printing. Otherwise the staffs will not space themselves properly on the page. Since LW is a bit americentric, it doesn't remember the default page size. |
Palettes are set to save the position of the palettes if you move them about on the screen so they will appear in the same position the next time they are opened. Deselect Save Palette Positions in Preferences if you do not want this to happen.
Select a pin or direction to go inside the path sign, place it on the line, and type cmd -shift-W to surround it with Whitespace (cmd-shift-D to delete it). To enlarge or reduce Whitespace choose the first button in the 2nd row of the Manipulate Palette.
To place a pin in a box, select the pin , hold down the shift key and select the box to the left of the circle either before or after turning the pin into the desired direction. To make a surface sign using the open rectangle on the right, use the same procedure.
The last 3 pins on the top line only turn to the horizontal and back to the vertical.
Symbols below the line on the Palette do not turn. Just select and place them. You can change their size by selecting either button (top row, 4th & 5th in) in the Manipulate Palette or choosing Enlarge/Reduce (cmd-E) in the Manipulate menu and type in the percentage. When first selected the symbol is at 100% so 50% will make it half the size, 200% will double the size, etc.
Autosave- the default is to save every 10 minutes. You may change this.Save Headers with PICT/jpgSaves the header text with the score when saving as an image.Do Verbose Saveis set to off. Turning this feature on tells LW to add comments to the text which indicate the next symbol used in the file. This information is only useful to programmers.Click to Grid- the default is for symbols to click to the grid when placing them. Deselect to eliminate this.Save Palette Positionsis selected. Deselect if you do not want LW to remember your last placement of the palettes on the screen.Open Palettes on Launch. Select if you want previously open palettes to be opened when the program is launched.Close Palettes After Selection is deselected. Select if you want palettes to disappear after you select a symbol rather than stay open.Print Floorplan Marksmay be selected if you have selected the center mark, the grid or the vertical or horizontal marks to be shown on the screen.Text- the default font is Geneva 10 plain. Change according to your need and the fonts available.Staff Preferences:Staff Exterior Columns - the default is 9 columns on both sides of the staff that belong to the staff. Change this number if you need more or fewer columns so columns of staffs do not overlap.Top & bottom padsare 4 squares high. If more or less space is needed to contain staff information, augment or lessen the number of squares.Auto placement- this applies to the automatic spacing of staffs and floor plans when they are placed, added or deleted from a page. Deselect this feature when you are working on special layouts so additions to the page do not upset the spacing.Show columns- Deselect these markers of the outside columns of the staff if you do not want to see them as you work. They are only guidelines to help you with placement of symbols and do not print.Pixels per square- there are 7 pixels per 1/10" square of space. These may not be changed.Resize Handle Width- enlarge the default size of the resize handles if you find them hard to grasp.Replace arrowheads in floorplans with- is set for the white pin (female). Change to black pins (male) or either sex pins (tack) depending on your cast needs.Ruler defaultschange units from inches to centimeters. |
Enclose RepeatsClick into measure mode, select the measure(s) you want to enclose, select Enclose Repeat from the Measure menu at the top. Extended bar lines will appear which can be made longer or shorter by changing to selection mode, grabbing a handle and dragging. They can only be extended as far out as the staff box goes, so add extra outside columns (See Staff) to the staff if necessary. Add repeat signs which are found by clicking the repeat symbol on the button in the Main Palette on the left. Dots can be removed in the Manipulate Palette by selecting the A/5 button and clicking on the dot to be removed. Select the Text mode to type a letter or number to replace the dot, change to select mode, click and drag it into place.Stretchable repeatsThese are found by clicking the repeat symbol on the button in the Main Palette on the left. The four symbols above the line are stretchable and can be dragged, holding down the Option key, to the desired length and width. Dots can be removed in the Manipulate Palette by selecting the A/5 button and clicking on the dot to be removed. Select the Text mode to replace the dot with a letter or number and change to select mode to drag it into place. |
Go to the Attributes menu, choose Rotation, then Clockwise or Counterclockwise.
Red lines on the rulers will show you the current horizontal and vertical postition of the mouse.
Save As is used when you want to create more than one version of a document. Selecting Save As allows you to save the active window to a new name without altering the original. Save As is found under the File menu.
In the save dialog box you will find a pop-up menu that allows you to save your score as a PICT file, as a JPEG file or as a PNG file. PICT files allow you to export your document into painting and drawing applications or ones that are not drag-aware.
JPEG and PNG files are useful for putting notation examples directly on the web. These file formats are not restricted insize, as PICT files are, so you can save scores that are longer than two pages, the approximate maximum for a PICT.
For more options in saving your files in graphics formats, please see Export as Graphic
To import from the Scrapbook, open the Scrapbook and scroll until the item you want appears. Click and drag it to the LW document.
For software that is not drag and drop aware, import and export from LW via the Scrapbook using copy and paste.
To remove part of a line or circle or square, make a small shape with this tool, place it on the line where the space is wanted and add Whitespace (cmd-shift-W).
To place a rectangle around text, select the text, then select Enclose in the Type menu and choose the surrounding shape.
Draw a staffClick the staff button (to the right of the Circle tool) on the Main Palette, select New from the Staff menu in the menu bar at the top of the screen. Fill in the dialog box that appears and click OK. If you don't want staffs to respace when adding additional staffs, turn off the AutoPlacement button in the Edit Preferences menu before adding a new staff.Note: to change number of squares per count or number of beats per measure or number of measures or number of staffs , delete the staff and begin again. Otherwise make changes by selecting Change in the Staff menu. Another note: If two staves overlap, and you can't select one of them, first select the other, and choose "Send to Back" from the Manipulate Menu. Align StaffsStaffs align automatically when first placed on the page unless you have deselected Automatic Placement in Preferences under the Edit menu. Should you move them about and wish to align them in relation to one another select the staffs to be aligned and choose Align under the Manipulate menu. Staffs will align to the farthest symbol in the direction selected.Change a staffClick into staff mode, select the staff to be changed, select Change from the Staff menu, make changes in the dialog box, click OK. Note: to change number of squares per count or number of beats per measure, delete the staff and draw a new staff.To change the number of outside columns for a staff, select Change under the Staff menu and select the number of columns for each side of the staff . Or, with the staff selected, take the cursor to the bounding box of the staff where it changes into a double arrow and drag the columns in or out. Or before beginning a document, set the number of default outside columns in Preferences. Connect staffsSelect staff mode, select the staffs to be connected by holding down the Shift key and clicking on each one, choose Connect under the Staff menu at the top, fill in the dialog box that appears and click OK or Return.Move a staffClick into staff mode, select the staff(s) to be moved and move by dragging, or to move by pixels use the arrow keys, or to move by squares hold down the Shift key while using the arrow keys.Copy a staff, but not its contents.Click into staff mode, select the staff(s), select copy (cmd-C) and then paste (cmd-V), or use the duplicate command (cmd-D)Copy a staff and its contentsin the same document. Click into staff mode, select the staff(s), hold down Option, while dragging the copy to the desired location.Copy a staff and its contentsto another document. Click into staff mode, select the staff(s) and drag it to another document. This makes a copy and leaves the original. This technique works with all applications that are drag-aware, and will accept PICTs. |
See Counts
Selecting SymbolsYou must be in the right mode to select something (Staff mode to select a staff, Measure mode to select a measure, Floorplan mode to select a floor plan, Text mode to select text, Select mode to select all other symbols). Then click on the object or drag a selection box around the object(s). You can be rather "messy" about selecting with the selection box or marquee because unless the entire symbol is enclosed, it will not become highlighted. For example, if the text box is longer than the text inside it, you must be sure to select the entire box.Flipping symbolsIf you want to flip the symbol, go to the Manipulate menu at the top and flip it horizontally (cmd-1) or vertically (cmd-2). To place a series of the same symbols, hold down the Shift key as you place the symbols. Release the Shift key before drawing the last symbol to stop making copies. OR Use Option drag to keep repeating the symbol you have already placed.Size of symbolsStretchable symbols (directions, turn, paths, bows, some ad libs, etc.) can be enlarged or made smaller when placing them by holding down the Option key as you click and drag the symbol.Rotating SymbolsSelect any symbol that rotates around the clock such as pins or flexion and extension signs, and click the Rotate button on the Manipulate Palette (1st row, 3rd from the left) . Then click the direction button to rotate the symbol by units or click the circumference of the circle for the desired rotation clockwise or counterclockwise.Font symbols (body parts, pins, small, large, keys, retention signs, etc.) can be increased or decreased in size by selecting them and selecting the appropriate button in the Manipulate Palette, either the fourth or fifth button in the top row or use Enlarge/Reduce which does this by percentages in the Manipulate menu. Deleting SymbolsSelect the correct mode, select the symbol(s), hit the Delete key or select Delete from the Edit menu above. You can retrieve the symbol(s) if you immediately select Undo ( cmd-Z) in the Edit menu.Move Symbols 1 pixel at a time with the arrow keys, or 1 square at a time by holding down Shift with the arrow keys. Sometimes a pin will seem to disappear when placed inside a symbol or whitespace will not show up. Select the symbol (or where it should be) and choose Bring to front or Send to back from the Manipulate menu. Resizing SymbolsSee Enlarge/ReduceAlign SymbolsSee AlignColoring SymbolsSee Color |
Placing TextSelect text mode, click on the page where you want to place the text and drag the text box to the desired width. Type the text you want. Note: You cannot use the key commands that are letters when in the text mode as you will only type a letter. The Esc (Escape) key will take you to the Selection mode or click on the appropriate mode on the Main Palette.Editing TextSelect text mode, click in the text box where you want to make a change. The cursor appears there. Type any change or select any text by dragging across it to delete or change Font or Size or Style by using the Type menu at the top of the screen. Whenever you click on a text box, handles appear at both ends which can be dragged to resize the box.Enclosing TextEnclose text in a rectangle, circle or diamond by selecting the text and choosing which you want from Enclose in the Type menu above.Turn TextTurn text 90 degrees counterclockwise to place beside a staff by selecting the text (in the text mode) and using the Turn dialog on the Manipulate Palette , by typing cmd-T, or by selecting "Turn" from the Text menu. Text can be returned to horizontal using the same methods if you need to edit the text.If text is in color, it can be turned, but when turned back, it will be black. When turned a second time, it will regain its color. Justify TextText can be justified within the box to the left, right or center.Use the Times font rather than Geneva to retain, when printed, the exact spacing of a paragraph of text, and particularly one in which you have inserted Labanotation symbols which are only inserted in a space. Font substitutions when printing may cause Geneva text to respace itself, and inserted symbols will not appear in the correct place. Coloring TextSee Color |
Increase or decrease their size by using the Manipulate Palette (top row, 4th and 5th buttons in).
To increase or decrease the Whitespace go to the first button on the 2nd row of the Manipulate Palette.
Sometimes the Whitespace or the pin seems to disappear. Since two layers are involved, try selecting Bring to the Front or Send to the Back in the Manipulate menu after selecting the symbol.
Small squares or circles can be filled with Whitespace and used to break a line or circle in a floor plan or to take out a line when writing a turn from one foot to two or from two feet to one.
See Floor Plans.