Bookmarks

Item bookmarks appear alongside the rest of your files in the score menu and you can add them to setlists independently of their parent file

In menus, the button on the right shows an info button for standalone PDFs, a ribbon icon for “item” bookmarks, or a compass arrow for “page” bookmarks

Bookmarks can either be simple references to a specific page, like a table of contents, or they can reference a span of pages that act like a virtual item in your library. We call these “page” or “item” bookmarks. Item bookmarks appear in the score menu like any other PDF file, start and stop on the pages you specify, and can even have their own metadata and audio tracks.

If you prefer, configure forScore to not show bookmarks outside of the Bookmarks menu by disabling the “show bookmarks in library” option in forScore’s settings panel.

No matter which kind of bookmarks you create, the Bookmarks menu always displays all of the bookmarks for the PDF file you’re currently viewing.

Creating Bookmarks

In the bookmarks menu (the open book icon), tap the + button to open the bookmark creator and choose which type of bookmark you’d like to create. Supply a title and page number(s) and, once any errors have been corrected, tap the Save button to finalize your bookmark. You can also tap the + button again to save the current bookmark and create another without returning to the menu first.

Table of Contents:

If your PDF file contains a table of contents, you can view it by selecting the menu’s “TOC” sort type. Tap on an item to go to that page, or tap “Import” to create bookmarks using this information as a starting point.

CSV/TSV Files:

If you have CSV or TSV (comma- or tab-separated values) files, you can use the Indexes feature to create your bookmarks. Add the file to forScore using any of the same methods you use to add PDFs, then open the Bookmarks menu and tap the table icon in the toolbar (if you don’t see it, make sure the Bookmarks list is showing). Tap the table icon in the toolbar and choose your file to begin.

This panel lists the values found in each row of your file, and you can tap on a value to specify how it should be used in forScore. Use the arrow buttons along the bottom to verify that the information in each row looks correct, skipping any header or footer rows and adjusting page numbers if needed. When you’re done, tap Save to create your bookmarks.

Editing & Deleting Bookmarks

To edit a bookmark, tap the arrow button next to it. If it’s a simple bookmark, you’ll see the same interface you used to create the bookmark and you can edit its title, start page, or add an end page to turn it into an Item bookmark. Tap the button next to an item bookmark and you’ll open the metadata panel which you’ll learn about in the Metadata section of this guide.

Delete a bookmark by swiping over it from right to left and choosing the Delete (trash can) action. You can also use the Edit button to select multiple bookmarks and delete them at once. Note that deleting a bookmark doesn’t affect the score it came from, but deleting a score deletes all of its bookmarks.

Flags

Flagging a page is a quick and easy way to mark it so you can remember to come back to it later. Switch to the Flags list and use the flag button to flag or un-flag the current page. Use the ellipsis button to switch between viewing flagged pages in the current score or across all scores in your library, and tap the trash can to delete all of the flags in the list at once.

Scores

The score menu is where you’ll find your sheet music library or see what’s currently queued up. Use the menu (ellipsis) button to change how the list is sorted, and use the segmented control at the top of the list to browse by different categories such as Composers or Genres.

When browsing by category, the categories that appear in the list are generated automatically based on each score’s metadata, so you’ll only see values currently in use by one or more items in your library. Tap any category to see all of the scores that are associated with it. A single score may be visible in several different lists, so long as it matches the corresponding category or setlist. (For example, a score with the composer “Bach” and the genre “Baroque” will be listed under both categories.)

Tip: The score menu reopens to the last submenu you were viewing, so unless you tap the back button you’ll automatically return to this list each time.

Libraries

Tap the library button in the root menu to create and work with entirely separate collections of music (i.e. for different bands). Learn more about organizing scores into separate libraries in the Metadata section of this guide.

Find & Filter

Drag or scroll downward to reveal a search bar that lets you quickly find a particular category or item in the list below it. When viewing a list of scores, tap the menu button and choose “filter” to narrow down your results even further by cross-referencing categories using advanced rules (i.e. only show items that include or exclude specific categories or setlists).

Tip: forScore scans for new files periodically. If you’ve just added something that’s not showing up, drag or scroll down even farther until you see the refresh symbol, then let go to update the listing.

Metadata

The circled info button off to the right-hand side of each score opens the metadata editor, which you can read more about in the Metadata section of this guide.

Managing Files

Swipe your finger across a score or bookmark in the menu from right to left to delete or share it, or tap and hold to preview it and access additional options. You can also tap the edit button to select one or more items in the list and work with them in different ways, depending on the context. Use the import button to add files from other apps or using your favorite cloud storage service.

Merging Files

If you have pages of a score in individual PDFs or several different sections that you’d like to combine and play through continuously, tap the “Edit” button and select two or more files in the order that they should be combined. Then, use the “Merge” option to provide a title to create a new PDF file in your library.

Cloning

Cloning allows you to duplicate a score without using up any more of your device’s free storage. As long as the two copies are identical, they’ll only take up the space of one. Clones work just like any other file on your device, so you can share them or annotate each one uniquely and add it to its own setlist. If you ever want to permanently edit one of the copies (using forScore’s Rearrange tool, for instance) iOS separates the underlying data automatically so there’s nothing else you need to do.

Basics

Tap the sides (blue areas) to turn the page, tap the center (yellow area) to show and hide the controls, and tap and hold anywhere on the page to annotate

When space permits, you may see two additional items in the title bar; tap and hold either of these icons to change their functions

Welcome to forScore! Here are a few quick things you should know before you get started.

Turning Pages

Turn the page with two basic kinds of gestures: swipes and taps. Swipe left or right across the screen like flipping through pages in a book, or simply tap either side of the screen once. When using a trackpad or mouse, click the sides of the page or scroll to turn pages.

Landscape

To get a better view of your score, turn your device sideways: the page will fill up the screen’s width and extend downward if necessary. Swipe or tap to scroll from top to bottom and between pages, or drag the page up and down with your finger.

Controls

To help you get the best view of your music, forScore’s controls are hidden by default. A quick, single tap or click in the middle of the page reveals these controls:

This bar along the top of the screen gives you access to six important items (in blue): scores, bookmarks, and setlists on the left, and search, audio utilities, and the tools menu on the right. These items are discussed in greater detail throughout this guide.

The area in the middle of the toolbar displays the current item’s title, composer, and gives you quick access to commonly used tools and functions. The icon on the left shows the Display Options overlay (learn more below), and the icon on the right presents a menu that includes additional options related to the piece of music you’re currently viewing.

Seek Bar

Along the bottom of the page, a slider control allows you to quickly preview and jump to any page in the current score. If you’ve added bookmarks to your score, the name of the bookmark hovers above the white dot as you scroll or drag it across the screen.

Zoom

Place two fingers on the screen (or trackpad) and move them farther apart to zoom in, or closer together to zoom out. Double-tap while zoomed in to return to the normal size, and double-tap while zoomed out to show additional display options.

Display Options

Double tap the center of the page or tap the grid icon in the title bar to show the Display Options overlay which gives you quick access to window-specific options including presentation, layout, and page turning functions or behaviors.

Display modes let you control how your music is presented: standard mode uses a common 3:4 aspect ratio to ensure the page looks the same on every device, best fit mode gives you a better view but may clip some annotations, and zoomed mode makes the page as big as possible but may clip the left and right edges of your music. When you’re viewing a single page in landscape orientation, choose between the default scrolling behavior and a best fit mode that shrinks the page to fit on the screen.

This overlay also gives you quick access to half page turns (in portrait orientation), two-up mode (in landscape orientation), visual effects like Sepia, and page turning modes like performance mode, Reflow, Face Gestures, and more. Tap and hold certain items to access additional settings or configuration options, if applicable. When an external display is connected, this overlay also shows additional options related to video output.

Backups

Every app on your device has a standard set of folders that it uses to store information. This ‘Documents’ directory is used to store user content, like documents you add to (or create within) an app. Other data like app settings, which are designed to be changed through the app’s interface and not edited directly, are stored in a number of private app directories instead.

4SB Backups

In forScore’s Backups panel you can create a forScore Backup (4SB file) that packages all of forScore’s private information into a single document that is saved alongside the rest of your files in forScore’s Documents directory. Copy all of the files in this directory (including the 4SB file) to a safe location and you’ll be able to restore forScore back to its current state without affecting any other apps. As a safeguard, forScore creates an automatic 4SB backup when you launch the app. It keeps the most recent copy and a copy from the last calendar day you used it.

A backup file can not be used on its own. It only contains forScore’s information about your documents, not copies of your documents themselves. Backups are a good choice when copying all of your files to a computer using File Sharing.

4SB Archives

You can also use the Backups panel to create a forScore Archive which is similar to a backup (it also uses the 4SB file extension) but it includes a copy of every file in forScore’s Documents directory as well. This means that in order to create an archive you need to have significantly more free space available on your device, but it can be used to restore your library or migrate to a new device by copying the single archive file.

An archive file can be used on its own to recover or migrate your forScore library to a new device. They’re great for uploading your library to a cloud storage service for safe keeping.

forScore Backup Utility

Mac users running macOS 10.14 or later can use the forScore Backup Utility to archive their iOS device’s forScore library directly to their computer via a USB cable. This can be useful if you want to create a 4SB Archive but don’t have enough free space on your device. Visit forScore.co/backup-utility for more information.

Apple Backups

In most cases, whole-device backups to iCloud or iTunes (depending on your settings) are sufficient to get you back up and running if something happens to your device. The backup techniques described in the sections above are intended to provide an additional layer of security, not to replace this essential part of protecting your data.

Recently Deleted Files

When you delete a score or setlist using forScore’s delete functions, it is moved to the Recently Deleted section of the Backups panel. You can recover it for up to seven days or permanently erase it, if needed.

CSV Metadata Import/Export

Tap the scrolled page icon in the top left-hand corner of the Backups panel to import or export your forScore metadata using standard CSV (comma-separated value) text files. These files are exported using UTF-8 encoding by default, but this can be adjusted to UTF-16 if needed under Settings › Advanced options › CSV export.

Settings

General

• Auto-lock: Disable this setting to prevent your device from sleeping automatically while forScore is open.
• Search: Adjust which kinds of results are shown and in which order, how many recent items are listed, and more.
• Show recent items: Choose how many recent items to show in the search panel before you’ve typed anything into the search field (enter 0 for none).
• Search results: Check or uncheck specific result types and reorder them to prioritize those you want to see first.
• Search PDF text for title: When creating a bookmark, as you type in the title field this feature can offer page number suggestions based on occurrences of that text within the PDF file (not available for image-based files).
• Devices: Connect to certain types of accessories like the AirTurn PED or IKMultimedia BlueBoard.
• MIDI: Toggle the ability to send and receive MIDI commands or use the piano keyboard as a synthesizer.
• Send commands: Allow forScore to send signals you’ve added to specific scores each time you open them (see Metadata)
• Receive shortcuts Allow forScore to interpret some incoming MIDI signals as score shortcuts (see the Metadata section) or action shortcuts (see Page Turners & Shortcuts)
• Synthesizer: Allow forScore to play piano sounds in response to incoming note messages.
• MIDI network setup: Connect to a nearby network MIDI session.
• Bluetooth MIDI devices: Connect to nearby Bluetooth LE-enabled MIDI devices.
• forScore Pro: Get more out of forScore with this optional, auto-renewing subscription.
• Manage subscription: Learn more about, and sign up for, the forScore Pro service.
• Pop-up menus: Enable or disable popup menus and manage your pinned tools.
• Face gestures: If your device supports it, choose which face gesture mode to use and calibrate its sensitivity.

Navigation

• Up next: See the next queued item’s title in the status bar when you reach the last page of the current item.
• Gestures: Configure forScore’s taps, swipes, and shortcuts to better suit your needs.
• Page turners & shortcuts: Use keyboard shortcuts, MIDI signals, page turner pedal presses, or an Apple Pencil 2 double tap gesture to trigger certain actions.
• Page transitions: This setting affects the transition animation that is used when turning pages.
• Flip between scores: Choose when to advance from the end of one score to the beginning of the next, like a book.
• Landscape scrolling: When using landscape orientation, scroll up and down by half or a third of a page (11-inch iPad Pro only).
• Two-up page advance: Choose whether to advance one or two pages at a time when using two-up mode.

Appearance

• Show status bar: Controls whether the system status bar along the top of the screen is visible while using forScore.
• Controls: Prevent the seek bar from hiding when the title bar is dismissed, show the tab bar when a single tab is open, and control how the title bar behaves (if your device supports resizable windowing).
• Menus: Enable or disable section headers and control which kinds of metadata are shown below items and setlists.
• Theme: Adjust the look and feel of forScore’s interface.
• Colors: Change forScore’s primary interface colors or choose from a list of built-in themes.
• Interface style: Choose to always use light mode, always us dark mode, or follow the system setting instead.
• Icon weight: Choose a bolder or lighter style for most icons and buttons.
• Background color: Control whether the main view’s navigation bar is tinted slightly to match your current color theme.
• Page dimming: When using dark mode, forScore can dim your pages to reduce contrast in low light environments.

Metadata

• Use external audio: When forScore launches, it checks to see if iOS’ shared audio system is currently in use. If so, this option will allow you to control playback of that track, temporarily overriding any linked tracks.
• Sorting: Adjust how forScore sorts your composers, scores, and bookmarks.
• Show bookmarks in library: Bookmarks typically appear in two places—the bookmarks menu itself, and alongside other files in the score menu. Disable this to hide bookmarks from the score menu.
• Smart sorting: For checked items, sorting ignores common prefixes like “the,” “a,” or “an.”
• PDF annotations: Choose which kinds of embedded PDF annotations should be visible (and interactive, if applicable).

Annotation

• Exit two-up mode to annotate: If you’re using two-up mode, use this setting to control whether or not forScore should temporarily return to one-up mode and enlarge the current page while annotating.
• Apple Pencil: Adjust how annotation works when using Apple Pencil or the similar Logitech Crayon.
• Automatically enter annotation mode: Allows you to begin drawing at any time without entering annotation mode first.
• Automatically exit annotation mode: Allows forScore to save your work and exit annotation mode after a brief period of inactivity (defaults to Never).
• Prevent finger drawing: Restricts drawing to Apple Pencil in order to prevent accidental input.
• Variable width: Choose whether to increase drawing width based on tilt and/or pressure.
• Switch tools: Apple Pencil 2’s double tap gesture can control which annotation tool is currently active, and by default only works while you’re in annotation mode. Enable this setting to allow the gesture to work at all times (if you do, this gesture will no longer be configurable within the Page Turners & Shortcuts panel).
• Annotation tools: Control how forScore saves your last-used preset between annotation sessions.
• Remember tool selection: Allow or prevent forScore from saving your last-used annotation tool.
• Default tool: Choose a specific tool to always be selected when you enter annotation mode. If an item is selected in this section, the previous section has no effect.
• Add period with double-space: iOS automatically adds a period when you type two spaces into a text field. Disable this setting to prevent that behavior while using forScore’s text annotation tool.
• Variable width: Adjust how much forScore should emphasize your drawings based on speed or Pencil pressure and tilt.

System

• Accessibility: Enable or disable certain features, adjust the size of links and buttons, or customize the metronome’s sounds.
• App icon: Change forScore’s app icon.
• In-app purchases: Access any downloadable content you’ve previously purchased through forScore’s storefront.
• Advanced options: Access advanced/older settings and temporarily re-enable retired features that have limited support and may be removed in future updates.
• Restrictions: Set a passcode and hide certain features.
• Reset: Restore default app settings, stamps, or drawing presets, or scan your library and remove any unused data.