IMSLP:Typeset Music formats

The main goal of this page is the following:

  • Suppose that I find a musical sheet I like on IMSLP, but there is an error and I don’t own the program that created it. Or I would like to transpose it, write either part in another clef or change the page layout...
  • Suppose that I’m uploading a sheet to imslp and I would like to put it in a format that most musical typesetting programs could read
  • Suppose that I’m sending a friend a sheet I wrote, but we use different programs, and I want to be sure he can read it...

...then I will need to know which programs can read/write which formats...

A secondary goal is:

  • Suppose that I have no music typesetting experience but I wish to start learning. What is the right typesetting program for me?

Table by programs

# Name Operating system License Native format Can read Can write
1 Canorus GNU/Linux, Windows, Mac OS X Free, GPL Canorus archive (.can), Canorus document (.xml) Canorus, MusicXML, MIDI LilyPond, MusicXML, MIDI, PDF, SVG
2 Capella Windows 188 €, Proprietary Capella file (.cap), CapellaXML (.capx) Capella, MusicXML, MIDI Capella, MusicXML, MIDI
3 Denemo GNU/Linux Free, GPL Denemo (.denemo, .dnm) Denemo, MIDI, MusicXML, LilyPond Denemo, LilyPond, MIDI, ABC, jtf, Csound, MusicXML
4 Encore Windows (98, ME, 2000, XP), Mac OS (9.x, X > 10.2) 129.99 €, Proprietary Encore (.enc)  ?  ?
5 Finale Windows, Mac OS X US$600, Proprietary Finale (.mus) .mus (versions older than available Finale version), .etf, MusicXML, Midi 0 + 1 .mus, MusicXML, MIDI 0 + 1
6 Harmony Assistant Windows, Mac OS X Power PC, Mac OS X Intel, Mac OS Old versions 70 € or US$70, Proprietary Myriad .mus (different from Finale .mus) and .myr MIDI type 0 and 1 (.mid), MIDI Karaoke (.mid, .kar), Rich MIDI Tablature File - RMTF (.mid), Creative Music File -CMF (.cmf), Finale versions 1993 to 2006 (.mus, .etf), Encore (.enc), Rhapsody (.rhp), MusicTime (.mus), NoteWorthy Composer versions : 1.3 to 2.0 (.nwc), GuitarPro (.gtp, .gp3, .gp4), Tabledit version 2.0 (1999) and up (.tef), Band In a Box Style (.sty), Yamaha Style (.sty), Soundtracker MOD (.mod), Scream Tracker S3M (.s3m), MusicXML (.xml), ABC (.abc), Tablature text file (.tab) MIDI type 0 and 1 (.mid), MIDI Karaoke (.mid, .kar), Rich MIDI Tablature File - RMTF (.mid), Creative Music File -CMF (.cmf), MusicXML (.xml), ABC (.abc), Tablature text file (.tab)
7 LilyPond GNU/Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, MacOS X Free, GPL LilyPond (.ly) only native format, but includes converters: **abc2ly** (from abc ASCII format), **etf2ly** (from Finale format), **midi2ly** (from MIDI format), **mup2ly** (from Arkkra Enterprises Music Publisher format), **musicxml2ly** (from MusicXML format) MIDI, PDF, PostScript, SVG, MusicXML (highly experimental!)
8 Melody Assistant Windows, Mac OS X Power PC, Mac OS X Intel, Mac OS Old versions 20 € or US$20, Shareware Myriad .mus (different from Finale .mus) and .myr MIDI type 0 and 1 (.mid), MIDI Karaoke (.mid, .kar), Rich MIDI Tablature File - RMTF (.mid), Creative Music File -CMF (.cmf), Soundtracker MOD (.mod), Scream Tracker S3M (.s3m), ABC (.abc), Tablature text file (.tab) MIDI type 0 and 1 (.mid), MIDI Karaoke (.mid, .kar), Rich MIDI Tablature File - RMTF (.mid), Creative Music File -CMF (.cmf), ABC (.abc), Tablature text file (.tab)
9 Musescore Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux Free, GPL Musescore Format (*.mscx), Compressed Musescore Format (*.mscz) MusicXML (*.xml), Compressed MusicXML (*.mxl), MIDI (*.mid, *.midi, *.kar), MuseData (*.md), Capella (*.cap), Bagpipe Music Writer (*.bww), BB (*.mgu, *.sgu), Overture (*.ove) PDF (*.pdf), PostScript (*.ps), PNG (*.png), SVG (*.svg), WAV Audio (*.wav), FLAC Audio (*.flac), Ogg Vorbis (*.ogg), MusicXML (*.xml), Compressed MusicXML (*.mxl), MIDI (*.mid, *.midi, *.kar), LilyPond (*.ly),
10 Mup music publication program Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux Free, GPL Mup Format (*.mup) Mup (*.mup) PostScript (*.ps), MIDI (*.mid)
11 MusiXTeX Windows, GNU/Linux, Mac OS X Free, GPL MusiXTeX (.tex) MusicXML via XML2PMX, .pmx and .mtx using preprocessors PDF (*.pdf), PostScript (*.ps), MIDI (*.mid)
12 NoteEdit <ref>NoteEdit development has basically stopped, since the core team now moved to Canorus</ref> GNU/Linux Free, GPL NoteEdit (.not) NoteEdit, MusicXML, MIDI MIDI, MusiXTeX, ABC, PMX, LilyPond, MusicXML
13 Rosegarden GNU/Linux Free, GPL Rosegarden (.rg) Rosegarden, MIDI, Hydrogen MIDI, LilyPond, MusicXML, Csound, Arkkra Enterprises Music Publisher
14 Sibelius Windows, Mac OS US$600, Proprietary Sibelius (.sib) Sibelius X (.sib - current version or older), MIDI (.mid), Photoscore (.opt), Finale/Allegro/Printmusic (.mus), Finale Enigma (.etf), NIFF (.nif), SCORE (.tmp, .pag, .pge), Sibelius 6/7 (.s7 - generally obsolete), ASCII Tab (.tab), ASCII Bass Tab (.btab), ASCII Chords (.crd) .sib (one per version), Scorch Webpage (.htm), midi, .tab
15 SeeScore Apple iOS (iPad) GB£10, Proprietary MusicXML MusicXML None
16 Dorico macOS, Windows Proprietary Dorico (.dorico) Dorico (.dorico), MusicXML, MIDI (.mid) Dorico (.dorico), MusicXML, MIDI (.mid)

Table by formats

From -> to abc cmf csound dnm enc etf gtp h2 jtf kar ly mid mod mup mus mus myr not nwc pmx rg rhp s3m sty sty tab tef tex xml
abc (ABC) 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 7 8 6 8 6
cmf (Creative Music File) 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6
Csound
dnm (Denemo) 3 3 3 3 3
enc (Encore) 6 6 6 6 6 6
etf (Finale) 6 6 6 5 6 7 5 6 5 6
gtp, gp3, gp4 (GuitarPro) 6 6 6 6 6 6
h2 (Hydrogen) 10 10 10 10 10 10
jtf
kar (Karaoke) 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6
ly (Lilypond) 7
mid (MIDI) 3 6 8 9 6 8 3 10 3 3 6 8 3 9 10 5 6 7 8 9 10 10 5 9 10 6 8 5 6 9 10
mod (Soundtracker MOD) 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6
mup (Arkkra Enterprises) 7
mus (Finale) 6 6 6 5 6 5 6 5 6
mus (Music Time) 6 6 6 6 6 6
myr, mus (Myriad) 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6
not (NoteEdit) 9 9 9 9 9
nwc (Noteworthy Composer) 6 6 6 6 6 6
pmx
rg (Rosegarden) 10 10 10 10 10 10
rhp (Rhapsody) 6 6 6 6 6 6
s3m (Scream Tracker) 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 5
sty (Band In a Box) 6 6 6 6 6 6
sty (Yamaha) 6 6 6 6 6 6
tab (Tablature text file) 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6
tef (Tabledit) 6 6 6 6 6 6
tex (MusiXTeX)
xml (Music XML) 6 9 6 6 9 12 5 6 7 9 5 9 6 5 6 9

Notes

See also Program comparison on Wikipedia

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