Re: ugly default output

[H. S. Teoh]

On Sat, Feb 28, 2015 at 07:47:58PM +0100, Martin Tarenskeen wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I am typesetting a simple Beethoven 4-mains. I am in the very first
> stage of entering the notes - without additional tweaks to optimize
> the output.
> 
> Having entered one line of music it occurred to me that the spacing
> looks quite sub-optimal. Not to say plain ugly.
> 
> Just to illustrate that LilyPond is great (I have produced many really
> good looking scores using only minimal tweaking) but there isstill
> enough room for improvement: see the attached pdf example.
> 
> The example was produced using LilyPond 2.19.15
[...]

In my experience, lilypond tends to produce better output for longer
pieces -- presumably because there's more room for adjustments to
optimize the layout.  Therefore I wouldn't judge just by the first few
bars alone. Try inputting at least a few more lines, or maybe even a
page, and you should be able to get better results.

Also, lilypond by default tries very hard to make all systems fit
exactly to the page width, including the very last line of the music. As
a result, you might find that adding a bar or two to the end can
sometimes completely change the layout. Or sometimes, just because of
the total number of bars in the entire piece, it gets stuck in a
sub-optimal layout. One way to work around this is to use:

        \paper {
                ragged-last = ##t
        }

This will tell lilypond to stop being so obsessive about fitting the
last line of music to the page width, so that it has more room to give
the earlier bars a nicer layout.


T

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