Making objects transparent

Every layout object has a transparent property which by default is set to #f. If set to #t the object still occupies space but is made invisible.

a'4 a'
\once \override NoteHead.transparent = ##t
a' a'

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This rather common operation has a shortcut \hide:

a'4 a'
\once \hide NoteHead
a' a'

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LilyPond Notation Reference v2.25.21 (development-branch).