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4.1.6 Other \paper variables

\paper variables for line breaking  
\paper variables for page breaking  
\paper variables for page numbering  
\paper variables concerning headers and markups  
\paper variables for debugging  
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\paper variables for line breaking

max-systems-per-page

The maximum number of systems that will be placed on a page. This is currently supported only by the ly:optimal-breaking algorithm. Default: unset.

min-systems-per-page

The minimum number of systems that will be placed on a page. This may cause pages to be overfilled if it is made too large. This is currently supported only by the ly:optimal-breaking algorithm. Default: unset.

systems-per-page

The number of systems that should be placed on each page. This is currently supported only by the ly:optimal-breaking algorithm. Default: unset.

system-count

The number of systems to be used for a score. Default: unset. This variable can also be set in a \layout block.

See also

Notation Reference: Line breaking.

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\paper variables for page breaking

Default values not listed here are defined in ‘ly/paper-defaults-init.ly’

page-breaking

The page breaking algorithm to use. Choices are ly:minimal-breaking, ly:page-turn-breaking, ly:one-page-breaking, ly:one-line-breaking, ly:one-line-auto-height-breaking, and ly:optimal-breaking. Default: ly:optimal-breaking.

page-breaking-system-system-spacing

Tricks the page breaker into thinking that system-system-spacing is set to something different than it really is. For example, if page-breaking-system-system-spacing.padding is set to something substantially larger than system-system-spacing.padding, then the page breaker will put fewer systems on each page. Default: unset.

page-count

The number of pages to be used for a score. Default: unset.

page-spacing-weight

When using the ly:optimal-breaking algorithm for page breaking, LilyPond has to make trade-offs between horizontal and vertical stretching so that the overall spacing is more acceptable. This parameter controls the relative importance of page (vertical) spacing and line (horizontal) spacing. High values will make page spacing more important. Default: 10.

The following variables are effective only when page-breaking is set to ly:page-turn-breaking. Page breaks are then chosen to minimize the number of page turns. Since page turns are required on moving from an odd-numbered page to an even-numbered one, a layout in which the last page is odd-numbered will usually be favoured. Places where page turns are preferred can be indicated manually by inserting \allowPageTurn or automatically by including the Page_turn_engraver (see Optimal page turning).

If there are insufficient choices available for making suitable page turns, LilyPond may insert a blank page either within a score, between scores (if there are two or more scores), or by ending a score on an even-numbered page. The values of the following three variables may be increased to make these actions less likely.

The values are penalties, i.e., the higher the value the less likely will be the associated action relative to other choices.

blank-page-penalty

The penalty for having a blank page in the middle of a score. If blank-page-penalty is large and ly:page-turn-breaking is selected, then LilyPond will be less likely to insert a page in the middle of a score. Instead, it will space out the music further to fill the blank page and the following one. Default: 5.

blank-last-page-penalty

The penalty for ending the score on an even-numbered page. If blank-last-page-penalty is large and ly:page-turn-breaking is selected, then LilyPond will be less likely to produce a score in which the last page is even-numbered. Instead, it will adjust the spacing in order to use one page more or one page less. Default: 0.

blank-after-score-page-penalty

The penalty for having a blank page after the end of one score and before the next. By default, this is smaller than blank-page-penalty, so that blank pages after scores are inserted in preference to blank pages within a score. Default: 2.

See also

Notation Reference: Page breaking, Optimal page breaking, Optimal page turning, Minimal page breaking, One-page page breaking, One-line page breaking, One-line-auto-height page breaking.

Installed Files: ‘ly/paper-defaults-init.ly’.

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\paper variables for page numbering

Default values not listed here are defined in ‘ly/paper-defaults-init.ly’

auto-first-page-number

The page breaking algorithm is affected by the first page number being odd or even. If set to true, the page breaking algorithm will decide whether to start with an odd or even number. This will result in the first page number remaining as is or being increased by one. Default: #f.

first-page-number

The value of the page number on the first page.

print-first-page-number

If set to true, a page number is printed on the first page.

print-page-number

If set to false, page numbers are not printed.

page-number-type

The type of numerals used for page numbers. Choices include 'arabic, 'roman-ij-lower, 'roman-ij-upper, 'roman-lower, and 'roman-upper. Default: 'arabic.

bookpart-level-page-numbering

If set to true, each bookpart has its indepdendent sequence of page numbers, starting at first-page-number (1 by default).

This may also be used for one bookpart only. The typical use case is numbering pages of the first bookpart independently and in roman numerals, as may be wished for an analytical introduction to the work being published. 

\book {
  \bookpart {
    \paper {
      bookpart-level-page-numbering = ##t
      page-number-type = #'roman-lower
    }
    \markuplist \wordwrap-lines {
      Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
    }
  }
  \bookpart {
    …
  }
}

See also

Installed Files: ‘ly/paper-defaults-init.ly’.

Known issues and warnings

Odd page numbers are always on the right. If you want the music to start on page 1 there must be a blank page on the back of the cover page so that page 1 is on the right-hand side.

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\paper variables concerning headers and markups

print-all-headers

If set to true, this will print all headers for each \score in the output. Normally only the piece and opus header variables are printed. For use cases see Titles and headers. Default: #f.

reset-footnotes-on-new-page

If set to true, footnote numbers are reset on each page break. For footnotes numbered consecutively across page breaks, set to #f. Default: #t.

system-separator-markup

A markup object that is inserted between systems, often used for orchestral scores. Default: unset. The \slashSeparator markup, defined in ‘ly/titling-init.ly’, is provided as a sensible default, for example: 

#(set-default-paper-size "a8")

\book {
  \paper {
    system-separator-markup = \slashSeparator
  }
  \header {
    tagline = ##f
  }
  \score {
    \relative { c''1 \break c1 \break c1 }
  }
}

[image of music]

footnote-separator-markup

A markup object that is inserted above the footnote texts at the bottom of the page. Default: a centered horizontal line, defined in ‘ly/paper-defaults-init.ly’.

See also

Installed Files: ‘ly/titling-init.ly’, ‘ly/paper-defaults-init.ly’.

Snippets: Spacing.

Known issues and warnings

The default page header puts the page number and the instrument field from the \header block on a line.

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\paper variables for debugging

The variables debug-beam-scoring, debug-slur-scoring and debug-tie-scoring allow to print debugging output for beam, slur and tie scoring. See Debugging scoring algorithms for a detailed explanation, what these variables do.

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LilyPond — Notation Reference v2.24.4 (stable-branch).