21.2.1 Custom text formatting for titles

Standard \markup commands can be used to customize any header, footer, or title text within the \header block.

\score {
  \header {
    piece = \markup { \fontsize #4 \bold "PRAELUDIUM I" }
    opus = \markup { \italic "BWV 846" }
  }
  { s1 }
}

See also

Notation Reference: Formatting text.

21.2.2 Custom layout for titles

\markup commands in the \header block are useful for simple text formatting, but they do not allow precise control over the placement of titles. To customize the placement of the text fields, change either or both of the following \paper variables:

• bookTitleMarkup
• scoreTitleMarkup

See Default layout of bookpart and score titles for the placement of titles when using the default values of these \markup variables.

The default setting for scoreTitleMarkup defined in ly/titling-init.ly is as follows.

scoreTitleMarkup = \markup \column {
  \if \should-print-all-headers { \bookTitleMarkup \hspace #1 }
  \fill-line {
    \fromproperty #'header:piece
    \fromproperty #'header:opus
  }
}

This places the piece and opus text fields at opposite ends of the same line.

\score {
  \header {
    piece = "PRAELUDIUM I"
    opus = "BWV 846"
  }
  { s1 }
}

The next example redefines scoreTitleMarkup so that the piece text field is centered, using a large, bold font.

\book {
  \paper {
    indent = 0\mm
    scoreTitleMarkup = \markup {
      \fill-line {
        \null
        \fontsize #4 \bold \fromproperty #'header:piece
        \fromproperty #'header:opus
      }
    }
  }
  \header { tagline = ##f }
  \score {
    \header {
      piece = "PRAELUDIUM I"
      opus = "BWV 846"
    }
    { s1 }
  }
}

Text fields not normally effective in score \header blocks can be printed in the score title area if print-all-headers is placed inside the \paper block. A disadvantage of using this method is that text fields intended specifically for the bookpart title area need to be manually suppressed in every \score block. See Titles explained.

To avoid this, add the desired text field to the scoreTitleMarkup definition. In the following example, the composer text field (normally associated with bookTitleMarkup) is added to scoreTitleMarkup, allowing each score to list a different composer.

\book {
  \paper {
    indent = 0\mm
    scoreTitleMarkup = \markup {
      \fill-line {
        \null
        \fontsize #4 \bold \fromproperty #'header:piece
        \fromproperty #'header:composer
      }
    }
  }
  \header { tagline = ##f }
  \score {
    \header {
      piece = "MENUET"
      composer = "Christian Petzold"
    }
    { s1 }
  }
  \score {
    \header {
      piece = "RONDEAU"
      composer = "François Couperin"
    }
    { s1 }
  }
}

It is also possible to create your own custom text fields and refer to them in the markup definition.

\book {
  \paper {
    indent = 0\mm
    scoreTitleMarkup = \markup {
      \fill-line {
        \null
        \override #`(direction . ,UP)
        \dir-column {
          \center-align \fontsize #-1 \bold
            \fromproperty #'header:mycustomtext %% User-defined field
          \center-align \fontsize #4 \bold
            \fromproperty #'header:piece
        }
        \fromproperty #'header:opus
      }
    }
  }
  \header { tagline = ##f }
  \score {
    \header {
      piece = "FUGA I"
      mycustomtext = "A 4 VOCI" %% User-defined field
      opus = "BWV 846"
    }
    { s1 }
  }
}

See also

Notation Reference: Titles explained.

21.2.3 Custom layout for headers and footers

\markup commands in the \header block are useful for simple text formatting, but they do not allow precise control over the placement of headers and footers. To customize the placement of the text fields, use one or more of the following \paper variables.

• oddHeaderMarkup
• evenHeaderMarkup
• oddFooterMarkup
• evenFooterMarkup

The \markup command \if can be used to add markup conditionally to header and footer text defined within the \paper block, using the following syntax within \markup:

\if condition argument

The condition is tested each time the markup is interpreted. The resulting markup is argument if the condition is true, but empty if false. Typical conditions include tests for page numbers (first page, last page, specific page, …). To test for the condition being false, replace \if with \unless.

The following example centers page numbers at the bottom of every page. First, the default settings for oddHeaderMarkup and evenHeaderMarkup are removed by assigning #f. Then, oddFooterMarkup is redefined with the page number centered. Finally, evenFooterMarkup is given the same layout by defining it as \oddFooterMarkup:

\book {
  \paper {
    print-page-number = ##t
    print-first-page-number = ##t
    oddHeaderMarkup = ##f
    evenHeaderMarkup = ##f
    oddFooterMarkup = \markup {
      \fill-line {
        \if \should-print-page-number
          \fromproperty #'page:page-number-string
      }
    }
    evenFooterMarkup = \oddFooterMarkup
  }
  \score {
    \new Staff { s1 \break s1 \break s1 }
  }
}

Here is a list of all predefined procedures available for use with \if and \unless.

Syntax	Condition tested
\on-first-page	First page in the book?
\on-last-page	Last page in the book?
\on-first-page-of-part	First page in the book part?
\on-last-page-of-part	Last page in the book part?
\on-page n	On page number n?
\single-page	Does the book fit on just one page?
\should-print-page-numbers-global	Print page numbers in the book? 7
\should-print-page-number	Print the number of the current page?
\should-print-all-headers	Is print-all-headers true?

See also

Notation Reference: Titles explained, Default layout of bookpart and score titles, Conditional markup.

Installed Files: ../ly/titling-init.ly.