LilyPond Notation Reference: 3.2.2 Custom titles headers and footers

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3.2.2 Custom titles headers and footers

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[ < Custom titles headers and footers ]		[ Up : Custom titles headers and footers ]	[ Custom layout for titles > ]

Custom text formatting for titles

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

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

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

The placement of titles when using the default values of these \markup variables is shown in the examples in Default layout of bookpart and score titles.

The default settings for scoreTitleMarkup as defined in ‘ly/titling-init.ly’ are:

scoreTitleMarkup = \markup { \column {
  \on-the-fly \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 {
  { s1 }
  \header {
    piece = "PRAELUDIUM I"
    opus = "BWV 846"
  }
}

This example redefines scoreTitleMarkup so that the piece text field is centered and in 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 {
    { s1 }
    \header {
      piece = "PRAELUDIUM I"
      opus = "BWV 846"
    }
  }
}

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 that are 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 {
    { s1 }
    \header {
      piece = "MENUET"
      composer = "Christian Petzold"
    }
  }
  \score {
    { s1 }
    \header {
      piece = "RONDEAU"
      composer = "François Couperin"
    }
  }
}

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 {
    { s1 }
    \header {
      piece = "FUGA I"
      mycustomtext = "A 4 VOCI" %% User-defined field
      opus = "BWV 846"
    }
  }
}

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 either or both of the following \paper variables:

oddHeaderMarkup
evenHeaderMarkup
oddFooterMarkup
evenFooterMarkup

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

variable = \markup {
  …
  \on-the-fly  \procedure  markup
  …
}

The procedure is called each time the \markup command in which it appears is evaluated. The procedure should test for a particular condition and interpret (i.e., print) the markup argument if and only if the condition is true.

A number of ready-made procedures for testing various conditions are provided:

Procedure name
Condition tested

print-page-number-check-first
should this page number be printed?

create-page-number-stencil
print-page-numbers true?

print-all-headers
print-all-headers true?

first-page
first page in the book?

not-first-page
not first page in the book?

(on-page nmbr)
page number = nmbr?

last-page
last page in the book?

part-first-page
first page in the book part?

not-part-first-page
not first page in the book part?

part-last-page
last page in the book part?

not-single-page
pages in book part > 1?

Procedure name	Condition tested
print-page-number-check-first	should this page number be printed?
create-page-number-stencil	print-page-numbers true?
print-all-headers	print-all-headers true?
first-page	first page in the book?
not-first-page	not first page in the book?
(on-page nmbr)	page number = nmbr?
last-page	last page in the book?
part-first-page	first page in the book part?
not-part-first-page	not first page in the book part?
part-last-page	last page in the book part?
not-single-page	pages in book part > 1?

The following example centers page numbers at the bottom of every page. First, the default settings for oddHeaderMarkup and evenHeaderMarkup are removed by defining each as a null markup. 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 = \markup \null
    evenHeaderMarkup = \markup \null
    oddFooterMarkup = \markup {
      \fill-line {
        \on-the-fly \print-page-number-check-first
        \fromproperty #'page:page-number-string
      }
    }
    evenFooterMarkup = \oddFooterMarkup
  }
  \score {
    \new Staff { s1 \break s1 \break s1 }
  }
}

Several \on-the-fly conditions can be combined with an ‘and’ operation, for example,

  \on-the-fly \first-page
  \on-the-fly \last-page
  { \markup … \fromproperty #'header: … }

determines if the output is a single page.

3.2.2 Custom titles headers and footers

Custom text formatting for titles

See also

Custom layout for titles

See also

Custom layout for headers and footers

See also

LilyPond — Notation Reference v2.21.0 (Vývojářská větev).