Creating blocks of lyrics/text next to staves using Sibelius Free?

[Bjazz68]

Hello,

This is my very first post on this forum, as I have just tried to download the free version of Sibelius. However, I am not sure which version of Sibelius I have actually ended up with, because when I opened it for the first time, a start-up dialogue window offered me a trial of the ultimate version along with two others which I tried to bypass because I only wanted to start with the free version?.

In any case, I would like to use Sibelius to create a songbook score where there are blocks of lyrics on the left with the piano arrangement on staves to the the right of the text, having the page in landscape view. But I have no idea where to start, or which version of Sibelius will permit me to accomplish this task.

Could anyone point me in the right direction please if possible?

Thank you,

Cliff

[KJ_Palmer]

Likely a tall order for the free version, as it's severely limited, you can basically only create a minimal standard score.

You could try going to: Layout > Document Setup and see if the Landscape option is selectable
See if you can adjust (drag) the left staff bar line or over to the right to allow some space for your lyrics
In Text > Lyrics (or Ctrl L) > Drop down. If Block Lyrics is available select that and type some lyrics into the box and position the box in the gap to the left of your staff.

If you can do these you may be on your way, otherwise consider upgrading to a higher tier (Ultimate would be best), or maybe consider installing MuseScore 4. You could probably do all this for free with that.

[MikeLyons]

TBH, I'm a bit disappointed that you are expecting the free version to do this quite advanced function.

I don't think you will be able to.

See if Musescore will do it. That is free open source software. Sibelius is full powered commercial software. Musescore shares many of Sibelius' more grown up features. Try it.

[andyg]

I'd agree with the others, and that makes replies from all three people still answering questions here! You do know that this is not the official Sibelius forum?

The free version is not worth bothering with. Musescore is WAY better than that version of Sibelius and probably better than the mid tier Sibelius Artist. Only Ultimate is worth having.

I'd consider doing this in a word processor. Create the music parts as required, and export as graphics (if indeed the free version does that). Then import into the word processor, positioning the lyrics and music as required. Although the higher tiers of Sibelius may allow you to do this, I think you'd have more control in the word processor. Worth trying if you can't get the results you want any other way.