Printing music is something that takes skill and attention to detail — both by the music preparer and the printer. When everything’s communicated well, it leads to print shop nirvana and the ideal result for everyone involved.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk through a specific project and illustrate the various steps along the way to set it up for success. No detail is too small, from the page size, to the number of copies, to the shipping methods desired. Philip relays his tips and best practices from the perspective of a professional music printing service.

Then, David gives advice for how to ensure good results if you need to take your project to a more general-service copy shop, or even if you are printing yourself, like some inventive ways to format the page size and convey the instructions to minimize the risk of errors that can be introduced and avoid miscommunication in what is one of the last, most critical steps in preparing a piece of music.

Also: A preview of the 2024 MOLA Conference and Tech Fair.

More on Scoring Notes and elsewhere: