In Finale 3D, report and label templates are saved as “Blueprints“. In the Hobbyist and Pro versions, blueprints also store the built-in and custom table layouts that are represented as puzzle piece icons in the Effects and Script windows. In the Pro version, blueprints are further used to store rack layout diagrams, site layouts, and addressing blueprints. Future versions of the software will support saving blueprints to the user’s account in the cloud, or to a company account, but as of December 2022, all blueprints are saved as part of a show. Thus, if you add or customize a report, label template, or anything that is stored as a blueprint, you will only have access to that blueprint when you open that specific show.
If you want to re-use blueprints in a new show, you can copy them from show to show by following these steps:
- Go to “File > Open” and open the show that includes the blueprint(s) you would like to re-use.
- Go to “Window > Blueprints window” to open the Blueprints window.
- In the Blueprints window, press Ctrl+A to select all, and Ctrl+C to copy all the blueprints to your clipboard.
- Close the Blueprints window.
- With the blueprints copied, open the show in which you’d like to use the blueprints, or open a new blank show. If the show you want to use the blueprints in was already open before you did step 1, you can switch back to that show from the bottom of the Window menu.
- Open the Blueprints window again, which now shows the blueprints in the new show, press Ctrl+A to select all, then press Delete on your keyboard to delete all the blueprints, then press Ctrl+V to paste the blueprints from your clipboard.
- Save your new show with the customized templates.
Alternatively, you can copy/paste only one or more blueprints by selecting and copying specific rows from the Blueprints window in your old show and pasting them into your new show.
If you find that you need to copy and paste the same blueprints each time you create a new show, a better solution is to create a Start-up template. This will replace the default blank show that you see each time you launch Finale 3D with a show that contains your blueprints and settings. To create a start-up template, configure a show with your blueprints and preferred show settings, then go to “File > User settings > Save show as start-up template”.