I believe that what I want to do is very simple, but I don't know where to begin.
I have a single-page PDF of a musical score, and all I want to do is change the noteheads to different colors. The PDF is originally in black and white, and I do not want to change the color of anything other than the noteheads.
Could you please tell me the steps?
I have attached the score. You will see that the noteheads are attached to other graphics, so I will have to isolate them from these.
Thanks for the reply. Is there a way to isolate each of the noteheads, though, so that the color can be applied as a fill? This would save a huge amount of time and work, and would ensure accuracy.
As a raster (pixel-based; Photoshop) image, you can't separate the note heads from the rest of the black area.
Even if the art was a vector (Illustrator) image, most likely the entire note would one piece; that is, the head would not be selectable separately. Even if it was, you would still need to find some way to select just the heads, which would probably be manually.
You need to see if the original program can perform what you want--or recreate the music in a program that can. Also, you need to learn/understand the limitations of what software can and can't do. This is not a limitation of Photoshop or Illustrator--it is a limitation of the art you are trying to edit.
David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
There is no "original program" that created this. This is a scan of something that was originally published many decades ago.
As I said, I want to work with the original document, not recreate it in engraving software.
Your claim that the original document is limited rather than the software that interprets it is like saying that an ancient language is limited because people haven't figured out how to read it.
Some of the commenters here have already given solutions to the problem which don't involve anything you've suggested.
I read the posts--the only solutions were to do it manually, one at a time. While a solution, you appear to be looking for an automated one. That's unlikely. (I remember making short scores with Letraset rub-on sheets, so I know what you are asking for.)
Your analogy with an ancient language is appropriate, but that doesn't change the currentstate of software. While our brains can recognize the note heads, it just a bunch of colored pixels to software. Or, you can just wait until developers find the Rosetta Stone.
David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
You'll see that I had already aquiesced to a solution given by Kenneth Kawamoto. Also, you're framing this as if I was complaining about the software, which I never was.
Any time somebody asks whether a piece of software is capable of doing a particular thing implies that they don't yet know what the limitations of the software are with regard to that thing.
The other thing I want to do is even simpler. I simply want to crop parts of the score (as if I were to use scissors to cut it in real life) and reassemble them on a page. I would like also to change the size of one or two of the cropped pieces.
All of this I would do after having recolored the noteheads.
> The other thing I want to do is even simpler. I simply want to crop parts of the score (as if I were to use scissors to cut it in real life) and reassemble them on a page. I would like also to change the size of one or two of the cropped pieces.
This is PS job, not AI. In PS select an area and cut, then paste - this will create a new layer, which you can resize/reposition.
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