Library

Open Library from the menu at the top to find songs or scores you used before. Removing a song from a setlist leaves its song, score, and audio here for reuse. If you just need to add music for a show now, start from the add button in Setlist Detail; organizing Library can wait.

Choose the Tab for What You Need

The MusicXML/MEI source files exported from a notation app are found on the supporting screen Manage Source Files (see Manage Source Files). Start with a short search. Use tags or sorting only if needed. Source files do not offer name or tag editing; search them by original filename and date added.

Import Score Files

PDF, MusicXML (.musicxml, .xml, .mxl), and MEI (.mei) use the same Score File entry. Open it from the add button on the Library's Scores tab, or From Files or Photos in Setlist Detail. You do not need to register MusicXML/MEI in another screen first or convert it to PDF yourself.

When MusicXML offers several distinct scores, Create a score from MusicXML asks you to choose the full score or a part. When there is one choice, import creates it without that sheet. MEI creates a single-movement full score; extracting individual parts is not supported.

The result appears alongside PDFs in Scores. You can open it, annotate it, assign it to songs, and export it as PDF. If a score already exists for the same source and choices, you can reuse it or choose Add independently. Reuse keeps that score's annotations and song associations; adding independently creates a separate score.

Choose PDF, MusicXML, or MEI

Choose PDF to keep the notation application's appearance; choose MusicXML to use transposition and musical information in PagePilot. Existing MEI files use the same entry, but only full scores are supported, with conversion limitations.

MusicXML/MEI does not preserve original page breaks; page counts and symbol positions can change. Full scores, and selections displaying all parts in the supplied file, follow its system breaks. A part extracted from a full score is laid out again by the app. Creating, updating, or transposing takes time to generate and save display pages. Opening the score does not regenerate them, and resizing the screen does not reflow its systems.

PDF supports annotations and automatic page turns, but does not support transposing the notation itself, generating parts from the source, or updating musical information from MusicXML/MEI. MusicXML/MEI does not make PagePilot a note editor or a player for the encoded notes. Edit the music in the notation application.

Scores Made in MuseScore or Dorico

Use the choice above, then export PDF or MusicXML from your notation application. Keep MuseScore's .mscz/.mscx or Dorico's .dorico file for editing; do not import the native project directly.

• MuseScore (desktop): Choose File → Export, select PDF or MusicXML, and choose the parts to export. See the official export guide.
• Dorico (desktop): Choose File → Export → MusicXML, then select flows and layouts. For PDF, select layouts in Print mode, choose Graphics as the destination and PDF as the format, then export. See MusicXML export and PDF/graphics export.

Commands differ between versions and on iPad. Not every notation or output is reproduced identically. When trying MusicXML, keep a PDF exported from the original application for comparison. Importing both creates separate scores; it does not combine PDF appearance with MusicXML capabilities.

Songs Tab

The Songs tab shows the songs you prepared in earlier setlists. Start here when you want the same score in another setlist, or want to duplicate one song and try a different setup. Tap a song to open it in the score viewer; its menu offers Duplicate and Move to Trash.

A song holds the page range of the score it uses, its audio, the setup that turns pages along with that audio, and the song's length. That is why the Songs tab shows a duration, the number of cues excluding the opening cue, the score name, and the audio name. The count includes tempo- or meter-only cues, so it is not necessarily the number of page turns.

Duplicating a song lets you try different preparation on the same score. Make a full version and a short version from one PDF, pair it with different audio, or rebuild only the automatic page turns.

Moving a song to the Trash does not immediately delete the score, MusicXML/MEI source file, or audio file behind it. What goes is that song's page range, audio, automatic page turns, and display settings. To tidy up scores and audio, use their tabs; for MusicXML/MEI, use Source files. A song still used in a setlist has to come out of the setlist before you delete it.

Scores Tab

The Scores tab lists every score you have imported. Use search, tags, and sorting to find the score you need and reuse it across setlists. When a score is used by songs, the score menu can open those songs.

What you see are the source scores your songs use; a score shared by several songs still appears once. From a score's menu you can edit its name and tags, duplicate it, or move it to the Trash.

The menu's Export as PDF turns the score into a PDF and hands it to the share sheet. Use it to print, or to give the score to somebody who does not have PagePilot Viewer. Every score the viewer can show can be exported, lyric sheets and chord text included. A score you have annotated comes out with the annotations on it (the exported PDF supports text search).

A score in use can be neither moved to the Trash nor permanently deleted — deleting it by mistake would break the songs and setlists that rely on it. To open a song that uses the score, choose Open a song using this score from its menu and pick from the songs that reference it.

Audio Tab

The Audio tab is where you manage the audio files associated with your songs. You can play them back right here to check before organizing, making it easy to track down "which audio was for this song again?"

Besides audio files, video files (MP4, MOV, and more) can also be added as sound sources. Video goes in the same way as audio, from the add button in the bottom right. During import, PagePilot checks whether the current device can read the audio in an audio or video file. Even with a selectable extension such as MP3, WAV, MP4, or MOV, a file may not be added if it is damaged or has content protection that restricts playback or copying. With a supported external display connected, a video sound source can show its picture to the audience (iPhone, iPad, and Android — see Video on an External Display). Without one, it plays exactly like an audio-only source.

Audio is managed separately from scores. Tidy up names and tags here and the file is far easier to pick out when you attach it to a song. Tap an audio row to preview it, and stop it right there while it plays. Deleting audio a song uses asks you first, then detaches it from that song. Restoring the audio from the Trash does not put it back on the songs that used it.

Manage Source Files

Use Scores for normal viewing, annotation, and adding to songs. Source management is an auxiliary screen for finding saved source files. MusicXML under From Library in setlist addition also lets you create a score from one.

Source files lists registered MusicXML and MEI as independent source assets. Search by file name and sort by file name or date added to find the source you need.

Tap an item, or choose Create score from its menu, then pick the full score or a part to build a new score. To add that score to a setlist and turn it into a song, see Choose Where to Add From.

MEI files (.mei) are registered the same way from Score File and are listed with their version, such as "MEI 5.1". An MEI file creates a full score. The original MEI is kept as it is: the score is drawn from MusicXML converted from it, and performance information such as tempo, meter and repeats is read from the MEI. An MEI file that would lose notes or symbols in conversion cannot be registered, and the reason is shown. See below for the combinations that cannot be converted.

The usual deletion action for a MusicXML or MEI source is Move to Trash. Restoring it returns it to Source files. Delete Permanently deletes the registered source and cannot be undone. Existing scores remain viewable, but updating or transposing requires selecting a source file with the same content again. MusicXML part creation also needs its source; MEI part extraction is not supported.

Song Settings and Score Updates

Creating a score here does not change existing songs. When you use it to add a new song to a setlist, readable performance information is applied automatically. See Choosing What to Add for what is applied and where to check it.

To update an existing score, choose Update score from its menu on the Scores tab. Songs already using that score remain on the old version. From the song's menu on the Songs tab, choose Continue update, review the changes, and switch that song to the new version.

To create another MusicXML part, choose Add another part from the score menu. It creates an independent score without changing the original score, songs, or annotations. It initially inherits the original score’s transposition, which you can change before adding. MEI does not support extracting another part.

The review separates tempo and meter from score movements. A layout-only change does not count as a tempo or meter change, and your adjustments are not overwritten without your choice. Manually adjusted cue positions stay where they are. Check and adjust them against the new score after switching. Annotations are not part of this review; they carry over on the same page numbers. An existing song's length is not changed automatically.

Transpose a MusicXML/MEI Score

For a score made from MusicXML or MEI, open Transpose… from the score or song menu, or Song settings and choose a change from -12 to +12 semitones from the original key. This is an absolute value from the original, not a change from the current displayed key. Choose 0 to return to the original key.

Choose Transpose all songs using this score to switch every song using that score, including songs in Trash, to the same transposed score. Choose Transpose this song only to make an independent score with copied annotations and switch only that song. If the same song appears in another setlist, it switches there too.

Annotations and manually adjusted cue positions stay where they are after transposition, so they may no longer align with the transposed score. A manually specified page range stays as it is. Songs using the whole score follow the new page count; check the resulting score. Warnings ask you to check the result for TAB notation, percussion notation or transposing instruments. Parenthesized and editorial accidentals may be omitted after transposition, so check the affected passages.

Unsupported notation and display limitations

Scores created from MusicXML or MEI have the following limitations:

• A change in the number of lines on the same staff during a piece, such as switching from a one-line to a five-line staff when changing percussion instruments. This includes changes at measure boundaries. Staff line counts or note positions may differ from the original.

  This limitation concerns changes in staff line count, not percussion scores in general. There is no warning specifically for this case.

• Ornaments and slurs may overlap. For example, a slur may cross a turn symbol, making the symbol or line harder to read. This does not happen with every combination. The overlap itself does not change pitches, note durations, or repeat order, but check that the notation is readable before performing.

• Glissando lines attached to grace notes may be missing. This is separate from support for glissandos between ordinary notes. Compare the result with the original to make sure essential lines remain visible.

To preserve the original appearance, export a PDF from your notation application and import it. Exporting an already incorrect score from PagePilot as a PDF does not correct its notation.

When measure repeats appear as written-out notes

Explicit one-, two- and four-measure repeats in MusicXML are displayed as repeat symbols when the required conditions are met. These symbols abbreviate the preceding measures; they are distinct from repeat barlines and D.S./D.C. playback instructions. Identical note patterns are not automatically converted into repeat symbols.

In the following cases, the affected repeat unit keeps the notes and rests supplied in the MusicXML instead. Part of a two- or four-measure repeat is not converted into a one-measure repeat. When a run has complete units followed by a short remainder, complete units can show signs while the remainder stays written out.

• The unit crosses a system break or the displayed range, or its reference measures are outside that range.
• A drawn tie, slur, glissando or similar connection reaches from a note in the unit to a note outside it or on another staff. A trill wavy line also keeps the unit written out if it passes through the unit.
• The unit includes grace notes, lyrics or an incoming lyric extender, TAB notation, multiple-measure rests, or a clef, key, meter or similar change at its start or within it.
• Its length or symbol form is unsupported, or duplicate declarations prevent safe identification of the unit. Three-measure repeats, for example, are not supported.

A slur with an unattached end on a note in the repeat unit also keeps that unit written out, preserving slurs directed toward a barline.

Resolved ties, slurs, glissandos, tuplets and similar notation contained within the same repeat unit and staff can be abbreviated together with the notes. Apart from trill wavy lines, a line with both endpoints outside the unit can pass over a repeat sign without blocking it. Other unmatched endpoints that the renderer does not draw as a line do not block the sign. Independent tempo, dynamics and chord indications remain visible.

Repeat symbols do not reduce measure widths. They do not guarantee fewer pages or the same system breaks as the notation application. No specific warning is shown when a unit stays written out. If the source explicitly hides its notes, those notes stay hidden during fallback, so a unit that cannot be abbreviated may remain invisible. This feature does not reconstruct missing notes or force hidden notes to appear.

Check that all essential content is readable after import. To preserve the original abbreviations and layout, export a PDF from your notation application and import it instead.

Limits affecting tempo marks, brackets and text

These limitations concern MusicXML rendering and scores converted from MEI. Reading musical information does not guarantee reproduction of its original notation or placement.

• A very long metronome mark may be clipped if it exceeds the staff width. It is not automatically shrunk or wrapped, and no user-facing warning is shown.
• Equations between note values are displayed with their ties, but are not used to infer a numerical BPM. Ties in numerical BPM marks and detailed formatting remain outside the supported scope.
• Dotted or dashed repeat endings do not retain their line style. This is separate from interpreting repeat destinations or counts.
• Staff-group names and abbreviations are displayed for ordinary nested groups containing at least two parts. Single-part groups are not labeled. If even one pair of group ranges crosses in a score, all group names and abbreviations in that score are omitted rather than risk assigning them to the wrong staves. Separate display text and accidental symbols are ignored; the plain group name or abbreviation is shown instead. If only display text is provided, no label is shown. Per-fragment styling and exact original placement are not guaranteed.
• Header text carried through MEI conversion from the first page is reflowed at the top. Text recognized as a rights notice is shown below the last system, not as separate header text. Its freely chosen source position, styling on individual text fragments, and text or images on later pages cannot be reproduced. Freely positioned text is not guaranteed to match the source when MusicXML is imported directly, either. This does not mean ordinary titles or part names are generally unsupported.

Staff-specific key signatures within one part are read and displayed independently. A key change on a later part or lower staff can produce a double barline before the change when that staff is visible. A change confined to a hidden part does not add a double barline.

Double-sharp accidentals on ornaments retain the source's choice of two sharp signs or a cross-shaped symbol. Glyph height may affect space above or below staves and vertical staff spacing. Horizontal spacing calculations, pitches and note durations remain unchanged.

There is also an unresolved defect: a negative offset placing a direction before a measure's start may fail to retain its exact timestamp. This is not an intentionally accepted specification. Compare essential timing with the original.

Unsupported combinations in MEI conversion

Not every MEI notation or combination is supported. Ambiguous information is not guessed, and unsupported symbols are not replaced with different ones to continue conversion.

• A change of beat unit within a measure combined with beat-based positions may leave the position ambiguous. An explicit ID reference to the target note or other element can be handled. This does not exclude ordinary meter changes at measure boundaries.
• A measure repeat whose reference contains attribute changes or cross-measure spans cannot be converted. Ordinary measure repeats are a different case. Expanding MEI repeats into notes and abbreviating those notes as repeat symbols during rendering are separate decisions.
• Special clefs used in early music or critical editions are outside the supported scope. They are not replaced with an ordinary treble clef.
• Unpitched percussion encoding and named instrument changes during a piece are not currently supported in MEI conversion. Handling a fixed staff-line count is not full support for percussion semantics or instrument changes. Instrument names are not inferred from MIDI program numbers. Reconstruction of MusicXML instrument-sound information is also outside the supported scope.
• Partial redefinitions of staff groups cannot be handled if the bracket or name being updated cannot be matched unambiguously. Updates to just the changed staff definitions, and full-range group redeclarations that can be matched uniquely, are not rejected indiscriminately.
• The ordering of grace notes in independent voices cannot be uniquely determined without source references or ordering information. This is not a general restriction on multiple voices.

For file authors: in-measure keySig/meterSig support is a limited full-MEI extension, not a claim of MEI Basic 5.1 conformance. Beat-based positions use tstamp; measure repeats use mRpt.

Information omitted from MEI cannot be reconstructed

If the exporting application omits measures, rests or grace-note slashes, the MEI file alone cannot restore them. Content is not inferred from gaps in measure numbers.

Specific examples checked with MuseScore 4.7.5 lost measures/rest information in a long-rest passage, or a grace-note slash indication. This is neither a limitation of MEI itself nor a claim that all MuseScore exports are affected.

Keep the original score file and obtain MusicXML containing the missing information, or re-export with a version that corrects the omission. Whether PagePilot supports the re-exported notation still requires checking. If preserving appearance is the goal, use a PDF exported from the original application.

Characters outside Japanese and Latin

The text on a score built from MusicXML — title, composer, part name, tempo words, lyrics, and chord symbols — is drawn with typefaces that ship with the app. Together they cover Japanese, Latin (including spellings such as Dvořák and Bartók), Greek, Cyrillic, Hangul, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Thai, Devanagari, Arabic, Hebrew, Armenian, Bengali, Ethiopic, Georgian, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Kannada, Khmer, Lao, Malayalam, Odia, Sinhala, Tamil, Telugu, Tibetan, Myanmar, and emoji. The full list of scripts and languages is at languages and scripts in MusicXML scores.

Characters the bundled typeface does not carry are drawn with a typeface the device provides. Nothing disappears, but typefaces are mixed within a line and character widths change, so the same source can break its systems and pages differently on iPad and on Android.

This is what happened when the message "Some characters are not in the app's font, so this device's font was used for them" appears right after an import.

• Written only in the scripts listed above, a score breaks its systems in the same places on iPad and on Android.
• For any other script — Cherokee, Mongolian, Syriac and the like — rewriting the title or part name in Latin script makes the score look the same on every device.
• If you want to keep your own language, tell the developer which language you need. It informs what typefaces the app should let you add.

A score's pages are fixed when it is imported. Typefaces the app gains later do not rebuild a score you already have. To redraw an older score with the current typefaces, choose Add independently for the same MusicXML/MEI, or use Update score in the score's menu. Reusing an existing score keeps its previous pages.

Importing Files

The add button in the bottom right changes its role depending on which tab is open. It adds a score on the Scores tab and audio on the Audio tab. Import MusicXML and MEI scores from Score File, the same entry as PDF. Open Source files for the source list. The Songs tab has no add button. New songs are created when you add a file or photo from Setlist Detail, or when you duplicate an existing song. To use a prepared song in another setlist, open Setlist Detail and choose From Library, then Song. Right after importing, set the name and tags from the same menu on the score. You can also import MusicXML from Score File under From Files or Photos in Setlist Detail.

Importing from cloud storage

Scores in cloud storage available on your device, such as iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive, can be imported through the file picker. You normally do not need to save a local copy first. If direct import fails, see "If a cloud score is missing or cannot be imported on Android" below for another way to select it.

The setup is a one-time step.

• iPad / iPhone (iOS) — Install and sign in to the cloud's official app (for example Google Drive), then open the Files app, and on the top level of Browse tap "⋯" in the upper right → "Edit Sidebar" and turn that cloud on.
• Android — Install and sign in to the cloud's official app. Apps that support file selection are available from the menu in the upper left of the import file picker. An entry may show an account name rather than the cloud service's name.

When you pick a file stored in the cloud, it downloads to your device automatically. A slow connection or a large PDF may take a moment.

Selecting a score through another app on Android

On Android, you can use Other Apps as well as Score File. This lets you select a score in an app such as Google Drive and import it into PagePilot.

1. Open the Scores tab in Library and choose the add button in the bottom right.
2. Choose Other Apps, then proceed to the cloud app you want to use.
3. Select the score in that app. When you return to PagePilot, continue the import.

From a setlist's add button, choose From Files or Photos → Other Apps. The option is also available when selecting a score to replace or a source file for repair. The available apps depend on what is installed and which file types those apps support. Other Apps is not shown on iPad or iPhone.

If a cloud score is missing or cannot be imported on Android

If a PDF added to Google Drive or another cloud service is missing from the Score File list, or cannot be retrieved, follow these steps:

1. Close the file picker and choose Other Apps from PagePilot's import choices. Select the score through the cloud app you want to use.
2. If that app is not offered, or this method still cannot retrieve the file, use the cloud's official app to save a copy in a device folder such as Downloads, leaving the original file in the cloud. The action may be called Download, Save, or Export, depending on the app. In Google Drive, open the menu beside the file name and choose Download (Google Drive's official instructions).
3. Once the copy is saved, return to PagePilot and use Score File to open that device folder and select the copy, not the same-named file in the cloud.

Making a file available offline is different from copying it into a device folder. It needs to be saved somewhere you can select through Score File, not just opened inside the cloud app. Save the PDF or other file itself, not a sharing link.

If a device copy or an already imported score produces an unsupported-format or damaged-PDF error, investigate it separately from a file missing from the list. The message "This PDF could not be opened. The file may be damaged." does not by itself establish that the original PDF is damaged. Check that the format is supported and whether another PDF viewer can open the file. If it cannot, obtain a working source file and import it again.

Other Apps changes how you select a file; it does not repair damaged PDFs. You can still use it to select a working source file. You do not need to delete the song from the setlist: select the score to use for that song instead. If another PDF viewer can open the file but PagePilot cannot, or importing it again does not resolve the issue, contact support with your device, OS and PagePilot versions, cloud service, steps taken, and error message. Reinstalling apps or clearing their data or cache is not part of this routine workaround.

Deleting and Freeing Storage

The normal delete action moves an item to the Trash. You can bring it back from there, but it does not free device storage.

To free storage, choose Delete Permanently from the item's menu. That cannot be undone. Scores and songs cannot be permanently deleted while they are used by songs or setlists. MusicXML and MEI can be permanently deleted from their menu in Source files. A source moved to Trash can also be permanently deleted there. Audio can be detached from songs and deleted after you confirm the impact.

Receiving Shared Data

You can also open Receive Share from this screen. It is handy when you want to bring scores or audio sent from another device directly into your library.

If You Get Stuck

• If the song or score you want to add to a setlist isn't there, check Songs or Scores to confirm it was imported. If only its MusicXML/MEI source was saved, Source files lets you resume creating the score.
• If you want to use a prepared song in another setlist, the steps are under Importing Files above.
• If several songs share a score and you can't tell them apart, go by what the Songs tab shows — the duration, the audio name, and so on.
• To make another score from MusicXML or MEI, open it in Source files and choose its full score or a part. MEI creates a full score only.
• If you deleted a file and want it back, check the Trash.
• To add the same tag to multiple items at once, see Bulk Tag Editing.