Storing PDFs.

[jhatpro]

Where’s the best place on an iPad to store PDFs such as downloads from qpress.ca?
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle

[huntman10]

Is there some reason not to use iCloud? I have most of my current band repertoire there. 99 cents a month for lots of storage.
_________________
huntman10
Collector/Player of Fine (and not so fine) Brass Instruments including
Various Strads, Yammies, Al Hirt Courtois, Schilkes,
Selmer 25, Getzen Eternas, Kanstuls (920 Pic, CG)
Martin Custom Large Bore, Lots Olds!, Conns, etc.

[deanoaks]

It depends on what exactly you're trying to store.

Books are best on iBooks (obviously)

Any score or part that you're hoping to play-off of, study, or otherwise have intentions to markup are best stored on the app ForScore https://apps.apple.com/us/app/forscore/id363738376 Genuinely the best purchase I've ever made on an Apple device.

If you're trying to create a backup to make sure that you don't lose whatever PDFs you have, download it to your Files app and ensure you have your iCloud storage turned on. Depending on the number of PDFs you have, you may want to get a monthly subscription to Apple for large amounts of storage.

[tyler.slamkowski]

ForScore for everything. If someone doesn’t sell their book as a PDF, I either photocopy or convert it to PDF so I can use it in my ForScore.

[jhatpro]

Thanks for the replies, guys! I’m trying to consolidate all my downloads in the same, easy to find place. Right now they’re scattered throughout my iPad and it’s driving me crazy.
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle

[jhatpro]

ForScore is terrific! It instantly solved my problem. Thanks for the great tip!
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle

[DH]

Don't forget the iPad is just a giant phone that can't make phone calls. It doesn't have a directory/file system. Each program is responsible for the files it uses. I've been using ForScore for many years and it just keeps track of it all.

Don't know how to check this but if I had a PDF in ForScore and for some reason needed that PDF in a different program, I suspect I'd have to upload it again into that program

Do I wish it had a file system itself and all the ForScore files were accessible somehow outside of ForScore? Yes! But it is what it is and ForScore works great keeping track of my 5000+ items.

[huntman10]

[cheiden]

Most of my PDFs are created on my iPad. From there I export them to my Google Drive and also copy them to my PC which is backed up to Carbonite. Then I import them into Forscore on my iPad. Lots of redundancy because I REALLY don't want to lose my files.
_________________
"I'm an engineer, which means I think I know a whole bunch of stuff I really don't."
Charles J Heiden/So Cal
Bach Strad 180ML43*/43 Bb/Yamaha 731 Flugel/Benge 1X C/Kanstul 920 Picc/Conn 80A Cornet
Bach 3C rim on 1.5C underpart

[gwood66]

I use a combination of forScore and Goodreader. I keep most of my method books in folders in Goodreader. My sheet music is in forScore.
_________________
Gary Wood (comeback player with no street cred)

GR 66M/66MS/66**
Bach Strad 37
Getzen 3052
Yamaha 6345

[dstpt]

Here are some ditties I’ve learned about forScore...

First, why would the company spell it that way...lower case "f" and upper case "S?"

forScore

I get frustrated when companies do that kind of thing. I guess it's supposed to mean: This is a place "for (your) Score." I digress.

Second, did you know that they have made the forScore application for the Mac? You can get it from the App Store on your Mac, just like from the App Store on your iPad. (I don't think they've made it compatible for Windows. It's principally made for the iPad, which is an Apple device and not, say, a Kindle. Maybe they have, and I've missed it.) You can edit .pdfs on your Mac, using all of the regular forScore tools, like adding accidentals, articulations, and dynamic markings. Then you can transfer them to your iPad. Some things may be easier with a mouse or trackpad on the Mac, and some things are definitely easier to do with your finger directly in forScore on your iPad. You choose.

Third, you can "transfer" edited files back and forth between your Mac and iPad. If I've made a lot of edits on a trumpet book to a musical, I can then save it to Dropbox or back on my Mac.

To help with using the Mac version, you "bring up" the toolbar by merely clicking in the middle of the score page...too far to the right or left will turn the page or do nothing. There are not any convenient instructions to do this, so you have to approach it like kids in junior high, who just start clicking on things and discovering on their own how to do stuff, which is super frustrating for us adults, who are used to reading and following instructions. (I’m sure it’s documented on their website, but who wants to go there for something simple, like pulling up the application’s toolbar?!) To send/share an annotated file, select the toolbox, which is the far right tool and select "Share" from the popdown menu. It works this way on both the iPad and Mac, and that’s, in a nutshell, how you share edited files back and forth.

So far I haven't discovered a way to make my Mac version forScore library "reflect" exactly what is already on my iPad, like, say, your iPhone reflects what is in your Contacts on your Mac, where if you edit one, the other reflects the same through the mysterious Internet “cloud.” Instead, you have to share your annotated iPad file back to the Mac to get exactly what you've already edited. Then you can further edit the same file on your Mac and share it back to your iPad. I do most of my sharing from Mac to iPad via Dropbox, but I suppose there are other ways? I dunno.

[Halflip]

[kehaulani]

[dstpt]

[Didymus]

[GizB]

[rrova]

Guys, thanks alot for this thread! I was concerned because I've heard of people not being able to organize their music in a meaningful way on their iPad. Since Id want to organize it similar to how I would do in Windows, I was looking at Samsung. But now I understand why the iPad doesn't do it the way I want, but that forScore does (which I would've have bought anyway). Now I know!

[trickg]