Scan music for transposing, arranging and editing.

PhotoScore and NotateMe Ultimate 8 is the full-featured version of the PhotoScore and NotateMe Lite scanning software for Sibelius. Handwrite music on a tablet or laptop and convert your writing into professional scores. Scan printed sheet music into other MIDI software, such as sequencers. You can also use it on its own to scan in, play back, transpose, and print scores—and even save audio files.

PhotoScore and NotateMe Ultimate reads printed and handwritten music or PDFs in seconds—not just the notes, but also printed slurs, dynamics, lyrics, guitar tab, chord diagrams, and more. You can then edit or transpose the music, play it back, extract the parts, and print.

Compose by hand

If you like to handwrite music, the NotateMe app enables you to do exactly that using a tablet, smartphone, trackpad, or mouse. And it's now integrated right in PhotoScore 8. Work on a Mac or PC. Scrawl out symphonies using a Microsoft Surface and pen. Or compose on the go with your iOS or Android device.

Get better accuracy

Never miss a note, beat, or slur. With the OmniScore2 dual-engine recognition system, you'll get over 99.5% accuracy when scanning most PDFs and original sheet music. Get improved recognition of tuplets and curved and distorted staves. Save time with more sophisticated automatic voice allocation. Even bring in JPEGs of compositions you've shot with your phone or camera.

Work smarter and faster than ever

PhotoScore and NotateMe Ultimate now recognizes printed music 30% faster, so you can get a jumpstart on your editing. It can also read low-res PDFs and scans down to 72 dpi. Save scores as PDFs for easy printing. Work with Sibelius 8. And experience better MusicXML score export, part extraction, rescoring, and other improvements.

Intuitive and easy to use

Ease-of-use has been a central design aim right from the start, and with automatic scanning and recognition, plus licensed Sibelius-style editing interfaces, PhotoScore and NotateMe Ultimate becomes fun and exciting to use.

Features

• Industry-Leading Optical Music Recognition (OMR) – Scan and digitize printed scores and PDFs with up to 99.5% accuracy for clean, editable results.
• NotateMe Handwriting Input – Write music directly on a touchscreen and have it converted into digital notation instantly.
• Multi-Stave and Multi-Instrument Recognition – Supports up to 64 staves per page, including complex orchestral, choral, and piano/vocal layouts.
• PDF and Image File Support – Import music from PDF, JPG, BMP, TIFF, and PNG formats for digital editing.
• Real-Time Preview and Playback – Hear your scanned or handwritten music played back instantly to check accuracy and flow.
• Automatic Key Signature, Time Signature, and Tempo Detection – Speeds up the editing process by intelligently reading musical context.
• Chord Symbol and Lyric Recognition – Includes support for text-based musical elements like lyrics, dynamics, and chord names.
• Export to Sibelius, MusicXML, MIDI – Seamless compatibility with leading notation and sequencing platforms.
• Batch Processing for Multi-Page Scores – Scan full books or orchestral works and navigate between pages with ease.
• Touchscreen Optimization for Tablets – Write music using a finger or stylus and experience instant visual conversion to notation.

Technical details

• Operating systems: Windows, macOS
• Plug-in formats: AAX
• Architecture: 32 and 64 bit
• Licensing: licence key, manufacturer account

System requirements

• macOS 10.6.7 or newer
  • Processor: Intel-powered Apple Mac
  • RAM: 1 GB
  • Disk space: 1 GB
  • Mac OS X TWAIN driver software; Apple Preview or Adobe Reader 6.0 or later for viewing PhotoScore’s PDF help
• Windows Vista, 7 or 8
  • Processor: IBM-compatible Pentium III (or equivalent AMD processor) or faster PC
  • RAM: 1 GB
  • Disk space: 1 GB
  • TWAIN or WIA driver software; Apple Preview or Adobe Reader 6.0 or later for viewing PhotoScore’s PDF help

The licence is registered with the manufacturer at https://avid.com/registration. You will receive your serial number and the download link by e-mail immediately after purchase.