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Neck Diagrams Changelog

What's new in Neck Diagrams 1.10.0

Dec 20, 2014
  • EXPORTING:
  • Fixed and Improved:
  • fixed an issue where exported pages could have larger than expected right and bottom borders
  • fixed an error popup on exporting when the previous save location no longer exists e.g. a folder was deleted or USB pendrive removed
  • DIAGRAM GALLERY:
  • Importing from ZIP Files:
  • You can now import diagrams from compressed ZIP files! Just drag & drop the ZIP file onto the Diagram Gallery and a window will popup to walk you through the process, presenting a few options along the way
  • This feature also makes it super easy to re-import files from the Automatic Backups (see in the Preferences, and in Help > Contents for more details) as this takes periodic backups of your workspace as ZIP files, you can now restore all or pick out just one file in the event you deleted something unintentionally!
  • And you can also provide 'packs' of documents as ZIP files to others.. The ZIP Import Wizard makes it much more convenient, no need to send .fbd files individually or unpack ZIPs and import files one by one
  • Fixed and Improved:
  • fixed a problem on Windows where renaming or deleting files from the Diagram Gallery wouldn't work correctly, occasionaly leaving behind a diagram thumbnail that couldn't be opened or removed
  • fixed an issue where copy/pasting files with certain characters in the their names e.g. "(" or, ")" wouldn't work
  • INSTRUMENT LIBRARY:
  • Portuguese Guitars:
  • We've added Portuguese Lisbon and Coimbra tunings, especially for the Fado aficionados!
  • 5 String Banjo:
  • Changed the default 5 string banjo tuning so that the 5th string 5th fret is now correctly tuned to G (we'll be improving the 5 string banjo diagrams so in future the 5th string will correctly start at the 5th fret!)
  • SCALE GENERATOR:
  • Fixed and Improved:
  • fixed an error that would occur when using the Scale Generator on Guitars with 5 strings
  • TRANSLATIONS:
  • New Language Added:
  • ND 1.10 includes Brazilian Portuguese translations.
  • GENERAL:
  • Fixed and Improved:
  • the Windows installer now defaults to adding folder name 'Neck Diagrams' to any folder selected
  • fixed an error on Windows that could occur when exiting ND by pressing ALT+F4 with the Welcome page open
  • fixed an error that could occur when dragging a Project in the Diagram Gallery
  • enhanced the Upgrade dialog to recognise a license code on the clipboard, just as the Registration dialog does

New in Neck Diagrams 1.9.1 (Apr 12, 2014)

  • Exporting:
  • Fixed and Improved:
  • exportng to PDF on Retina MacBook Pros now works correctly!
  • tab characters were disappearing when exporting to PDF
  • overwriting and existing file on export could cause the position of the exported page to shift, as reported by user ShredDead on the ND forums
  • resolved an issue with Save As dialogs on Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks
  • Scale Generator:
  • Fixed and Improved:
  • the Scale Generator could sometimes places notes 12 frets higher up the fretboard than necessary - fixed!
  • fixed an issue where notes could get omitted from arpeggios in some circumstances
  • fixed an issue with the Scale Generator where it could, given certain inputs, not stick to the fret range supplied but add more notes outside the range
  • General:
  • Fixed and Improved:
  • fixed a bug with the Outline option not showing on solid square, circle and triangle note markers
  • fixed an error popup that could occur when selecting the Edit menu when starting ND in a diagram page, more commonly on Windows than Macs
  • trying to create something outside the page bounds no longer triggers an error - but why would you do this anyway?!
  • fixed string lengths so the thicker strings now never come up a pixel short nor too long!
  • intervals were not getting updated correctly when transposing rootless chords (ie where root not shown)
  • corrected an issue with page sizes that could trigger an error popup; added more logging detail
  • no longer prompting whether to "Clear root setting" when deleting ALL notes from a fretboard; we assume you want to wipe the fretboard clean and so just clear the root
  • fixed a bug when moving fretboards but having one or notes also selected
  • on Retina MacBook Pros the browser icon under the Help menu was oversized
  • Diagram Gallery:
  • Fixed and Improved:
  • fixed an error popup that could occur when opening several .fbd files at once with Neck Diagrams
  • resolved an error that could occur when dragging .fbd files into certain parts of the Diagram Gallery
  • fixed an issue where opening several pages at once from the Diagram Gallery by pressing the ENTER key could trigger an error message
  • Translations:
  • Spanish and Japanese:
  • corrected some Spanish translations and also some Italian menu text
  • corrected a few English typos

New in Neck Diagrams 1.8 (Dec 10, 2010)

  • Fretboards:
  • Lefty Support!
  • Left-handed players rejoice! We’ve added support for creating left-handed fretboards (click the image to see how)
  • You can set fretboards to be left-handed and enter notes that way, or if you’ve some right-handed diagrams already you can just select the “Left-handed” checkbox in the inspector and the fretboard and notes will flip over - easy!
  • Fretboard Edges and Rounded Fretwire Ends
  • Not keen on the way the fretboard ends right at the top and bottom strings? Not quite like a real fretboard, is it?!
  • We’ve added options in the Inspector that allow you to extend the fretboard edge beyond the strings, and also to have rounded fretwire ends (click the image to see where to find these options)
  • Control over Fret Number Positioning
  • We’ve added more control over where fret numbers are placed (click the image for more info)
  • As well as the previous default of being centered in the fret, you can now choose to have the fret numbers shown by the fretwire, or to just have the fret number of the first visible fret shown (which is really useful for chord boxes!)
  • There’s also an option to show “fr.” by the number so for example you chord boxes could show “5fr.”
  • More Colour Flexibility
  • Virtually every colour used on the fretboard can now be customised
  • There are 3 sections on the fretboard Inspector page, for fretboard, note and string colours (and remember you can set defaults via the Preferences page) (click the image to see all 3 sections)
  • Wide Nut
  • If you prefer chunkier nuts... then you can choose to fill the mute/open string area to achieve the same effect. Open string/mute markers will then appear to be on the nut (click the image to see how to do this and how to fill the open string markers also)
  • And you can change the nut colour too if you like!
  • Fretboard Bugfixes
  • We've made a fix for an error that could occur when trying to edit the fretboard title
  • We've improved the algorithm for maintaining the fretboard size when fretboard adornments change, e.g. when deleting a line of text from the fretboard title
  • Note Markers:
  • Custom Note Marker Labels:
  • You can now enter your own text onto notes (click the image to see how)
  • You must set the note label style to “Custom” & use “Set custom label..” on the note context menu to enter the custom text, which is limited to two characters
  • Two-colour Note Markers
  • Want to show common tones of different chords on one fretboard? Trying to highlight common scale tones?
  • The “Left/right colours” option of the note marker Inspector page now lets you do just this! (click the image to see how)
  • Different Coloured Root Notes
  • You can now override the root note highlight colour, allowing you to show them in different colours on the same fretboard.
  • Open String Marker Colour
  • Open string markers will now behave themselves when you choose a custom colour... they'll no longer ignore you and stay black!
  • Set Fingerings Using Mouse
  • Got your hands full balancing your guitar whilst using the computer?!
  • If your other hand is already on the mouse then use the note marker right-click context menu to set fingerings instead of typing them in (click the image to see the menu)
  • Text & Printing:
  • Default Font Preferences
  • We’ve added a new “Fonts” Preferences page where you can control the default font for text boxes and fretboard titles
  • (click the image to see the Preferences page)
  • Text Visibility Indicator
  • The “not all text visible” indicator no longer gets shown when printed or exported
  • If you’re not sure what that is, it’s the plus sign that shows up at the bottom right hand corner of a text box when the box is too small for the text!
  • Printer Settings
  • Printer settings are now remembered during the session
  • So if you want to print out some pages where you’ve flipped the page size so they’re landscaped, well you no longer have to change the print dialog to landscape each time you print!
  • Ink Saver Print Mode
  • A new “Ink Saver Mode” has been added to the Print Preferences page (click the image to see where to enable this)
  • When this option is selected fretboard backgrounds will not be painted when printed - so you don’t have to set your default fretboard background to white to save on ink!
  • General:
  • Resizable Inspector
  • If your computer is setup with a non-standard theme/font then you might’ve found all the Inspector widgets wouldn’t fit in the constrained window size
  • Well, for those of you who came up against this, we’ve removed the restriction and you can now resize the Inspector if you need to
  • Diagram:
  • Gallery Bugfixes
  • We've made a fix such that if the thumbnail database cannot be created/started then Neck Diagrams will revert to creating them on the fly, as it used to do, rather than this causing errors at startup
  • Added a fix for an intermittent error when deleting a page from the Diagram Gallery which is still open in an editor window
  • Mac: fix for backup failure due to “Resource is out of sync with filesystem” error message
  • Mac [Tiger only]: trying to move a page within its folder correctly shows a warning message but would incorrectly delete the file
  • Other Bugfixes:
  • Image Element
  • Added a warning message when image file is too large to load, instead of generating an error
  • Connections
  • A number of fixes have been made regarding connections, notably around copying/pasting objects with connections
  • Scale Generator
  • fix for error that could occur when new generated notes does not contain a root note
  • Italian: made a fix for an error that could occur due to a bad message format
  • Templates
  • fixed an issue where deleting a custom user template could cause an error

New in Neck Diagrams 1.7 (Sep 13, 2010)

  • General Changes:
  • Open exported .fbd files directly:
  • Neck Diagrams now supports opening .fbd document files directly by double-clicking on them!
  • If Neck Diagrams isn’t running it will be started; you’ll then be able to choose whether you want to import the file into the Diagram Library or if you just want to edit it directly from its current location
  • Toolbox Improvements:
  • The toolbox has been revamped with new icons and keyboard shortcuts
  • You can right-click on it and choose single column or two column mode, plus small or large icons
  • The shortcut keys appear on each tool items tooltip and are also listed in full in the Help docs, under Neck Diagrams > Reference > Keyboard Shortcuts > Diagram Editor
  • Page Size Option on New Page Wizard:
  • There's now a page size option on the New Page wizard:
  • The templates supplied will scale the fretboards to fit the page size selected
  • String Improvements:
  • Thick strings now paint a right up to the very edge of the fretboard wires and nut. It had been noted that there was a miniscule gap of a pixel or so!
  • String placement has also been corrected for instruments with LOTS of strings, like the 10 string Chapman Sticks...
  • German and Italian Translations:
  • The user interface, Welcome pages and Help documentation have been translated into German and Italian.
  • You can change the language via the Preferences > Language page - Neck Diagrams will need to restart.
  • Font Bugfix:
  • Improvements have been made to the way fonts are handled (allocated & disposed)
  • This bugfix cures spurious errors you might have seen when changing font options
  • Note Markers:
  • Musical Symbol Font on Windows:
  • Musical symbols support has been added to the Windows version, matching the Mac version.
  • This “small” change turned out to be a huge effort!!
  • Diamond Shapes:
  • New diamond shaped note makers have been added to the toolbox
  • Note Markers By Fret Wires:
  • There’s a new "Place note markers by fret wires" option on the fretboard Inspector page
  • Updating Roots Across Multiple Fretboards:
  • The root note can now be set for multiple fretboards at once
  • Bugfixes:
  • Bugfix to maintain enharmonic overrides when copying/cloning a fretboard
  • Bugfix addressing the inability to clone note markers when the page was scrolled away from the top left corner
  • Diagram Gallery:
  • Drag Export Moving:
  • Dragging a file out of the Diagram Gallery moves the file to the target location but previously the Diagram Gallery didn’t update, and still showed the file even though it is longer there and cannot be opened.
  • This has been fixed - the file thumbnail is removed when it is moved. Make sure you hold down CTRL (Win) or ALT (Mac) to do a copy if that’s what you actually want! A warning notification has been added if you start to move a file out of the Diagram Gallery - this can be turned off in the Preferences.
  • File Rename:
  • A Rename option has been added to the File and context menus in the Diagram Gallery. You can still rename things by clicking the name of a selected item in the left-hand file list, but the new menu options make it less cryptic!
  • Instrument Library:
  • Tuning Details:
  • Instrument tunings are shown directly in the Instrument Library. And the instrument images are tidier now - no unwanted outlines!
  • Open G Tuning Fix:
  • Open G has been corrected... the strings were back to front. D’Oh.
  • Scale Generator:
  • User Defined Custom Interval Maps:
  • You can now enter your own user-defined custom interval maps
  • Check out the new Scale Generator page in the Help documentation for further details
  • Clear Fretboard Before New Notes Added:
  • An option has been added allowing you to ‘remove any existing note markers from fretboard’
  • You’ll notice now that if you use this option, if you Undo your scale generation you’ll see an additional step is required to also undo the clear to revert the fretboard to how it was before the scale generation.
  • Triads and Arpeggios:
  • Added major, minor, dimished and augmented triads. Also added min7b5, maj7+5 and min/maj7 arpeggios
  • Symmetrical Scales:
  • Corrected Whole/Half and Half/Whole scales - they’re Diminished, of course!, not Augmented
  • Added the Augmented scale
  • Bebop Scales:
  • Added masses of Bebop scales, and all their modes...
  • Filtering & Layout:
  • With all these new scales & arpeggios, you'll need an easier way to find things so we added a filter text field - e.g. just enter 'mix' to find anything with those letters in the name such as Mixolydian, Mixodorian, etc
  • The wizard layout has also been improved so that the contents scale appropriately when resizing the window. The size of the window is remembered between uses, so the next time you open it it’ll be the same size you set left it as last time
  • Connections/Barres:
  • Bugfixes:
  • Barres sometimes showing as straight line connections on reopening a file - not anymore!
  • Custom templates no longer lose their connections
  • Copy/cloning of objects with connections now also copy the connections
  • Other Bugfixes:
  • Editor Bugfixes:
  • Fix for the text visibility indicator, which sometimes would not get hidden when all text was actually visible
  • Fix for when editing a fretboards title and adding a long line of text that wraps (i.e. not manually adding a line break) - this used to cause the fretboard to shrink, however now it correctly makes the title text grow to accommodate the text
  • Bugfix for error that occurred when pressing delete with the page selected. You can’t delete pages, at least not until we add support for multi-page documents...
  • Bugfix for error that can occur when undoing a change to an image element
  • Template Bugfixes:
  • Custom templates no longer use the default page size setting you have set in the preferences, but keep the page size of the original that the template was created from
  • Images that had been scaled in custom templates would revert back to their original size (i.e. the unscaled image size). Fixed! The images now maintaine their correct scaled size
  • Export Bugfixes:
  • Exported PDFs used to actually have incorrect physical page dimensions - now fixed
  • Bugfix for error that could occur on exporting a new unsaved page

New in Neck Diagrams 1.6.2 (Feb 26, 2010)

  • Fix for Mac Print-via-Preview Workaround
  • The Mac printing workaround (Print via Preview), which unfortunately got broken in 1.6.1, has been now fixed
  • String Gauge Value Preserved When Cloning a Fretboard
  • Added a fix to ensure the string gauge setting also gets copied when you clone a fretboard (copy/paste or CTRL+drag, Alt/Option+drag on Mac)
  • Tiny Fretwires for Tiny Fretboards!
  • Implemented a customer request for small fretboards to have thinner fretwires
  • This adjustment is done automatically by Neck Diagrams, based on the size of the fretboard (click image to see an example)

New in Neck Diagrams 1.6 (Feb 16, 2010)

  • Non-English Language Support:
  • Neck Diagrams now copes correctly with multi-byte/unicode characters
  • Previous versions did not save certain characters correctly, such as accents or musical symbols - you might've seen "?" characters when you saved/reopened pages
  • Show String Tunings:
  • Show string tunings at the click of a button!
  • Additional Fretboard Legend Row:
  • We've added an option to show another legend row for fretboards
  • Multi-line Fretboard Titles:
  • Neck Diagrams now supports multi-line fretboard titles
  • Simply press ENTER to add a new line and CTRL+ENTER when done
  • Add Images To Your Pages!:
  • Got a logo you want to add to your pages? Now you can!
  • Use the Image Tool to add images to your pages
  • Automatic Backups:
  • We've added an automatic backup feature which will create a ZIP archive file of all your Neck Diagrams projects, folders & pages
  • You can control where the backups are stored via the Preferences page
  • Mandolin Added To Instrument Library:
  • A mandolin option has been added to the Instrument Library
  • Mix & Match Note Marker Labels:
  • You can now control the label shown on each individual note marker
  • For example, if you only want to show the interval on a specific dot and nothing else, then just turn off the fretboard's "Note marker labels" setting, select your note and choose the label style.
  • Controlling Note Marker Enharmonics:
  • Note name and interval enharmonics, e.g. F♯/G♭ or Δ6, can be specified on the Note Marker Inspector page
  • We now always show both the Interval and Note enharmonic options instead of showing only the one the fretboard is set to show
  • Use of Musical Symbol Font For Sharps & Flats:
  • Neck Diagrams now draws musical symbols using a special font on Mac OS X
  • However, due to a bug in the underlying Eclipse platform on Windows this is currently only implemented on Mac OS X.
  • Fear not Windows users! We'll be upgrading to a newer version of the platform for the next release so this feature will be available then
  • Setting Fingerings Whilst Adding Notes:
  • It's now possible to set fingerings whilst a note creation tool is in use
  • Previously you had to return to the selection "arrow" tool before you could type in the fingering; now you can enter them as you go!
  • If you have the fretboard set to show fingerings, or a legend showing fingerings then you'll see the fingerings immediatedly
  • Numeric Keypad Support:
  • Fingerings can now also be set using the numeric keypad
  • Open String Markers Now Hollow By Default:
  • Open string markers no longer default to the solid style
  • Layout Improvements:
  • Changes to the layout of some user interface items mean less clicking and scrolling!
  • CAGED Position Scales:
  • The algorithms and logic of the CAGED position scale generator have been improved even further
  • Selecting Allow Open Strings When Position Has No Open String:
  • The Scale Generator would report an error if Allow Open Strings was selected but there we no open strings in the position selected
  • This has now been fixed & Allow Open Strings can be used safely even when the position has no open strings!
  • Specifying Fret Ranges Above 12th Fret:
  • You now get the correct results when you add a scale/arpeggio beyond the 12th fret!
  • Previously, if you specified a custom range, e.g. 14th to 17th frets, you would actually get notes added between the 2nd and 17th frets
  • Open String Markers Not Added As Solid Dots:
  • The Scale Generator now adds open string note markers (when Allow Open Strings selected) correctly as a hollow circle
  • Scale Generator Now Works In Turkish:
  • If you're using Turkish as the language on your computer, you'll find that the Scale Generator no longer throws an error
  • Custom Page Size
  • You can now specify a custom page size
  • Just select the "Custom" option in the Page Size section of the Inspector and the Custom Page Size dialog window will appear
  • This can also be used in the Preferences window to set a custom page size as your default
  • New Menu: Select All Fretboards:
  • There's a new editor menu, "Select All Fretboard", on the context and main Edit menus
  • Export Directly From The Editor:
  • We've added a File > Export menu to the Editor view, so you can now export the page you're currently working on
  • Curved "Barre"-style Connections:
  • This tool only allows connections between note markers
  • However, an error would occur if an attempt was made to connect to any other item - this is now fixed
  • Fix for error opening page which had deleted connections:
  • If you deleted a connection between items on a page then you would've found that the page could no longer be opened once saved
  • This is now fixed - any such pages can now be opened, and it's safe to delete connections again!
  • New Text Alignment Options:
  • You can now align text to the right or center, as well as the default left alignment - available on fretboard titles too!
  • Deleting The Margin Value:
  • The error triggered by deleting the margin value has been fixed
  • Using the Font Dialog on Windows:
  • Fixed an error that sometimes occurred (only on Windows) when setting the font via the Font Dialog

New in Neck Diagrams 1.0.8 (Oct 7, 2009)

  • added Fretboard Legends
  • new curved note connection tool, which you can use e.g. to create barre-chords or just plain crazy stuff!
  • create multi-page PDF files and configure the order of those pages
  • Mac printing workaround now works correctly
  • version number now displayed at startup on splash screen
  • cloning a Text box no longer loses it's "transparent" property (if it was set)
  • Scale Generator:
  • now remembers your previous choices, great if you just want the same again in a different position
  • option to automatically adjust the range of the fretboard, to ensure all notes just added are visible without you having to tweak
  • added blues scale (major and minor), in Hexatonic category
  • fretboard size is now constant:
  • showing/hiding fretboard "decorations" such as fret numbers, fretboard title, etc, no longer changes the size of the fretboard itself
  • fixed issue with the backspace key in the Edit view:
  • pressing backspace when editing a fretboard title or Text box contents used to delete the whole item
  • now correctly just deletes the previous character
  • fixed error when converting a folder to a project:
  • (when dragging a folder to a blank area in the Diagram Gallery below last project)
  • fixed the text in the "Are you sure?" confirmation window:
  • (when copying or drag'n'dropping a file to a location where a file of the same name exits)

New in Neck Diagrams 1.0.7 (Aug 3, 2009)

  • support for Template pages
  • New Diagram Page Wizard
  • cut/copy/paste support in diagram gallery
  • Instrument/Tuning Wizard fix
  • printing workaround for Mac OS X