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macOS installation

Installing JW Lua

To use these JW Lua scripts, you first need to install JW Lua. Luckily, this is a one-time process.

  1. Download the most recent version of JW Lua for your version of Finale.
  2. Double-click the downloaded file to unzip it. This will create a .bundle file. For Finale v25 or later, this will be jwlua64.bundle, and for v2014.5 or earlier this will be jwlua.bundle Unlike installing most programs, you will not need to run or open this file. Instead, we just need to move it into your Finale plug-ins folder (see next steps).
  3. Find your Finale plug-ins folder (If you’re not sure where it is, you can always check in the Folders section of your Finale > Preferences > Folders). The default locations for various versions are:
    • Finale v26: /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale 26/Plug-ins
    • Finale v25: /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale/Plug-ins
    • Finale 2014.5: /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale 2014.5/Plug-ins
  4. In that folder, create a new JW Lua folder.
  5. Move the .bundle file into the newly created folder and restart Finale.

If you're on macOS Mojave or earlier, you're all set! If not, you'll likely run into the "unverified developer" error. If so, see the next section.

Unverified developer error

If you're on macOS Catalina or later, you'll run into an issue when you restart Finale: "jwlua64.bundle" cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified. Here's how to fix it, though if you want more details on why this happens, checkout this video: https://youtu.be/iq3Xcpsewhk

  1. Press cancel when you get that error message.
  2. Open System Preferences, then Security & Privacy and go to the general pane.
  3. Click "allow anyway" next to "jwlua64.bundle" was blocked from use because it is not from a verified developer . Authenticate with your admin username/password if necessary.
  4. Restart Finale and click "open" when you get the dialog macOS could not verify the developer of "jwlua64.bundle". Are you sure you want to open it?
Installing scripts

Once you've installed JW Lua, you can now install and run the JW Lua scripts.

  1. Find the script you want and click "download". This will download a .lua file. You can search for and find scripts on the homepage of this site.
  2. Save the downloaded script. You can save it anywhere on your computer, though make sure you can keep it there permenantly. The two most common places to save these JW Lua scripts are in the same folder as the .bundle file from installing JW Lua, or a cloud-synced folder (like for Dropbox or Google Drive).
  3. Open Finale and open a document. The plug-in menu does not appear unlesss a document is opened.
  4. Go to Plug-ins > JW Lua > JW Lua… to open the JW Lua plug-in.
  5. Go to the manager tab and click on the [menu] plug-in group.
  6. Click "open" next to the Plug-in Groups section. Note that there are two "open" buttons. You want to click the bottom one.
  7. Find the saved .lua and select it. Click "open", and the file should now be listed under Items in Group.
  8. Close JW Lua. You may also get a warning that the changes will not be reflected until you restart Finale, you can close this warning.
  9. Restart Finale and view the new script under Plug-ins > JW Lua. You can now run this script!