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PDF Scores

Praxis treats PDFs as their own tab type, separate from normal lyrics. That matters because PDF score tabs are meant for sheet music, charts, and other document-style material that you want to view and scroll while practicing.

What A PDF Score Tab Is For

Use a PDF score tab when you want to:

  • view sheet music or a scanned chart
  • keep the document attached to the song
  • add manual scroll timestamps while you rehearse
  • preserve the original document instead of converting it into lyrics text

PDF score tabs are not lyric tabs. They do not use the lyric editor, chord formatting, or text markup.

Adding A PDF

There are two quick ways to add a PDF score tab:

  • Use Editor > Add PDF...
  • Hover the + tab button and hold Option to change the add action to PDF

When you add a PDF, Praxis opens the file picker in your Downloads folder so you can get to recent charts quickly.

What Happens On Import

Praxis imports the PDF as a document tab and keeps it attached to the song.

What Praxis does for you on import:

  • keeps the PDF as a PDF score tab, not as lyrics text
  • preserves the original document quality
  • stores the PDF alongside the song data so it travels with exports and imports
  • opens the PDF in Edit mode the first time it is imported so you can start placing timestamps immediately

Praxis does not try to auto-read the music or guess measure-perfect sync from the PDF. Timestamp placement is manual and intentional.

Editing PDF Scores

In Edit mode, the right-side panel shows your timestamp list.

The basic workflow is:

  1. Scroll the PDF to the position you want.
  2. Enter or update the section label.
  3. Click Add Timestamp.
  4. Repeat for the next verse, chorus, bridge, or section change.

Each timestamp captures:

  • the current playback time
  • the current scroll position
  • the section label you entered

Praxis also keeps extra scroll metadata under the hood so the document stays resilient even if the layout changes slightly.

You can delete timestamps, rename them, and use the panel to refine the timing over time.

Scrolling Behavior

PDF scores use the same basic scroll timing model as text lyrics when no timestamps have been added:

  • start scrolling after the configured wait percentage
  • finish the scroll when the configured end percentage is reached

Once timestamps exist, Praxis uses them to drive scroll positioning during playback.

In Edit mode, PDF scores do not auto-scroll. That gives you room to manually position the document before adding a timestamp.

If the scroll target guide is enabled in settings, Praxis can show horizontal target lines in PDF Edit mode to help you line up the section you want to capture.

During Playback

When you scrub the waveform or click to jump in the song, Praxis updates the PDF scroll position to match the new playback time.

That keeps the waveform, the playhead, and the document view aligned as you move around the song.

Export And Import

PDF score tabs are included in Praxis library exports and imports.

That means:

  • PDF tabs travel with the song
  • timestamp metadata travels with the tab
  • the PDF file itself stays part of the library package

If you are backing up or moving a library, use the normal Praxis export flow so the score files and timestamps remain together.

Pro Tip

If you can make a single-page PDF, it usually works better in Praxis.

Often you can define a custom page size, which might be something like 8.5" x 20" to 40", so the whole score can be rendered as one continuous page without page breaks.

See Also