\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
@setfilename NEWS.info
@settitle NEWS



@node Top, , , 
@top
@unnumbered New features in 2.5 since 2.4

@ifhtml
@macro inputfileref{DIR,NAME}
@uref{../../../\DIR\/out-www/collated-files.html#\NAME\,@file{\DIR\/\NAME\}}@c
@end macro
@macro usermanref{NAME}
@inforef{\NAME\,,../../user/out-www/lilypond/index}@c
@end macro
@end ifhtml

@ifnothtml
@macro inputfileref{DIR,NAME}
@file{\DIR\/\NAME\}@c
@end macro
@macro usermanref{NAME}
See user manual, \NAME\
@end macro
@end ifnothtml



@itemize @bullet

@item
Point and click editing is now supported in the PS/PDF backend as
well.
See
@ifhtml
@uref{../../user/out-www/lilypond/Point-and-click.html,Point and click}
@end ifhtml
@ifnothtml
the section Point and click in he user manual. 
@end ifnothtml




@item
With the new @code{tieWaitForNote} property, arpeggios may be written
out using ties, for example,

@lilypond[fragment,verbatim,relative=1,raggedright]
\set tieWaitForNote = ##t
\grace { c16[~ e~ g]~ } <c, e g>4   
@end lilypond

Thanks to Steve Doonan for funding development of this feature.

@item
Individual objects may be assigned colors, for example,

@lilypond[fragment,relative=1,verbatim,raggedright] 
	\override NoteHead #'color = #red
	c4
@end lilypond 

@item
The PostScript backend is now used by default. This backend requires
less machinery to run, and gives more consistent results.

Due bugs in GhostScript's PDF handling, it is recommended to upgrade
to GhostScript 8.x.

@item
Separator slashes may be inserted between systems in a score. For an
example, see @inputfileref{input/regression,system-separator.ly}:

@item
Locations of errors in the input are now calculated more precisely.

@item
LilyPond now uses Pango and FontConfig for selecting and rendering
UTF-8 input in non-@TeX{} backends. A font may be selected by using a
FontConfig name,

@example
\override TextScript #'font-name = #"Serif"
@end example


@noindent
or using the classic font selection mechanism

@example
\override TextScript #'font-family = #'roman
\override TextScript #'font-series = #'bold
@end example

Any Type1 and TrueType font recognized by FontConfig is available in
LilyPond as well.

@item
Metrics of blocks of text can be retrieved from (La)@TeX{} directly,
using the @code{-f texstr} output backend. This provides exact metrics
for texts, including kerning and accents.

@item
LilyPond now uses FreeType read the Feta font as an OpenType
font. This is cleaner design and more robust.  A recent version of
FontForge (11122004 or newer) and Freetype is required.

As a result, the SVG backend is now a fully functional backend.

@item
A new script, @code{\espressivo} has been added, for a combination of
crescendo and decrescendo on a single note.

@item
In markups, expressions stacked with @code{\column},
@code{\center-align}, etc, are not grouped with @code{< ... >} anymore,
but with @code{@{ ... @}}, eg:
@example
\markup \column @{
  \line @{ first line @}
  \line @{ second line @}
@}
@end example

@item
LilyPond will now avoid line breaks that cause long texts to stick
outside of the page staff.

@item
Grace notes following a main note, used to be entered by letting the
grace notes follow a skip in a parallel expression, for example,

@verbatim
  << { d1 }
     { s2 \grace { c16[ d] } } >>
  c4
@end verbatim

@noindent
This can now be shortened by doing

@example
\afterGrace @{ d1 @} @{ c16[ d] @} 
@end example 

@item
Pagebreaks can now be forced or forbidden after title blocks. This is
achieved by setting @code{breakbefore} in the @code{\header} block to
true or false.

@item
Shaped note heads. This feature has been sponsored by Jonathan Walther,

@lilypond[relative=1,fragment,verbatim,raggedright]
  \set shapeNoteStyles = ##(do re mi fa #f la ti)
  c d e f g a b c d e f g a b c
@end lilypond

@item
Layout for titles, page header and footer can now be entered as
@code{\markup} commands.

@item Positioning of slurs can now be adjusted manually

@item Grace notes are correctly quoted and formatted when using cue notes.

@item Cue notes can now be created with

@example
\cueDuring #@var{voice-name} #@var{direction} @{ @var{music} @}
@end example

@noindent
This will set stem directions and put the cue notes in the @code{cue}
@code{Voice}


@item Stemlets, short stems over beamed rests, have been added.

@lilypond[relative=1,verbatim,fragment,raggedright]
\override Stem #'stemlet-length = #0.75
c8[ r8 c16 r16 c8]
@end lilypond

@end itemize


For older news, go to
@uref{http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.4/Documentation/topdocs/out-www/NEWS.html}.