Compatible file types

All Categories / Adding Files, Before You Buy

PDF Scores

You can view virtually any PDF file with forScore, and use a wide range of free applications for every major platform to convert other files to the PDF format. forScore also works with password-protected PDF files, and will prompt you for the password the first time you open it, then store that password in your iOS Keychain so you don’t need to enter it every time. Note that some PDF files are restricted and require special software, so we can’t guarantee compatibility.

Additional Formats

forScore supports many popular audio file formats so you can import tracks and associate them with specific scores for easy access. Audio track support is determined by Apple and is subject to change at any time, but generally includes MP3, AIFF, AAC, ALAC, WAV, and M4A files. As of version 10.2, forScore also supports importing comma-separated values (CSV) files for use with the Bookmarks menu’s Indexes feature. Finally, forScore’s custom 4SB format allows you to create and restore from backups of forScore’s metadata, setlists, settings, annotations, and more.

Transport Formats

Some files can be imported by forScore but are not stored and used as-is. For instance, forScore 7 added the ability to import TXT, RTF, DOC, and DOCX files which are then automatically converted to and stored as PDF files.

forScore also uses two custom formats to share information with other forScore users: 4SC and 4SS files. 4SC files contain a PDF file and additional forScore-specific metadata, editable annotations, and more. When you import a 4SC file into your forScore library, the PDF file is saved to the app’s Documents directory while the other information is stored in forScore’s database and private directories. 4SS files contain setlist information and may include scores as well. Like 4SC files, 4SS files are unpacked and their contents are stored in various locations within forScore.

More detailed technical information regarding forScore’s file type support can be found here.

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