Part of our guide to music file formats and exports.
Songscription exports every transcription as a PDF, a MIDI file, and a MusicXML file. When you transcribe a fretted instrument like guitar, it adds a Guitar Pro file and a tablature PDF. Those formats come out of a single transcription, so the audio is transcribed once and you take the result wherever you need it: a printout, a notation program, or a DAW session. Every score is engraved in Songscription’s score editor, and each export comes from that score.
The formats are not interchangeable, though, and picking the wrong one wastes time. A PDF cannot be edited as notes; a MIDI file carries no real layout. This page lays out exactly what each format is, what it is good for, and where it falls short, with a comparison table you can scan in ten seconds.
Every format at a glance
Here is every format Songscription exports, what it holds, and the job it is built for.
| Format | What it holds | Best for | Editable as notes? | Available for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A fixed image of the finished score | Printing and reading | No | Every transcription | |
| MIDI | Raw note data: pitch, timing, velocity | DAWs and playback | Yes, as data | Every transcription |
| MusicXML | The full notation: notes, rhythm, layout | Notation software | Yes, as notation | Every transcription |
| Guitar Pro and tab PDF | Notation and tablature, in sync | Guitar and bass players | Yes, in Guitar Pro | Fretted instruments |
Our older overview of music export formats walks through the same set in prose. The sections below go one format at a time.
Edit first, then export
You don’t need another program to make the score usable. It opens in the editor, where you fix notes, transpose, change the key or time signature, and add lyrics, dynamics and repeats, or ask Annie, the AI score assistant, to make those edits for you. Every change saves automatically, with full undo and revision history. The editor also imports MusicXML, so a file you exported can come back in. Downloads (PDF, MIDI, MusicXML, Guitar Pro) are on Plus and Pro.
PDF: A score you can print
A PDF is a fixed image of the score. Everything about the layout, the line breaks, the spacing, the page turns, is locked in place, and it opens on any device with no music software at all. That is exactly what you want when the score is final and you are heading to a printer or a music stand. The trade-off is the flip side of the same coin: you cannot reflow it or edit the notes. If you might still change something, edit the score first: the PDF comes from the same layout as the on-screen score, so it prints what you see. Our guide to exporting piano sheet music to PDF covers the print workflow in detail.
MIDI: Editable notes for any DAW
A MIDI file is a record of the notes themselves: which pitch, when it starts, how long it lasts, how hard it was struck. It carries no sound and no page layout, just the performance data. Drop it onto a track in a DAW like Logic, Ableton, or FL Studio and you can swap the instrument sound, fix a timing, or transpose, all as editable note data. MIDI is the right call for production work and for anything you plan to play back through software. If audio-to-MIDI is new to you, start with our audio to MIDI guide, or jump straight to audio to MIDI.
MusicXML: For notation software
MusicXML is how notation programs share files. It preserves the actual notation, not only the timing: the notes, rhythms, clefs, key signature, and layout intent. MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale, and Dorico all read and write it, and Logic Pro’s Score Editor reads it too. Choose MusicXML when you already work in one of those programs, or want to fold the part into a larger score there. It is the difference between handing someone a photograph of a page and handing them the editable document. For how the format relates to MIDI, see MusicXML vs MIDI, and to open the file once you have it, our guide to opening MusicXML in MuseScore, Sibelius, and Finale.
Guitar Pro and tab: For fretted instruments
When you transcribe a fretted instrument, two more outputs appear. A Guitar Pro file displays standard notation and tablature in the same document, kept in sync, and specifies the string and fret for each note, which is exactly how guitarists and bassists prefer to read. A tab PDF gives you the same tablature as a print-ready page. These are there alongside PDF, MIDI, and MusicXML when the transcription is a guitar or bass part. Our guide to turning audio into guitar tabs covers the workflow, and you can start one at the guitar tab generator.
Which one should you choose?
The quick rule: print from PDF, produce from MIDI, edit notation in MusicXML, and play fretted parts from Guitar Pro. Because every transcription gives you the core three at once, you rarely have to pick one. Export the PDF to practice today and come back to edit the score whenever you like, with no re-transcribing. For a closer decision between the three you get on every job, see our breakdown of MusicXML vs MIDI vs PDF, and when your destination is a specific program, our guide to importing Songscription files into MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale, and Logic. You can produce all of these from any recording with audio to sheet music.
Frequently asked questions
What formats can Songscription export?
Every Songscription transcription exports as a PDF, a MIDI file, and a MusicXML file. When you transcribe a fretted instrument like guitar, you also get a Guitar Pro file and a tablature PDF. PDF is the print-ready score, MIDI is editable note data for a DAW, MusicXML is the notation file that opens in MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale, and Dorico, and Guitar Pro carries standard notation and tab together.
Does Songscription export MusicXML?
Yes. MusicXML comes out of any transcription, and it is the format to choose when you already work in another notation program and want to keep going there. MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale, and Dorico all read and write MusicXML, and Logic Pro’s Score Editor reads it too. It preserves the actual notation, the notes, rhythms, clefs, and layout intent, rather than just the raw note timing the way MIDI does.
Can I open a Songscription file in MuseScore?
Yes, if MuseScore is where you already work. Export the transcription as MusicXML and open it in MuseScore, where it lands as a fully editable score you can re-engrave, re-lay out, and print. MusicXML is the shared language notation programs use to exchange files, so the same export also opens in Sibelius, Finale, and Dorico. MIDI is the alternative if you want the notes as raw data rather than formatted notation.
Which export format is best for printing?
PDF. A PDF is a fixed image of the finished score with every detail of the layout locked in place, so it prints exactly as it looks and needs no music software to open. To change anything first, edit the score in Songscription’s score editor, then download the PDF, which comes from the same layout you see on screen.
Why isn’t my exported PDF editable?
A PDF is not editable as music by design. It is a fixed picture of the finished score, made for reading and printing, not for changing notes. To edit the music, open the score in Songscription. It opens in the score editor we built, where you fix notes, transpose or add lyrics, then download a fresh PDF. If you already work in MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale, or Dorico, export MusicXML and keep going there, or export MIDI to edit in a DAW.
