# Edit a piece's metadata

Open a score's Properties to fix its title, composer, and work details — by hand or with Auto-format.

> Type: How-to · Status: Beta · Platforms: iPadOS 17+ · Last reviewed: 2026-07-18

## Open a piece's Properties

Every score in Page Turner carries its metadata in a `Properties` panel.
Two ways in from the library list:

- Tap the `ⓘ` info button at the trailing edge of a row. On iPad, Properties
  opens as a side panel next to the list; on iPhone it opens as a sheet.
- Or tap the `…` button on a row and choose `Properties`.

Properties is tabbed: `Details`, `About`, `Studio`, `Versions`, `Training`.
Everything on this page happens in the `Details` tab.

The iPad side panel has a `Full Screen` button if you want the sheet instead —
same content, more room.

## Edits save themselves

There is no save step. Both the side panel and the sheet write each change to
disk about half a second after you stop typing, and flush once more when you
close the panel. The sheet keeps a `Save` button in its top bar as a shortcut,
but closing without tapping it loses nothing.

## Title and composer

The first section of `Details` holds the piece's identity:

- `Title` — the display title used everywhere in the app. Renaming here renames
  the library row.
- `Composer` — suggests known composer names as you type, so one composer
  doesn't fragment into several spellings.
- `Original file` — read-only, shown for imported files. The file name the
  piece arrived under, so you can compare the cleaned-up title against what the
  file actually said.

## Auto-format — clean up and fill in

The `Auto-format` button under the composer field runs two passes:

1. **Instantly, on the device:** cleans casing, opus / BWV / K. / D. numbers
   and accents, normalises the composer name, and classifies the form and
   period into tags.
2. **Then online** (the button reads `Looking it up…` while it works): looks
   the piece up on Wikipedia and with an online classifier, and fills **only
   the fields that are still empty** — composer, years, key, catalogue,
   movement.

It never overwrites something you typed. After it runs, an `Undo` button
appears next to it to put everything back the way it was.

Two follow-up dialogs can appear:

- `Two possible matches` — the lookup can't decide between two works (two
  sonatas with similar titles, say). Pick the right one, or tap `Ignore`;
  either way, only empty fields get filled.
- `… movements found` — the title resolved to a multi-movement work ("Sonata
  1-1" style names do this). `Create sub-sections` makes one library entry per
  movement and opens the movement editor so you can adjust the page ranges;
  `Just fill in the total` only writes the movement count into `of`.

> **Note** — The first pass works offline. Without a connection the online
> lookup simply leaves the remaining fields blank.

## Work details

The `Work details` section holds the structured fields:

| Field | What it takes |
| --- | --- |
| `Period` | Era, with suggestions as you type (Baroque, Romantic, …). |
| `Form` | Type to filter a shared form vocabulary (sonata, nocturne, étude, …) and tap a suggestion. Picking from the vocabulary keeps the library's Form grouping consistent — one "Étude" bucket, not three spellings. |
| `Instrumentation` | A `Choose…` menu of common formations, plus `Custom…` for anything beyond the presets (Wind Quintet, Organ, Brass Band). |
| `Key` | The work's key. |
| `Year` | Composition year. The wand button beside it fetches the year — first from a built-in catalogue table, then from Wikipedia — and only fills the field on a confident match. |
| `Nickname` | "Moonlight", "Raindrop", … |
| `Catalog no.` | Op. 27 No. 2, BWV 846, K. 331, … |
| `Tempo / character` | The movement's marking (Adagio sostenuto). |
| `Movement no.` / `of` | This movement's position: I of 3. |

Two fields appear only when they apply: `Lyricist` for vocal repertoire
(lieder, opera), and `Tune name` for hymns.

`Year` and `Key` also pre-fill on their own when the panel opens, from the
built-in catalogue and anything the `About` tab has already gathered — no
wand tap needed. The network lookups stay behind the wand.

> **Note** — Edition and arranger are not here. Each score file carries its
> own, in the `Versions` tab — so an Urtext and a Schirmer copy of the same
> piece each keep their own edition label.

## Movements

In the `Structure` section, the `Movements` row opens the movement editor,
where you mark the page each movement starts on. Auto-detect scans a PDF for
whitespace breaks and a MusicXML / MEI file for embedded movement headers.
Bookmarks (the bookmark icon in the reader) are personal jump-points and stay
separate from this list.

## Tags and notes

- `Tags` — free-form labels. Type in `Add a tag` and tap `Add`. Auto-format
  also writes the form and period it detects into tags.
- `Notes` — free text about the piece.

## Star and difficulty

- To star a piece, tap `…` on its library row and choose `Star` (or `Unstar`).
  Starred pieces are what the `⭐ Starred` filter shows.
- There is no per-piece difficulty field in `Details`. To set difficulty, use
  the bulk-edit bar instead: tap `Select` in the library toolbar, select the
  piece (one is enough), and tap `Difficulty`. See
  [Organize](organize.md#bulk-metadata-edits).

## Trust, but verify

> **Important** — Auto-detected fields can be approximate — the composition
> year especially. Check anything that matters against a trusted source
> (IMSLP, your printed edition) and correct it; a value you type by hand
> always wins over an automatic one.

## Catalog works are read-only

Opening Properties on a `Catalog` work shows the shared catalog's facts. You
can read them — `Details`, `About`, `Studio`, and `Versions` tabs — but edits
aren't saved there. From the catalog, Properties opens straight on the
`Versions` tab, because that's where the useful actions live:

- If the work has a downloadable score, tap
  `Add to My Library (download score)`. The copy in `My Library` is yours to
  edit.
- A `Find a score online` section offers `Search on IMSLP`,
  `Search on Mutopia`, and `Search on MuseScore` for tracking down a file
  yourself.

> **Limit** — Some catalog works are metadata-only: no score file to download
> yet. Those you can't edit until you bring the work into `My Library` with
> your own imported file.

## Delete from Properties

At the bottom of `Details`:

- A local piece shows `Delete piece`. The confirmation spells out the cost:
  the piece **and all its versions, takes and annotations** are removed from
  this device.
- A cloud piece shows `Remove from this device`. Confirming hides it from your
  library; the catalog copy is untouched and you can add it back later.

## Fix many pieces at once

For metadata problems across the whole library, don't open pieces one by one:

- The bulk-edit bar (`Select` in the library toolbar) rewrites `Composer`,
  `Form`, `Period`, or `Difficulty` on every selected piece. `Format titles`
  cleans the selected titles in one tap and reports how many it changed — it
  works on local pieces only, so it hides when the selection includes cloud
  pieces.
- Janitor's `Missing metadata` suggestions find pieces where a composer,
  title, catalog number or form can be filled in, and its `Review metadata`
  screen shows every change as before → after so you approve each one.

Both are covered in [Organize](organize.md).