Making an object invisible using \hide: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:21, 12 January 2026

Applying \hide to a grob causes objects of this type to be printed with “invisible ink”. They are not printed, but all of their other behavior is retained:

the objects still take up space,
they take part in collision resolution, and
slurs, ties, and beams can be attached to them as usual.

This snippet demonstrates how to connect different voices using ties. Normally, ties only connect two notes in the same voice. By introducing a tie in a different voice, and blanking the first up-stem in that voice, the tie appears to cross voices.

\version "2.24"

\relative {
  \time 2/4
  <<
    {
      \once \hide Stem
      \once \override Stem.length = #8
      b'8 ~ 8\noBeam
      \once \hide Stem
      \once \override Stem.length = #8
      g8 ~ 8\noBeam
    }
    \\
    {
      b8 g g e
    }
  >>
}

\paper {
  line-width = 40\mm
  ragged-right = ##f
}

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Setting the <code>transparent</code> property will cause an object to be printed in “invisible ink”: the object is not printed, but all its other behavior is retained. The object still takes up space, it takes part in collisions, and slurs, ties and beams can be attached to it.
+Applying <code>\hide</code> to a grob causes objects of this type to be printed with “invisible ink”.  They are not printed, but all of their other behavior is retained:
+* the objects still take up space,
+* they take part in collision resolution, and
+* slurs, ties, and beams can be attached to them as usual.
 This snippet demonstrates how to connect different voices using ties. Normally, ties only connect two notes in the same voice. By introducing a tie in a different voice, and blanking the first up-stem in that voice, the tie appears to cross voices.
@@ Line 20: / Line 24: @@
      }
    >>
+}
+\paper {
+  line-width = 40\mm
+  ragged-right = ##f
 }
 </lilypond>