Condensing is the process of showing the music for multiple players on fewer staves than normal, usually by allowing multiple instruments of the same type to share a staff, such as Flutes 1-2 or Horns 1-4.
In Dorico Elements, you cannot enable automatic condensing as it is only available in Dorico Pro. However, if you import or open a project that contains layouts with condensing enabled, those staves remain condensed.
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In Write mode, you cannot select anything on condensed staves. In Engrave mode, you can select notes and items on condensed staves but you can only edit them graphically.
Most graphical edits to condensed staves do not affect the source music, but some properties do, such as slur and tie style properties.
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Condensing is never enabled in galley view or fill view. To see all staves separately without disabling condensing in the current layout, you can switch to galley view or fill view.
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Having condensing enabled in any layout in a project can cause Dorico Elements to operate more slowly, due to the large number of calculations involved.