Left aligning copyright in Lilypond

Question

Is it possible to left-align the copyright information in Lilypond instead of the default center-alignment?

Answer 1

Taking a cue from this answer on the lilypond-user listserv, how about this?

\version "2.20.0"

#(define-markup-command (forceLeft layout props content) (markup?)
   (interpret-markup layout props
     #{
       \markup \fill-line { #content \null }
     #}
     ))

\header {
  copyright = \markup \forceLeft "Left-aligned copyright"
  tagline = \markup \forceLeft "Left-aligned tagline"
}

\score {
  \new Staff <<
    c4
  >>
  \layout { }
}

It's unclear if you want the copyright or the tagline to be left-aligned, but it can be anything; just precede it with \markup \forceLeft and you'll be good to go.

Answer 2

Here is the relevant portion in the documentation:

Custom layout for headers and footers

To customize the placement of the text fields, use
either or both of the following \paper variables:

  - oddHeaderMarkup
  - evenHeaderMarkup
  - oddFooterMarkup
  - evenFooterMarkup

As of version 2.22.0, line 172 of ./usr/share/lilypond/current/ly/titling-init.ly shows where the copyright field is defined:

oddFooterMarkup = \markup {
  \column {
    \fill-line {
      %% Copyright header field only on first page in each bookpart.
      \on-the-fly #part-first-page \fromproperty #'header:copyright
    }
    \fill-line {
      %% Tagline header field only on last page in the book.
      \on-the-fly #last-page \fromproperty #'header:tagline
    }
  }
}

It is controlled by the \markup instructions here, which is to print a single column with two fields, one of top of the other: a copyright, and a tagline. Both are instructed to \fill-line, which is to evenly space itself out across the page (or other defined area).

You would want to change the instruction of the copyright to not use \fill-line; as it happens, removing the surrounding \fill-line { and } will automatically move it to left-aligned on the page.

If you don't want to override global program defaults, copy and paste that oddFooterMarkup definition into the \paper {} block of the file you're compiling, and make the above change there.

Thus, you would end up with:

\header {
  copyright = "This is left-aligned"
}
\paper {
  oddFooterMarkup = \markup {
    \column {
        %% Copyright header field only on first page in each bookpart.
        \on-the-fly #part-first-page \fromproperty #'header:copyright
      \fill-line {
        %% Tagline header field only on last page in the book.
        \on-the-fly #last-page \fromproperty #'header:tagline
      }
    }
  }
}
music = { d'1 }
\score {
  \new Staff \music
}