New features in 2.13 since 2.12

This document is also available in PDF. It is part of the LilyPond Documentation.

Note names can be selected with a new \language "italiano" command, which can be used in safe mode. The old \include "italiano.ly" syntax is still supported for now, but will be deprecated in the future.
auotbeaming is now disabled by \cadenzaOn and enabled by \cadenzaOff. Beaming in cadenzas should be indicated manually. Also, if a cadenza is used in a piece with autobeaming disabled, it will need to be disabled again after the cadenza.
The user is now able to specify the name of the predefined fretboard table. This allows the use of multiple tables, with switching between them based on user input.
The part-combiner’s decision to combine/not combine notes can now be customized
Tablature staves show fret numbers only by default. To get the former style, \tabFullNotation is provided.
Funk-style and Walker-style shape notes have been added.
Rests will no longer keep a staff alive if \RemoveEmptyStaffContext is used.
New option -dinclude-settings=INCLUDEFILE.ly, which causes lilypond to include the given file before the score is processed. This allows the user to change global settings without the need to change the score itself. That way, several different editions/version (e.g. different page sizes) can be generated from a file without having to modify the score for each version.
The autobeaming settings syntax has been changed. beatLength, beatGrouping, beamSettings, and measureGrouping have all been eliminated. Autobeaming is now controlled by baseMoment, beatStructure, and beamExceptions. Default settings for each of these properties can be stored for any time signature in time-signature-settings, so that when the time signature is changed, the autobeaming will automatically change. The new syntax should be much easier and require fewer overrides.
The SVG backend has optional support for WOFF fonts. Using the Scheme option -d svg-woff together with the SVG backend selection -d backend=svg, produces SVG output with CSS WOFF font selection.
The LilyPond G clef has been rotated 1.5 degrees clockwise for improved balance. The old and new versions can be compared by looking at the documentation: old version, new version.
Text crescendo spanners can now be added directly using \cresc, \dim and \decresc.
The documented syntax of ‘lilypond’ environments in the LaTeX mode of lilypond-book has been changed to conform with standard LaTeX syntax: options now come after the environment name:
```
\begin{lilypond}[options] …
```
The previous syntax with options after ‘\begin’ is still accepted by lilypond-book but deprecated. Something like
```
sed -i '/begin\[/s/begin\(\[[^]]*]\)\({lilypond}\)/begin\2\1/'
```
might do the trick for conversion.
Aesthetics of shape note heads have been enhanced. Variable line thicknesses have been implemented. All note widths have been made consistent. Minor shape note commands that use the relative major key for scale steps have been added.
A variant of the segno sign is provided:

Context modifications (\with blocks) can be stored in variables and inserted into contexts or other \with blocks:

coloredheads = \with { \override NoteHead #'color = #red }
noclef = \with { \remove "Clef_engraver" }
\score {
  \new Staff {
    \new Voice \with { \coloredheads } \relative c' { c4 e g c }
  }
  \layout {
    \context {
      \Staff
      \noclef
    }
  }
}

A half-open articulation was added:

This is sometimes used to indicate half-open hi-hats.
The Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm is now fully supported for single-line markup due to enhanced integration with Pango.
LilyPond is now licensed under the GNU GPL v3+.

In tablature, frets can be indicated with labels other than numbers:

\new TabStaff
\with {
  stringTunings = #'(17 14 9 5 2 -3)
  tablatureFormat = #fret-letter-tablature-format
}
\new TabVoice {
  \set fretLabels = #`(,(markup #:with-color red "a")
                       "b"
                       ,(markup #:italic #:smaller "c"))
  <f d>4. <bes>8 <g e>4
}

Layout objects can be printed over a white background, which whites-out objects in lower layers which lie beneath:

\time 3/4
\override Staff.StaffSymbol #'layer = #4
\once \override Tie #'layer = #2
b'2.~
\once \override Staff.TimeSignature #'whiteout = ##t
\once \override Staff.TimeSignature #'layer = #3
\time 5/4
b4

Chords can be repeated using the q shortcut:
```
<c e g>8.-^ q16 q4-^
```
With two-sided mode, margins for odd and even pages can be set using inner-margin and outer-margin:
```
\paper {
  two-sided = ##t
  inner-margin = 10 \mm
  outer-margin = 20 \mm
}
```
Paper margin defaults, as specified in ‘ly/paper-defaults-init.ly’, apply to the default paper size (a4) and are automatically scaled according to the paper size chosen.
All combinations of left-margin, right-margin and line-width work now. There is no more need to set line-width manually unless you explicitly want to.
Support for using an alternative music font, such as Gonville, is now added.
In addition to the existing \hspace markup command, a new \vspace command has been added to provide an easy and flexible way to add vertical space in markups.
The direction of manual beams can be set with ^[ and _[.
A version of the breve note head has been added with two vertical lines on each side.
Instrument names and vocal names now take into account the extent of system start delimiters in other staves for their positioning, resulting in improved default alignment for left-, center- and right-aligned names.
Braces in markup can now be selected by point size using the markup commands \left-brace and \right-brace.
Intermediate .ps files which are created by LilyPond during compilation are now deleted by default. To keep them, add the following line to your input files:
```
#(ly:set-option 'delete-intermediate-files #f)
```
Dashed and dotted slurs, phrasing slurs, and ties have been made variable thickness, and partially dashed slurs are now available:
An eyeglasses markup was added, indicating strongly to look at the conductor for instructions:
A snap-pizzicato (also known as Bartok-pizzicato) articulation was added:
Tuplet number formatting functions are now available to print other fractions and to add notes to the number or fraction:
FretBoards now have a chordChanges property to keep repeated FretBoard objects from being typeset.
The vertical spacing engine has been drastically changed, making it more flexible and easier to control.

For older news, go to http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.12/Documentation/topdocs/NEWS.html, http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.10/Documentation/topdocs/NEWS.html, or go back to the Documentation index.