Creating pedal marks takes a while and is difficult to copy (would be handy to have a pedal tool).

I don’t think it’s possible to change the time signature mid-piece or after you’ve created the document.

There are no watermarks when you print your composition.

You can create sheet music for many instruments using up to 8 staves.

There’s a handy text tool as well as a free-form line shapes tool to create things like double bars and pedal marks.

All you need to do is click on the appropriate tool and then click on the appropriate place in the score:

It’s easy to add crescendos, ties, rests, sharps, key changes, slurs, repeats, and even glissandos.

Some highlights from my brief testing include: (If you’re creating music for sale then you should probably be looking at paid alternatives.) I’ve been experimenting a bit with Final NotePad (runs on Windows or Mac) and think it’s quite good.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many good free programs, especially ones with a friendly graphical user interface. It’s much easier to share and duplicate a digital file than messy scribbles. But what if you’re serious or good enough to want to share your music? (Ahem, I’m not, but I still looked into it anyway :D) There are some good software programs that enable you to create sheet music digitally. The few times that I’ve tried to compose or transcribe music for the piano, I’ve always written on blank staff paper.

Update: I can also recommend MuseScore, which is also free and has a community of downloadable sheets.

Old finale notepad for mac download