Some aspects of digital sheet music are no different than physical printing. Before you begin creating an SVG sheet music document, you must decide the spacing between notes; the number of measures per staff; and the number of staves per page.

Naturally, having existing sheet music is most helpful (printed or hand written). In addition, I make a chart of positioning for easy reference:

This is a simplified version to give you an idea. I would also have written, for example:

6 pages; page 1, 4 staves; pages 2-5, 5 staves; page 6, 4 staves

Keep in mind, the clef, key, and time signature are part of the staff, not the measure; the reason for the 84px start of measure 1. It will always need adjusting for different pieces. The exception would be when any of them should change in the course of the music.

The more complex the music, the more planning you must do. I use a minimum spacing of 39px between notes without accidentals, and 51px for notes with accidentals (except for double sharp and flat; they're the widest). Start by dividing a measure by n.5, or, as here (4/4): 1050 ÷ 4.5 = 233.33, rounded up to 234px between beats. If the beats are filled with 16^th notes; 234 ÷ 4 = 58.5, meets the minimum requirement for notes with accidentals. I avoid using decimals, so would next try spacing the 16^th notes 60px. This would leave 90px between the 0,x of the measure and the first beat, an acceptable spacing, and 240px between beats.

If the music allows for it, keep the same spacings throughout the piece. This isn't always possible, so update your chart as needed.

I've created templates so much of the beginning work is done for you. Before you begin adding music, create all of your measures and beats, and fill in the measure numbers; it will save a lot of time. I also insert a block of empty <use.../>'s:

     
      <!--
      <use x="" y="" xlink:href="#"/><use x="" y="" xlink:href="#"/>
      <use x="" y="" xlink:href="#"/><use x="" y="" xlink:href="#"/>
      <use x="" y="" xlink:href="#"/><use x="" y="" xlink:href="#"/>
      <use x="" y="" xlink:href="#"/><use x="" y="" xlink:href="#"/>
      -->
     
    

for copying and pasting were needed. I place it between staves, and move it as I go. You can include empty beam groups or whatever you will be using frequently. Keep it commented out; a browser will still render your music, but Batik will throw an error. If you have many pages to create, save this page as a new template before adding any music.

I highly recommend, also, that you get a clipboard manager. There are several available. I use ClipX. This will give you access to multiple 'clips'.

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A lot of music will not need any <defs>, but an example of when you should have is when there are repeated figures in the piece:

In cases like this, create the figure in the 'defs' and call it with a 'use':

     
      <g id="t43-1" xml:base="music-notation.svg">
       <use x="0" y="0" xlink:href="#solnu.1"/><!--first note-->
       <use xlink:href="#be"
        transform="translate(14,-97) skewY(-20.85) scale(1.26,1.07)"/>
       <use x="63" y="-36" xlink:href="#solnu"/><use x="126" y="-60" xlink:href="#solnu"/>
      </g>
     
    

There are three things to take note of here. Firstly, give your figure an #id. I keep mine short and sensible: triplet, a 4^th, a 3^rd., staff 1. Secondly, the xml:base attribute has been restated. This is for a Batik bug (#47094) that has yet to be fixed by Apache. It will need to be applied to each group in the 'defs' individually. Even though <defs  xml:base ="file"> is legitimate it doesn't work. And thirdly, notice the first note is at 0,0. This is so the 'use' can be at the actual note coordinates:

     
      <use x="96" y="108" xml:base="Sono14-1.svg" xlink:href="#t43-1"/>
     
    

Now the xml:base is the current file, not the library, but only for items not in the library; the root xml:base is still in effect.

The practice of reusing figures can be taken much farther than this. You can give an #id to a whole measure and reuse not only the notes but all the symbols and instructions. This would be in the body of the file, not the 'defs'. You can use it later in the file or in a later page. Just get the xml:base right. I give them an #id of the measure number: id="msr27".