Import and export
Bring existing songs into SONGUIDE and get them out again, as ChordPro files or as printable PDFs.
Your songs are yours. SONGUIDE imports plain ChordPro files from anywhere and exports them back out as files, as printable sheets, or as a plain list, so you are never locked in.
Importing songs
SONGUIDE imports ChordPro files with any of these extensions:
.cho .crd .chopro .chord .pro .chordpro .txt
All extensions are parsed the same way. Files can be up to 1 MB each, which is far more than any song needs. You can select multiple files at once, and each becomes a song in your library.
Files exported from SongSelect import especially well: sections, metadata, and the CCLI footer are all recognized. See the ChordPro format guide for exactly how directives are handled.
Every song needs a title. If a file has no {title} directive, the filename is used as the title. If a file cannot be imported, SONGUIDE tells you why, for example an unsupported extension, a file that is too large, or a file with no song content. The rest of your selection still imports.
ZIP import
To move a whole library at once, import a ZIP archive of ChordPro files, up to 50 MB. SONGUIDE creates a folder named after the archive and imports every supported file inside it.
Sharing into SONGUIDE
On iOS and Android you can share a ChordPro file from another app, for example from WhatsApp, from Mail, or from a file manager, straight into SONGUIDE. A file received in a chat or email can also be opened directly with SONGUIDE. Either way it opens as an import so you can review before the song lands in your chosen folder.
Exporting songs
Songs, folders, and setlists all export through the same Export screen. You pick a format, then hand the file over:
| Platform | Options |
|---|---|
| iOS and Android | Share or save |
| Web | Download |
ChordPro
Every song exports as a standard ChordPro file named after the song, for example Amazing Grace (G).cho. A folder exports as a ZIP archive of its songs.
Exported files contain the song as it is, so they open in any ChordPro compatible app. Personal settings are never part of the file, so your capo setting is never shared.
A song also exports as a finished lead sheet on a white page, ready to print or to hand to someone who does not use SONGUIDE. It carries the song header with the title, artist, and metadata, the same section boxes as in the app, and the chords sitting above the lyrics exactly where they sit on screen. A folder exports as one PDF holding all its songs, each starting on a new page.
Three options shape the sheet:
- Chords, Capo, or Lyrics only. Chords prints the chords as written. Capo prints them transposed for the capo and adds the capo to the header, and is offered only for a song that has one. Lyrics only leaves the chords out and keeps the sections, so the structure stays readable.
- Include comments. On by default. Turning it off leaves out the comment boxes. Italic annotations inside a song stay either way. The option appears only when there is a comment box to leave out.
- Page size. Folded away below the other two, offering A4 and US Letter. SONGUIDE preselects the size your country uses and remembers your choice for the next export.
A capo export names the file after the capo and the shapes you actually play, for example Holy Forever (G) - Capo 3 (E).pdf.
PDF export works offline. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is fetched, the whole sheet is built on your device.
Exporting setlists
The Edit setlist screen has an Export Setlist row offering the same two formats. The ZIP holds one ChordPro file per song. The PDF opens with the running order, numbered songs with their key and the dividers listed in place, and continues with every song on its own pages in setlist order. When the chords print for a capo, the running order names each song's capo too.
Dividers never become files of their own, and a song listed twice contributes one file and one sheet.
Copying a list as text
A setlist or a folder can also go to the clipboard as plain text, from the same Export screen. Handy for sending the running order to the band without sending any files:
1. Go Tell It On The Mountain (Ab)
Announcement
2. Joy To The World (D)
3. Amazing Grace (G)
A folder copies its songs unnumbered with the total in the first line, because a folder is a library rather than a running order. Both lists carry every song, including ones that have no chords or lyrics yet.