Beams according to time signatures
Default beam groupings are determined by the time signature, which you can customize by specifying the subdivision of beats within bars and changing your per-flow beam grouping settings in Notation Options.
Dorico has default beaming settings for common time signatures, based on general conventions and your chosen settings. For example, phrases are beamed in quarter notes (crotchets) when in 3/4, but in dotted quarter notes when in 6/8.
For situations where you want to control the beam grouping in more detail, you can input a custom time signature with an explicit rhythmic subdivision. Dorico then automatically beams phrases according to this subdivision. For example, entering [7]/8 into the time signatures popover means all seven eighth notes (quavers) are beamed together, whereas entering [2+2+3]/8 subdivides the seven eighth notes into two, then two, then three.
The duration of beam groups in Dorico depends on the beat grouping in the current time signature and your per-flow beam grouping settings in .