Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion

Lyx is the answer

<< < (9/12) > >>

Edvard:
He doesn't like the math rendering.
Obviously InDesign doesn't do formula editingw well.

I was wondering if perhaps there were an InDesign plugin to allow Latex-style formula editing and a quick search came up with this:
MathMagic Pro for InDesign
http://www.mathmagic.com/product/prowin.html

Holy crow it's 500 bucks!!  :o
NVM...

Listen, Eóin is right when he said Latex was primarily invented for folks who write large bodies of documentation, voluminous research papers, etc. where you can't be bothered with things like 'what style did I apply on page 4,215 because I need it for 3 pages out of chapter 172.05' kind of stuff.
In fact it's BRILLIANT for things like that, but it could simply be the wrong tool for what you want and the kind of content you are producing.

In keeping in the spirit of this site, let's think of the problem in Programmer's terms.
These are admittedly not exactly accurate, but just for illustration's sake:

Your writing = code.
Latex = compiler.
Classes = language rules (java, C, fortran, etc.).
Lyx = IDE.

Would you agree that code for a simple application is much easier to write than the compiler and language definitions that make it into a nice pretty executable?
Therein lies the rub.

Aram, my advice to you is to either stick with InDesign because you already know it and presumably can work around it's shortcomings, or set aside a day to sit down with Lyx and chew through the tutorials and documentation.
Not opinions, not others' experiences, just you alone coming to terms with what it can and can't do for you and your writing.
I sincerely believe all your questions will be answered there and either you'll come to a blinding realization that it's all painfully true and Lyx will never do or be what you need, or you'll discover some elusive secret that actually proves it to be so much easier than everybody here makes it out to be.

May the force be with you... :P

Curt:
Given your styling needs I think the only clear solution is InDesign, maybe in combination with InCopy. And since you already have it and evidently know how to use it, it's even more compelling. -JavaJones (March 16, 2011, 04:45 PM)
--- End quote ---

Thanks for telling. It was really interesting to read about InCopy, I had never heard about it before (obviously because of the price tag)!

40hz:
At the risk of provoking a burst of laughter, the way my company used to handle mathematical formulas was to use a high-end math symbol Postscript font and create all the formulas using Adobe Illustrator. We selected a drawing app in order to get extremely fine control over symbol placement, scaling, and positioning.

My former business partner was a typography expert that didn't believe in automating certain things when it came to characters or symbols. :mrgreen: His approach was to treat mathematical formulas as pictures rather than as text since they would never change once they were created.

After a formula was created, it was saved as a (scalable vector format) illustration so that it could be dropped in and re-sized as and where needed. This was a major up-front pain to do. But once the formula "art" was created (and proofed/approved) it was very easy to catalog for future reuse.

We did a 1200-page technical manual for a Fortune 10 company where we built a library of about 200 formulas. This came in handy down the road when we were contracted to produce some additional manuals.

Having a library of the requisite formulas allowed us to hold down our costs and shorten our delivery times such that we beat out several larger competitors for future editions of this manual. We had a major advantage because we didn't have to redo - or proof - hundreds of  formulas we didn't actually understand. And because the formulas were art - there was no danger of a typo error creeping in once we had done the initial proofing.

Maybe not the most elegant or 'techy' way to do it. But our approach worked quite well, both for the initial project and its revisions.

 8)

JavaJones:
40hz, something very much like that occurred to me in considering this issue. If we knew more about the original project requirements here I think it would help determine the best approach though.

- Oshyan

40hz:
40hz, something very much like that occurred to me in considering this issue.-JavaJones (March 16, 2011, 09:50 PM)
--- End quote ---

Doesn't surprise me. It's a fairly logical way to do it once you think about it. I make no claim for originality. ;D

If we knew more about the original project requirements here I think it would help determine the best approach though.

- Oshyan

--- End quote ---

I think Aram mentioned what he was doing in a previous thread. He's creating study review guides to help people prepare for a professional licensing exam.

 :)

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page