Making a Format
One of the best ways to speed up compilation time is to reduce the amount of files that Textures needs to search through during compilation time. You can reduce this two ways: make a bulleted folder that contains the files you use, or make a new format. Using both reduces the time significantly. If you use the 
package that is automatically installed and the following code at the header of your files all the time, then you will have a long wait as Textures searches through your •LaTeX directory (which has 600+ files in the basic install).
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
To reduce this long wait, you can turn those files into binary form by making a whole new format on top of the package, then specifying a new folder with the few extra files that you like to include.
The following shows how to make a format with an example.
Making a new format
First we make a new document (
), which will be the source code to our format. Using the above example, we put in the following code:
\documentclass[12pt]{report}
\usepackage{graphics,graphicx}
\def\header#1{Blue Sky Tech Support \hfill \today\hfil {\bf #1}
\vskip 20pt
}\dump
Then select the format that you would like to base your new format on:
Then typeset using 
or Typeset in the Typeset menu. You will then get a save-window dialog to save your format. You can put it either in your TeX Formats folder so all other files can access that format, or you can put it in another directory, but then you have to use the "Add format" feature in the File menu.
Enter in the correct name and save it. Note that you can put spaces in the names.
If you put it in your TeX Formats folder, you need to restart Textures to see it in the Typeset menu, or select "Add format" in the File menu (which is needed, no matter what, when you save a format in another directory).
If you want to have certain files accessible to that format, make a bulletted folder in the TeX inputs folder. For example, a format called 'mine' will have the folder that has the name "
".
Remember that your macros from the previous format do not transfer over and you need to copy them over. For more information, look at the macro tips page.
Organizing your TeX inputs folder
A simpler way to reduce typesetting time is to make a duplicate of a format and make a bulleted folder with that name in your TeX inputs folder. Say you want to just want to use the graphicx package and 10pt article class from . Duplicate the "LaTeX" file in your TeX Formats folder using the 
shortcut, or from the File menu:
which makes a file called "LaTeX copy":
Then you rename the file and call it "mine".
Next, you go into the TeX inputs folder, make an alias of the 
folder and rename it . Copy "article.cls", "article.sty", "size10.clo", "size11.clo", "size12.clo" into it, and you can compile documents using different sizes with the article class.
Possible Problems
If you delete your format (or move it outside of the TeX Formats folder), and restart Textures and open up a file that used that old format, you will find a greyed-out selection, like below:
To solve this problem, use "Add format..." and select the old format.
© Blue Sky TeX Systems