There are a number of tricks that can make your experience with Textures much more efficient and enjoyable. Below is a list of such tips. If you know of any other tricks that save time or make Textures easier to use, send them to support@bluesky.com.
MAGNIFYING GLASS
Most users know that when viewing the typeset window they can click and hold down the mouse button to magnify a section of the typeset window. The following is a list of other capabilities of the tool:
- Double-click and hold down the mouse button to magnify a larger area of the window.
- Double click again to toggle between the large and the small magnified sections.
- Hold down the shift key while clicking the mouse button to zoom in.
- Hold down the option key and the shift key while clicking the mouse button to zoom out.
- Hold down the option key and then hold down the mouse button to measure the typeset page.
- Hold down the command and option keys while clicking the mouse button to move the page.
SETTING THE DEFAULTS
There is a file inside of the TeX Formats folder named "Defaults". This file determines the window position, format and other options of each new document created by Textures.
To customize the Defaults file:
- Set up each Textures window the way you would like to have it open when you use Textures
- Set the size and placement of the edit window, the typeset window, the picture window (opened from the Windows menu), and the TeX log (also accessible from the Windows menu).
- Set the default settings for wrap and indent features.
- Select the format you wish to have as your default.
- From the View menu, select your default magnification for viewing the typeset window.
- Set, the options "Flash Mode", "Synchronize", "Follow focus" and "LaTeX mode" in the Typeset menu.
- Set the font and size with the View menu options.
- Set the Show Spreads and anti-aliasing features on or off with the buttons (
).
- Select the paper size, orientation and scale in Page Setup, which is under the File menu.
Once you have made your default selections, make a small change in the text of the Defaults document, such as inserting and deleting any character, then save the file. Once you restart Textures, all new untitled documents will display the defaults you've chosen. The default settings also apply to any TeX document that you import into Textures.
You can also globally place and size the TeX Log (always accessible from the Windows menu) as well as determine the TeX Log font and size via the Edit/Font dialog.
LOGICAL PAGE NUMBERS
In the "Select Page ..." dialog, you can enter a logical page number by typing a period after the page number. For a page with a roman page number, enter a negative number and a period in the dialog (see page 119 in The TeXbook and chapter 2 of the Textures Users Guide for more information on logical page numbers). Unfortunately, logical page numbers don't work in the printing dialog of the MacOS.
EDIT THE MACROS MENU
By editing the Textures Macros Menu, you can add keystrokes for any TeX or LaTeX commands that you use frequently (I have mine set so that by hitting Command-Option-Shift-B I get \textbf{} with the cursor between the curly braces; Command-Option-Shift-I does the same with \textit{} and so on...). See Chapter 4 of the Textures Users Guide for more information on editing the macros.
Each format has it's own set of menus. It can be useful to create different formats for the different types of documents you typeset (even if they are all really typeset with LaTeX 2e). For example, you could copy your LaTeX format file and rename the copy LetterLaTeX (you also would need to create an alias of the *LaTeX called *LetterLaTeX (* = bullet = Option-8) so that Textures could find the input files). You could then edit the macros menu attached to this format so that it only included macros and keystrokes you found useful when writing letters in LaTeX (or for the book/article you are working on, etc.). On our FTP Server we have a macros menu that Uwe Schmock developed for use with LaTeX2e with AMS extensions.
Another way of getting keystrokes for common TeX commands is to download Juan Varona's Text Editor Patcher. It patches Textures so that you can use the option keys for Greek Letters, accents, and more.
You can also see our step-by-step macros page for detailed instructions.
FASTEST ACCESS FOR PICTURES
For fastest typesetting, have all files containing your pictures and personal macros in the same folder as your Textures document that uses them. If you prefer to keep the pictures and macro files together in a separate folder (because you use them for several Textures documents, for example) and you want to avoid the hassle of specifying path names, some available options are (ordered by typesetting speed):
- Place the pictures and macro files inside the "TeX inputs" folder.
- Place an alias of every picture and macro file either into the folder of your Textures document or the "TeX inputs" folder.
- If you use only one format (LaTeX for example), place the folder containing your pictures and macro files into the input folder for that format (*LaTeX in the example). Or place an alias there. To speed up typesetting, make sure the name of the folder or its alias is the first one in alphabetical order.
- If you use several formats, place an alias of your folder either into every format specific input folder or the "TeX inputs" folder.
Generally, subfolders are searched in alphabetical order. Make sure yours is the first one. Subfolders of "TeX inputs" without a beginning bullet are searched after the format specific input folder. Following an alias takes time.
VIEWING NON-TEXTURES FILES WITH TEXTURES
If you open a non-Textures text file with Textures, then *FMT and rTEX resources are added to the file. If you don't want to change the file, write-protect the file by clicking into the corresponding check box of the Finder's information window for this file BEFORE opening the file with Textures. -Uwe Schmock
ORGANIZING THE TeX INPUTS FOLDER & MAKING A NEW FORMAT
You can speed up your typesetting time by making a format file and/or organizing your TeX inputs folder. A step-by-step page tells you how to do this.
Got a tip or trick that you like to use? Send it to support@bluesky.com.
And a big thanks to Uwe Schmock for helping us out with this page.