Figure/photo angst

I’ve been working on revamping a manual that was written in InDesign (not whole-heartedly recommended) — which I changed to Microsoft Word (so that more people would be able to edit the document) — which I’m now converting to a LaTeX document. Want to see what it looks like? I’ve attached it, but it’s quite large (7.4 MB). Anyway, I’d like your comments or ideas. The Minnesota Stormwater Manual

If you’d like to see the way the manual looks right now, it’s located at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Stormwater Manual Web site.

Currently, I’ve invested the most time on Chapter 9. Formulas were fun, but unfortunately I won’t have many more of them to do. I was going to do the bibliography with bibtex via JabRef and things were looking great, but then I realized that for the sake of time, I had to cut my losses and leave the bibliographic references as they are, as static paragraphs. (I can always go back later and do the bibtex thing; it’s definitely the way to go if you’re creating your document from scratch.)

When I decided to do the figures in the manual, I changed all the figures (photos) to PNG files, but later realized that I should have done them in EPS format to make them work in the conversion to DVI. Unfortunately, as EPS files, I couldn’t do the pdflatex command in TeXnic, because EPS is incompatible. Soooo, after reading the directions, I converted all my figures once again — this time as PDF files. Works great.

LaTeX problems with Acrobat 8

My employer just updated my computer with Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional and now TeXnic won’t output to PS or PDF. It did before I got Acrobat 8. I’ll have to go and goof with the settings in MiKTeX … Anyone else having a similar problem?

Figures in LaTeX

Here’s what I learned today. After turning 14 chapters worth of images into manageable PNG files, I discovered that when I inserted a figure, I got the caption all right, but the image wasn’t there.

This only happened because I was too lazy to find out what format LaTeX takes. Turns out, according to Jenny Williams, I needed to save them as EPS or PS files.

She writes:

As you can see the extension of the graphics filename is omitted – LaTeX looks for this file with various possible extensions – .eps, .ps, … (Note: LaTeX will look for filename.ps before filename.eps.)

So anyway. Now I’m going to turn the hundred or so images into EPS files. I tried it and it worked right away. If you know another way, I’m open to ideas — please leave a comment.

It’s really cool to see my first figures (now formatted as EPS) automatically given numbers. And they’re easy to cite in the document. To add a figure, put the image you’ll be using as a figure in a folder inside you book’s main folder (where all the LaTeX files are kept that make up your book). Then follow the directions at Jenny’s site

Best programs for LaTeX

I’m assuming you’re using MS Windows. That’s what I have (actually I’m dual-booting with a user-friendly Linux distribution that I don’t recommend, named Freespire).

1. Download the latest stable version of MiKTEX and install it.

2. Download the latest stable version of TeXnic and install it.

What’s great about TeXnic is that you have the option of starting with a complete book already set up. You can just start replacing elements and get immediate satisfaction when you hit the Build and View Output button.

Making no assumptions

You could wade through the information (lots old) about LaTeX, but once and a while you’ll find a resource site that provides up-to-date information that gives straightforward steps.

Here’s the perspective I’m coming from: webbish background, but no formal computer language training. I have a background in journalism — graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Journalism. I’m not going to give you the technical stuff about LaTeX. I leave that to others who are (really) doing a fine job.

I’d like to give you the instructions I wish I’d been given. You know, the step-by-step, no-skipping, no-assumptions instructions to creating your first publication. A lot of instructions assume you’re a grad math student, etc.

This kind of fail-safe, hand-holding instructions are what I’m working on in the next few days. Let me know what you think.

Blast from the past: LaTeX

If you go online, be careful what resources you find to help you with your LaTeX questions. There’s some pretty old stuff out there that will give you the wrong information. In fact, working with LaTeX is a bit retro, since most cool people are working their way into XML, XSLT, etc. Typesetting is so old-school, but when I hit the “build and view” button in TeXnic, and my document appears — and looks like a professional print job, I get addicted to success. I tried the XML stuff, but for highly quirky works that don’t change much, LaTeX is the answer, I think. Especially since I find myself a bit invested.

650 pages

A recurring challenge I’ve made for myself is reformatting a 650-page technical book on stormwater. In my spare time at work, I’ve taken it upon myself to turn the popular technical manual into a thing of beauty.

If I can make it work, I’ll be a hero. If I fail … no one will be the wiser.