LaTeX on Mac OS X

TeXShop

The easiest way to edit LaTeX source files is to use the free TeXShop package. This is the standard way to write LaTeX files on Mac OS X. Output is to PDF and the integrated PDF view is linked to the source. Clicking in the source window will highlight the corresponding part of the output and clicking in the output window will highlight the corresponding portion of the source. Overall this editor is very easy to use and quite powerful.

Features:

• Editor specifically designed for editing LaTeX files.
• Simple way to keep the source file and output PDF file on the screen at at the same time
• Supports Templates and Macros

Disadvantages:

• Does not support a single document distributed over multiple sources files in a unified way.
• Mouse input occasionally required which slows writing.

Textmate

Textmate is an advanced editor for Mac OS X. This editor is something like Emacs in spirit and has a bewildering array of specific editing modes one of which is for editing LaTeX files. Texmate is not free but can be used to edit any text file including programming source code and HTML. To see Textmate being used to edit LaTeX files view this screencast and this second screencast found in the Textmate In Action section of the Textmate website.

Textmate does not come with an integrated PDF viewer but there are several available. Texniscope is a viewer that supports forward and backward synchronization with Textmate.

Features:

• Very powerful editor for LaTeX and most other source files.
• More productive than TexShop.
• Supports LaTeX projects spread over several source files.
• Supports integration with BibDesk.
• Better synchronization with PDF viewer.

Disadvantages:

• Requires more setup and configuration than TeXShop.
• Is not free.
• Editor is not solely for LaTeX.
• Steeper learning curve than TeXShop.

To configure Textmate to use TeXniscope change the following in the Textmate preferences:

the variable "TM_LATEX_VIEWER" should be set to "TeXniscope".

To configure TeXniscope to allow forward and reverse syncing with the source files in Textmate make sure that the following is set in the TeXnisync preferences:

The editor command should be set to "open" and the Editor arguments should be set to "txmt://open?url=file://%file&line=%line".

To view the source line from within TeXniscope hold down the ctrl key and click. To view the output within TeXniscope from within Textmate press ctrl+option+command+O.

Figures

Any application that can output to PDF can be used to produce figures for inclusion into LaTeX documents. Since LaTeX output on Mac OS X tends to be in PDF format it easiest to include figures in PDF format. For labelling these PDF figures, or for labelling slides in Keynote presentations for example, LaTeXIT can be used to produce these labels. LaTeXIT produces a small PDF file that can be dragged into the application. If you are drawing figures in Adobe Illustrator it is best to trace the label once it has dragged from LaTeXIT, otherwise Illustrator creates a link to the PDF file containing the label which will cause problems if the file is deleted.

Date Modified: 1/16/09