May 2010

From: Dr Christopher Mabb, Scientific Word Ltd.
To: Our Scientific Word/WorkPlace/Notebook Technical Typesetting list

 

1. Importing graphics from PowerPoint:    Sometimes you might experience the problem of graphics not typesetting correctly, with parts of the graphic missing from the resulting PDF. One of our contacts at a University that's had a Scientific WorkPlace Site Licence since 2000 asked for help taking a graphic from a PowerPoint presentation into a Scientific WorkPlace document, saying:

   "I have a .rap file <snip> that I've been sent by another user who is trying to produce a document with graphics. The user wants the first graphic <snip> to look like it does in program editor window, but after typesetting the document SWP seems to omit parts of the graphic."

   We replied suggesting either:

   1. Obtain the graphic from the original [pre-PowerPoint] source, and save it in a different format eg JPG (to hard disk), and then import it using File - Import Picture
   2. Failing that, highlight the graphic in the existing [PowerPoint] document, use Edit - Copy Picture, then open Windows Paint or some other graphics program, paste the graphic in and save as a JPEG or similar. Then use File - Import Picture to bring into Scientific WorkPlace. There is a noticeable loss of quality in doing this - see the .rap file attached.

   She subsequently Emailed back say the following 10-step process was producing really good results:

   1. Open the file containing the slide in PowerPoint
   2. Change the size of the legend and axis text to 'Arial 11' ["because the user had used Arial size 9 for his axis and legend text. After typesetting, most of the text had disappeared and the rest was illegible"]
   3. Select the chart in PowerPoint and right-click on it selecting Copy
   4. Open Paint
   5. In Paint, open the Edit menu and then Paste. Do not save the image ["When I saved it as a .jpg, imported (or copied and pasted) it into SWP and resized it to match the user's preferred scale the results weren't good"]
   6. Use the Paint selection tool to select the chart area ["Most of the user's charts had a large white outline which I needed to remove in order to fit each one onto a single page on the final PDF"], or use Edit - SelectAll
   7. Open the Edit menu | Copy
   8. Open the .tex file in SWP and place the cursor where you would like the chart positioned
   9. Open the Edit menu | Paste Special | Picture
   10. Right-click on the Picture and resize it

   We trust these detailed instructions will be of interest to many of our users.



2. Online Gallery of Document Shells:    The typeset appearance of a document is governed by the typesetting specifications associated with the shell document you started with; you can check which shell an existing document started from by clicking on File - Document Info. The rule is that if the shell you're using isn't giving you the appearance you want, use a shell document that does (and then import your existing contents over using File - Import Contents). To help you choose a better shell document, the distribution CD contains a PDF file of the options available, called the "Gallery of Document Shells". You're also welcome to download it, if you like, from http://www.scientific-workplace.com/ShellGallery-55.pdf (8.6Mb) .
       Alternatively, there's an online way to view the appearance of documents produced by each shell. Simply click the blue magnifying glass after any of the shell documents, as an online alternative to downloading the whole "Gallery of Document Shells".



3. Numbering Lemmas and Propositions:    Someone Emailed us last week wanting Lemmas and Propositions to be numbered as part of the same sequence, as opposed to using separate sequences for the two. We replied saying:

   Thanks for your message. By default, Scientific WorkPlace numbers lemmas and propositions as part of the theorem family. This is indicated in the Typeset - Preamble by the lines:

   \newtheorem{lemma}[theorem]{Lemma}
   \newtheorem{proposition}[theorem]{Proposition}

   where the [theorem] indicates that lemmas and propositions belong to the theorem family. You can remove the [theorem] - see, for example, the .tex file attached, where lemmas are numbered independently of theorems, which you can see from the line

   \newtheorem{lemma}{Lemma}

   and then propositions are numbered as part of the lemma family, which you can see from the line

   \newtheorem{proposition}[lemma]{Proposition}

       We hope this is helpful. Please supply your serial number (Help - System Features) when requesting Technical Support.

   Please take a look at the resulting lemma.pdf where you'll see Lemma 1 followed by Proposition 2 in the same sequence (p5). You'll recognize that this issue is related to the first item of our December 2009 mailing.



4. Wrapping text around figures:    We were doing a Scientific Word Training Course recently, when the question arose of wrapping text around graphics. The best way is to add the wrapfig package to your document (Typeset - Options and Packages - Package Options - Add - wrapfig - OK). We've put a sample file on our website at https://www.sciword.co.uk/wrapfig.tex (you should already have the graphic 3dplot.wmf in the \Graphics folder of your Scientific Word/WorkPlace installation), which uses the command

   \begin{wrapfigure}{i}[0.5in]{0in}

   and the typeset result looks like https://www.sciword.co.uk/wrapfig.pdf : the graphic is on the inside edge of the page {i}, extending into the margin by half an inch [0.5in], and using the actual width of the graphic to calculate the wrapping width {0in}. The wrapfig package with its parameters is discussed on pp47-48 and p175 of the "Typesetting Documents" manual supplied with Scientific Word and Scientific WorkPlace (pp69-70 and p197 of the PDF respectively).



5. More news about the sale we lost!    See our February 2010 mailing, item 5: he came back three or four weeks later. He bought a licence-only system. We supplied the serial number online and an invoice in the post. He changed his mind and refused to pay. The moral of the story? To trust our instincts, shaped over 20 years of business. Fortunately most of our users are totally honest, and really nice people to do business with! That's you...



6. So why not refer us?    Just click the button below and enter the names and Email addresses of the colleagues who would benefit most from professional mathematical/scientific typesetting, and they'll receive an automatic Email inviting them to our website. We won't even receive their details until they choose to take advantage of our free 30-day demo and Email us to request an appropriate serial number. And they won't be added to any junk mail lists - ever.