On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 4:44 PM, Uwe Stöhr <uwesto...@web.de> wrote: > Am 13.02.2012 23:35, schrieb stefano franchi: > > >> Well, that's exactly the issue. IF your publisher does the >> typesetting, THEN you can forget about LaTeX. > > > I don't know any scientific publisher who is not using TeX. Also most of the > humanity-linked publishers are using it in the background. They sometimes > even require MS Word format but transform the word file to TeX to be able to > layout the text properly. So just ask you publisher.
Sorry Uwe, but this is not true---at least not in the US. Most publishers in my field (Humanities) do not use latex at all. When they ask for Word is because they use inDesign or Quark Xpress (this one less and less true). And smaller presses--or not so small presses, like Rodopi---just go for PDF+print-on demand. I hear from colleagues that the social sciences are the same. Latex dominates in CS and Math only. Even some (and, I hear, more and more) hard scientists (i.e. physicists) now use word. >> However, know your typesetting fate before you start to write and >> choose the right options (including whther to buy a LaTeX book or >> not)---it will make everything simpler later on. > > > I still cannot agree to this. If you need a special LaTeX book, then I > failed my goal. I invested countless hours for the LyX documentation to > overcome the need of learning LaTeX. (When I started TeXing it frustrated me > a lot and the LaTeX books even more.) > > What is of course helpful is to look into the documentation of the document > class you are using. So in case you prefer memoir or KOMA-script, look at > its documentation file, but first after you finished your first chapter. > Then you already have a feeling how writing with LyX works. Document class > options can be added and removed at any time later. This is a matter of preference. Personally, I think the content/format separation that LateX (and therefore lyx) is built upon is far from perfect. It is a great "regulative idea" but it doesn't always work---witness the counteless pieces of advice on this list to use ERT code (which is often TeX code). I prefer to like to know my destiny beforehand. Then again, I am a pessimist by nature. Cheers, Stefano -- __________________________________________________ Stefano Franchi Associate Research Professor Department of Hispanic Studies Ph: +1 (979) 845-2125 Texas A&M University Fax: +1 (979) 845-6421 College Station, Texas, USA stef...@tamu.edu http://stefano.cleinias.org
