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LaTeX Problems (the typesetting program not the condom)

Folken FanelFolken Fanel anime afWhen's KoFRegistered User regular
edited January 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
Hey all. I use LaTeX to write all of my mathematical documents (i.e. quizzes, tests or research papers) and I've run into some very strange problems with it recently.

Lately, every latex document I've ever written looks strangely different, as if someone edited them, changed the font, and made it look terrible. Symbols (i.e. union, intersection, summation symbols) are completely removed, and greek letters don't resemble anything like they should. Its really very strange. Even latex documents created by other people and posted online look that way. For example, a .pdf file giving the solutions for a class I referenced online all last semester now looks as terrible as all the documents I've ever created now look. Why should a document, who's content I've never touched, now look so horrible?

I think it might be a font problem, but I have no idea how to fix it. I'm using a Macbook btw, 10.5.6 if that helps. I went ahead and deleted all the Tex Files from the Library folder, and am trying to download the MacTex .dmg file, but that's taking forever (only 27 more days until download complete D: ). At this point, reinstalling once I get the .dmg file is my last idea, but I'd be eternally grateful if someone can figure out whats going on.

Twitter: Folken_fgc Steam: folken_ XBL: flashg03 PSN: folken_PA SFV: folken_
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Posts

  • LewishamLewisham Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Just to be clear, when you say "LaTeX document" you mean a .tex file, not a .pdf, right?

    I'm no LaTeX expert, but it sounds like you have some font issues, which would probably be fixed by reinstalling LaTeX. You could keep doing what you're doing, or try installing the TeXLive distribution from Macports. If you install Macports right, you'll end up with LaTeX on your path, so LaTeX GUI programs like TeXShop or TextMate will work with it.

    Lewisham on
  • Folken FanelFolken Fanel anime af When's KoFRegistered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Lewisham wrote: »
    Just to be clear, when you say "LaTeX document" you mean a .tex file, not a .pdf, right?

    Nope. I mean the actual .pdf file. Yes, a pdf document created in TeX by someone else looks like shit on my computer and mine alone.
    Lewisham wrote:
    I'm no LaTeX expert, but it sounds like you have some font issues, which would probably be fixed by reinstalling LaTeX. You could keep doing what you're doing, or try installing the TeXLive distribution from Macports. If you install Macports right, you'll end up with LaTeX on your path, so LaTeX GUI programs like TeXShop or TextMate will work with it.

    Hm.. Ill check out MacPorts and see if that helps.

    Folken Fanel on
    Twitter: Folken_fgc Steam: folken_ XBL: flashg03 PSN: folken_PA SFV: folken_
    Dyvim Tvar wrote: »
    Characters I hate:

    Everybody @Folken Fanel plays as.
  • LewishamLewisham Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Lewisham wrote: »
    Just to be clear, when you say "LaTeX document" you mean a .tex file, not a .pdf, right?

    Nope. I mean the actual .pdf file. Yes, a pdf document created in TeX by someone else looks like shit on my computer and mine alone.

    That sounds like there is something wrong with your PDF viewer or you have corrupted fonts. Try using Adobe Reader, or Preview, depending on what you have been using.

    Lewisham on
  • starlanceriistarlancerii Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    If you have problems just with the pdfs, seems like it would most likely be a problem with that - can you try reinstalling that?

    starlancerii on
  • Folken FanelFolken Fanel anime af When's KoFRegistered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Hm... I need to do an archive and install if I want to reinstall Preview, don't I?

    EDIT: Definitely looks like Preview is the problem. Looks fine in Adobe.
    Thats adobe on the left, preview on the right.Picture1-5.png

    EDIT2: All the new tex files I create look terrible within TexShop, but when I open them outside that app in Adobe, they look fine. Now I'm really confused...
    In TexShop:
    Picture1-6.png

    In Adobe:
    Picture2.png

    Folken Fanel on
    Twitter: Folken_fgc Steam: folken_ XBL: flashg03 PSN: folken_PA SFV: folken_
    Dyvim Tvar wrote: »
    Characters I hate:

    Everybody @Folken Fanel plays as.
  • elmoelmo Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Tried repairing disk permissions?

    elmo on
  • Folken FanelFolken Fanel anime af When's KoFRegistered User regular
    edited January 2009
    elmo wrote: »
    Tried repairing disk permissions?

    Just tried that. Doesn't seem to help.

    EDIT: Success! Apparently Leopard has issues where font corruption is a common problem. I followed these instructions:
    1. Open Terminal.
    2. Type the following two commands:
      cd `getconf DARWIN_USER_CACHE_DIR`
      open ..
      
    3. In the Finder window that appears, drag the folders -Caches-, -Tmp- and TemporaryItems to the Trash, if they exist.
    4. Restart

    Folken Fanel on
    Twitter: Folken_fgc Steam: folken_ XBL: flashg03 PSN: folken_PA SFV: folken_
    Dyvim Tvar wrote: »
    Characters I hate:

    Everybody @Folken Fanel plays as.
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