Typing "math" in a document

ED!

I need to type up the answers to an exam, but have zero clue on how to actually translate symbols and what not over to a document (that will be further converted to PDF). I have (some) familiarity with using LaTex for forum posts, but seem to have hit a brick wall in regards to composing a document for print. Any help would be appreciated.

oldsak

Word has an equation editor. Word also lets you save as a pdf.

Aldo

Most symbols are actually in Word, you just have to insert the character. You might also be able to just copy/paste the sign from the assignment (assuming it is all digital). WRT saving it as PDF: if you use a program like cutepdf writer it will just take a sort of screenshot of your word document and saves that as a pdf, so you will not lose any special signs or whatever.

If all else fails you could just draw the symbols you need with MS Paint or something and add them to your Word document.

tbloxham

Latex has an amazing equation editor, better than almost anything else. Just fiddle around with it and you will soon get the hang of it. Turn on math mode with $ as I recall, and end it with /$.

Here's a guide to all the math symbols in Latex

http://web.ift.uib.no/Teori/KURS/WRK/TeX/symALL.html

so you can do something like...

$frac{1}{2}/$ to write a 1/2 fraction properly

tynic

Just download a LaTeX compiler if you don't have one already (I like TeXShop but there's plenty around) and make your document by modifying a basic template from the web, eg http://www.math.duke.edu/computing/tex/templates.html .

musanman

Well, the new word actually has a totally decent equation editor. The old one is a pain in the ass.

scrivenerjones

it depends. if you just have to type mathematical symbols this one time, then word's equation editor is totally fine. but if you are going to do it all the time then learn LaTeX because it is easier (after your initial investment of learning how to use it) and looks ten thousand times better.

ED!

I'll take a gander at some of those links - I mean I know its possible, as we get the exam all typed out nice and pretty. Just need something to throw a matrix in, and some subscripts, less than equals. . .etc.

Also, anyone know how to plot vectors using Maple? Not a system of vectors, specific ones.

exmello

ED! wrote: »

I'll take a gander at some of those links - I mean I know its possible, as we get the exam all typed out nice and pretty. Just need something to throw a matrix in, and some subscripts, less than equals. . .etc.

Also, anyone know how to plot vectors using Maple? Not a system of vectors, specific ones.

http://www.maplesoft.com/support/help/Maple/view.aspx?path=Task/PlotVectors

Folken Fanel

Sweet jesus don't use Word for symbol-heavy documents. There's a little bit of a learning curve, but learning LaTeX is so worth it.

musanman

Folken Fanel wrote: »

Sweet jesus don't use Word for symbol-heavy documents. There's a little bit of a learning curve, but learning LaTeX is so worth it.

have you guys used the new 07 word equation editor, it's really easy and pretty powerful...

I type up a lot of stupid fractions, radicals, exponents, and it's as fast as anything else I've tried (math teacher).

Folken Fanel

musanman wrote: »

Folken Fanel wrote: »

Sweet jesus don't use Word for symbol-heavy documents. There's a little bit of a learning curve, but learning LaTeX is so worth it.

have you guys used the new 07 word equation editor, it's really easy and pretty powerful...

I type up a lot of stupid fractions, radicals, exponents, and it's as fast as anything else I've tried (math teacher).

Eh, I've used equation editor before and its pretty powerful, but for stuff thats more obscure than fractions and stuff LaTeX is superior. (Hi 5 fellow math teacher!)

HalberdBlue

There's an online LaTeX equation editor at http://thornahawk.unitedti.org/equationeditor/equationeditor.php; you put in some code and it spits out the equation as a gif you can save.

It can't do the more fancy stuff though. Neither can Word's equation editor. More fancy stuff is a really vague term, but if you need to do something like http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/2/9/2/2922879252c9d6d8402dcb267a02cb2e.png for example, then you're pretty much stuck with LaTeX.