[tie]

I am curious about switching to Mac. A big question I have is ease of LaTeX integration into presentations. Particularly Powerpoint presentations, since it is important to have a distributable standard.

On a PC, Powerpoint is extremely well-integrated with LaTeX. There is a program called TeXPoint which lets you type in TeX files and it then renders them inside the document. The TeX code is stored in place; if you want to edit a tex figure, just double-click. Transparency is supported.

For the Mac, Keynote: I searched the web and found programs that let me edit TeX and then drag pdf files into Keynote. These programs do not store the TeX code as part of the presentation, which is a disadvantage. I would have to save a separate file with all the tex fragments. A bit of a hassle, since I'd have to organize this separate file so I can find things. I am not sure how transparency is supported, either.

For the Mac, Powerpoint: Additionally, I think these programs might work worse with Powerpoint, because Powerpoint won't be so friendly with drag-and-dropping pdf files. But I don't know for sure.

Any comments on this? Any process needs to be one-step, since I will have many dozens of tex fragments per presentation, and I'll edit them hundreds of times. So I can't go through a command line or some complicated interconversion process. I also need full tex functionality: define macros, use all the different packages, etc -- much more than just entering equations. It is essential that the tex code be saved and easily retrieved, too.

[Mithras]

Some Mac apps support `typeset' and `untypeset' when used with Equation Service, which means you can `round-trip' between the LaTeX and the rendered code. Apps that allow this functionality include Mail and Omnigraffle,

Others, including Keynote, require you to
1. type the LaTeX into the Notes field of the slide.
2. Select the code, and press command-<
3. Press command-V and lo, your equation, and yes with transparency

If that sounds alright, and you can stand to keep the equations down in the Notes field at the bottom of the slide, Keynote will work great. If that bothers you, then maybe it won't work for you.

As you note, PDF support in Powerpoint sucks. But does distributing presentations as PDFs themselves work for you?

Overall, OS X is a great platform for TeX. With Equation Service you can typeset equations in anything from Mail.app to iChat to a Sticky note. And universal PDF support. And a real unix command line that gives you access to all the tools you could want. And... you get the idea.


P.S. You're ``curious about switching to Mac" and have 932 posts???

[tie]

Thanks, that's helpful. Keynote sounds usable.

Actually, it looks like google failed me in my searches. In fact, there's a new version of TexPoint which supports Mac Powerpoint, too.

Yeah, about the post count, I've been trying to make up my mind for a while now.