Stefano Franchi wrote:
That is very hard to say - it depends on how much time they need. A latex expert may need minutes to do what an "amateur" needs a few days for. Creating a latex layout may not take that much time for a designer that works in latex. Forcing latex into a spec made with some other software in mind can take time if you need to obey every rule to the letter. On the other hand, you usually get away with providing something _better_. (Example: a publisher may specify some distance between heading and text. Taking that literally is troublesome, as latex like to use stretchable space. But the stretcable space results in improved typesetting, so it is usually ok.)
On Mar 8, 2005, at 4:20 AM, Helge Hafting wrote:
There is few publishers, if any at all, who will provide you with a lyx class. But it
doesn't have to be the publisher, it is something any latex/lyx person could do. The
publisher should really offer a discount (i.e. more pay) for a camera-ready book,
precisely because they don't have to typeset themeselves. That's a point when
negotiating the contract. They have more work to do with a word file. his may be off-topic, but your point
With a camera ready file, all they have to do is to hand out the specs, then print.
The money saved may pay for a latex job, and the latex class can be reused
over and over for all books in the same format.
This may be off-topic, but your point raised a very practical question in my mind:
How much would such a job cost?
Now, some publishers do provide latex classes, in those cases it is only a question of getting lyx support. The simplest cases merely involves getting a few "\usepackages" into the preamble, which is a 5-minute job including testing. A few extra paragraph types usually isn't too bad either. Some latex constructs aren't yet well supported by lyx, such as the not yet supported character styles. (Markup smaller than a whole paragraph.) Such things will force the user to use ERT, (or a patch to the lyx source.)
Is anyone on this list doing LaTeX/LyX consulting and perhaps able to provide an (approximate) answer? I understand there are many variables involved, but is it possible to come up with a baseline figure for the costs involved in translating the hand-written specs for a book into a LaTex/LyX package?
It would be very helpful to have some sense of the costs when dealing with publishers.
Helge Hafting
