On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 2:21 PM, Wolfgang Keller <felip...@gmx.net> wrote:
> > Since all the typographic algorithms of TeX (linebreaking etc.) are > well-documented open-source, I always wondered why none of the more > reasonable document processors has ever implemented them. Wordperfect > could have been a "killer application" like that. Their structure markup > concept was so well done that they were even able to implement an XML > editor using the WP GUI. > I believe that's what Adobe did with InDesign---they took Knuth's page-building algorithm and adapted it. BTW, not to tamper enthusiasms, but the "standard" output of LaTeX/TeX is not quite (yet) at the level that a professional typesetter would produce. And I say this as a LyX-only writer for the past 15 years or so. Lyx's (Latex's) output is almost there, and it is infinitely better than what Word or LIbreOffice would produce, but it still noticeably worse than what you see in well made books. Things like page-balancing, micro-adjustments, etc., are still very hard to do in Latex. The "out of the box" "standard" output that you get before you start tampering with countless LaTeX commands is good, but not excellent. Publishers who can afford professional typesetters are better off asking their authors to deliver Word files, then import that into InDesign, and let the pros do their jobs.And typesetters do not use LaTex (by and large). On the other hand, there are now publishing houses (especially in the Humanities) that go to press directly from Word output... 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
