Typesetting equations with LaTeX notation in Layout by Zaweba

Maths has always been awkward in page layout. Formulas get built in a separate program, pasted in as pictures, and then can't be edited or scaled cleanly. The equation tool in Layout by Zaweba lets you type the maths straight into the document using LaTeX style notation, see it set as you type, and keep it as part of the page.

That makes it practical for textbooks, revision guides, science magazines, engineering reports and any leaflet that needs a formula or two without a specialist typesetting system.

Typing maths in LaTeX style notation

You type or paste the notation, and a live preview shows the result as you go. The notation covers the things maths text actually needs: fractions, roots, sums, integrals, limits, brackets, Greek letters, matrices and cases. If you have written maths in LaTeX before, the commands will look familiar; if not, the preview means you can see straight away whether a bracket is in the right place.

Pasted MathML works as well. That is handy when equations already exist in another document or a web page, because you can bring them in without retyping them.

How the equations are set

The maths is typeset with TeX rules in Cambria Math, so spacing around operators, the size of limits on a sum, and the placement of superscripts and subscripts follow the conventions readers expect. The result is drawn as vector outlines. It stays sharp at any size and on any output, from a screen PDF to a high resolution press file, with no blurry picture of a formula on the page.

An equation can sit inline on the baseline, so it reads as part of a sentence, or as a displayed frame, set apart on its own line in the way a key result usually is in a textbook. Inline is right for short expressions such as a variable or a simple ratio; displayed suits anything with a tall fraction, a sum with limits, a matrix or a set of cases.

Equations in EPUB and HTML

Print is only half of it. When you export EPUB or HTML, the equations go out as MathML rather than pictures. Reading systems that understand MathML can then display the maths properly, scale it with the reader's text size, and give screen reader users something they can work with. For anyone publishing a maths or science book in both print and e-book form, that is a large difference in quality from flattening every formula into an image.

Getting good results with equations

Choose inline or displayed for meaning, not just for space. An important result set inline, squeezed into a sentence, is easy to miss and may disturb the line spacing; give it a displayed frame. A tiny expression in a displayed frame breaks up the reading for no reason.

Check line spacing around inline equations. A tall fraction on a baseline can push lines apart. Rewrite it as a slashed fraction in the text, or move it to a displayed equation, rather than letting one line open up.

Keep notation consistent. Decide early how you'll write vectors, units and multiplication, and stick to it across chapters. The tool will set whatever you type, so consistency is your job.

Proof the maths, not just the words. The preview shows exactly what will print, so read each equation against the author's original as carefully as you'd read a table of prices.

Where equations fit in a long document

Equations sit alongside the rest of Layout's long document tools: styles for the surrounding text, footnotes, cross references to numbered results, and books that combine chapters into one PDF. A textbook chapter can have its body text, worked examples, displayed equations and exercises all built in one document, and the whole book exported for print and as an EPUB with the maths intact.