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Re: typesetting math in IDL plots [message #10033] Tue, 07 October 1997 00:00
William J. Henney is currently offline  William J. Henney
Messages: 1
Registered: October 1997
Junior Member
You may want to check out the psfrag package (should be on CTAN sites)

It allows you to replace text strings in a postscript file with
arbitrary LaTeX commands.

Will Henney, Instituto de Astronomia, UNAM

greg ushomirskiy wrote:
>
> I've been using IDL for quite a while now, and have never been able to
> figure out how to make equations (or greek symbols, for that matter)
> to look nice in IDL plots when they're output to postscript for
> publication. Hershey fonts look quite crummy, and the PostScript
> Symbol font is not much better. Moreover, if I want to show a formula
> with a ratio in it, it's a huge hassle.
>
> In my opinion, the best looking equations are those output by TeX. Is
> there a way to use TeX to create plot labels for axes, plot lines,
> tick marks, etc? I am well aware of the TeXtoIDL package (my
> officemate wrote it ;), but it uses PS Symbol fonts. At the least,
> what I want is to be able to us the TeX math fonts (Computer Modern)
> when outputting to PostScript. The ``pie in the sky'' goal is to use
> TeX to typeset the equation, since it's quite smart about symbol
> spacing, proper spacings, kerning, and things like that.
>
> Such a beast probably doesn;t exist, does it? At the least, are AFM
> (Adobe font metrics) for TeX fonts available anywhere?
>
> Greg
>
> --
Re: typesetting math in IDL plots [message #10058 is a reply to message #10033] Sat, 04 October 1997 00:00 Go to previous message
Kevin Ivory is currently offline  Kevin Ivory
Messages: 71
Registered: January 1997
Member
greg ushomirskiy wrote:
> when outputting to PostScript. The ``pie in the sky'' goal is to use
> TeX to typeset the equation, since it's quite smart about symbol
> spacing, proper spacings, kerning, and things like that.

I have been quite happy with the TeXtoIDL package myself, but I know
of a package offered on the CTAN servers which might do what you want.
It is called 'psfrag' and this is from "The LaTeX Catalogue Online,
Complete CTAN Edition":
( http://ctan.unsw.edu.au/tex-archive/help/Catalogue/catalogue .html )

psfrag
A set of macros and a PostScript header which allows LaTeX constructions
(equations, picture environments, etc.) to be precisely superimposed
over Encapsulated PostScript figures. The user can use his/her favorite
drawing tool to create an EPS figure, placing simple text ``tags'' where
each replacement is to be placed. PSfrag will automatically remove those
tags from the figure and replace them with the LaTeX construction that
the user specifies, properly aligned, scaled, and/or rotated.
Latest recorded version is 3.03. (31 Jan 1997)

Hope this helps,
Kevin
--
Kevin Ivory Tel: +49 5556 979 434
Max-Planck-Institut fuer Aeronomie Fax: +49 5556 979 240
Max-Planck-Str. 2 mailto:Kevin.Ivory@linmpi.mpg.de
D-37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, GERMANY http://www.gwdg.de/~kivory2/
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