User Guide

MathType User Manual
96
The Spacebar
MathType disables the
spacebar when you are
typing math to prevent
you from inadvertently
adding spaces and
upsetting MathType’s
automatic spacing.
However, when you are
in Text style, the
spacebar works again.
Zoom to Read Italics
If you find it difficult to
read italic characters on
your screen, use the
Zoom commands on the
View menu to see your
work at a larger scale.
When the current style is Text, MathType behaves somewhat like an ordinary
word processor. However, we do not recommend using MathType to write large
amounts of text (it isn’t a word processor!); the Text style is provided only to
make it easier for you to occasionally type a few words that might occur in the
middle of an equation.
A few word processors will not allow you to place an equation (or any other
graphic) within a line of text. If you run into this problem, you may have to
create the entire line of text, including the equation, in MathType. Use the Text
style to type the text, and create the equation within it using the mathematical
styles, as usual. You can then copy the entire line from MathType into your
document.
Function
The Function style is meant to be used for the names of standard mathematical
functions, like sin, log, etc. You will normally define your Function style to be the
same font and character style as your primary font. MathType automatically
recognizes standard mathematical functions, and you can also add your own.
See the Function Recognition section later in this chapter.
Variable
The Variable style is used for alphabetic characters representing ordinary
mathematical variables and constants in your equations. You will normally
define your Variable style to be the same font as your primary font, but with
italic character style.
Lower-Case Greek
The Lower-Case Greek style is used for lower-case Greek characters. It is usually
defined to be the Symbol or Euclid Symbol font with italic character style.
Upper-Case Greek
As you might expect, the Upper-Case Greek style is used for upper-case Greek
characters. It is usually defined to be the Symbol or Euclid Symbol font, but its
character style is a matter of personal taste — some people like to have their
upper-case Greek characters italicized, and some people don’t.
Symbol
The Symbol style is used for many mathematical operators, such as + and =, for
summation and product signs, and for other special characters. In order for
MathType to work correctly, the Symbol style must be defined to be the Symbol
font, the Euclid Symbol font, or some other font with exactly the same font
encoding as Symbol (i.e. the same set of characters in the same positions).