User Guide

Chapter 3: Basic Concepts

to delete the selection. Pressing the ENTER key will start a new line below the

original line. Immediately after typing, you can choose the Undo Typing

command on the Edit menu to erase everything that you typed since the last

non-typing operation.

Why the Spacebar Doesn’t Work

The SPACE key usually has no effect, since MathType performs spacing of

mathematical equations automatically. Professional-quality mathematical

formatting involves six different space widths, none of which is the same width

as the space character in most fonts, so it would be undesirable to insert the

standard space character into your equations. Many people find this a bit

confusing at first, but you will get used to it quickly. However, sometimes you

might want to insert a non-mathematical phrase into your equations and, here,

the standard space is exactly what you want. To do this, just change the current

style to Text and start typing. See Tutorial 4 in Chapter 4 for details.

Sometimes you may find it necessary to override MathType’s automatic spacing.

There are C

TRL (Control) key shortcuts for entering various widths of space; for

instance, C

TRL+SPACE inserts a thin space. See Tutorial 6 in Chapter 4 for more

information.

Inserting Symbols

Keyboard Shortcuts

MathType also provides

keyboard shortcuts for

inserting almost all

symbols on the palettes.

These are shown in the

Status Bar when the

mouse is over each

symbol. You can also

assign your own

keyboard shortcut to any

symbol. See Tutorial 16

in Chapter 4 for more

information.

To insert a symbol, you click on it in one of the bars, or choose it from one of the

Symbol Palettes, as shown in the picture below. The Symbol Palettes work like

standard Windows menus — just press or click the left mouse button to display

the palette’s contents, then choose the desired symbol. The symbol will be

inserted immediately to the right of the insertion point or, if something is

selected, the symbol will replace it.