Lyx Download Mac

Posted : admin | On 05-10-2021

  1. If the download is too slow try some other mirror closer to you. 2.2 Mac OS X binaries. LyX for Mac OS X is available here: LyX-2.3.6.2+qt5-12-x8664-cocoa.dmg.
  2. The sources of the current LyX release (version 1.6.1) can be found here (also in.
  3. The download was scanned for viruses by our system. We also recommend you check the files before installation. The download version of LyX for Mac is 2.3.6.2. The contents of the download are original and were not modified in any way.

Since LyX is based on LaTeX, practically any tool made for use with LaTeX can be used with LyX. The CTAN is an archive of packages, tools, documentation and much more about LaTeX, and therefore an invaluable resource if you want to become a power user of LaTeX (and LyX). This directory contains binaries for LyX with the Qt interface on Mac OS X. The difference to the official binaries is that I modified the modifier key bindings. The binaries on this page are for LyX 1.6.7 and below.

Why would you like to install LyX

If you want to create good looking documents on your Mac, youbasically have three options:

  1. Learn typography and buy a DTP-program such as Quark orInDesign.
  2. Install LyX.
  3. Give up the idea of having good looking documents and useWord.

LyX is a front end to TeX, which is a computer implementationof therules typesetters have been working by for centuries. By using LyX youcan be sure that your documents look good.

So what do you sacrifice? Well, think about it as leaving yourmanuscripts to type-setting. Typesetters know what they are doing, buttend to have strong opinions. So if you want to have complete controlon the layout you are in for trouble...

If that does not scare you off, continue for a guide on howto install and run LyX on the Mac.

Mac

What you need

Latex Software Lyx

All software is completely free. But you will need:

  • A Mac with OSX 10.3.9 or 10.4 (this demonstration was madewith 10.4.4)

  • About 300 MB of free hard disk space (the installation isbig, but the files you create will typically be small.)

  • Broadband

  • Administrative rights to the account

I will try to keep this introduction short and to the point. If you likethe details on how to install LyX on the Mac, seehttp://wiki.lyx.org/LyX/LyXOnMac
The installation might take anywhere between half an hour and half aday depending on your bandwidth and server load. But don't worry, itwon't lock up your computer during the time and you don't have tobabysit the computer during the installation.

Installing TeX

Let's dive right in. An explanation to what you have done is given inthe end. You can read this as your installation is progressing.

  • Download i-Installer

  • Unpack by double-click (unless automatically done)

  • Open the Applications folder and then the Utilities folder anddrop i-Installer there (technically you can place it anywhere you like,but if you place it here and forgot where it is, just E-mail me and Iwill tell you...)

  • Open i-Installer

  • Click Dismiss on the splash-screen

  • Chose i-Package -> Known Packages i-Directory...

  • Install the packages in the order outlined at: http://www.uoregon.edu/~koch/texshop/installing.html(see also below) by selecting them from the list and clicking 'Open iPackage' and'Install' (or 'Install & Configure')

    • You will be prompted for your password.

  • After each package has been installed, close the window(i-Package->Close)

  • Time for installations on my machine (which has 100 Mbethernet connection) and comments:

    • FreeType 2 -- 20 seconds

    • libwmf -- 20 sec

    • PNG Library -- 10 sec

    • Ghostscript 8 -- ≈1 min

      • Add /usr/local/bin to CLI environment:choose 'Yes'

    • ImageMagick -- 1.5 min

    • FontForge -- 20 sec

    • Fondu Mac Font cli Tools -- 10 sec

    • TeX -- 15 minutes

      • Install type -- choose Basic

  • Which version? -- Choose the preselected

  • Type your password when prompted. Then there's a hugedownload, but you can keep track on the progress bar and predicted timefor each package

  • Type your password when requested again and takeanother coffee break

  • Select the Paper size you like. Take a thirdcoffee break.

What have I done?

If you like to see what has happened, select the Finder andchooseGo-> Go to Folder... (or press Cmd+Shift+G). Type /usr andreturn.Select local and then teTeX. This is a directory that contains roughly235 MB, which has been installed by the i-Installer. Normally you arenot supposed to mess with this directory (but there are exceptions aswe will come to).

What do all these Megabytes contain?

They contain instructions on how to typeset documents. Theadditional packages you installed contain instructions for tasksrelated to this, such as converting image files to a format that can beused by teTeX.


Now you can use teTeX to create documents straight away, but unless youfeel like writing input files like:

and typing some commands in the Terminal to get thecorresponding pdf-document, LyX is your choice.

We will come to how you install LyX shortly, Let'sjustconclude by saying that you have installed a package that LyX will needto help you create nice-looking documents. How it works is somethingyou actually don't have to worry about, although I can promise you thatyou will probably want to tweak the inside sooner or later. But that'sanother story.

Installing LyX

Now it's time for the easy part: installing LyX.

  • Go to http://wiki.lyx.org/LyX/LyXOnMac and install thelatest version of LyX (this introduction uses LyX1.4pre5, but when you read this 1.4 should be out).

  • Unpack and mount the disk image (by double clicking) ifthis is not done automatically.

  • Print or save the pdf-files. In particular 'mac-bind.pdf'is useful since it contains keyboard shortcuts that will speed up yourwork considerably once you get used to LyX.

  • Follow the instructions, i.e. Drag the application to the Applications folder.

  • Run the install script by double-clicking. Select'Install'. Provide your password when prompted (you need administratorrights).

    • Note that you have to run the install script for everyaccount that uses LyX. The easiest way to do this is probably to runthe install script in the first account, move it to the /Users/Sharedfolder (click your Disk icon, then Users, then Shared). Log in as a newuser and run the installationscript from the /Users/Shared folder from that account.

Now you are done with the installation of LyX.

Lyx Download Mac


What have I done?

The install script has created a directory 'LyX-1.4' in thedirectory 'Application Support' which is in the directory 'Library' inyour home directory. In that folder the script has placed sometemplates and other stuff.
It has also put some templates in/usr/local/teTeX/share/texmf.local/tex/latex/lyx/ this is deep into thedirectory that was created by the i-Installer for the TeX-installation.

Why do we need two templates?

The easy answer is that the templates in the 'Application Support' foldercontrol what you will see on the screen when running LyX. The templatesinstalled deep in the teTex folder controls what you will see on paperwhen you print your document.

Download

Creating your first LyX document

  • Double-click your LyX icon (which should be in the Applicationsfolder if you have followed the instructions) and you will be greetedby a nice splash screen.
  • Select File->New
  • Type in the title of your text.
  • Now you have to tell LyX that what you have written is a Title.Select Title from the top-left pop-up menu. This will change theappearance.
  • Press return, type your name and select Author from the pop-up menu.
  • Press return, type Introduction and select 'Section*'
  • Write some sentences.
  • You should now have something similar to the figure below. Notethe '--' in the title. This is used to tellLyX that it should produce a long dash (an n-dash, i.e. what younormally get when pressing alt+-). Now why not using alt+-? Because ifyou want an even longer dash (em-dash), you just type three dashes ---!The long dash does not show on screen, but it will show in print. LyXis full of such nice features (although some may be hard to discover).
Lyx Download MacLyX works in the way that you tell the program: this is a title, this isthe name of the author, and so on. Section* means that this is theheader for a section, but that it should not be numbered (try Sectioninstead and you get a numbered heading).


Now the text you have written doesn't look fancy at all. LyX uses abare-bone approach and just shows you what you really need to see.Let's look at what will appear on paper:

  • Choose View->PDF (pdflatex). After some thinking(the first preview is often slow), a pdf-document will appear inPreview:

Now this actually looks like crap. The reason is that the fontsused are bitmapped, which doesn't come out good on-screen (much betteron paper). We need to do something about this:

  • In LyX select Documents-> Settings...
  • In the column to the left select Text Layout. Then set Font to'ae'. This is a vector-based font that will look much better in preview.
  • Choose View -> PDF (pdflatex) again and notice the difference.

Lyx Download For Windows 10

Windows


Now there are a bunch of other settings you can alter, such asdocument class (try for instance article (koma-script)), margins, etc.But this introduction will not delve in details on formatting. Thoseyou can find at http://wiki.lyx.org/LyX/Documentation. Instead we willlook closer at some more Mac-specific aspects in a later part.