Formula properties

Rendering method

On the way from LaTeX to your word processor, Aurora converts equations you enter to images. These images may be of three different types: a bitmap image or Raster, sequence of drawing instructions or Vector, or a combination of the two—Vector (render all fonts). Each method has its own benefits and drawbacks, and the optimal choice depends on what you are planning to do with the document.

Vector rendering method is the best choice if Aurora will be installed on the computers of all people who are going to be working with or viewing the original document. It also yields the highest quality results when converting the original document to the PDF format. Note that the resulting PDFs will not require Aurora to display properly, as they will contain all the requisite fonts within them.

If the original document will need to be viewed by people who may not necessarily have Aurora, use the raster rendering method (the default). Equations rendered this way will display and print on all systems.

Note: When using Word, the “Edit selection properties...” command lets you change the rendering method of multiple equations at once, so you are never locked into one choice.

The table below describes the differences between the methods in greater detail:

For comparison, here are magnified examples of what these methods look like when rendered at 360 dots per inch (dpi):

Raster	Vector	Vector (render all fonts)

High contrast (vector rendering method)

The “High contrast” setting makes vector methods look a little bolder on screen. It has no effect on the print quality.

Background color (raster rendering method)

In raster mode, you can specify the color to be used as the image background. When creating new equations in Word or PowerPoint, Aurora automatically sets it to the main background color of the current page or slide.

Resolution

In raster and “render all fonts” rendering methods, the resolution specifies how smooth the equation images Aurora creates are. To get a feel for how this setting affects the output, here are four magnified examples of the same text rendered using the raster method at different resolutions:

96 dpi	200 dpi	720 dpi (default)	2400 dpi

Typically, a resolution of around 600 dpi is sufficient for obtaining perfect printouts at a normal scale. However, if you magnify an equation, you might need to increase the resolution proportionally to avoid jagged appearance.

Resolution affects the vector rendering method in a different and subtle way: it defines the grid on which all drawing commands are aligned, and thus a low resolution may affect the spacing in a formula. Since resolution does not typically have any effect on the size of the document or the time it takes to display a formula when using the vector rendering method, setting it to at least 600 dpi is recommended.

Font size

Size of the font LaTeX should use. Normally, this should be set to the same size as the text of your document. In Word, you can tell Aurora to automatically use the current font size when creating new equations.

Maximum equation width

If an equation looks too spread-out (for example, when using the multline* environment), use this setting to squish it in. This setting is also useful when changing the document layout from single-column to multi-column and the other way around.

Packages

Many features of LaTeX are implemented using the so-called packages. If a symbol or a feature you need to use requires a special package, it may be included by adding an appropriate \usepackage statement on the “Packages to include” page. You can also use this page to define custom commands.

By default, Aurora includes the amsmath and amssymb packages. Internally, Aurora also uses the preview and anyfontsize packages.