Quick start user guide

To get started with ptx2pdf you need XeTeX and the ptx2pdf macro package installed. (Instructions can be found here.) We have a sample project that can be downloaded here. ptx2pdf-sample-GLW.zip

A typical ptx2pdf project consists of:

project file, this is the tex file that contains the references to all the files that are needed,
setup file, this is a txt file that contains the user defined setups,
usfm.sty, the standard USFM style sheet,
one or more sfm file(s) containing the formated scripture(s)

The project file, e.g. GLW.tex

This file links the macros and the style sheet and the actual scripture file(s). The sample project file looks like this:

% sample ptx2pdf-project file

\input paratext2.tex % first we \input the ptx2pdf macro package
\input GLW-setup.txt % then we \input the setup file

\ptxfile{Intro-GLW.sfm} % we use \ptxfile to input the sfm files
\ptxfile{43-JHN-GLW.sfm}
\ptxfile{62-1JN-GLW.sfm}
\ptxfile{63-2JN-GLW.sfm}
\ptxfile{64-3JN-GLW.sfm}

\end % and this is how we end this file

The setup file, e.g. GLW-setup.txt

This file contains the user accessible setups for this project. The sample project setup file looks like this:

% GLW-setup
%
% Paratext-to-PDF converter setup for GLW example
%
% This file defines some basic parameters that control the format of the output

% Dimensions of A5 paper
\PaperWidth=148.5mm
\PaperHeight=210mm

\CropMarkstrue

% Basic unit for margins; changing this will alter them all
\MarginUnit=.75in

% Relative sizes of margins, based on the unit above
\def\TopMarginFactor{1.0}
\def\BottomMarginFactor{1.0}
\def\SideMarginFactor{0.75}

% Fonts to use for "plain", "bold", "italic", and "bold italic" from the Paratext stylesheet
% (they need not really be italic, etc, of course)
\def\regular{"Charis SIL"}
\def\bold{"Charis SIL/B"}
\def\italic{"Charis SIL/I"}
\def\bolditalic{"Charis SIL/BI"}

% Use right-to-left layout mode
%\RTLtrue

% Unit for font sizes in the stylesheet; changing this will scale all text proportionately
\FontSizeUnit=0.8pt

% Scaling factor used to adjust line spacing, relative to font size
\def\LineSpacingFactor{1.05}
\def\VerticalSpaceFactor{1.0}

% Information to include in the running header (at top of pages, except first)
% We set the items to print at left/center/right of odd and even pages separately
% Possible contents:
%   \rangeref = Scripture reference of the range of text on the page;
%   \firstref = reference of the first verse on the page)
%   \lastref = reference of the last verse on the page)
%   \pagenumber = the page number
%   \empty = print nothing in this position
\def\RHoddleft{\empty}
\def\RHoddcenter{\empty}
\def\RHoddright{\rangeref}

\def\RHevenleft{\rangeref}
\def\RHevencenter{\empty}
\def\RHevenright{\empty}

\def\RHtitleleft{\empty}
\def\RHtitlecenter{\empty}
\def\RHtitleright{\empty}

\def\RFoddcenter{\pagenumber}
\def\RFevencenter{\pagenumber}
\def\RFtitlecenter{\pagenumber}

\VerseRefstrue % whether to include verse number in running head, or only chapter

\OmitVerseNumberOnetrue % whether to skip printing verse number 1 at start of chapter
%\IndentAtChaptertrue % whether to use paragraph indent at drop-cap chapter numbers

\AutoCallers{f}{*,?,?,¶,§}
\PageResetCallers{f}
%\NumericCallers{f}
%\OmitCallerInNote{f}

\ParagraphedNotes{x} % reformat \x notes as a single paragraph

\TitleColumns=1
\IntroColumns=1
\BodyColumns=2

\def\ColumnGutterFactor{15} % gutter between double cols, relative to font size

%\BindingGuttertrue % add extra margin of \BindingGutter on binding side
%\BindingGutter=10pt
%\DoubleSidedfalse

% Define the Paratext stylesheet to be used as a basis for formatting
\stylesheet{usfm.sty}
\stylesheet{GLW-custom.sty} % here we load a custom style sheet overriding some of the defaults

Typesetting GLW.tex

To typeset GLW.tex open the file in your standard TeX editor to typeset or type in terminal:

xetex GLW.tex