LaTeX for liturgy programs - examples with source files?
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,481
    I am starting to get my head around using LaTeX for liturgy programs, rather than WYSIWYG editors like InDesign. I've made a little progress, which I'll share shortly, but I'm wondering if anyone has done this successfully and has some example LaTeX source files or templates they could share.

    Additionally, I'm wondering how people have dealt with program booklet printing.
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    I'm also in the same situation, hoping to begin using LaTeX more regularly.

    Following the thread, and looking forward to seeing other's work as well....
  • quilisma
    Posts: 136
    Here's an example of something I did for Holy Thursday. Hope it helps.

    For booklet printing I just use Acrobat Reader on the pdf file. Works a treat.
    You have the LaTex source files, but not all the gabc files. I could get them all into a zip with a bit of effort.
    Cena_2016.zip
    346K
    Thanked by 3Adam Wood Ben Casavant Organist
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    If you'd be willing to get everything into a zip, I don't know about anyone else, but I know I'd appreciate it...
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,481
    @quilisma that looks great.

    I notice it comes to eight pages, which is convenient for booklet printing. Did you control that by hand? Do some kind of trial and error?
    Thanked by 1Ben
  • Charging3296
    Posts: 10
    Made this in Overleaf for choir use on full size paper. Might make something similar for worship aids eventually.

    Not happy with how cramped the communion notes turned out, when rendering in Scribus it sometimes acts strangely.
    Johannes_døperens_fødsel_A4.pdf
    87K
    Johannes døperens fødsel A4.zip
    60K
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,311
    I broke something trying to set up Gregorio with Scribus per the website instructions. Oops.

    Also, modern printers and software seem to just add blank pages without a fuss for booklets. That’s huge. I used to have to force it to a multiple of four even when unnecessary — or add blank pages by hand.
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • GerardH
    Posts: 461
    Is there a LaTeX / GregorioTeX for Dummies guide anywhere? Using Word + Source & Summit Editor + Musescore + Inkscape to make liturgy programs is functioning, and I'm fast at it now with all my templates set up, but there has to be a better way
  • Charging3296
    Posts: 10
    I've added a fair amount of instruction and explanation to the source file. Overleaf makes LaTeX as beginner-friendly as possible. Simply Google "Overleaf how to x" and there's a decent chance you'll find a helpful article.

    Using Gregorio and Lilypond directly with LaTeX could work (not in Overleaf), but it would also increase compilation time significantly. Even if I were able to use Gregorio directly – my Windows username has a space that causes TeX errors – I would still pre-render the elements and import them into the document.

    Combining LaTeX with Chonak's chant engraving tool and importing the PDF doesn't necessarily reduce workload compared to Word, but file sizes would be much smaller and the print quality would be superior.

    My main frustration with Word is how awful columns are to work with. In LaTeX, they just sort of work the way I want them to.

    @chonak any chance you could add EBGaramond as a typeface?
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,311
    I recommend this introduction to LaTeX in part because it uses LuaLaTeX needed to run Gregorio. You can work through exercises (Overleaf has tutorials; I skip math ones, but I take note of characters that have meaning for math or other things that are less common in chant typesetting — & is a good example, so to use it in the text you type \&.

    I am not the person to do it although I think that it’s worthy: breakout sessions at the colloquium on Gregorio would be good.

    There are several repos with different uses that are public: Flavigny’s internal materials (some bilingual, some not — unfortunately we need some things like fonts that don’t seem to be in the repo), the Bloomfield Tenebrae and Vespers booklets/books, Matthias Bry (who has made videos about Gregorio en français) is doing the Nocturnale Romanum with Dominique Chrochu and a few others… Fr Innocent Smith has a repo for Vespers (NO, Latin-English) as well.

    and I guess you could ask Sr. Maria Ruth if they have code from the Praglia antiphonal. The FSSP is also doing work with LaTeX although not much is available to share.

    Anyway, more concretely, I’d propose a beginner session and then a session from someone who uses it comprehensively (not necessarily making books) and who knows it well (I am not that person; you can see where I run into trouble and am at the limits of my knowledge by looking at my documents).
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,215
    charging3296 asked:
    any chance you could add EBGaramond as a typeface?


    Yes, I've added it.
    Thanked by 1Charging3296
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