Why should you use LyX for document preparation?

If you use LaTeX you already know the advantage of a structured document preparation language with automatic typesetting.

bulletDocuments are nearly perfect as written and require little fine-tuning. Line and page breaks are put automatically in the correct positions. bulletMathematical equations are typeset correctly, and can be input very quickly in text format by a skilled person. bulletDocument styles can be changed automatically and retrospectively - all well-known styles (e.g. IEEE transactions)  have pre-written formats. bulletContents, cross references and bibliography (using BiBTeX) are handled automatically with minimum hassle. Styles are automated and standard, but changing formats manually at any point is easy. bulletWhen compared with Word & EndNote the level of automation is much higher, and document production less effort.  Document source is human readable and easily portable from one system to another with confidence that output will be identical.

LaTeX however has some disadvantages over Word.

bulletThe edited source is far from the final copy, making proof-reading at an early stage more difficult. Maths equations in particular are almost impossible to proof-read while editing, as are tables. bulletFamiliarity with the LaTeX macros is required to do anything. In particular becoming proficient with maths equations takes some considerable time. bulletCross-references & labels are tedious to insert manually. Document navigation using cross references and document structure is not easy.

LyX addresses all of these disadvantages, providing a WYSIWYM (what you see is what you mean) editing environment. It is robust and safe, in the sense that lack of LyX features does not prevent full use of the TeX language.

If you have never used LaTeX then using LyX as a front-end gives you GUI access to 99% of the functionality of LaTeX.

If you use TeX or LaTeX then LyX makes maths entry much easier, and allows proof-reading of the whole document (including pictures) within the edit window. You are free to continue to use arbitrarily complex TeX in your source code - worst case it will be displayed in source form in the edit window. Existing LaTeX documents can be easily converted to LyX, and LyX export to LaTex is as readable as LaTeX written by hand.

There is a whole spectrum of other attempts to make TeX more WYSIWYG - for a good overview of the pros and cons of each (including LyX) see the Uk TeX FAQ.

 

 

Installing LyX on Windows XP & Windows 2000 systems.

Last updated: January, 2015

The latest version 1.5.4 comes with a very easy to use installer - see this page.