TeXShop For Mac

The TeX typesetting system has been designed to allow users to create complex documents and share them with others without worrying that the document layout or font style might be affected by the host operating system or application.

TeXShop is a Mac app that offers you the possibility to quickly preview and create TeX files via a clean and organized user interface. The application works with the TeX Live distribution that is provided by the TeX Users Group.

To be able to use TeXShop you must make sure that a TeX distribution has been installed on your Mac beforehand. The easiest way to do that is to download MacTeX, which is provided by the TeX Users group, and double click the package: the MacTeX installer takes care of the rest (simply follow the on-screen instructions).

However, to complete the setup, you must to navigate to the TeXShop Preferences window, select the Engine tab and set the correct path to your TeX installation.

Working with TeXShop is extremely easy: the app’s main window is reserved for the text editing, while the top toolbar enables you to quickly change the typeset, macros, or tags. The same area provides access to a collection of templates that can be adjusted to match your own needs.

Naturally, TeXShop comes with a Preview area where you are able to navigate the content of various TeX files and a Console window for analyzing possible errors.

Most of the TeXShop customization options are placed in the Preferences window and organized into various tabs. Among other things, the application allows you to adjust the default font style, the default typesetting command, or the synchronization method.

TeXShop is a great tool to have around if you need to quickly preview and create your own TeX files. Of course, learning TeX is absolutely imperative if you want to process or start documents from scratch.