# 6 LaTeX for the LaTeX Challenged

At the current time, Table 1 is reduced to pedantic relic. It is no longer maintained and no longer guides “real life” document publication.

After due consideration (and ample consternation), we decided not to fight the system. We now use MultiMarkdown’s LaTeX pass thru facilitates to insert raw Latex into the MultiMarkdown documents for all “special case” situations. It was not our preferred solution, but ultimately this decision made publishing document revisions much more convenient.

Not being (nor wanting to become) LaTeX markup experts, choosing the “native LaTeX” route led to an obvious question. How do the “LaTeX challenged” create good LaTeX code for situations that are too sophisticated for MultiMarkdown?

The answer is actually quite simple. Let MultiMarkdown do the grunt work while you add the finishing touches.

The following procedure proved workable for generating LaTeX code for troublesome equations:

1. Write the equation in MultiMarkdown math mode.

2. Generate the LaTeX document.

3. Open the LaTeX document with TeXShop, typeset it.

4. Fiddle with the LaTeX until the equation looks good in the PDF document.

5. Copy the MultiMarkdown version of the equation into Scrivener’s research folders (for possible future reference).

6. Copy the corrected LaTeX markup into the MultiMarkdown document (in lieu of the original MultiMarkdown equation).

7. Enclose the LaTeX equation in HTML comments.

A similar procedure was used to generate LaTeX code for tables with footnotes.

1. Enter the table using MultiMarkdown syntax.

2. Generate the LaTeX document.

3. Open the LaTeX document with TeXShop, typeset it.

4. Fiddle with the LaTeX until the table is properly typeset in the PDF document.

5. Copy the MultiMarkdown version of the table into Scrivener’s research folders (for possible future reference).

6. Copy the corrected LaTeX markup into the MultiMarkdown document (in lieu of the original MultiMarkdown table).

7. Enclose the LaTeX table in HTML comments.

There is one minor complication to this approach. You can no longer use native MultiMarkdown references to these entities. The solution is rather obvious â and not too annoying once you get used to it â transform all MultiMarkdown references to the LaTeX objects into native LaTeX references.