
1 SliTeX
H SliTeX is a version of LaTeX designed for making color slides, though
G you can use it for black-and-white slides as well.  You don't need a
= special printer to make color slides; SliTeX uses the same
E black-and-white printer as LaTeX.  You get color slides by copying
/ SliTeX's output onto colored transparencies.


2 Root_File

H SliTeX is a separate program that you run the same way you run LaTeX,
E giving it the first name of an input file whose file type is .tex.
E This file is called the root file.  For example, myfile.tex.  This
B file starts out with the customary \documentstyle command.  The
F standard document style for making slides is slides so your file is
 likely to begin

         \documentstyle{slides}

E The commands are followed by any declarations that you may want to
: make, followed in turn by the \begin{document} command.

F Any text that comes after the \begin{document} is treated as "front
B matter" and not as slide material.  You can use it for notes to
 identify the slides.

F For SliTeX to produce color slides, you have to tell it what colors
B you will be using.  This is done with the \colors command.  The

 command

!        \colors{red,black,blue}

H states that you will be using three colors, which you have named red,
C black, and blue.  SliTeX knows nothing about real colors, so you
D could just as well have called your three colors puce, mauve, and
F fred.  If you're making only black-and-white slides, then you don't
 need a \colors command.

C The text of your slides is contained not in myfile.tex, but in a
G separate slide file.  This file can have any name that ends in .tex;
B for example, myslid.tex.  What goes into the file myslid.tex is
E explained under Slide_File for this topic.  Black-and-white slides
C are generated by placing the following command in the root file:

         \blackandwhite{myslid}

, Color slides are generated by the command

        \colorslides{myslid}

D The \colorslides command generates a set of color layer pages for
A each color specified by the \colors command.  For example, the

 command

!        \colors{red,black,blue}

E causes a subsequent \colorslides command to generate first all the
F red color-layer pages, then the black ones, and then the blue ones.

@ As usual, your root file ends with an \end{document} command.

2 Slide_File

E The main purpose of the root file is to tell SliTeX what colors to
E use and where to find the slide file, so the root file tends to be
H pretty short.  It's the slide file that actually makes the individual

 slides.


3 Slides

G Each slide is produced by a slide environment.  This environment has
H a single argument, which is a list of all the colors contained on the
C slide.  For example, a slide that has the colors red and blue is
 created by an environment

!        \begin{slide}{red,blue}

        ...
        \end{slide}

B The colors in the argument must have been declared by a \colors
D command in the root file.  They tell SliTeX which color layers to
D produce for this particular slide.  If there is green text in the
F slide, that text will appear in the black-and-white version, but no
F green color layer will be generated unless green is included in the
B slide environment's argument.  If you want only black-and-white
, slides, then you can use a null argument:

        \begin{slide}{}

        ...


D The text that appears on a slide is produced using ordinary LaTeX
B commands.  You can use any commands that make sense for slides.
E Commands that don't make sense include sectioning commands, figure
G and table environments, indexing commands, commands for generating a
F bibliography, and page-breaking commands.  The latter make no sense
H in a slide because each slide must fit on a single page.  You can use
@ an \input command, but not an \include command.  Commands for
H producing only some of the slides in your slide file are described in
( Making_Some_Slides within this topic.

G There are two major differences between the text generated by SliTeX
D and that generated by LaTeX.  First of all, text is automatically
D centered vertically on the slide.  Secondly, and most noticeable,
E SliTeX uses a set of type faces especially chosen for slides.  The
F characters in these type faces are much larger than the ones in the
A corresponding LaTeX type faces.  SliTeX's \normalsize produces
F roughly the same size characters as LaTeX's \LARGE.  Also, SliTeX's
D ordinary Roman type style is similar to LaTeX's sans serif style.
D Besides Roman, the only other type styles generally available are
2 italic (\it), bold (\bf), and typewriter (\tt).

C The only commands you need inside a slide that aren't present in
G ordinary LaTeX input are ones to tell SliTeX what color the text is.
E The \colors command in your root file defines the declarations for
B doing this.  For example, if the root file contains the command
< \colors{red,black,blue}, then \red, \black, and \blue are
F declarations that specify the color.  They work just like any other
; declaration, such as \bf, having the same scoping rules.

6 A color declaration does not affect the type style.

G Text in which there is no color declaration in effect appears on all
@ color layers.  For example, if you make no color declarations
G anywhere in your slide file, then all color layers will be identical
E to the black and white versions.  Note that color declarations are
 undefined in the root file.

F The command \invisible is a special color declaration for invisible
E text.  Invisible text is not only colorless, appearing in no color
D layer, but does not appear in the black-and-white version either.
0 The use of invisible text is explained below.

E WARNING:  Don't use a color declaration or an invisible command in

 math mode.

3 Overlays

G The overlay environment is exactly the same as the slide environment
D except for how the page is numbered.  The first overlay following
H slide number 9 is numbered "9a", the second one is numbered "9b", and
E so forth.  To make an overlay that perfectly overlays a slide, the
H slide and the overlay should be absolutely identical except that text
3 visible in one should be invisible in the other.

	3 Notes

B It is sometimes convenient to put notes to yourself in with the
F slides.  The note environment produces a one-page note that appears
B only in the black-and-white versions of the slides.  Notes that
9 follow slide number 9 are numbered "9-1", "9-2"", etc.

 For example,
 \begin{note}
* This is the note for the current slide.
 etc.

 \end{note}

2 Making_Some_Slides

G For making corrections, it's handy to be able to produce a subset of
( the slides in your file.  The command

         \onlyslides{4,7-13,23}

? in the root file will cause the following \blackandwhite and
A \colorslides commands to generate only slides numbered 4, 7-13
H (inclusive) and 23, plus all of their overlays.  The slide numbers in
G the argument must be in ascending order, and can include nonexistent
% slides---for example, you can type

        \onlyslides{10-9999}

A to produce all but the first nine slides.  The argument of the
) \onlyslides command must be non-empty.

H There is also an analogous \onlynotes command to generate a subset of
H the notes.  Notes numbered 11-1, 11-2, etc.  will all be generated by
@ specifying page 11 in the argument of the \onlynotes command.

F If your input has an \onlyslides command and no \onlynotes command,
H then notes will be produced for the specified slides.  If there is an
G \onlynotes command but no \onlyslide command, then no slides will be
E produced.  Including both an \onlyslides and an \onlynotes command
E has the expected effect of producing only the specified slides and
r	 notes.
o