| TechNote #162: |
Last modified:
08/14/2017 |
Equations created on Windows have irregular spacing when viewed on Mac or in
a PDF
The information in this document applies to:
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- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft PowerPoint
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Issue
You've used Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows to create your lesson slides,
but when you arrive for class, the only computer available is a Mac. Thinking that
shouldn't be a problem, you load the presentation onto the Mac, print the
handout pages as PDF, and begin the lesson using PowerPoint for Mac. Not far into the lesson you realize
the equations are all there on the slides and printed on the handout pages, but
the equations are severely distorted, with many characters overlapping and just
not looking right.
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This is how the equation looked in
PowerPoint for Windows. |
This is how the equation looked in PowerPoint for Mac, and similarly in
the PDF. |
Reason
This happens if, when you define Styles in MathType, you
select a font with a name beginning with the @ character -- such as
@Arial Unicode MS, which was used in the expression shown above.
Instead, please use the corresponding font without the ampersand --
Arial Unicode MS, in this case.
What are those "@" fonts anyway?
Fonts with a name that begins with the ampersand, or "at-sign" are
"vertically-oriented" fonts, intended for use in Chinese, Japanese, and
sometimes Korean documents. Their purpose is so the characters used in vertical
text will be oriented correctly. Using them in MathType will only cause trouble
-- issues such as the one shown above.
We hope this has been helpful. As always, please
let us know if you
have questions about this, or if you have additional techniques that work. We'd love to hear from you.
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