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HOW TO…

Set up notes for a multicolumn document (pdf-view-mode mode only)

Most scientific papers are published in two-column format, while other documents, like IRS instructions, have a mixture of one to four columns on any given page.

Multicolumn support requires knowledge of the column edges, specifically, the right edge of each column. org-noter-pdf-set-columns helps you interactively set the column edges for the current heading in the notes file.

For a scientific paper, it usually suffices to set up multicolumn support at the document level, i.e., at the top header line in the notes file. For a new paper, run org-noter-pdf-set-columns before taking any notes. If you already have notes on the document, then move your point in the notes file to the top heading, and then run org-noter-pdf-set-columns. If you inspect the property drawer, then you will see an entry called :COLUMN_EDGES: with a list of the horizontal position of the right edges of the columns. I find it best to locate the column edges at the right edge of the text in the document, rather than in the whitespace between columns.

Here is an example of an /Am. J. Phys./ paper with a precise note low in the first column (“D. Reflection…”) and a precise note in the second column that is vertically higher than the first-column note (“E. Measuring…”). Without the document-level :COLUMN_EDGES: property, the “E” note would be sorted /before the “D” note.

* BlackED_Intro to PDH laser freq stabilization_AJP_2001
  :PROPERTIES:
  :NOTER_DOCUMENT: QR/BlackED_Intro to PDH laser freq stabilization_AJP_2001.pdf
  :COLUMN_EDGES: (0.48125585754451733 1)
  :END:
** D. Reflection of a modulated beam: The error signal
   :PROPERTIES:
   :NOTER_PAGE: (5 0.8740043446777697 . 0.08434864104967198)
   :END:
** E. Measuring the error signal
   :PROPERTIES:
   :NOTER_PAGE: (5 0.6307023895727734 . 0.5173383317713215)
   :END:

For a document with varying formats, such as the IRS instructions for Form 1040, it may make more sense to set up multicolumn support at the section level, rather than the document level. In this case, there are more steps involved:

  1. Create a note on the first page with multiple columns
  2. run org-noter-pdf-set-columns
  3. After inserting the first precise note in this section, indent the note so that it is a sub-heading of the note created in step 1.

The example below is from the 2022 IRS 1040 General Instructions. The first 3-column page in the document is at the 6th page (“What’s New”).

* i1040gi
  :PROPERTIES:
  :NOTER_DOCUMENT: i1040gi.pdf
  :NOTER_PAGE: 17
  :END:
** What's New
   :PROPERTIES:
   :NOTER_PAGE: 6
   :COLUMN_EDGES: (0.331302717900656 0.6312089971883786 1)
   :END:
*** Due date of return.
    :PROPERTIES:
    :NOTER_PAGE: (6 0.1448225923244026 . 0.07216494845360825)
    :END:
*** Child tax credit
    :PROPERTIES:
    :NOTER_PAGE: (6 0.667632150615496 . 0.3692596063730084)
    :END:
*** Reporting requirements
    :PROPERTIES:
    :NOTER_PAGE: (6 0.4532947139753801 . 0.6672914714151827)
    :END:
** Notes for page 17
   :PROPERTIES:
   :NOTER_PAGE: 17
   :COLUMN_EDGES: (0.4887535145267104 1)
   :END: