As one of the original authors of EDMAC (which morphed into LEDMAC and eLEDMAC), I obviously think that using XeTeX or XeLaTeX and LEDMAC (or variant, ho ho) is the True Path. I've done editions this way, and have been delighted with the results. It's important to use an editing program that makes things as easy as possible. These days, I use TeXStudio, and I like it. But this is a matter of personal preference. Other excellent editing programs include Emacs, TeXWorks, and WinEdt. I used WinEdt when I was still on Windows XP, and I really liked it. Since moving to GNU/Linux, I had to leave it behind, sadly. For comparisons, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_TeX_editors. For Indic work, your editing program must have Unicode support, and must use the Unicode variant of TeX: XeTeX (with LaTeX and Polyglossia). The links provided by Michael just now will tell you more.

However, the Classical Text Editor by Stefan Hagel is also a capable program, if you absolutely need a MS Word-like interface. I am using CTE myself these days, because I it was chosen as the project tool by the Caraka Project long before I arrived. I have a love-hate relationship with CTE. It has many real strengths, but also some weaknesses, some bugs, and some inconsistencies. The author, Stefan Hagel, stands solidly behind his program, and fixes things as soon as you tell him, often within a couple of hours.

In an ideal world, a front-end like CTE would export TeX or XML code that could be compiled by XeLaTeX. I think that's not actually an unrealistic hope for the future, and some work in this direction has already been done by Sebastian Rahtz at Oxford (TEI/XML -> LEDMAC -> PDF).

You should also look at Juxta. It addresses the issue of text editing in a completely different manner, but has real strengths.

Best,
Dominik

--
Dr Dominik Wujastyk
Department of South Asia, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies,
University of Vienna,
Spitalgasse 2-4, Courtyard 2, Entrance 2.1
1090 Vienna, Austria
and
Adjunct Professor,
Division of Health and Humanities,
St. John's Research Institute, Bangalore, India.
Project | home page | PGP

On 31 October 2012 16:44, Slouber, Michael J. <mjslouber@smcm.edu> wrote:

Dear Jonathan and others,

Many critical editors now use the recently updated LaTeX package "eledmac" along with XeLaTeX to be able to typeset with Mac fonts. Here are a few useful links:

The package itself: <http://www.ctan.org/pkg/eledmac>
The users listserv: <https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/ledmac-users>
The list archive: <https://lists.berlios.de/pipermail/ledmac-users/>
Many useful posts: <http://cikitsa.blogspot.com/search/label/XeLaTeX>
Some sample files: <http://www.garudam.info/category/xetexledmac/>
Many useful tips: <http://www.djdekker.net/ledmac/>

Best of luck,

Michael Slouber
Visiting Assistant Professor
Religious Studies
St. Mary's College of Maryland
http://garudam.info<http://garudam.info/>

On Oct 31, 2012, at 11:15 AM, Jonathan Edelmann wrote:

Dear All,

I use Mac and I've started to work with La Tex for the purpose of noting variants in texts. I find La Tex a bit non-user-friendly, and I'm wondering if someone could recommend a good website for Indologist, Sinologist, etc. who are making critical editions, or (preferably) if anyone knows a better program that will allow for multiple footnote bars, margin notes, etc.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Edelmann

Jonathan B. Edelmann, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Religion
Mississippi State University Department of Philosophy and Religion
449 Hardy Road Etheredge Hall
Mississippi State 39762
Work Phone (662) 325-9363 Home Phone (662) 268-8314

University Website<http://www.philosophyandreligion.msstate.edu/faculty/edelmann.php> | Book<http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/academic/pn/neuroscience/9780199641543.do?sortby=pubDateDescend> | Email Address<mailto:je374@msstate.edu>