PTXprint: Generating a Study Bible Additions Checking PDF Without the Base Biblical Text

Question

Hello everyone,

I am currently working on a Study Bible project in Paratext and would appreciate your guidance on generating a checking PDF through PTXprint.

The Study Bible additions are arranged in the project as follows:

• Book Introductions: Provided at the beginning of each biblical book.

• Extended Sidebars: Marked with \esb and \esbe, containing sidebar titles and explanatory content.

• Extended Footnotes: Marked with \ef and \ef*, containing extended notes associated with relevant biblical passages.

These additions are stored alongside the base biblical text in the Study Bible Additions (SBA) project.

For the checking process, I would like to generate a PDF containing only the Book Introductions, Extended Sidebars, and Extended Footnotes, while completely omitting the base biblical text.

The output should preserve the original wording, headings, references, category tags, and formatting of all additions so that the checking team can review them independently.

My questions are:

1. Is there a way to configure PTXprint to print only these Study Bible additions while excluding the base biblical text?

2. Can this be achieved through PTXprint settings or custom marker configuration, without modifying the original project?

3. If this is not directly supported, what workflow would you recommend for preparing a checking-only PDF?

Any suggestions, configuration examples, or recommended workflows would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your support!

Answer 1

Hi Thiyagarajan,

There is no direction option in PTXprint to generate a notes only PDF. This is indirectly because PTXprint typesets the notes found in the body text. If the body text is hidden, then there are no notes to typeset (or more than fit on the page).

Some time ago I wrote a Python script which pre-processes the text in a Study Bible Publication project (the output from SBA). It essentially alters the text so that the notes are paragraph texts, and the paragraph texts are removed. There are a few configurable options.

I wrote a small guide to using this config. I've made a PDF available here. It involves importing the config from a PDF. Then you also need to make sure the .py file is in the correct place. The PDF and the .py are provided in a .zip file.

If something is not working for you, it's probable best to contact me directly to sort it out.