User manual — Stone Mate

Welcome to Stone Mate: a digital notebook for writing mathematics, like an A4 sheet, only faster and tidier.

With Stone Mate you can:

• write formulas with a few keys (fractions, roots, powers…)
• add text (titles, explanations, bold…)
• insert graphs, drawings, and sign charts
• recognize formulas from a photo, a PDF, or an area of the screen
• save, print, or export to Word and PDF
• use the interface in Italian, English, French, or Spanish (or follow the system language)

This manual is for people who use the program every day (students, teachers, families). You do not need to know much about computers.

The pictures show the English screens. Opening the OCR tab asks permission to download the helper at once, so that picture and the “OCR unavailable” picture are the same frame.

Contents

1. Before you start
2. How the window is laid out
3. Create, open, and save
4. Writing a formula
5. Adding text
6. Ready-made formulas (templates)
7. Graphs (GeoGebra)
8. Drawing on the plane (shapes, points, and intersections)
9. Sign chart
10. Taking a formula from a photo or the screen
11. Zoom and page guides
12. Customizing appearance, language, and shortcuts
13. Handy keys (reminder)
14. If something goes wrong

1. Before you start

When you start a new piece of work, Stone Mate asks for:

• First name and Last name
• the document Title (for example Equation exercises – 12 March)

Fill in the three fields and confirm: you are on a blank sheet, ready to write. The window opens full screen (maximized).

At startup Stone Mate asks for first name, last name, and document title.

The first time you open the program, the About Stone Mate window also appears (version, contacts, license, and a link to the site). After that it does not come back on its own: you find it again under Help → About Stone Mate….

The About Stone Mate window (Help → About Stone Mate…).

Tip: the title helps you find the file later, and it appears in recent documents.

2. How the window is laid out

Think of a notebook open on the computer.

The main window: menus, tab bar, Most used row, Template panel, A4 sheet, and the bar at the bottom.

At the bottom right (or next to the zoom) you can zoom in or zoom out on the sheet.

3. Create, open, and save

File menu

The File menu: new, open, recent documents, save, export to Word or PDF, print.

If you close with unsaved changes, Stone Mate asks whether to save them.

File format

Stone Mate work is saved with the extension .smate. That is the “full” format: you can open the file again and keep editing formulas and text.

Word and PDF are useful for handing work in or printing, but to keep working you should always keep the .smate file.

Organizing lines

The Edit menu: new line, separator, duplicate, delete, and move lines.

A separator divides two exercises on the sheet.

Enter on a formula that is already written creates an empty line just below it. To copy the line, use Ctrl+D.

4. Writing a formula

1. Click a formula line (or create one with New).
2. Type letters and numbers as usual.
3. Use the special keys (or the buttons) for fractions, powers, roots…

A formula being edited: the active slot is highlighted.

The keys you use most (Italian keyboard)

Help → Keyboard shortcuts… uses an Italian keyboard as the reference. The characters below are the same ones. On another layout, type the character itself (/, ^, _, …). The Ctrl / Alt / Shift shortcuts do not change.

A system with a brace: use ↑ and ↓ to move from one equation to the other.

A struck-through term showing a simplification (the □̸ button, or Ctrl+Shift+X).

Moving around inside the formula

A formula is made of “slots”. To move from one to another:

• forward: Tab or the right arrow
• back: Shift+Tab or the left arrow
• inside a fraction: up / down arrow (numerator / denominator)

Toolbar buttons (so you do not have to remember the keys)

Above the sheet you will find the tabs:

• Base — fractions, powers, parentheses, roots, +, −, ÷, =
• Greek — α, β, π, Δ…
• Log — log, ln, eˣ…
• Trig — sin, cos, tan…
• Analysis — sums, integrals, limits, derivatives (only so you can write them; the program does not calculate them)
• Symbols — ≤, ≥, ≠, ∞…
• Logic — ∧, ∨, ⇒…
• Matrices — systems and matrices

Under that is the Most used row: the symbols you use most often. You can also call them with Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, … Ctrl+9.

The Base tab and, under it, the Most used row.

Greek tab.

Log tab: logarithms and exponentials.

Trig tab: trigonometric functions.

Analysis tab: sums, integrals, limits, indeterminate forms, and derivatives to write (Stone Mate does not calculate them).

Symbols tab.

Logic tab.

Matrices tab: systems and matrices already laid out.

Copy and paste

• Copy (Ctrl+C): copies the selected text or formula (the formula goes to the clipboard in a form that is also useful in other programs).
• Paste (Ctrl+V): if the clipboard holds text, it pastes it; if it holds an image with a formula, it tries to recognize it; otherwise it inserts the image.

You can also drag an image onto an empty line.

With the right mouse button on a formula you can, among other things: strike through, copy, and add the formula to your formulary.

Right-click a formula to strike it through, copy it, or add it to the formula sheet.

5. Adding text

Useful for titles, instructions, and explanations in words.

1. Press Text on the bar.
2. Write as you would in a word processor.
3. Enter starts a new line in the same text box.

Formatting:

In English the buttons read B, I, and U. In Italian they stay G, C, and S (grassetto, corsivo, sottolineato). The tooltips say bold (Ctrl+B), italic (Ctrl+I), and underline (Ctrl+U).

Text mode: typeface, size, bold / italic / underline, Title/Normal, and alignment. This picture still shows G, C, and S; in English those buttons are B, I, and U.

To go back to formulas: click a formula line, or press New.

6. Ready-made formulas (templates)

On the left, the Template panel (if you do not see it: View → Template panel).

1. Choose the topic (Equations, Systems, Limits, Trigonometry…).
2. Click the formula you want: it appears on the sheet with slots to fill in.

Typical examples: a quadratic equation, a system of two equations, a limit as x tends to infinity, a trigonometric identity.

The Template panel on Equations: the formula appears with slots to fill in.

Your formulary

If you have written a formula you want to reuse:

1. Right-click the formula → Add to formula sheet.
2. You will find it under the Formulary topic.
3. You can reorder the entries by dragging them in the list.

Your Formulary: formulas saved with the right mouse button.

7. Graphs (GeoGebra)

Graph mode opens the Cartesian plane panel on the right. Stone Mate does not plot a function from an expression (y = f(x)) by itself: no automatic plot, and it does not solve the problem for you.

For a “clean” graph, use GeoGebra and then import it onto the sheet:

1. Press Graph (or View → GeoGebra).
2. In the panel, press GeoGebra: the site opens in your default browser.
3. Build the graph in GeoGebra.
4. Export a PNG image (or save a .ggb file).
5. In Stone Mate press Import (on the Graph tab) or Import PNG/.ggb (in the panel) and choose the file: the graph appears on the sheet.
6. After the import the side panel closes and you go back to writing.

Graph mode opens the Cartesian plane panel. From here you open GeoGebra and import the image you exported. Stone Mate does not draw graphs by itself.

Import PNG/.ggb: choose the PNG or .ggb file you exported from GeoGebra.

GeoGebra is on the View menu, together with zoom, Show pages, Template panel, and Calculator.

Inserted graphs are included in Word, PDF, and print as well.

For a parabola or another curve without an equation (a ready-made shape or a freehand one), use Draw mode (the next section).

8. Drawing on the plane (shapes, points, and intersections)

Draw mode — build figures on the Cartesian plane without showing formulas. You can insert preset curves, segments, vectors, points, and mark intersections (axes, curves, lines) and values.

The panel opens on the right, with the tools and the plane (you can resize it by dragging the panel’s left edge). Above the plane there is a compact bar: on the left the Value / segment-or-vector label fields when needed; on the right the drawing Undo and Redo icons (no “History” title).

Draw mode: Select, Point, Line, Vector, Curve, and the shape icons, with the plane on the right.

What you can do

• choose a ready-made shape from the icons (line, parabola, circle, …) — later inserts are offset so they do not stack on top of each other
• or trace freehand with Curve (it recognizes the closest school shape)
• draw segments (Line, two clicks) and vectors (Vector, two clicks, with an arrowhead)
• place figures and points: drag control points, segments, vectors, or whole curves
• define points and intersections and assign a Value (for example −1, 2) or a label on a segment/vector

Stone Mate does not show or ask for y = f(x): you work on the shape and the points, by hand.

A ready-made shape from the icons. Move and reshape it by dragging the control points.

Select a point, type a Value, and press Apply: the value appears next to the point.

With Curve you trace freehand: the stroke is recognized as a school shape and redrawn cleanly.

A typical sequence

1. Press Draw.
2. Choose a shape (icons), Line / Vector, or Curve freehand.
3. With Select (or a long click / drag on the figure), move points and curves until the position is right.
4. Click the points or the intersections (blue dots) and assign the numeric Value (or the segment/vector label) with Apply.
5. Press Insert into sheet: the drawing becomes an image in the document and the panel closes.

Insert into sheet turns the drawing into an image in the document.

Tools

Clicks, selection, and drawing (Line / Vector)

• First click of a line or vector: you start the stroke. Until the second click, nothing else is selected — every click is for finishing the segment.
• Short click on an existing point: starts or finishes the line/vector on that point (does not switch to Select).
• Long click (or a clear drag) on a segment or curve, when you are not finishing a stroke: switches to Select so you can move the figure.
• Click on a curve with other tools (for example Point): selects/moves the curve.
• Clicking the active create tool again (Point, Line, Vector, Curve) toggles back to Select.

Position, values, and intersections

• Every shape has control points (vertex, ends, centers…): drag them to move and resize the figure on the plane.
• A click on a point (without a long drag) opens the Value field in the bar above the plane — type for example −1 and press Apply (or Enter).
• On a selected segment or vector you can set a label (same bar).
• If you drag a point to move it, the Value box does not open.
• Blue dots at intersections:
• curves with the axes and between curves;
• lines/vectors with the axes, with each other, and with curves (including several points for the same pair, e.g. a chord and a circle).
• If you move a line or a curve, the intersection dots update and follow the crossing.

Tip: to delete a shape, select it (click the curve) and use Delete curve or Delete.

9. Sign chart

Signs mode — draw the sign-chart table / axis by hand. The panel opens on the right with the layout (you can resize this panel too). The panel title is Sign chart.

Important: Stone Mate does not calculate the signs for you. It gives you the layout to fill in by hand.

Layout

• at the top, the functions (rows separated by a dashed line)
• in the middle, the axis: the columns sit on the axis (numeric or symbolic labels, for example −2, 0, a)
• below, the f(x) result (the continuous sign of the product)

The dots ● / ○ go at the row×column junctions (not on the axis):

• ● = a root (a zero)
• ○ = a discontinuity
• absent = no symbol at that junction

On the axis you only move and label the columns.

Tools

When you click a column on the axis, focus moves to the label box: you can type the value at once and press Apply.

Signs mode: the sign-chart layout, to fill in by hand.

10. Taking a formula from a photo or the screen

OCR mode — “reads” a formula or some text from an image.

OCR mode: the permission dialog opens as soon as you open the tab, so this picture is the same as the one below.

From a file

1. Choose the image or the PDF.
2. If it is a PDF, say which page to start from and which page to stop at.
3. Wait a moment: an editable formula appears, or a line of text.

From the screen

1. Press From screen….
2. Drag the rectangle over the area to capture.
3. When you release, recognition starts.

What it needs in order to work

Recognition uses a helper program on the computer (usually Ollama, with a dedicated model).

• If it is missing, Stone Mate asks permission before downloading and installing (the download can be over 1 GB).
• During the download you see the progress on the bar at the bottom.
• If you do not allow it, or something is not ready, it tells you at the bottom: you can still use the editor to write by hand.

If the OCR helper is missing, Stone Mate asks permission before downloading it (over 1 GB).

Same picture. If you do not allow the download, the status bar says OCR is unavailable.

If the result is not perfect, correct the slots as you would with a normal formula.

11. Zoom and page guides

The View menu: zoom, Show pages (on/off), Template panel, GeoGebra, Calculator.

With Show pages the sheet marks the printed pages.

Help → Keyboard shortcuts…: the full list of shortcuts.

12. Customizing appearance, language, and shortcuts

The Settings menu: Preferences… and Keyboard shortcuts….

Preferences (appearance and language)

Settings → Preferences…

The window title is Settings. Here you can:

• choose the interface Language
• change the default Character size
• change the Spacing between formulas
• choose which buttons to show on the bar (hide the ones you do not use)

Keyboard shortcuts

Settings → Keyboard shortcuts…

You can change the Ctrl / Alt / Shift combinations (document, sheet, text, root, strikeout, Most used slots Ctrl+1…9, and so on).

• In the list you see the action, the current key, Change, and Reset.
• With Change, press the new combination on the keyboard (it needs at least one modifier: Ctrl, Alt, or Shift).
• If that combination is already used by another command, Stone Mate tells you and you can Reassign it (it is taken away from the other command) or cancel.
• Reset all goes back to the factory values.
• The formula characters (/, ^, _, *, (, [, {, =) are not customizable: they depend on the keyboard (the reference layout is Italian).
• In the menus and in Keyboard shortcuts the keys appear as Shift and Delete (on an Italian keyboard those keys are labeled Maiusc and Canc).

Settings → Keyboard shortcuts…: for each command you see the current key, Change, and Reset.

Changes stay saved from one session to the next. After you apply them, Help → Keyboard shortcuts… lists the updated keys as well.

Interface language

In the same Preferences window you will find the Language menu. You can choose:

The names in that menu stay System, Italiano, English, Français, and Español in every language.

The language you choose applies the next time you start the program: after you confirm, close Stone Mate and open it again. Menus, messages, and dialogs will use the language you set. This manual follows the same rule: Italian if the interface is Italian, English otherwise.

The other preferences (characters, spacing, bar) stay saved and apply at once, or in later sessions, as usual.

Settings → Preferences…: language (from the next startup), character size, spacing between rows, and the buttons on the first bar.

13. Handy keys (reminder)

Default values. If you changed them in Settings → Keyboard shortcuts…, use the new ones (or open Help → Keyboard shortcuts… again).

Document

Formulas and text

Draw and Signs

For the full list (with the keys you are using now): Help → Keyboard shortcuts…. To change them: Settings → Keyboard shortcuts….

14. If something goes wrong

In short

1. Write on the sheet (formulas and text).
2. Add graphs, drawings, or sign charts if you need them.
3. Save the .smate file.
4. Export or print when you have to hand the work in.

Good work with Stone Mate.