\documentclass[10pt]{article} \usepackage{latex-doc-ptr} % This document is intended as the result of a "texdoc latex" in TeX Live. % The license is Public Domain. See README file for more. \begin{document}\thispagestyle{empty} \section{\LaTeX} \LaTeX{} is the most popular macro package for \TeX{}. (A macro package is a set of commands that an author typically uses to write documents.) This page does not try to answer all questions about \LaTeX; rather we suggest some documentation, add-on components, and resources that a \LaTeX{} user can start with. We limit our recommendations to freely-available materials, and you can click on the text to see the documentation on the Internet. (In case the Internet is not convenient, when the documentation is also available in a typical \TeX{} installation we provide its name in a footnote; to view it locally using \href{http://tug.org/texdoc}{\package{texdoc}},\texdoc{texdoc} run ``\texttt{texdoc \textit{name}}'' at a command prompt.) \subsection{Starting out} The article \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/info/first-latex-doc/first-latex-doc.pdf}{Getting something out of \LaTeX} walks a beginner through writing a sample document. In particular, to use \LaTeX{}, users must install a \TeX{} distribution, such as \href{http://miktex.org/}{MiK\TeX{}} on Windows, or \href{http://www.tug.org/texlive/}{\TeX{}~Live} on a Unix system such as GNU/Linux or on Windows, or \href{http://www.tug.org/mactex/}{Mac\TeX{}} on Macintosh OS~X. \subsection{Documentation} \subsubsection{Essentials} The most widely-recommended introduction is \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/info/lshort/} {\package{The Not-So Short Guide to \LaTeXe}}.\texdoc{lshort} Another good one is from the \href{http://tug.org/tutorials/tugindia/}{\package{TUGIndia user group}}. For typesetting mathematics, use the the American Mathematical Society's AMS-\LaTeX{} package, introduced in the primer, \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/info/amslatex/primer/amshelp.pdf} {\package{Getting up and running with AMS-\LaTeX}}.\texdoc{amshelp} \subsubsection{References} The official \LaTeX{} documentation from the development team is \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/doc/usrguide.pdf} {\package{\LaTeXe{} for Authors}};\texdoc{usrguide} this focuses on changes made in recent versions of \LaTeX{}. The nearest thing to a general reference manual for \LaTeX{} is the unofficial \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/info/latex2e-help-texinfo/latex2e.html} {\package{\LaTeX: Structured documents for \TeX}}.\texdoc{latex2e} Look for symbols in the \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/info/symbols/comprehensive/symbols-letter.pdf} {\package{Comprehensive List of Symbols}}.\texdoc{comprehensive} A two-page \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/info/latexcheat/latexsheet.pdf} {\package{\LaTeX{} Cheat Sheet}}\texdoc{latexcheat} is available. The document \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/info/l2tabu/} {\textit{l2tabu}}\texdoc{l2tabuen} can help you to acquire sound habits by suggesting what you should consider taboo. \subsubsection{FAQ's} Many web pages offer help with \TeX{} and \LaTeX{}. Particularly useful is the \href{http://www.tex.ac.uk/faq}{\package{English FAQ}}\texdoc{faq} and the \href{http://tug.org/interest.html}{\package{TUG web resources page}}. The \href{http://tug.org/pracjourn/}{\package{Prac\TeX{} Journal}} is an online magazine aimed at beginning and intermediate users, and \href{http://tug.org/TUGboat/}{\package{TUGboat}} has published many articles at all levels nearly since the inception of \TeX{}. \subsubsection{Books} There are many books about \LaTeX{}; visit the \href{http://tug.org/books/} {\package{\TeX{} Users Group Bookstore}} for discounts. \subsection{Selected \LaTeX{} packages} \subsubsection{Page size and shape} Adjust the page dimensions and orientation with \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/geometry/geometry.pdf} {\package{geometry}}.\texdoc{geometry} Control headers and footers with \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/fancyhdr/fancyhdr.pdf} {\package{fancyhdr}}.\texdoc{fancyhdr} \subsubsection{Graphics} Import graphics into a \LaTeX{} document with the \LaTeX{} team's \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/required/graphics/} {\package{graphicx}} package, and the related \textit{graphics}. The official documentation is \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/required/graphics/grfguide.pdf} {\package{Packages in the `graphics' bundle}}.\texdoc{grfguide} Another package in the same bundle is \package{color}.\texdoc{color} For even more color capability use \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/xcolor/xcolor.pdf} {\package{xcolor}}.\texdoc{xcolor} An excellent introduction to using these is the article \href{http://tug.org/pracjourn/2005-3/hoeppner/hoeppner.pdf} {\package{Strategies for including graphics in \LaTeX{} documents}}. % not free: % \href{http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/epslatex/}{\textit{Using Imported Graphics in \LaTeX{} and pdf\LaTeX{}}}. \subsubsection{Index and bibliography} Make an index with \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/base/makeindx.dtx} {\package{makeidx}}.\texdoc{makeindex} For bibliographies, people use \href{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BibTeX}{\package{B{\footnotesize IB}\TeX{}}}.\texdoc{bibtex} Two powerful tools based on it are: produce your bibliography in a natural science styles with \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/natbib/natbib.pdf} {\package{natbib}},\texdoc{natbib} and generate your own style by answering a sequence of questions with \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/custom-bib/makebst.pdf} {\package{custom-bib}}.\texdoc{custom-bib} \subsubsection{Computer code and commenting out} For computer code, look at \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/listings/listings.pdf} {\package{listings}}.\texdoc{listings} The \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/required/tools/verbatim.pdf} {\package{verbatim}}\texdoc{verbatim} package is also useful for computer code, and includes a \texttt{comment} environment to suppress parts of the document. \subsubsection{Hypertext} The \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/hyperref/hyperref.pdf} {\package{hyperref}}\texdoc{hyperref} package gives you hyper-document features, such as making table of contents entries link to the corresponding document part. If you don't need active links, typeset web addresses with \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/misc/url.sty} {\package{url}},\texdoc{url} which also does computer file names. \subsubsection{Presentations} You can get presentation slides by adjusting the page geometry and writing a regular document. For more sophisticated effects use \href {http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/beamer/doc/beameruserguide.pdf} {\package{beamer}}.\texdoc{beamer} The article \href{http://tug.org/pracjourn/2005-4/mertz/mertz.pdf} {\package{Beamer by example}} will get you started. \subsection{Output and fonts} \subsubsection{Output} The \href{http://tug.org/applications/pdftex/}{\package{pdf\TeX}}\texdoc{pdftex} program extends \TeX{}: it can directly produce web-friendly PDF files, as well as the traditional DVI format. For instance, this document was generated under \TeX{}~Live with \verb!pdflatex latex_doc_ptr.tex!. A further extension to that, \href{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XeTeX}{\package{\xetex}},\texdoc{xetex} can use fonts from your underlying computer platform, in addition to the fonts from your \TeX{} distribution. (Mathematics requires much special tuning, though, so most system fonts cannot be used for math.) \subsubsection{Fonts} The font system documentation from the \LaTeX{} developers is \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/doc/fntguide.pdf} {\package{\LaTeXe{} font selection}}.\texdoc{fntguide} To move beyond \TeX's default fonts, these two documents describe some reasonable and free alternatives: \href{http://mirror.ctan.org/info/Free_Math_Font_Survey/en/survey.html} {\package{A Survey of Free Math Fonts for \TeX{} and \LaTeX{}}} and \href{http://www.tug.dk/FontCatalogue/}{\package{The \LaTeX{} Font Catalogue}}. More is on the \href{http://tug.org/fonts/}{\TeX{} Users Group's font page}. \subsection{Tools for composing \LaTeX{}} There are many environments to make writing \LaTeX{} source easier. For instance, many people use a text editor of some sort, such as Emacs with the add-on mode \href{http://www.gnu.org/software/auctex/}{\package{AUC-\TeX{}}}. A new environment that is free, runs on all major computer platforms, and combines the best ideas from available environments while retaining simplicity, is \href{http://tug.org/texworks/}{\texworks}. \subsection{Community} There are many \href{http://tug.org/usergroups.html}{user groups} for \TeX{}. The \href{http://www.ctan.org/}{Comprehensive \TeX{} Archive Network} contains many more packages than any distribution. In addition, if you are stuck on an issue, the Usenet group \href{http://groups.google.com/group/comp.text.tex}{\texttt{comp.text.tex}} and \href{http://lists.tug.org/texhax}{\texttt{texhax@tug.org}} are the most popular mailing lists. You can search more than a decade of \LaTeX{} discussions, or post a question yourself. \subsection{Miscellaneous} \subsubsection{History} \LaTeX{} was first written in 1985 by Leslie Lamport, building on Donald Knuth's \TeX{}. It is now maintained and developed by the \href{http://www.latex-project.org}{\LaTeX{}3 Project}\texdoc{latex3} group. \subsubsection{Pronunciation} \LaTeX{} can be pronounced as ``la-tech'' or ``lay-tech,'' with emphasis on either syllable. (We prefer the first, with emphasis on the first syllable.) \end{document}