TeX Resources for graduate students (collected from the web)

Latex is installed in the computer lab SC 307(first two machines on your left as you enter the Lab). You may double click icon or select WinEdt from the start menu: Start -> Programs -> WinEdt -> WinEdt.

Click on the new document button or select File -> New. You can now start typing your source code into the WinEdt window, as shown in figure below

Figure: WinEdt

You can now save your document using the File -> Save as menu. Select the file type to be TeX, and type in the name of your file, e.g. sample1.tex 

Figure: WinEdt -- Saving the File

To LaTeX your document, simply click on the LaTeX button . The output will appear in an MSDOS Prompt window.

Figure: WinEdt -- LaTeX Output

To view your typeset document, click on the view DVI button .

You can convert your DVI file to PostScript by clicking the dvips button . If you have GSview installed, you can then view the PostScript file by clicking on the GSview button.

Or click  PDFLaTeX button to create a Portable Document Format (.pdf) document. If not, you can click on the MSDOS button to open up an MS-DOS Prompt window, and type pdflatex followed by the filename. For example:

pdflatex sample1.tex

pdflatex "my file.tex"
 

Download samples:

• LaTeX Presentation Template (Doesn't require the installation of Beamer)

                   Open sample LaTeXfile with WinEdt. Click PDF Latex twice and there are no errors then click PDF 

• A Practical LaTeX Usage (Download sample articles)

General TeX help:

• TeX Frequently Asked Questions .
• LaTeX previewer, an online form for quickly entering some LaTeX and seeing the result. (There's also a MetaPost previewer.)  
• LaTeX Table Generator
• LaTeX Bibtex Editor

LaTeX documentation:

• LaTeX Cheat Sheet, a two-page quick reference by Winston Chang.
• LaTeX Documentation Pointers, giving references to documentation for most common LaTeX tasks, by Jim Hefferon.
• The not so Short Introduction to LaTeX2e, by Tobias Oetiker (pdf, ps, source in many languages).
• Formatting Information, by Peter Flynn (html or pdf). Includes installation and usage information.
• LaTeX Wikibook, a guide to LaTeX.
• The LaTeX 2e home page, and the LaTeX bugs database, a searchable collection of bugs and fixes.

LaTeX tutorials:

• List of LaTeX tutorials and reference documentation given in the TeX FAQ.
• LaTeX tutorials from Andy Roberts.
• LaTeX tutorials and information from Nicola Talbot.
• LaTeX tutorials from TUGIndia, the Indian TeX Users Group.
• Minimal LaTeX tutorial from installation to common needs in writing.
• A Simplified Introduction to LaTeX by Harvey J. Greenberg (PS file-1.1M).

LaTeX reference:

• LaTeX2e reference manual, an ongoing project to create a reference manual for LaTeX2e (help welcome).
• LaTeX 2e reference pages (from Martin Herbert Dietze).
• LaTeX Comprehensive Symbol List, by Scott Pakin.
• Essential LaTeX ++ by Jon Warbrick et al.

LaTeX for particular fields:

• LaTeX for linguists, from the CL/MT group at the University of Essex.
• LaTeX for logicians, by Peter Smith.
• LaTeX for molecular biologists, by Tom Schneider; also includes a large list of general resources.

Online references for other TeX-related software:

• Word-processor-to-LaTeX converters (and back the other way), maintained by Wilfried Hennings.
• MetaPost.
• Metafont tutorial.
• Word Hy-phen-a-tion by Com-put-er, Frank Liang's thesis describing TeX's hyphenation algorithm, as implemented via the patgen program.
• tex-refs, reference information on many parts of the TeX system, including LaTeX.

Presentations about TeX:

• LaTeX Beginner's Course, by UK-TUG.
• TeX and Its World, an introductory slide show by Dave Walden. Aimed at giving a general audience an overview of TeX. Includes full speaking notes along with the slides.
• Making Friends with LaTeX, by Rohit Kumar, intended for newcomers to LaTeX.
• An Introduction to TeX and LaTeX, by Jim Diamond.
• LaTeX Course, by Engelbert Buxbaum (based on Rainer Rupprecht's tex-kurs).

Free TeX implementations

Some notable TeX implementations that are entirely, or least primarily, free software:

• TeX Live is a distribution provided by most TeX user groups which supports many Unix systems, MacOSX, and 32-bit Windows.
• MacTeX, TeX Live with additions and easy installation for MacOSX.
• MiKTeX, an independent distribution for Windows with a flexible package manager.
• proTeXt, MiKTeX with additions and a thorough installation guide for Windows.
• USBTeX, a self-contained live system for Windows that can be run from, e.g., a USB stick with no installation.
• Knoppix, a live GNU/Linux system on a bootable CD that includes TeX. Portable LaTeX (Slackware-based) is similar, specifically constructed for writing (La)TeX documents.

The AMS also maintains a list of freeware and shareware TeX implementations.

Packages and programs

Free editors and front-ends

• LaTeX Editor (LEd) for Windows.
• LyX for Windows and X, a well-developed front end for TeX.
• MonkeyEditor for the web, including collaboration and publication.
• pfe (Programmer's File Editor) for Windows.
• SciTe for Windows and X, a free source code editor.
• Texmaker for Unix, MacOSX and Windows, well-developed and documented front-end for LaTeX. You may also want to try the texmakerX fork.
• TeXnicCenter for Windows, an integrated environment for LaTeX composition.
• TeXShop for MacOSX.
• TeXworks, a cross-platform front-end with an ease-of-use philosophy similar to TeXShop, an integrated PDF viewer, source/output synchronization, and more.

Packages and programs for making slide presentations:

• Comparison of screen presentation systems, mostly (La)TeX-based, by Michael Wiedmann.
• Beamer, by Till Tantau; see also CTAN directory. A nice Beamer by example tutorial is available for getting started.
• Beamer presentation designer program in Python, using Inkscape.
• seminar (slides in LaTeX), notes by Denis Girou (including bug list and FAQ)
• IguanaTeX, a free software package for inserting LaTeX equations into PowerPoint.
• texpoint, an add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint and Word to enable use of LaTeX.
• TeX4PPT, an alternative package for enabling LaTeX in PowerPoint.
• Aurora, a proprietary add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, and more that enables use of LaTeX.

Packages and programs dealing with graphics.

• graphics and graphicx, the core LaTeX packages.
• bmpsize, Heiko Oberdiek's package for finding bitmap bounding boxes; supports most bitmap formats.

PSTricks graphics:

• PSTricks home page, a widely-used graphics package, maintained by Herbert Voss.
• PSTricks tutorials by TUGIndia.
• Article

PGF/TikZ graphics:

• PGF/TikZ home page, a second widely-used graphics package, by Till Tantau.
  
• Graphics with PGF/TikZ, an article by Andrew Mertz and William Slough using graduated examples.
• TikZ examples.
• KtikZ, a graphics editor for TikZ.
  

Xy-pic graphics:

• Xy-pic, a third widely-used graphics package, by Kristoffer Rose and Ross Moore, specializing in commutative diagrams.
• xy-pic tutorial in Portuguese, by Carlos Campani.

Other programs for creating graphics:

• asymptote, a modern MetaPost replacement with a C++-like syntax and floating-point numerics, by Andy Hammerlindl, John Bowman, and Tom Prince.
• ePiX, Andy Hwang's C++-based graphics language.
• Eukleides, geometry diagrams with output in pstricks, including graphical frontend
• LaTeXPiX, Windows program that generates LaTeX pictures.
• MetaPost, the derivation of Metafont for technical drawings and PostScript output.
• TeXCAD, a Windows program for drawing or retouching LaTeX {picture}s; distributed under the GPL.
• TpX, a TeX drawing tool for Windows.