Getting started

Getting started

What exactly is LaTeX?

LaTeX ["LAH-tek"] is a high-quality typesetting system; it includes features designed for the production of technical and scientific documentation. LaTeX is the de facto standard for the communication and publication of scientific documents.

You use LaTeX to create documents for others to read. In that respect it is similar to Microsoft Word. But the similarities end there. 😄

Document preparation with LaTeX typically consists of using a text editor to edit a LaTeX source file, which has the extension .tex, and then running the LaTeX program to convert the source file to a document interchange format such as Postscript or PDF. Once the document is in a document interchange format, it can be previewed on the screen, sent to others, printed, etc.

Example

This program

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\title{\LaTeX}
\date{}
\begin{document}
    \maketitle
    \LaTeX{} is a document preparation system for the \TeX{}
    typesetting program. It offers programmable desktop
    publishing features and extensive facilities for
    automating most aspects of typesetting and desktop
    publishing, including numbering and cross-referencing,
    tables and figures, page layout, bibliographies, and
    much more. \LaTeX{} was originally written in 1984 by
    Leslie Lamport and has become the dominant method for
    using \TeX; few people write in plain \TeX{} anymore.
    The current version is \LaTeXe.
    % This is a comment, not shown in final output.
    % The following shows typesetting power of LaTeX:
    \begin{align}
    E_0 &= mc^2      \\
    E &= \frac{mc^2}{\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}}
    \end{align}
\end{document}

renders as

Neat, right??? 😄

Where to start?

To create beautiful, high-quality documents, you need to have installed in your machine a LaTeX distribution. This is what will 'convert' your .tex files into beautiful documents. The most used LaTeX distribution for Windows is MiKTeX. First, check if you have MiKTeX installed. If not, download it and install it.

For OS X, use MacTeX

For Linux, you can use TeXLive

Choosing an editor

Now that you're set, you'll need an editor. Some people prefer to type their documents using simple (rather basic) editors. But there are several editors that seek to boost productivity, or simply reduce amount of effort for newcomers to be able to succesfully create documents. Among some of the most used, you have TeXstudio, TeXmaker and TeXworks. They are similiar, so I think it's more a matter of taste. For other advanced users, Sublime Text and Vim are usually preferred over graphic editors.

Get the unlthesis template up and running

This is fairly simple. Having a LaTeX distribution installed in your system, you just have to open and build the main text file (template.tex by default). If you are using some kind of editor with a GUI, such as TeXstudio, you may need to set the file as master or root. Usually this type of editors list the files within the folder of the project. This option usually presents itself when right-clicking in a given file.

For MacOSX and Linux users, running latexmk -pdf template.tex will do the trick. This command will compile your file several times so that you don't have to compile the Biblatex file on your own.

You can start by reading the Chapter 2 and 3 of the template, which provides a great headstart to begin using LaTeX and this template.

Having trouble?

No problem. Visit the FAQ page. If you don't find the answer you're looking for there, try the page of your operating system ([Windows]Using Windows, [Linux](Using\ Linux) or [Mac OS X](Using\ Mac\ OS\ X)) for further help.