This document provides an introduction to training basic LaTeX. It covers things users need to know about LaTeX including its advantages over traditional typesetting. It discusses installing LaTeX and the different file types encountered. The document also covers typesetting text, including document structure, layout, special characters, and formatting elements like titles, sections, footnotes and emphasized text. Finally, it discusses LaTeX specialties like figures, tables, bibliography, table of contents, indexing and hyperlinks.

1. Training Basic Latex
Edited by: Nguyen Duc Minh Khoi
Email: nguyenducminhkhoi@gmail.com
Website: http://nguyenducminhkhoi.blogspot.com
@HCMC University of Technology, Spring 2013
Main reference: THE NOT SO SHORT INTRODUCTION TO LATEX2Ε
by Tobias Oetiker Hubert Partl, Irene Hyna and Elisabeth Schlegl

2. Contents:
Things you need to know
Typesetting Text
Specialities
Typeset Mathematical formulae
Producing Mathematical graphics
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3. Things you need to know
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4. Things you need to know
Tex, Latex
 TEX
 is a computer program created by Donald E. Knuth
 is aimed at typesetting text and mathematical formulae
 LATEX
 enables authors to typeset and print their work at the highest typo-graphical quality,
using a predefined, professional layout
 was originally written by Leslie Lamport
 uses the TEX formatter as its typesetting engine
 These days LATEX is maintained by Frank Mittelbach
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5. Things you need to know
Author, Book Designer, Typesetter
 To publish something:
 authors give their typed manuscript to a publishing company.
 One of their book designers then decides the layout of the document and writes his
instructions into the manuscript and then gives it to a typesetter
 typesetter who typesets the book according to these instructions.
 In a LATEX environment,
 LATEX takes the role of the book designer and uses TEX as its typesetter.
 But LATEX is “only” a program and therefore needs more guidance. The author has to
provide additional information to describe the logical structure of his work.
 This information is written into the text as “LATEX commands.”
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6. Things you need to know
Latex’s advantages
 LATEX prevents formatting errors by forcing the author to declare the logical
structure of his document. LATEX then chooses the most suitable layout.
 Professionally crafted layouts are available, which make a document really look as
if “printed.”
 The typesetting of mathematical formulae is supported in a convenient way.
 Users only need to learn a few easy-to-understand commands that specify the
logical structure of a document.
 Even complex structures such as footnotes, references, table of contents, and
bibliographies can be generated easily.
 TEX, the formatting engine of LATEX2ε, is highly portable and free. Therefore the
system runs on almost any hardware platform available.
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7. Things you need to know
Latex’s installation
 On Linux OS systems: use Texlive as compiler and gedit as text editor
 On Mac OS: use MacTex as compiler and text wrangler as text editor
 On Windows: use MikTex as compiler and notepad++ as text editor
 Or you can use texclipse as text editor (full support for latex) on multiple platform
 On website:
 verbosus
 MonkeyTeX
 LaTeX Lab
 ShareLaTeX
 WriteLaTeX
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8. Things you need to know
Latex’s installation (cont.) - Texclipse
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9. Things you need to know
Files encounter
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10. Typesetting Text
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11. Typesetting Text
Input files
 Spaces:
 Several consecutive whitespace characters are treated as one “space”.
 Whitespace at the start of a line is generally ignored, and a single line break is treated as
“whitespace.”
 An empty line between two lines of text defines the end of a paragraph. Several empty
lines are treated the same as one empty line.
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12. Typesetting Text
Input files (cont.)
 Special Characters:
 Latex Commands:
 are case sensitive
 start with a backslash and then have a name consisting of letters only. Command
names are terminated by a space, a number or any other ‘non-letter.
 If you want to get a space after a command, you have to put either an empty parameter
{} and a blank or a special spacing command after the command name.
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13. Typesetting Text
Input files (cont.)
 Comments:
 a % character while processing an input file, it ignores the rest of the present line, the
line break, and all whitespace at the beginning of the next line.
 write notes into the input file, which will not show up in the printed version.
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14. Typesetting Text
Input file Structure
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15. Typesetting Text
The Layout of the documents
 M
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17. Typesetting Text
The Layout of the documents (cont.)
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18. Typesetting Text
The Layout of the documents (cont.)
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19. Typesetting Text
Line Breaking and Page Breaking
 To break a line, use:
 starts a new line without starting a new paragraph:
 additionally prohibits a page break after the forced line break:
 Start a new page:
 Several words can be kept together on one line with the command:
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20. Typesetting Text
Special character and strings
 Quotation marks:
 Dash and hyphens:
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21. Typesetting Text
Special character and strings (cont.)
 Degree symbols (℃):
 Euro currency symbols (€):
 Ellipsis (…)
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22. Typesetting Text
Titles, Chapters and Sections
 For article class:
 If you want to split your document in parts without influencing the section or
chapter numbering use:
 When you work with the report or book class, an additional top-level sectioning
command becomes available:
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23. Typesetting Text
Foot notes and emphasized words
 Footnotes:
 Emphasized words:
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24. Typesetting Text
Environments
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25. Typesetting Text
Environments – Flushleft, flushright, center
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26. Typesetting Text
Quote, Quotation, Abstract
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27. Typesetting Text
Verbatim, tabular
 begin{verbatim} and end{verbatim} will be directly printed, as if typed on a
typewriter:
 Tabular:
L: left aligned column
R: right aligned column
C: center aligned column
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28. Specialties
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29. Specialties
Figures and Tables
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30. Specialties
Figures and Tables (cont.)
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31. Specialties
Bibliography
 Produce a bibliography with the thebibliography environment. Each entry starts
with:
 The marker is then used to cite the book, article or paper within the document.
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32. Specialties
Table of contents (TOC)
 Create table of contents:
 In preamble section, add:
To describe title, author and the date written
 Make title commands:
 Cross references:
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33. Specialties
Indexing
 In the preamble:
 Content of the index is specified with:
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34. Specialties
Hypertext links
 For complete hypertext links
 Or embed explicit links:
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35. Specialties
Big Projects
 Use includeonly comment in preamble first
 Then use:
 Use:
 This makes LATEX skim through your document only checking for proper syntax
and usage of the commands, but doesn’t produce any (DVI) output.
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36. Specialties
Install Extra Packages
 Most LATEX installations come with a large set of pre-installed style packages
 But many more are available on the net. (e.g.: http://www.ctan.org/ )
 Or download template from www.latextemplates.com
 Or using package manager of each compiler to install extra packages
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37. Typesetting Mathematical
Formulae
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38. Typesetting Mathematical Formulae
AMS-LATEX – Single Equation
 AMS-LATEX is produced by The American Mathematical Society and it is used
extensively for mathematical typesetting.
Without numbering
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39. Typesetting Mathematical Formulae
Single Equations (cont.)
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40. Typesetting Mathematical Formulae
Single Equations (cont.)
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41. Typesetting Mathematical Formulae
Single Equations (cont.)
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42. Typesetting Mathematical Formulae
Single Equations (cont.)
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43. Typesetting Mathematical Formulae
Single Equations (cont.)
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44. Typesetting Mathematical Formulae
Multiple Equations (cont.)
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45. Typesetting Mathematical Formulae
Array and Matrices
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46. Typesetting Mathematical Formulae
Array and Matrices (cont.)
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47. Typesetting Mathematical Formulae
Theorems, lemmas…
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48. Typesetting Mathematical Formulae
Theorems, lemmas… (cont.)
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49. Producing Mathematical
graphics
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50. Producing Mathematical graphics
Picture environment – basic operations
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51. Producing Mathematical graphics
Line segments
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52. Producing Mathematical graphics
Arrows
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53. Producing Mathematical graphics
Circles
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54. Producing Mathematical graphics
Text and formulas
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55. Producing Mathematical graphics
Multiput, linethickness
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56. Producing Mathematical graphics
Ovals
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57. Producing Mathematical graphics
Predefined picture box
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58. Producing Mathematical graphics
Quadratic Bézier Curves
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59. Producing Mathematical graphics
The PGF and TikZ Graphics Packages (from latextemplates.com)
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60. Thank for your listening!