Introduction to

Thomas Madsen

I am not an expert

• I am still a beginner

I am not an expert

• I am still a beginner

• Many people know much more about this than me!

I am not an expert

• I am still a beginner

• Many people know much more about this than me!

• Everyone has their way of doing this

What is LaTeX?

• LaTeX is a way that one can type up math in a way that "looks nice“

• Philosophy: LaTeX is based on the idea that authors should be able to focus on the meaning of what they are writing without being distracted by the visual presentation of the information.

• It is alive and changing

Why use LaTeX?

• It looks pretty (compare with MS Word)

• If you want to write articles you "need" to use LaTeX

• If you want to write a thesis you "need" to use LaTeX anyway

Why use LaTeX?

• It looks pretty (compare with MS Word)

• If you want to write articles you "need" to use LaTeX

• If you want to write a thesis you "need" to use LaTeX anyway

• It is free (compare with M$)

You need

• A computer with Windows (or Linux or another operating system)

• LaTeX iteself        - there are many versions

• Editor (where you type the "code")

• A program to view pdf-files (and maybe ps-files)

Where to get LaTeX

• One version good for starters is MikTeX. Get it here:         http://miktex.org/

• Other good version for Windows is proTeXt :        http://www.tug.org/protext/        (includes Ghostscript, and GSview)

• Other "distributions" go to the official LaTeX webpage        http://www.latex-project.org/        (Official LaTeX webpage)

The Editor

• Winshell (free): http://www.winshell.de/     

• WinEdT(not free): http://www.winedt.com/(WinEdT is on the math computers)

Dvi viewer

• The program Yap is used to view .dvi files - comes with the MikTeX package

PDF-viewer

• Foxit reader (free, fast, light): http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

• Adobe reader (free, slow, heavy): http://www.adobe.com/

Maybe You Want

• GhostScript: http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/doc/GPL/gpl860.htm        (needed for GSview)

• GSwiew: http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/get49.htm

        (to view ps-files)

Other Useful Links• http://www.ctan.org/

"collection of materials related to the TeX typesetting"

• http://www.tug.org/The TeX Users Group web site

• http://www.google.com/There are already tons of web sites out there

• http://math.ou.edu/~mgsa/latex.htmlThe MGSA page on LaTeX

• http://www.latex-project.org/guides/Guides for LaTeX. In particular: The (Not So) Short Introduction to LaTeX2eExcellent place to start!

The process

• You write the .tex file in the editor

• The program LaTeX creates a .dvi file

• You can view this .dvi file

• Or you can create a .ps or .pdf file

• .tex --> .dvi --> .ps or .pdf