An introduction to LATEX

Research Methodology

Mattias Nilsson

17 November
1 Introduction
2 Software
3 Getting started
4 Some basics
5 Mathematics
6 Tables
7 Pictures
8 References
9 Cross-reference
10 Error-handling
11 Help

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 2 / 37

Introduction

LATEX is a typesetting program, not a word processing program.

LATEX is free.
LATEX is good to use when you want to write scientific documents.
LATEX is a programming language.
You write your text in an editor and then compile it. After compilation
you get a document in PS-, DVI- or PDF-format.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 3 / 37

Software

The software you need is free and available on internet.

Distributors
Miktex - Windows http://www.miktex.org/
Tex Live - Linux http://www.tug.org/texlive/
Mactex - Mac OSX http://tug.org/mactex/
Text editors
Texniccenter - Windows http://www.texniccenter.org/
Gnu Emacs http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/
Kile - Linux http://www.kile.sourceforge.net/
Texshop - Mac OSX http://www.uoregon.edu/~koch/texshop/
Moreover
Adobe reader
Ghostscript

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 4 / 37

Getting started

The file where you are writing your document in should be named *.tex.
The document should have the following structure:

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}

%Load packages

\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[swedish,english]{babel}
\usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}

\begin{document}
A short example of how to structure your document.
\end{document}

Text after \end{document} will be ignored.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 5 / 37

Getting started

You can load different packages with the command \usepackage{}

All commands starts with the symbol \
The command \\ gives a new line. (But it is recommended to insert a
blank line to mark where a new part begins)
To insert a space after a command, type \ directly after the command. For
example \LaTeX\ generates:
LATEX with a space, compare with \LaTeX, which gives LATEXwithout space.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 6 / 37

Getting started

Some signs are reserved by LATEX. All of them are presented in the table
below

Sign Command in LATEX

\ \textbackslash
{ \{
} \}
% \%
~ \textasciitilde
$ \$
_ \_
^ \textasciicircum
& \&
# \#

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 7 / 37

Some basics

Here is an example of how to create a front page with title, date and
author:
\title{Name of the report}
\author{Student1 \and Student2}
\date{\today}
\maketitle

The result is presented on next page.

You can also add subtitle with the command \subtitle{} and more
authors with the command \and.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 8 / 37

Some basics

Name of the report

Student1 Student2

August 9, 2010

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 9 / 37

Some basics

A table of contents are genereted with the command \tableofcontents.

You can devide your paper into different sections and subsections with the
commands \section{} and \subsection{}. If you want further
subsections, just type \subsubsection{}.

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Some basics

If you want to make your text bold, use the command \textbf{}
If you want to make your text italic, use the command \textit{}
If you want to underline your text, use the command \underline{}

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 11 / 37

Some basics

A centered text is created with the commands \begin{center } and

\end{center }.
A left aligned text is created with the commands \begin{flushleft} and
\end{flushleft}.
A right aligned text is created with the commands \begin{flushright} and
\end{flushright}.
For example the code
\begin{center}
Centered text
\end{center}

gives the result

Centered text

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 12 / 37

Some basics

A page break can be inserted with one of the following commands:

\newpage
\clearpage
\cleardoublepage
A foot note is made with the command \footnote{text}

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 13 / 37

Some basics

A numbered list is inserted with the command \begin {enumerate}.

Every new item in the list is created with the command \item.
1 Some text.
2 Some more text.
3 Even more text.
To create a list without numbers, use the command \begin{itemize}.
The above example where made with the following code:
\begin{enumerate}
\item Some text.
\item Some more text.
\item Even more text.
\end{enumerate}

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 14 / 37

Mathematics

To be able to write mathematics you need to load the following package

\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,amsthm,upref}
When you write mathematics. You have two choices:
Directly in the text, between dollar signs, examples:
$f(x)$ gives the result f (x)
$e^t + 3$ gives the result et + 3
$ \sin(x) $ gives the result sin(x)
Independently in a environment.
equation - gives a number on the equation
align - several rows, with the possibility to adjust
gather - several rows, centered

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 15 / 37

Mathematics

It now follows some examples of the different environments. The code

\begin{equation}
\int_{0}^{\infty}{\frac{\sin x}{x}}dx=\frac{\pi}{2}.
\end{equation}

Generates the following:

∞
sin x
Z
π
dx = . (1)
0 x 2

If you want to create equations without a number, type \[ and \] instead of

\begin{equation} and \end{equation}.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 16 / 37

Mathematics
The environment align can be used to adjust several lines. Note how the
signs & and \\ is used in the following code. The signs & will lie on a
vertical line. The sign \\ indicates a new row.
\begin{align}
f^2 + g^4 & = 4 \\
2f^2 + 5g^4 & = 6\\
7f^2 + 3g^4 & = 8
\end{align}

This generates the following:

f 2 + g4 = 4 (2)
2f 2 + 5g 4 = 6 (3)
2 4
7f + 3g = 8 (4)
To write several equations without numbers, just use the symbol * in the
name of the enviroment. For example \begin{align*} generates the same
code as above, but without numbering.
Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 17 / 37
Mathematics

If you use the environment gather then will every row be centered.
\begin{gather}
x^2 = 4 \\
\sin^2 (x) + \cos^2(x) = 1
\end{gather}

The above code generates the following:

x2 = 4 (5)
2 2
sin (x) + cos (x) = 1 (6)

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 18 / 37

Mathematics

Rational expressions are typed with the command

\frac{numerator }{denominator }.
The code
\[
\frac{1+\cos2x}{2} = \cos^2x.
\]

gives
1 + cos 2x
= cos2 x.
2

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 19 / 37

Mathematics

To get parenthesis in the correct size, use \left and \right. Compare
√ √ 
x x
( ) with .
2 2

This example was made with the following code:

\[
(\frac{\sqrt{x}}{2}) \text{ with } \left(\frac{\sqrt{x}}{2}\
right).
\]

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 20 / 37

Mathematics

Cases are typed with the command \begin{cases}. The code

\[
f(x)=
\begin{cases}
x & \text{ if } x>2 \\
x−4 & \text{ if } x \leq 2.
\end{cases}
\]

Gives this result: (

x if x > 2
f (x) =
x −4 if x ≤ 2.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 21 / 37

Mathematics

When you write mathematics note that the sentences has to be complete.
Formulas and symbols have to be a part of a sentence.
We will talk more about this later.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 22 / 37

Tables

This is an example of how to insert a table:

\begin{tabular}{columns}
text
\end{tabular}

Where columns can be one or several of the following:

l - align left
c - centered
r - align right
| - vertical line

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 23 / 37

Tables

If you want to insert a horizontal line, type \hline.

The commands \\ and & is used to mark when a new row and column
begins.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 24 / 37

Tables

The code
\begin{tabular}{|c|cr|}
\hline
AB & CD & DE \\
\hline
12 & 34 & 56 \\
45 & 24 & 61 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

Generates this table:

AB CD DE
12 34 56
45 24 61

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 25 / 37

Pictures

To be able to insert pictures, you have to load one of the following

packages, depending on the compiler:
\usepackage[dvips]{graphicx}
\usepackage[pdftex]{graphicx}
The recommended image format is
LATEX - .eps, .mps.
pdfLATEX - .jpg, .mps, .pdf, png.
You can use the schools computers to convert pictures to desired format.
Pictures are inserted with the command
\includegraphics[parameters]{filename}
The picture should be in the same folder as your document.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 26 / 37

Pictures

With [parameters] can we manipulate the picture. Some of the commands

are
height - Change the height of the picture
width - Change the width of the picture
scale - Scale the picture with a given factor
For example, if we want to insert the picture, testpicture.eps, with the
height and width 4.8cm and 3.7cm respective. We write
\includegraphics[height=4.8cm,width=3.7cm]{testpicture.eps}

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 27 / 37

Pictures

It is recommended to insert pictures and tables in a floating environment.

That means that the object is inserted either in the top or bottom of the
page.
There are two different standard environment, figure and table. The
code
\begin{floatingobject}[where]
picture or table
\end{floatingobject}

inserts a picture or table, depending on your choice. The command where

should be replaced with one of the following
h - Here, the object is placed where you insert it
t - Top, the object is placed on the top of the page
b - Bottom, the object is placed on the bottom of the page
p - Page, the object is placed on a new page.
Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 28 / 37
Pictures

Picture- and table text is inserted with the command

\caption{text}
To center the object, use \centering.
We are now ready for an example. To insert a graph in the format .jpg,
type the following code
\begin{figure}[b]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=6cm]{graph.jpg}
\caption{The graph $f(x)=x^2$.}
\end{figure}

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 29 / 37

Pictures

Figure: The graph f (x) = x 2 .

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 30 / 37

References

A bibliography are typed with the environment

\begin{thebibliography}{9}
\bibitem[text]{tag}
\end{thebibliography}

To refer to a reference, use the command \cite{tag}.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 31 / 37

References

The code generates the bibliography on next page

\begin{thebibliography}{9}
\bibitem{brockwell}
Brockwell, Peter \& Davis, Richard (2002), \emph{
Introduction to Time Series and Forecasting}, Second
edition, New York: Springer−Verlag.
\bibitem{resnick}
Resnick, S.I. (1987), \emph{Extreme Values, Regular Variation
, and Point Processes}, New York: Springer−Verlag.
\end{thebibliography}

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 32 / 37

References

Brockwell, Peter & Davis, Richard (2002), Introduction to Time Series

and Forecasting, Second edition, New York: Springer-Verlag.
Resnick, S.I. (1987), Extreme Values, Regular Variation, and Point
Processes, New York: Springer-Verlag.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 33 / 37

Cross-reference

To be able to refer to an object, the object first needs an label. This is

done with the command \label{tag }.
To refer to an object write
\ref{tag } - refer to an object, for example picture or table.
\pageref{tag } - refer to a page.
\eqref{tag } - refer to an equation.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 34 / 37

Cross-reference

Example of how to refer to an equation:

\begin{equation}
a^2+b^2=c^2
\label{eq: pyth}
\end{equation}
We all know the meaning of equaion~\eqref{eq: pyth}.

The above code gives the result:

a2 + b 2 = c 2 . (7)
We all know the meaning of equation (7).

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 35 / 37

Error-handling

Sometimes when you compile, you will note that the code does not work.
Then you have to search for errors.
Some common errors are
Misspelling
Forgot a right parenthesis.
Using wrong commands in wrong environment. For example
\frac{}{} when you write text.
Forgot to close an environment.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 36 / 37

Help

Don’t be afraid to use internet to find out more about LATEX.

There are a lot of litterature available in the library and on internet.
The Not So Short Introduction to LATEX 2ε
http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf
Contains almost all information you need to know about LATEX.

Mattias Nilsson () An introduction to LATEX 17 November 37 / 37