Scribd
Upload
19 views8 pages

Introduction To LaTeX - Dumitrescu

LaTeX is a document preparation system used for high-quality typesetting, especially for technical and scientific documents. It was created by Leslie Lamport and is based on the typesetting system TeX developed by Donald Knuth. LaTeX uses markup tags to control formatting and structure, allowing authors to focus on logical structure rather than aesthetic formatting. The basic document structure in LaTeX includes a preamble specifying document class and packages, front matter with title and author, body sections, and back matter like a bibliography. LaTeX makes it easy to include mathematical equations, footnotes, references, and other complex elements in documents.

Uploaded by

anuraganu202016
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
19 views8 pages

Introduction To LaTeX - Dumitrescu

LaTeX is a document preparation system used for high-quality typesetting, especially for technical and scientific documents. It was created by Leslie Lamport and is based on the typesetting system TeX developed by Donald Knuth. LaTeX uses markup tags to control formatting and structure, allowing authors to focus on logical structure rather than aesthetic formatting. The basic document structure in LaTeX includes a preamble specifying document class and packages, front matter with title and author, body sections, and back matter like a bibliography. LaTeX makes it easy to include mathematical equations, footnotes, references, and other complex elements in documents.

Uploaded by

anuraganu202016
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 8

Introduction to LaTeX

What is LaTeX?
• LaTeX is pronounced “lay-tech” or “lah-tech,”
not “la-teks.”
• It is a document preparation system for high-
quality typesetting.
• LaTeX is most often used to produce technical
or scientific documents, but it can be used for
almost any form of publishing.
• "La" in LaTeX stands for "Lamport," referring
to Leslie Lamport, the creator of LaTeX. "TeX"
is the typesetting system developed by Donald
Knuth, upon which LaTeX is based.
Why Use LaTeX?
• Designed by academics and easily accommodates academic
use.
• Professionally crafted predefined layouts make a document
really look as if “printed.”
• Mathematical symbols and equations are easily integrated.
• Even complex structures such as footnotes, references, table
of contents, and bibliographies can be generated easily.
• Forces author to focus on logical instead of aesthetic
structure of a document.
• Creates more beautiful documents.
• Portable, compatible, flexible, versatile, and cheap (or free)!
Basic Document Structure
• The format of a document is pretty simple.
– In the preamble
• Documentclass
• Packages
– In the front matter
• Title/author
– In the body
• Contents
– In the back matter
• bibliography
In the Preamble
• You specify your document class.
– Document classes: letter, article, report, book,
slides(beamer, prosper)
• \documentclass[12pt]{article}
• Backslash – at the beginning of text markup command
– Packages: numerous packages are available
• \usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
• \usepackage{setspace}
• \usepackage{harvard}
In the Front Matter
• \begin{document}
• \title{}
• \author{}
• \maketitle
• \begin{abstract}
• \end{abstract}
• \pagebreak
In the Body
• To begin a new section
• \section{}
– Similarly, \subsection{}, \subsubsection{}, \
subsubsubsection{}
– LaTeX does automatic numbering. If you don’t like it,
use section*{}
• \emph{}, \textbf{}
• \singlespacing, \doublespacing, \onehalfspacing
• \centering or \begin{centering} & \end{centering}
Footnotes/Quotes/Equations
• \footnote{}
• \begin{quote} & \end{quote}
• ` ’, `` ’’ for quatations
• Mathematical Equations
– Math is always in between $ & $
• Alternatively, \begin{equation} & \end{equation}
– $ 1+4=5 $
– \frac{}{}, \sqrt{}, \sum_{k=1}^{n}
– ^{}, _{}
– \greek letters (e.g. \alpha or \Alpha)

You might also like