How to learn LaTeX

Introduction

LaTeX is a glorified word processor. Once you realize that the idea of the language is that "everything is in brackets," the rest is memorization of commands. Almost no one learns LaTeX in a formal way. Instead, solutions to typesetting problems can be looked up as needed. This guide will present a variety of online resources that can be consulted as necessary, and some methods for quickly finding the TeX you need.

LaTeX for any task

Whatever your typesetting needs, these two steps will be followed:

  1. Acquire an appropriate template: from your supervisor, professor, or target journal.
  2. Write your document, then add to it using TeX you've written, or that you've copied or modified from other sources. Repeat this step as necessary.

1. Acquiring templates

There are many places to get templates, but as a graduate student the most relevant are from:

  • your professor or supervisor: if you are writing for a class or a small project or talk not intended to be published, this is fine.
  • the University of Waterloo: theses at Waterloo must be submitted in a specific format. For details see the help page.
  • the journal in which you hope to publish: templates vary by publisher, with additional modifications for individual journals. The location of the template on journal web sites is not standard. The templates will often be referenced under "Instructions for Authors" or a similar heading, which is often placed in the sidebar.

2. Writing the document

  • For journal publication, don't just download the template and fill it in.
    • First, read a few articles from the journal. This will give you a sense of what the audience of that journal is interested in, and an idea of how your article will look using that template.
    • Once you understand the journal and its audience, you will have the context needed to write your submission in the journal's style, not just the journal's formatting. This will increase your chances of acceptance for publication.
  • There are many sources for TeX commands
    • Google yields excellent results for virtually any question you might have on typesetting in LaTeX. For more advanced questions include "stack exchange" in your query to ensure you reach those forums.
    • If you are unsure what to ask Google about the LaTeX, but know an equation in which the needed symbols might appear, consult Wikipedia. Typesetting of equations is also done in LaTeX on Wikipedia Find the equation or symbol you need, and click "edit" to view the source. The tex is in between the "math" html tags. If the section is long, search the source for text nearby the equation to find it more easily. For a detailed example click here.

Comprehensive tutorials:

For those who benefit from a more systematic learning style, the following are good resources. Just remember, there is a tremendous amount of available information on LaTeX, but you need only a very small amount of it in order to write a document.

Other resources:

  • Stack Exchange - The best place to get academic questions answered most of the time. Googling "latex resources stack exchange" gives A Big List on Stack Exchange - A great compilation of links relevant to learning LaTeX. Googling stack exchange is incredibly effective at finding answers to questions.
  • Short Math Guide - About 20 pages, mostly table of symbols and thier LaTeX commands.
  • amsmath Guide - The documentation for the amsmath package.
  • Math on the Web - Journal listings. Links to many Journals published by Springer, Wiley, Elsevier, etc.
  • Math mode - An in depth look at Math mode.