Notes on LaTeX, a super-set of TeX, invented by Donald Knuth

Created July 23, 2005

Updated and revised: July 1st, 2006

Author: Bill Thomassen, NoveltyHill Networks


Audience: a fairly computer-literate person, who has never done any typesetting, but probably some word-processing.

Questions:

Why do I need Computer Typesetting?

What's wrong with Word Processing?

Answers: {more material forthcoming}

WYSIWIM ("What You See is What I Meant") as an alternative to "WYSIWYG" Word Processing.

What to Unlearn:     worrying about Formatting and Appearance, while you should be Creating, Thinking, and Writing.


Easy Start (in the spirit of "My First Program" on HowStuffWorks.com):


What we're gonna do:

  1. Download PCTeX 5.0, and install it.

  2. Start it up.

  3. Keyboard some Stuff into the Editor. (actually, we'll just use the "Article.tex" file that PCTeX starts up with, and modify its contents...)

  4. Typeset our first LaTeX Document.

  5. Print it out, too!


Ok, here we go:

  1. We'll use a commercial TeX implementation first (why?), just to get the hang of it, since it combines Editor with Typesetting, as well as Help and various Macro Keys, in a very trouble-free and non-technical package.

    [Check out pctex.com, just to see what we're getting into.]

    2. Download PCTeX 5.0 from:   http://wlt.freeshell.org/Software/TeX/PCTeX_50/

    download and save "setup.exe" to a folder on your computer, someplace such as "Downloads\PCTeX 5".

    Here's the Registration Key:     NSTLF-5RP5T-TLFDY-AXTB4-TLJ6Z

    You can copy-and-paste it into the Registration dialogue box.

  2. Install that software. (be sure you are running Windows in "Administrator" permissions mode)

  3. Fire it up.

  4. It should open a file called "Article.tex".

    5. If it doesn't, you should be able to Open it, from C:\Program Files\PCTeX\PCTeXv5\samples

    Make sure that the pull-down selector says "LaTeX".

    Note that PCTeX color-codes different parts of the TeX language, just like a programming-language-oriented Text Editor.

    On my screen, the comments (starting with a %) are green; how about on yours?

    Note that it's just plain textual material, with a bunch of \tags. You don't have to use the PCTeX system to create .tex files; you can use any kind of Text Editor, just like HTML files. There are, though, Editors that are specially-equipped for TeX file production; see www.WinEdt.com, for a great shareware example.

  5. Click the "Typeset" button.

    6. You should see a window open near the bottom of the screen, where the PCTeX Editor actually "calls" the TeX typesetting "compiler", which generates "Article.DVI" (a DVI file is "device-independent", meaning that it will print, pretty much identically, on any kind of printing device, that's got a DVI Device Driver for it.

  6. If you wish, print your document!

More material: (in progress)

a Quick Reference Card, a LaTeX Symbols Reference, more Sample Documents to inspect and typeset, links to Documentation and Online Materials, how to auto-generate Indices and Tables of Contents, how to include Images, and More.

Links:

Thanks for being my Test Subject!!    I do hope that you find as much pleasure and satisfaction in Computer Typesetting as I do.

WLT


Notes:

Why use a commercial version?: for the first-time User, the installation is MUCH simpler, and the "WYSIWYG" Editor, and auto-magic linking to the TeX Compiler, make it a good starting version.