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LaTeX <TeX (Web2C 7.3.1) 3.14159
kpathsea version 3.3.1 >
LaTeX is ideal for book publishing, for documents that should look
beautiful, and for technical publishing. LaTeX is a special version of
TeX
--preloaded with a voluminous set of macros that
simplify most formatting tasks. LaTeX is easier to learn than TeX because
of its more friendly syntax.
Using the Software
Create your source text (using your editor of choice) in a file with
formatting instructions embedded. As an example, the file
'paper.tex' containing
interspersed text and commands would look something like this:
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\begin{document}
An example of a source text file. To emphasize text use the \textbf{bold
face} or \emph{italic} options.
\begin{center}
Have fun learning \LaTeX!
\end{center}
\end{document}
To process the example 'paper.tex' file, type:
- % latex paper
LaTeX formats the interspersed text and commands contained in
the named file and outputs the typesetter independent file
(called DVI which is short for DeVice Iindependent)
'paper.dvi'.
The resulting paper can be sent to a Postscript printer using the
following sequence:
- % dvips -o paper.ps paper
- % lpr -h -Pmy_printer paper.ps
where paper.ps is the name you give to the
resulting Postscript file, and my_printer is the name
of a printer that is connected to our UW Technology system (to see
how to connect your printer to UW Technology send email to
help@cac.washington.edu).
Alternately, you can convert your ".ps" file to another format,
using the gs (GhostScript) command. For example, the
following sequence converts paper.ps to
paper.jpg
- gs -sDEVICE=jpeg -r200x200 -sOutputFile=paper.jpg paper.ps
See % man gs for other formats.
Documentation
The main online reference is:
LaTeX – A document preparation system>
Some useful reference books, include:
- Leslie Lamport. LaTeX. 2nd edition, Addison Wesley, 1994
ISBN: 0-201-52983-1
- Michel Goossens, Frank Mittlebach, Alexander Samarin. The LaTeX
Companion. Addison Wesley, 1994.
ISBN: 0-201-54199-8
A man page is available. At the system prompt type:
- % man latex
Sample documents and class style files are available which describe
the use of a specialized macro package developed specifically for thesis
preparation at the University of Washington.
Technical Support
To request assistance,
send email to help@cac.washington.edu or call 206-543-5970.
The UW TeX User
Group meets
regularly to help support TeX users on
campus. Contact Stacy Waters (stacy@ms.washington.edu or 206-543-5370) for
information.
TeX Frequently Asked
Questions.
A subscription to electronic mailing
lists for TeX offers the opportunity to discuss LaTeX issues with
other users.
(software update installed on 6/21/98)
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![[Software Guide]](/computing/software/graphics/SG.gif)
