LaTeX How-Tos

[stevem]

You've read and understood AoPS LaTeX Guide and now you are ready to learn more about LaTeX. This topic will list some of the online and offline resources that are available. If you have a resource that you found useful in understanding LaTeX then please do post. However, the aim is not to give long lists that serve only to confuse, but to supply just a few good references.

Online Documentation

• The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e (or LaTeX2e in 139 minutes) is the classic online LaTeX manual for the beginner which is kept up-to-date. It is available in many languages.
  
• Math Mode by Herbert Voß. This is a superbly written guide to typing mathematics in LaTeX with beautifully illustrated examples. It has the best descriptions I've seen of how the AMSMath environments such as align, split etc work.
• The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List. Can't find that symbol you need? Then this is bound to have it and show you the commands to produce them. Please bear in mind that some symbols require special packages to be installed. There are two versions of the list depending on whether you use A4 or Letter paper.
  
• LaTeX Cheat Sheet is a handy two-page sheet of many LaTeX commands.
  
• The very short guide to typesetting with LaTeX. A 4-page A5-sized memory jogger you can carry with you.
  
• Formatting information best described by its subtitle A beginner's introduction to typesetting with LaTeX. The author, Peter Flynn, welcomes suggestions from newcomers to LaTeX on how the documentation can be improved.
  
• Online tutorials on LaTeX is a beautifully produced set of tutorials.
  
• Font selection in LaTeX: The most frequently asked questions is a beginner's guide to changing fonts for all or part of a document.

Online Help

Of course there is this forum but it may well be worthwhile searching:

• TeX Frequently Asked Questions. This is a searchable list for when you really can't find out how to do something which links to packages that may solve your problem. For example,
  • problems with layout eg Double-spaced documents in LaTeX
  • how to understand LaTeX errors eg An extra ‘}’??
  • or why you should do things in a certain way eg Why not use eqnarray?
• The comp.text.tex newsgroup is a vast resource going back more than 15 years, so you can bet your question has been asked there. Bear in mind that it is populated by advanced users so some of the answers are quite technical. Don't even think of asking a question there until you have read How to ask a question and How to make a “minimum example”. We are more forgiving on this forum but How to make a “minimum example” is still worth reading.

Tips

• Click here for a useful list of newcommands which help cut down the amount of typing required.
  
  

  Code:

  %calculus \newcommand{\ddd}[2]{\frac{{\rm d}^{2} #1}{{\rm d} #2 ^{2}}} \newcommand{\dd}[2]{\frac{{\rm d} #1}{{\rm d} #2}} \newcommand{\ddn}[3]{\frac{{\rm d}^{#1} #2}{{\rm d} #3 ^{#1}}} \newcommand{\pdd}[2]{\frac{\partial #1}{\partial #2}} \newcommand{\pddd}[2]{\frac{\partial^{2} #1}{\partial #2 ^{2}}} \newcommand{\pdddm}[3]{\frac{\partial^{2} #1}{\partial #2 \partial #3}} \newcommand{\pddn}[3]{\frac{\partial^{#1} #2}{\partial #3 ^{#1}}} \newcommand{\wrt}[1]{\; {\rm d} #1} \newcommand{\de}{differential equation} \newcommand{\Diff}{\operatorname{{\mathbf D}}} \newcommand{\grad}{\operatorname{{\mathrm grad}}} \newcommand{\diverg}{\operatorname{{\mathrm div}}} \newcommand{\curl}{\operatorname{{\mathrm curl}}} \newcommand{\sgn}{\operatorname{{\mathrm sgn}}} \newcommand{\Ltran}[1]{\mathcal{L} \left( #1 \right) } \newcommand{\Ftran}[1]{\mathcal{F} \left( #1 \right) } \newcommand{\Ftrani}[1]{\mathcal{F}^{-1} \left( #1 \right) } \newcommand{\cosec}{\operatorname{cosec}} %management \newcommand{\cc}{computational complexity} \newcommand{\search}{\operatorname{{\mathrm Search}}} \newcommand{\comp}{\operatorname{{\mathrm Comp}}} %Groups \newcommand{\rotn}{\operatorname{{\mathrm rot}}} \newcommand{\refl}{\operatorname{{\mathrm ref}}} \newcommand{\orbit}{\operatorname{{\mathrm orb}}} \newcommand{\stab}{\operatorname{{\mathrm stab}}} \newcommand{\tran}[2]{\begin{pmatrix} #1 & #2 \end{pmatrix}} \newcommand{\dcup}{\operatorname{\dot{\cup}}} \newcommand{\Dcup}{\operatornamewithlimits{\dot{\bigcup}}} \newcommand{\fix}{\operatorname{\mathrm{fix}}} \newcommand{\Ccl}[2]{\mathrm{Cl}_{#1} \left( #2 \right)} \newcommand{\cntrl}[2]{\mathrm{C}_{#1} \left( #2 \right)} \newcommand{\cntr}[1]{\mathrm{Z} \left( #1 \right)} \newcommand{\rel}[3]{#1 \, #2 \, #3} \newcommand{\Image}{\operatorname{\mathrm{Im}}} \newcommand{\id}{\operatorname{\mathrm{Id}}} \newcommand{\GL}[2]{\mathrm{GL}\left(#1,#2\right)} \newcommand{\Span}[1]{\mathrm{Span}\left\{#1\right\}} %other algebra \newcommand{\GF}[1]{\mathrm{GF}\left(#1 \right)} \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\left\langle #1 , #2 \right\rangle} \newcommand{\iinner}[2]{\left\langle \! \left\langle #1, #2 \right\rangle \! \right\rangle} \newcommand{\res}[3]{\operatorname{Res}^{#1}_{#2}\left(#3\right)} \newcommand{\ind}[3]{\operatorname{Ind}_{#1}^{#2}\left(#3\right)} \newcommand{\bigplus}{\operatornamewithlimits{\text{\Large{+}}}} % Analysis \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\Arrowvert #1 \Arrowvert} %stats \newcommand{\Fdist}[2]{{\mathcal F}_{#1,#2}} \newcommand{\Ndist}[2]{{\mathcal N} \left( #1,#2 \right) } \newcommand{\Xdist}[1]{\chi^{2}_{#1} } \newcommand{\iid}{independently and identically distributed} \newcommand{\var}{\operatorname{{\mathrm var}}} \newcommand{\MSE}[1]{\operatorname{{\mathrm MSE}} \left( #1 \right)} \newcommand{\cov}[2]{\operatorname{\mathrm{cov}} \left( #1 , #2 \right) } \newcommand{\mean}{\operatornamewithlimits{{\mathbb E}}} \renewcommand{\hat}{\Hat} \newcommand{\trace}{\operatorname{{\mathrm tr}}} \newcommand{\hvtr}[1]{\hat{\boldsymbol{\mathrm{#1}}}} \newcommand{\Prob}[1]{\mathrm{Pr} \left\{ #1 \right\} } \newcommand{\MA}[1]{\mathrm{MA} \left( #1 \right) } \newcommand{\AR}[1]{\mathrm{AR} \left( #1 \right) } \newcommand{\ARMA}[2]{\mathrm{ARMA} \left( #1, #2 \right)} \newcommand{\ARIMA}[3]{\mathrm{ARMA} \left( #1, #2, #3 \right)} \newcommand{\glim}[1]{\texttt{\$#1\$}} \newcommand{\sterr}[1]{\operatorname{sterr}\left(#1\right)} \renewcommand{\limsup}{\operatornamewithlimits{\overline{lim}}} \renewcommand{\liminf}{\operatornamewithlimits{\underline{lim}}} %vectors + complex \newcommand{\Arg}{\operatorname{{\mathrm Arg}}} \newcommand{\Res}[2]{\mathrm{Res} \left( #1 , #2 \right) } %\DeclareMathAlphabet{\m}{OT1}{cmss}{m}{sl} % for matrices \newcommand{\vtr}[1]{\boldsymbol{\mathrm{#1}}}    % \DeclareMathAlphabet doesn't do symbols bold so can't be used for    % \vtr \newcommand{\Log}{\operatorname{{\mathrm Log}}} \newcommand{\Ln}{\operatorname{{\mathrm Ln}}} \newcommand{\dotp}{\cdot} \newcommand{\Int}{\operatorname{{\mathrm Int}}} \newcommand{\Ext}{\operatorname{{\mathrm Ext}}} \newcommand{\Real}{\operatorname{{\mathrm Re}}} \newcommand{\Imag}{\operatorname{{\mathrm Im}}} \newcommand{\vwrt}[1]{\dotp {\rm d} \vtr{#1}} \newcommand{\dist}[2]{d \left( #1 , #2 \right)} %General \newcommand{\blah}[2]{\left( #1_{1}, #1_{2},\dots,#1_{#2} \right)} \newcommand{\bla}[2]{ #1_{1}, #1_{2},\dots,#1_{#2}} \newcommand{\blaha}[2]{ #1_{1}+ #1_{2}+\dots+#1_{#2}} \newcommand{\tagchar}{$\ast$} \newcommand{\divs}{ \! \mid \! } \newcommand{\ndivs}{ \! \nmid \! } \newcommand{\bdry}{\operatorname{{\mathrm Bdry}}} \newcommand{\ham}[2]{\mathrm{Ham} \left( #1 , #2 \right)} \newcommand{\change}{\operatornamewithlimits{\bigtriangleup}}

  (collected from http://web.mat.bham.ac.uk/pgweb/Yr2002/LaTeXcommands.html)
  So instead of typing \frac{{\rm d}^{2} y}{{\rm d} x ^{2}} to get you just say \ddn{3}{y}{x} (note the use of an upright d). I have attached a visual list which shows the actual formulae. They are for use in your documents not the forum.

Books
There is nothing to beat a good book. Like mathematics you can only go so far online; to really get a grip on the subject you need a book.

• Guide to LaTeX by Kopka & Daly. This is an excellent guide for beginning to intermediate users. It covers everything from layout to mathematics to fonts to bibliography to error messages with much more besides. If you do nothing else, then get hold of this book and read it!
  
• LaTeX Companion by Frank Mittelbach & others. This is a massive book for intermediate to advanced users and is probably the LaTeX reference book. But you won't need it until you've outgrown Kopka & Daly.

Have you any recommendations for resources? You must have found it useful and please say why you would recommend it to others.

[Prime factorization]

I was searching for an AMS guide and I found this http://www.princeton.edu/~yyi/useful/Mathmode-TeX.pdf. It's very comprehensive (perhaps a little too much seeing as it is 96 pages).

[stevem]

Yes it is good though you'll find the latest version linked to above as Math Mode by Herbert Voß.