Getting Started

Introduction

Welcome to LaTeX 101!

Whether you have just heard about LaTeX or have already started out on a journey of learning this is the place to be!

LaTeX is a document preparation macro language based on the original TeX language created by Computing Science legend Donald Knuth (opens new window) in 1978.

If you've ever looked at a Computing or Mathematical Science research paper then there's a very good chance it was prepared in LaTeX!

How it Works

Unlike preparing a document in word processing software such as MS Word or LibreOffice Writer, documents in LaTeX are prepared as plain text files, and then processed to produce an output file (typically a PDF).

This means that a shift in mindset is needed when moving to using LaTeX, instead of the usual paradigm of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), where a document is prepared in a word processor and the on screen display matches the final output we move to WYMIWYG (what you mean is what you get) where we 'markup' the document with instructions about layout and focus mainly on the content.

How to Use This Site

LaTeX 101 provides all the information you need to get started in using LaTeX.

Installing

Has instructions for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. Once you've got LaTeX installed, you're ready to write!

Creating Documents

Shows the structure of a LaTeX document and how to create your first document.

Sandbox

Is where you can dive in and play with a full LaTeX document, edit and play to your heart's content.

All the other sections of the guide are there to explain individual topics within LaTeX.

Site Code

On LaTeX 101 all code examples are written either as short snippets like this: example command, or in full boxes like this:

Hello world from \LaTeX{}.

All text boxes have a copy button in the bottom right hand corner to make it easy to copy code examples.

Live LaTeX

Throughout the site are working examples for you to play with and edit. If you get an error see if you can fix it!

Code Challenges

Within each section, challenges are set for you to test your LaTeX skills against. To see the solutions click on the answer to reveal the correct code.

Answer

\begin{itemize}
  \item One
  \item Two
  \item Three
\end{itemize}

Tips

If something is important or noteworthy it will be presented like this

Important

LaTeX is fun!

TLDR

If you're lucky enough to be running Linux, the following should be enough to get a minimal setup running on a Debian or RedHat derived system.

Now create a new text file nano test.tex with the contents

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{article}

\begin{document}
Hello world from \LaTeX.
\end{document}

Now run pdflatex test.txt, and you're done!