TeX and LaTeX Resources

The mathematics department has a special interest in promoting the use of TeX and LaTeX for writing pretty much anything —papers, theses, homework, even posters!

We have a Tips & Tricks document (PDF; 616 KB) that gives you some hints about the trickier aspects of using TeX and LaTeX on the department's systems.

HMC Classes

We have a number of locally developed LaTeX classes for use in formatting documents. These classes are installed in /shared/local/share/texmf on the department's Linux systems, and can also be downloaded for use on your own machine.

These classes include:

Packages

The department also has a number of LaTeX packages or style files that we have developed. Packages that are not available from CTAN may be available for download from our LaTeX package section. (The “home pages” for such packages are also located in this section.)

Sample Documents

The hmcposter class includes a sample document. For Clinic and thesis reports, you can download and TeX our sample report, which can be built against either class and produce both a sample Clinic report and a sample thesis.

Bibliography Styles

We have several bibliography styles available for use with these classes or on your own projects.

TeX Systems

To use TeX or LaTeX, you need a “TeX system”. If you're using a department machine, there's probably already some TeX system installed, but for your own machine you'll need to buy or download a TeX system and install it. There are some commercial systems, but most people (including us!) use the free ones, so that's what we'll talk about here.

For Linux

Most Linux distributions have TeX available in prebuilt packages, so all you have to do is figure out which packages are available on your system and run the appropriate package-management tool to install them.

TeX-Live is the current best choice, but some older systems may only have teTeX (which was the previous best choice) available. Both are good.

For Debian or Ubuntu, apt-get install tetex (on older systems); or apt-get install texlive (on newer systems).

For Red Hat Enterprise Linux, up2date --install teTeX; for CentOS or Fedora, yum -y install tetex.

For Windows

TUG has a package called proTeXt. We have a local mirror of the (very large—~550 MB) package.

ProTeX includes MikTeX, some editor/front-end programs (including TeXnicCenter (free) and WinEDT (shareware)) to make using TeX easier, and some other tools, all in one package.

For Mac OS X

MacTeX is what you want. MacTeX includes a TeX-Live–based TeX system, various front-end programs, including TeXShop, and a bunch of other useful tools for editing BibTeX databases, typesetting small pieces of LaTeX code (for including in other types of documents), and so on.

As with proTeXt, we have a local mirror of this very large (~750 MB) package.

Note that the MacTeXtras disk image has some additional tools, documentation, and demonstrations that are not included in the MacTeX disk image.

Some Online TeX and LaTeX Resources

TUG's Getting Started with TeX, LaTeX, and Friends.
Links to lots of resources for getting started learning and using Tex, LaTeX, and, well, Friends!
TUG's TeX and LaTeX Documentation.
Formatting Information: A Beginner's Guide to LaTeX, by Peter Flynn, Silmaril Associates
A good, detailed, introductory guide covering the use of TeX and LaTeX on Macs, Windows, and Unix/Linux systems. Available in HTML and PDF.
CTAN—the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network
CTAN maintains a comprehensive archive of TeX and LaTeX packages, formats, fonts, document classes, documentation, and other materials, including complete TeX systems.
We maintain our own local CTAN mirror, as well.
The UK-TUG FAQ
Answers many frequently asked questions about TeX and LaTeX. A good first place to check if you're having problems.
comp.text.tex
comp.text.tex is the official Usenet newsgroup for discussing TeX and LaTeX questions. Chances are that any problems you're having, someone else has already had, asked about on ctt, and gotten an answer. You can search the newsgroup with Google.
Google
Google is probably your best bet for finding information outside comp.text.tex, as well.
TUG, the TeX Users Group
TUG is the main international TeX User Group. TUG runs annual conferences, maintains and distributes the TeX Live CD-ROM, and supports the work of the LaTeX Project Team.
Using Imported Graphics in LaTeX and pdfLaTeX (PDF)
Keith Reckdahl explains how to include graphics using the standard TeX->DVI->PostScript and the newer PDFTeX->PDF approaches to TeX compilation. He also talks about the different graphics formats available and their advantages and disadvantages, explains how to include multiple images in a single figure, and comments on some of the software applications available for generating and manipulating images.
Donald E. Knuth's Home Page
Knuth is the author of TeX, and a renowned computer scientist. He's mostly offline, but does maintain a webpage with some information about his work, past, present, and future.
My take on TeX and LaTeX books