LaTeX: Workshop Materials

This workshop series was created to enable attendees to create a LaTeX article from start to finish. LaTeX is an extremely powerful typesetting system with superior equation support; however in many ways, there is more of a learning curve with LaTeX than with word processing software like Microsoft Word.

Expert coding skills are not required. However, the better that you are at writing code, then the faster you will understand LaTeX. Anyone can learn. You just need practice and experience.

There are great resources available for beginners and a glossary to help with the new terminology.

After successfully completing this module, you will be able to

• Install the appropriate software for your operating system
  • Why? To get your computer ready to create LaTeX documents
• Install packages
  • Why? To add necessary packages to generate your LaTeX document
• Use the software given a .tex file
  • Why? To create PDF documents that can be read by anyone with Adobe Reader.
  • Keep in mind that LaTeX does not create a tagged PDF. You can add tags via Adobe Professional to make your PDFs accessible to everyone.
• Locate documentation and tutorials
  • Why? To solve problems with creating a document using LaTeX more efficiently

After successfully completing this module, you will be able to

• Use the article class and basic commands
  • Why? To structure a simple document
• Modify a LaTeX document to use different packages
  • Why? To find out when to use them and how it makes document creation easier
• Change margins, linespacing, and paragraph spacing when using article.cls
  • Why? To format your own documents

• Use common commands and environments in order to create a simple document

After successfully completing this session, you will be able to

• Apply LaTeX commands and environments in order to create tables in your documents
• Use various packages in table creation in order to format the tables more easily and to format them in more ways

After successfully completing this session, you will be able to

• Identify the packages, environments, and commands needed for figures
  • Why? To use previously created images in your LaTeX document
• Recognize the image file formats that are supported by LaTeX
  • Why? To know what files need conversion
• Use optional arguments, commands, and some tricks learned in class
  • Why? To gain more control over image placement

After successfully completing this session, you will be able to

• Create equations with and without use of the amsmath package
  • Why? To use equations regardless of the class file you use
• Locate documentation containing various mathematical commands and symbols
  • Why? To use the exact symbol that you want without using unnecessary packages

After successfully completing this session, you will be able to

• Create a BibTeX database by downloading bibliographic references or creating entries manually
  • Why? To include references in your document without worrying about formatting
• Use LaTeX and BibTeX in conjunction to automatically generate a reference section and in-text citations
  • Why? To change citation styles more easily
• Use packages to attain different bibliographic styles and recognize other packages that provide bibliographical management
  • Why? To choose the one that suits your needs best

After successfully completing this session, you will be able to

• Locate class files and their documentation when submitting to a particular journal
  • Why? To become familiar with finding, installing, and using publisher class files.
• Use commands and environments as specified by the documentation
  • Why? To become familiar with using class file documentation to create a document.
• Use packages that do not conflict with the class file
  • Why? To become familiar with the type of errors that occur when their are conflicts.