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CTAN: Starting out with TeX, LaTeX, and friends
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href="/ctan-ann">Announcements</a></li> </ul></li> </ul> <form name="searchForm" id="searchForm" method="get" action="/search" enctype="text/plain"> <input class="phrase" name="phrase" type="text" size="24" accept-charset="ISO-8859-1" value="" autofocus /> </form> <ul class="menu search-menu"> <li><a class="search" onClick="document.searchForm.submit();return false;" href="/search"><span class="text">Search</span><span class="drop"> </span></a> <ul> <li class="menu-search-extended"><a href="/search?ext=new">Extended search</a></li> <li class="menu-search-files"><a href="/search?ext=false&FILES=on">File search</a></li> </ul></li> </ul> <script> if (window.location.hash !='') window.location.hash = window.location.hash; </script> </div> <nav class="breadcrumb"> Location: <a href="/">CTAN</a> <a href="">Starting out with <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span>, <span class="t-logo">L<span class="a">a</span>T<span class="e">e</span>X</span>, and friends</a> </nav> <main class="content"> <h1 lang="none">Starting out with <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span>, <span class="t-logo">L<span class="a">a</span>T<span class="e">e</span>X</span>, and friends</h1> <p> Do you want to begin working with the <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> typesetting system? Most people start out by downloading free versions of the needed software, and a tutorial. This page gets you to the most popular choices. </p> <h2>Step one: Get a distribution</h2> <p> You first need a collection of the software. Such a collection is called a distribution, and comes with <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span>, <span class="t-logo">L<span class="a">a</span>T<span class="e">e</span>X</span>, <span class="t-logo"><span class="sc">Bib</span><span class="t">T</span><span class="e">e</span>X</span>, and everything else that will help you to perform <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span>'s magic on your computer. Each distribution also comes with programs specific to your computer platform, so make your choice from the list below. </p> <dl> <dt>Windows:</dt> <dd> The most popular choice here is the <a href="https://miktex.org">MiK<span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span></a> distribution, which lets you easily manage <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> packages. </dd> <dt>Unix-type systems, including GNU/Linux:</dt> <dd>The best choice here is <a href="http://tug.org/texlive/"><span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> Live</a>, which contains many packages and programs. It is freely available over the Internet or on disc; see the web page for details. Note that most Unix systems have <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> as an installation option so you might already have it or be able to easily get it using your system administration package management tool: <a href="http://rpm5.org/">RPM</a>, or DEB, or whatever. </dd> <dt>Macintosh:</dt> <dd>Get the <a href="http://tug.org/mactex/">Mac<span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span></a> distribution, which is <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> Live with some Mac-specific goodies. <dd> </dl> <h2>Step two: Get documentation</h2> <p> Most people starting <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> today use the <span class="t-logo">L<span class="a">a</span>T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> macro package. The most-often recommended tutorial is the <a href="/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/">(Not So) Short Guide to <span class="t-logo">L<span class="a">a</span>T<span class="e">e</span>X2ε</span></a>; this has many <a href="/tex-archive/info/lshort/">translations</a>. Another tutorial is the <a href="http://sarovar.org/projects/ltxprimer/">Indian <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> group's <span class="t-logo">L<span class="a">a</span>T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> primer</a>. </p> <p> Many people get a <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> system to write mathematical text. For that, get the documentation for the American Mathematical Society's <a href="https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/required/amsmath/amsldoc.pdf">AMS-<span class="t-logo">L<span class="a">a</span>T<span class="e">e</span>X</span></a> package. </p> <p> You might also be interested in <a href="/tex-archive/info/symbols/comprehensive/">a comprehensive list of symbols</a> and a <a href="/tex-archive/info/epslatex/">tutorial on graphics</a>. </p> <h2>Steps beyond: know where to go</h2> <p> As a <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> user you will have many resources to help you get your work done. </p> <p> First, <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> is popular and there are probably many people near you who have experience with it. There are plenty of helpful people on the Internet discussion group <a href="http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.text.tex?gvc=2"><code>comp.text.tex</code></a>. And, you are most welcome to join a <a href="/lugs">users group</a>. </p> <p> There are many <a href="http://www.tug.org/books/">books</a> available. The <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/">English FAQ</a> is authoritative, clear, and up to date. </p> <p> Finally, this site, <a href="/">CTAN</a>, is our community's archive; if you are <a href="/search/">looking for something</a> then <a href="/tex-archive/">chances are good that we have it</a>. </p> <h2>But wait, there's more!</h2> <p> The <a href="http://tug.org/"><span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> Users Group</a> has a <a href="http://www.tug.org/begin.html">more extensive introduction</a> than this page. They also keep the <a href="http://www.tug.org/interest.html#free">definitive list of all <span class="t-logo">T<span class="e">e</span>X</span> system choices</a>, including commercial options. </p> <div class="clear"></div> </main> <div class="foot"> <a class="guestbook" href="/guestbook" title="Leave some words for other visitors" >Guest Book</a> <a class="sitemap" href="/sitemap" title="Show the structure of this site" >Sitemap</a> <a class="contact" href="/contact" title="Get contact information for the Web site" >Contact</a> <a class="contact-author" href="/help/contact-author" title="Get help on how to contact an author" >Contact Author</a> <a class="feedback" href="mailto:webmaster@ctan.org?subject=Feedback%20for%20/starter?lang=en" title="Send feedback on the current web page to the Web masters" >Feedback</a> </div> </div> <div class="footer"> <a id="share-toggle" class="in" title="Toggle share" href="#" onClick="return toggleShare();"> </a> <div id="share" class="in"><a class="mail fontawesome" title="Send link to this page by email" href="mailto:?subject=CTAN:%20 Starting%20out%20with%20TeX%2C%20LaTeX%2C%20and%20friends&body=%2Fstarter" ></a> <a class="twitter fontawesome" target="_blank" title="Share link to this page on Twitter" onclick="return shareLink(this.href);" href="https://twitter.com/share?url=%2Fstarter&text= Starting%20out%20with%20TeX%2C%20LaTeX%2C%20and%20friends" ></a> <a class="facebook fontawesome" target="_blank" title="Share link to this page on Facebook" onclick="return shareLink(this.href);" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=%2Fstarter&t= Starting%20out%20with%20TeX%2C%20LaTeX%2C%20and%20friends" ></a> <a class="gplus fontawesome" target="_blank" title="Share link to this page on Google+" onclick="return shareLink(this.href);" href="https://plus.google.com/share?url=%2Fstarter" ></a> <a class="linkedin fontawesome" target="_blank" title="Share link to this page on LinkedIn" onclick="return shareLink(this.href);" href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=%2Fstarter&title= Starting%20out%20with%20TeX%2C%20LaTeX%2C%20and%20friends&summary= Starting%20out%20with%20TeX%2C%20LaTeX%2C%20and%20friends&source=CTAN" ></a> <a class="pinterest fontawesome" target="_blank" title="Share link to this page on Pinterest" onclick="return shareLink(this.href);" href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=%2Fstarter&description= Starting%20out%20with%20TeX%2C%20LaTeX%2C%20and%20friends&media=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ctan.org%2Fimages%2Fctan_lion-64.png" ></a> <a class="xing fontawesome" target="_blank" title="Share link to this page on Xing" onclick="return shareLink(this.href);" href="https://www.xing-share.com/app/user?op=share;sc_p=xing-share;url=%2Fstarter" ></a> <a class="reddit fontawesome" target="_blank" title="Share link to this page on reddit" onclick="return shareLink(this.href);" href="http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=%2Fstarter" ></a> <a class="tumblr fontawesome" target="_blank" title="Share link to this page on Tumblr" onclick="return shareLink(this.href);" href="http://www.tumblr.com/share/link?url=Share link to this page on StumbleUpon&name= Starting%20out%20with%20TeX%2C%20LaTeX%2C%20and%20friends&description= Starting%20out%20with%20TeX%2C%20LaTeX%2C%20and%20friends" ></a> <a class="stumbleupon fontawesome" target="_blank" title="Share link to this page on StumbleUpon" onclick="return shareLink(this.href);" href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=Share link to this page on StumbleUpon&title= Starting%20out%20with%20TeX%2C%20LaTeX%2C%20and%20friends" ></a> </div> <span class="date">2024-11-27 16:32 CET</span> </div> <div id="portal-message"></div> </body> </html>