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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"><head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/tugstyle.css">   <title>Getting started with TeX, LaTeX, and friends - TeX Users Group</title> </head><body> <h2>Getting started with TeX, LaTeX, and friends</h2> <p>This page is for the benefit of new TeX system users. As such, it tries to be short and simple. An <a href="https://ctan.org/starter.html">even shorter getting-started document</a> is also available, with a different perspective. <hr> <h3>What's going on here?</h3> <p>TeX is a typesetting language. Instead of visually formatting your text, you enter your manuscript text intertwined with TeX commands in a plain text file. You then run TeX to produce formatted output, such as a PDF file. Thus, in contrast to standard word processors, your document is a separate file that does not pretend to be a representation of the final typeset output, and so can be easily edited and manipulated. <p>Here are a couple of links with further background: <ul> <li>The <a href="levels.html">levels of TeX</a> web page explains some of the most common components and terms used throughout TeX. <li>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeX">Wikipedia encyclopedia article</a> on TeX gives a more detailed overview. </ul> <hr> <h3><a name="install">Installing TeX and LaTeX</a></h3> <p>If you are looking to install a complete system, we recommend <a href="/texlive/">TeX Live</a> for Unix/GNU/Linux, <a href="/mactex/">MacTeX</a> for MacOSX, and <a href="https://miktex.org/">MiKTeX</a> for Windows (though both TeX Live and MiKTeX support all common platforms). These distributions are (almost entirely) <a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a> and can be downloaded and installed at no charge. See their home pages. <p>If you want physical discs, you can <a href="/dvd/">make a request</a> of the volunteers who have offered to burn them. <p>There are <a href="/interest.html#free">many other TeX implementations</a>, some <a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>, some shareware, some proprietary/commercial. <hr> <h3><a name="doc">Online (La)TeX documentation</a></h3> <p>Here is just a little of the principal TeX documentation available on the web. A <a href="/interest.html#doc">more complete list of documentation links</a> is available. <p><b>LaTeX</b> (<a href="https://ctan.org/topic/latex-doc">CTAN topic</a>): <ul> <li><a href="https://learnlatex.org/">LearnLaTeX.org</a>, focused lessons on learning LaTeX, with online execution of examples. <li><a href="https://ctan.org/pkg/first-latex-doc">A First LaTeX Document</a> takes you through writing a small document with text and math for the first time. Then <a href="https://ctan.org/pkg/latex-doc-ptr">A First Set of LaTeX Resources</a> recommends packages for common tasks (both documents by Jim Hefferon). <li><a href="https://www.maths.tcd.ie/~dwilkins/LaTeXPrimer/">Getting Started with LaTeX</a>, a primer for text, math, and basic formatting (by David Wilkins). <li><a href="https://www.andy-roberts.net/misc/latex/">Online LaTeX tutorials</a>, a graduated series (by Andy Roberts). <li><a href="https://ctan.org/pkg/lshort">The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e</a> is a more comprehensive manual on writing LaTeX (by Tobias Oetiker et al., translated into many languages). <li><a href="https://wch.github.io/latexsheet/">LaTeX Cheat Sheet</a>, a two-page quick reference (by Winston Chang). </ul> <p><b>Plain TeX</b> (<a href="/interest.html#plain">more on plain TeX</a>): <a href="https://www.eijkhout.net/tex/tex-by-topic.html">TeX by Topic</a>, by Victor Eijkhout. <p><b>Fonts:</b> a discussion of the <a href="/fonts/">fonts available for use with TeX</a> is available separately. <p><b>General help:</b> <a href="#help">see below</a>. <hr> <h3><a name="books">Books to buy</a></h3> <p>Since TeX predates the Internet, let alone the web, it has a long tradition of documentation being available in book form. (Not to mention being a typesetting program!) Here are the books we recommend most highly. <ul> <li><a href="/books/index.html#texbook">The TeXbook</a>, by Donald E. Knuth (Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-13448-9, 1984). The basis of everything, covering plain TeX. <li><a href="/l/tlc3">The LaTeX Companion</a>, by Frank Mittelbach with Ulrike Fischer (Addison-Wesley, third edition, 2023). Covers core LaTeX, plus a vast array of additional packages. <li><a href="https://bookstore.siam.org/ot148/">Learning LaTeX</a>, by David Griffiths and Desmond Higham (SIAM, ISBN 978-1-611974-41-6, 2016, 103pp). A short example-based book covering core LaTeX and some commonly-needed packages. </ul> <p>See <a href="interest.html#doc">these additional documentation links</a> for many more books and other references. <hr> <h3><a name="sample">Sample LaTeX documents</a></h3> <p>If you have TeX installed and just want to get started, you can peruse and process this <a href="https://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/base/small2e.tex">introductory LaTeX document</a> (small2e). When you've mastered that, move on to this <a href="https://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/base/sample2e.tex">more complex example</a> (sample2e). <p>The basic procedure is to create plain text files in any editor or GUI front end (<a href="/texworks">TeXworks</a>, <a href="https://www.uoregon.edu/~koch/texshop/">TeXShop</a>, <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/">GNU Emacs</a>, etc.), and then run <tt>pdflatex myfile.tex</tt> from a command line to get PDF output. Or run <tt>latex</tt> to get DVI output, instead of PDF. <hr> <h3><a name="help">Help using TeX</a></h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://lists.tug.org/texhax/">texhax@tug.org</a>, a public (and publicly-archived) support mailing list. <li><a href="https://latex.org/forum/">latex.org</a>, a community forum. <li><a href="https://tex.stackexchange.com/" rel="nofollow">tex.stackexchange.com</a>, a collaboratively edited question and answer site. <li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/LaTeX/">reddit</a>, a conversation site. <li>The <a href="https://texfaq.org/">TeX FAQ</a> answers many questions on TeX, LaTeX, and friends. </ul> <p>Finding software and/or packages: <ul> <li>The <a href="https://ctan.org/">Comprehensive TeX Archive Network</a> (CTAN) is the primary repository for TeX-related software on the Internet. <li>The <a href="https://ctan.org/pkg/">TeX Catalogue</a> has descriptions for most TeX packages, and can help you find what you need, along with the <a href="https://ctan.org/topics/cloud">topic cloud</a>. <li>The <a href="https://texdoc.net/">texdoc.net</a> site provides online lookup of package documentation, based on the <a href="/texdoc/">texdoc</a> command-line program. </ul> <p><a href="/interest.html#texhelp">More help resources</a>. <p>If you've tried everything and are still stuck, feel free to <a href="mailto:texhax@tug.org">email the public support list</a>. <p>Happy typesetting! <hr><small>This file is public domain. $Date: 2025/02/25 21:33:49 $</small>;   <small> <a href="/index.html">TUG home page</a>; <a href="/join.html">join TUG/renew membership</a>; <a href="mailto:webmaster@tug.org">webmaster</a>; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/TeXUsersGroup">facebook</a>; <a href="https://x.com/texusersgroup">x</a>; <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/texusersgroup.bsky.social">bluesky</a>; <a href="https://techhub.social/@TeXUsersGroup">mastodon</a>.  </small> </body></html>