ELEC 5970/6970
Technical Document Preparation with LATEX

Instructor: Stanley J. Reeves

I also claim to have the best-looking rendering of the LATEX symbol anywhere on the web that is produced purely in HTML text. Your browser mileage may vary. :-)

Core course information

LATEX Installations

• MiKTeX for Windows
• proTeXt easy-to-install package for Windows, including MiKTeX, Ghostscript/GSView, and TeXnicCenter
• MacTeX for Mac
• OzTeX for Mac (shareware)
• TeX Live for Unix/Linux
• Ghostscript, Ghostview and GSview -- tools for viewing and processing Postscript

LATEX Editors & Other Software

• TeXnicCenter for Windows
• WinEdt for Windows (shareware)
• LyX WYSIWYM document processor (Windows/Mac/Linux)
• JabRef BibTeX bibliography reference manager (all platforms) -- requires Java

General LATEX Resources

• LaTeX on Wikipedia
• LaTeX Cheat Sheet
• CTAN: the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network
• TeX Users Group
• Auburn University Thesis Style Guide and LaTeX Style Files
• The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List - 178 pages of pure LATEX joy
• A Hitchiker's Guide to LaTeX or "how I learned to stop worrying and love writing my dissertation"
• Online LaTeX Equation Editor - great for including LATEX equations in (gasp) PowerPoint and other brain-damaged programs
• Create LaTeX tables online -- very nice!
• LaTeX Wikibook
• Norm Matloff's LaTeX Tutorial Site
• How to Do This and That with LaTeX
• The LaTeX Project
• The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e (or LATEX 2ε in 154 minutes)
• SquishTeX :-)

Resources for Specific Aspects of LATEX

• Inkscape - open-source, multi-platform vector graphics editor capable of SVG and PGF output
• Inkscape to TikZ Exporter - An Inkscape extension for exporting SVG paths as TikZ/PGF paths
• TikZ and PGF examples
• TikZ and PGF resources
• PGFplots manual
• Postscript to PGF/TikZ converter -- requires running Java on the command line
• Beamer Theme Matrix - theme name in each row (e.g. \usetheme{Berkeley}) and color theme name in each column (e.g. \usecolortheme{dolphin})
• How to Use the IEEEtran BibTeX Style - good info on the subtleties and extensions of this bibliography style
• MathJax: LaTeX math in web browser without a plugin
• Helpful links and tidbits contributed during the course

Class Topics and Material

Introduction to LATEX

overheads (source directory)

 

Text Formatting in LATEX

overheads (source directory)

homework exercise

 

Intro to Beamer

overheads (source directory)

homework exercise

 

Equations

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homework exercise

 

Tables and Figures

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homework exercise

 

Boxes, Spaces, Lengths

overheads (source directory)

homework exercise

 

LyX Document Processor

overheads (source directory)

homework exercise

 

Fonts

overheads (source directory)

homework exercise

 

Advanced Beamer

overheads (source directory)

homework exercise

 

AMS Equations

overheads (source directory)

homework exercise

 

Graphics

overheads (source directory)

homework exercise

 

Citations & Bibliographies

overheads

homework exercise

 

JabRef

overheads (source directory)

(audio and video become increasingly out of sync for some reason)

homework exercise

 

PGFplots

overheads (source)

homework exercise

 

Hyperref

overheads (source directory)

homework exercise

 

LATEX Gotchas

overheads (source directory)

homework exercise Error-filled document for homework

 

LATEX in MATLAB

overheads (source directory)

homework exercise

 

Posters

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PDF Tricks

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homework exercise

 

More PGFplots

overheads (source directory)

homework exercise