Some Basics

LaTeX is a typesetting system. To prepare a document, one uses an editor (either a normal text editor like "Notepad" or a specialised one like "Winshell") to produce a "source file", which normally has an extension tex.

Next, we process the document using a LaTeX program, such as MikTex. This produces a number of files, of which the most important is the dvi file. The dvi file is the output we want. We can now view or print the file using a dvi previewer such as YAP, or more often, we "post process" the dvi file into a postscript file. This usually has the extension ps.

The postscript file can then be viewed using a postscript viewer (such as gsview) and printed. One can also convert the postscript file to a pdf document using gsview. The pdf file can be viewed and printed using Acrobat Reader.

The diagram below shows the normal flow of events when one uses LaTeX to prepare a document. At any point, one may return to the editing stage to make corrections, change formats, add material, etc.

Documentation on LaTeX

The following are some brief notes and guides (in pdf format) that I have written to help the beginner get started:

• A Very Short Guide to LaTeX2e (297 KB)
  
  
• Brief notes on MiKTeX (125 KB)
  
  
• Brief notes on Mayura Draw (131 KB)
  
  
• Brief notes on WinTex95 (445 KB)
  
  
• User's Guide on gnuplot 3.5 (300 KB)

The more professionally written guides (in pdf format) are here:

• A Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e
  An excellent introduction to LaTeX.
  
  
• MikTex Manual
  Some notes on getting, installing and using MikTex, a freeware for compiling LaTeX on a PC.
  
  

What You Need

MikTex

Ghostview

Mayura Mdraw