LATEX Typesetting in UCC

Contents

1  Introduction

1.1  What does it do?

1.2  Where do I get it?

1.3  Getting started

1.4  Getting equipped

1.5  Support

2  Resources

2.1  Documentation

2.2  Editors

2.3  Typefaces

2.4  UCC Thesis document class

2.5  GMIT Thesis document class

2.6  The Comprehensive TEX Archive Network (CTAN)

2.7  TEX Users Group

1  Introduction

1.1  What does it do?

LATEX can automate most of the chores of formatting long, complex, or repetitively formatted documents, like articles, books, reports, letters, essays, theses, manuals, etc, and can produce publication-quality output in PDF or PostScript. It has extensions for handling most types of formatting for academic, research, and business documents, including changes to layout and style; bibliographies, citations, and references; tables and figures; indexes, glossaries, and cross-references; mathematics and other notations; and multilingual and bidirectional typesetting.

1.2  Where do I get it?

LATEX runs on almost any type of computer system from handheld PDAs to the largest mainframes and supercomputers, including your desktop PC or Mac, laptop, and office server. The software is free and can be copied without restrictions: contact the Electronic Publishing Unit (3.19 Kane Building, ×2609, or epu@ucc.ie) for the installation CD or DVD. The Unit also provides support in UCC and there are local experts in some departments. Commercial versions of TEX at an academic discount are also available if commercial support is required. Full installation details are in chapter 1 of Formatting Information.

1.3  Getting started

The Computer Training Centre runs 1-day courses for newcomers to LATEX: contact them for details of the next available date or check the timetables.

The online book, Formatting Information, is used as a basis for the course, but can also be used for self-study.

1.4  Getting equipped

You may also need some of the following, depending on what kind of documents you plan to write:

Bibliographic database

For any document which contains bibliographic citations and references, LATEX uses BIBTEX, which can handle all your citation and formatting needs. To manage your references, you need to have them in a database in BIBTEX format. JabRef is recommended for this, but there are several others (see the list maintained by the LYX community).

To capture entries from the web, and thus avoid retyping them, the Firefox plugin Zotero is recommended, or (if you don't use Firefox, the standalone program Mendeley. Both of these can export your collection of references in BIBTEX format. If you are already using ProCite, EndNote, or ReferenceManager, you can export your collection of references in RIS format, which JabRef can read and convert to BIBTEX.

[There is a replacement underway for BIBTEX called biblatex, but for the moment stick to BIBTEX.]

Graphics editors

If you need to tidy up your photographs, scans, or screenshots before including them in a document, you will need a bitmap graphics editor like GIMP, which will let you colorise, crop, rotate, enlarge, shrink, and generally manipulate your images. Bitmap images for pdflatex can be in PDF, JPG, or PNG format. Bitmap images for original (DVI) LATEX must be in EPS format only.

If you are including diagrams, you should draw them using a vector graphics editor like InkScape, so that your drawings are smoothly scalable and easily edited and updated. Do not under any circumstances use bitmap graphics for diagrams. Vector diagram images for pdflatex must be in PDF vector format only. Vector diagram images for original (DVI) LATEX must be in EPS vector format only.

Simple diagrams can also be drawn directly in LATEX, using the picture environment; more complex diagrams can be drawn using the pstricks or pdftricks and other packages (LATEX has specialist packages for diagrams in many disciplies). These methods can avoid the need for a separate graphics editor.

You may also be using specialist software in your discipline which can generate its own diagrams. Just ensure they are in one of the suitable formats mentioned above. Be aware that some programs create very poor quality EPS and PDF files, which you may need to tidy up before using them in your documents.

Conversion software

Software to convert PDF images to EPS images and vice versa is included with most TEX distributions: look on your computer for the programs pdf2ps and ps2pdf. The GIMP can convert between different bitmap formats. If you need bulk conversion (many images of the same type), install ImageMagick and use the convert command in a Command or Terminal window.

You can convert LATEX documents to other formats such as RTF (for Word) and XML (DocBook, HTML) with the TEX4ht program or by writing an XSLT script of your own. Some post-editing is usually required with any non-trivial conversion. Be aware that wordprocessors do not have many of the facilities available in LATEX, so documents converted to wordprocessor formats may need extra work to convert back again. In general, avoid circular conversion.

Converting original wordprocessor documents (Word, OpenOffice) to LATEX can be done with plugins for OpenOffice, LibreOffice, or AbiWord: open the document and pick Save As…LATEX. For Word and OpenOffice documents (both of which are XML), you can also write an XSLT script of your own (see this rudimentary example). Some post-editing is usually required with any non-trivial conversion.

1.5  Support

Questions, comments, requests:

1. Please first check to see if your question is answered in the TEX FAQ

2. Ask colleagues on the UCC TEX Users mailing list (if you're not already a member, join now)

3. Check the comp.text.tex Usenet newsgroup (use Google Groups if you have no newsreader or news-capable email program installed)

4. Search the lists of questions and answers at StackExchange. This takes a little navigation to get used to, but the answers are ranked by usefulness.

5. Contact the EPU on ×2609 or email epu@ucc.ie

2  Resources

Please contact the Electronic Publishing Unit on ×2609 or email epu@ucc.ie if you have any problems installing or using packages.

2.1  Documentation

Online HTML and printable PDF

• Formatting Information, a beginner's introduction to LATEX (HTML, PDF)

• The very short guide to typesetting with LATEX (PDF)

• LATEX and Friends, a LATEX tutorial (PDF)

Books (on paper)

• See the LATEX Project's book list

2.2  Editors

Everyone ends up with their own preference: one of the nice things about TEX is that you are not tied to any particular editor for your typing.

Emacs

A large and powerful general-purpose plain-text editor for all platforms, with robust LATEX and BIBTEX modes, and keyclick access to WYSIWYG displays. Steep learning curve, but extensible to many applications.

TEXshop

The editor that comes built into the MacTEX distribution. Simple and effective, but without the extensibility of other editors.

TEXnicCenter

If you want an unrestricted (Open Source) editor for MikTEX or TEXLive, you should look at TEXnicCenter instead. This is the default editor installed with ProTEXt from the annual TEXLive DVD, available from the Electronic Publishing Unit.

WinEdt

The WinEdt editor is a popular shareware editor for LATEX documents. It has been licensed for a limited number of users in UCC, so the UCC licence page is restricted to access by UCC computers only.

2.3  Typefaces

LATEX's default typeface is Computer Modern (a variant of Monotype Series 8) because originally it was the only one with a comprehensive set of mathematical symbols. Nowadays the choice for mathematicians is a little wider (see the packages mathptmx (Times) and mathpazo (Palatino), and the list of free math fonts).

There are many typefaces supplied free with all full TEX distributions (see the section ‘Using fonts’ for a list), including the ubitquitous Adobe ‘35’ (Avant Garde, Bookman, Courier, Helvetica, New Century Schoolbook, Palatino, Symbol, and Times New Roman). The online LATEX Font Catalog lists many more which can be downloaded and installed.

LATEX does not use your existing system fonts by default, although it is possible to make it use Postscript Type 1 and TrueType fonts with a little extra work. The new XETEX processor overcomes this by making all your existing installed system fonts available, but this is not yet the default.

2.4  UCC Thesis document class

This is version 0.99, revised April 2012 (see documentation for details of changes).

Files to download

• Documentation (Read this first!)

• Zip archive

  This contains everything: download it and unzip it into the folder above your personal TEX folder — if you don't know where that is, read the documentation linked above, section 1 starting on page 13.

• Example thesis (dummy thesis)

2.6  The Comprehensive TEX Archive Network (CTAN)

Repository of everything TEX

• CTAN root server

• Local (UCC) index

2.7  TEX Users Group

UCC is an institutional member of the TEX Users Group, which entitles staff and students to discounts on attendance at the annual conferences, books, fonts, and software; access to the current year's TUGboat, the quarterly journal (email us for access to copies); installation DVDs of the TEX Collection (email us for those too); and reciprocal membership arrangements with many other user groups around the world.