LaTeX is a typesetting system that is very suitable for writing engineering project and master theses - and all scientific and mathematical documents. This is mainly due to its powerful handling of mathematics, figures, and references. You should realize that it is not a "What You See Is What You Get" word processor like Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, or AbiWord. At first, LaTeX may seem more difficult to use, but after using LaTeX for a short while, you will quickly learn to love the straightforward way mathematics, references, and large documents are handled. You will also note how much better your final product will look.
You will find a lot more information about LaTeX on the Latex page in Wikipedia.
User's guide
A very good introduction to LaTeX may be found in the Not so Short Introduction to LaTeX 2e. The following page lists a long range of useful resources. You may also find it useful to consult the Frequently asked questions.
How to get LaTeX
LaTeX is mainly free software (but there are some commercial versions).
Windows
If you use a Windows computer (and have administrative permissions), you can install LaTeX by:
- Download and install the LaTeX program. You may choose between two alternatives
- Download and install a LaTeX editor. There are several free alternatives (Choose one of them)
- If you prefer to use pdfLaTeX (see below), I recommend you to use:
- TeXworks - A very good and free editor, which is an integrated part of both MikTeX and TeX Live (This means that TeXworks is automatically installed together with MikTeX and TeX Live). TeXworks can also be used with traditional LaTeX, but will then need some "tailoring".
If you prefer to use the traditional LaTeX, you may still use TeXworks, but you may also consider using:
- Texniccenter - A good and free editor
- Texmaker - A good and free editor
- WinEdt - A very good shareware alternative
- You will find several alternative editors by searching the net.
- For traditional LaTeX you should also download and install Ghostscript and GSView from the web page. Accept all default values when you install.
- You should have a pdf-viewer/reader, like Adobe Reader installed on your computer (TeXworks has an integrated pdf-viewer, so you do not need anything extra).
In addition to the above LaTeX-programs, you will also need a reference management program. There are several available, but JabRef may be the best alternative under Windows.
If you do not use TeXworks, it is important that you install your LaTeX editor after you have installed LaTeX, Ghostscript and GSView - since the editor will search for and set up the correct paths to these elements.
Mac
It is very easy to install LaTeX on a Mac since all elements come in one package. You only have to:
- Download and install MacTeX
Figures in LaTeX
There are two main versions of LaTeX, the traditional LaTeX and pdfLaTeX (Both are available in the packages you have downloaded). In the traditional LaTeX, all figures need to be in eps (encapsulated postscript) format. You will therefore need a drawing program that can produce figures in eps-format. A good, and free, alternative may be Inkscape. If you have access to Adobe Illustrator, this may be the best alternative you can find.
In pdfLaTeX, the figures cannot be in eps-format. You may here use figures in pdf, jpg, and png format. When compiling the .tex file, LaTeX will look for the figure bounding boxes. It is therefore important that you save the figures in a format that includes the bounding boxes. This may give you some frustrations until you learn how to do it.
You should choose either the traditional LaTeX or the pdfLaTeX and stick to one of these.
Recommendation
If you use a Windows computer, I recommend you to download MikTeX and use the built-in TeXworks editor with pdfLaTeX - and JabRef as reference manager.
If you use a Mac, I recommend you to use the built-in TeXShop editor (TeXworks is a "clone" of TeXShop) with pdfLaTeX - and the built-in BibDesk reference manager.
Happy TeXing!!