TeX

The most widespread format for scientific documents teeming with formulas is TeX. It is a programming language. The most widespread sublanguage is LaTeX. The output of modern tex-compilers is pdf-file (other formats include dvi, ps). For more information refer to Library. Local resources are here. See also course Practical guide for LaTeX. For quick start use these templates. See also my localtexmf folder. For quick guide of what typesetting tool to use see here.

Online tools

• TeX online: overleaf
• Tables: tablesgenerator, truben
• Statistics: TeXcount online

TeX packages

The full power of TeX is revealed in innumerable number of packages. Here are some of them (note that most of the links here are to a local miktex folder):

• LaTeX core: doc, source, refman [pdf] [htm], configuring, fonts, cyrillic [fold, see also babel]
  • Classes: guide [pdf] [tex], standard classes [pdf] [dtx]
• Core packages: array, cite, enumitem, geometry, multicols, soul, xr
  • hyperref – hypertext marks in LaTeX: doc, refman
• Graphics: color, xcolor, graphicx, pict2e, DraTeX, PGF, animate
  • PSTricks – creating sophisticated ps-figures: doc, refman, add, my notes
• Tables: ctables, makecell, tabu
• Classes:
  • AMS LaTeX: doc, amsmath
  • RevTeX – APS and AIP publications: doc, refman, style guide
  • achemso – ACS publications: doc, refman
• Nontrivial formats:
  • sciposter – posters: doc, refman, source, example, external notes
  • Beamer – on-screen presentations: doc, refman
  • talk – presentations
  • Seminar – transparencies: doc, refman, source, examples, patch

TeX software

TeX environments:

• MiKTeX – see installation instructions
• TeX Live
• MacTeX – for Mac

TeX editors:

• TeXworks – default for MiKTeX, see MiKTeX installation instructions
• Scientific Word 6.1 (free, discontinued) – WYSIWYG program for generating tex-documents. The resulting tex-documents look rather rude and should be modified before being compiled. For cyrillic text one must convert Unicodes to ASCII symbols, which can be done by SWconv2 program. Essential bug: sometimes Undo command does not work so if you accidentally delete some text there will be no way to recover it.
• MathType (commercial) – WYSIWYG equation editor producing output in TeX, Microsoft-doc, MathML

Related software:

• A commonly used format for scientific vector graphics is Postscript ("ps" or "eps") by Adobe. It is a programming language. The code of ps-files can be edited manually or generated by some programs. GSview 5.0 is a good ps-viewer, it requires Ghostscript to be installed.

Notes

• To speed up compilation, figures should be converted to pdf; also, option "draft" can be used.
• One of the widespread formats for references is BibTeX (web-site). A LaTeX package supporting BibTeX is natbib. CiteULike is a free reference manager.
• Use ChkTeX to additionally check LaTeX code.
• MathML is html-specifications for viewing mathematical formulas in web-browsers. MathPlayer is a plugin for Internet Explorer.
• Compare TeX vs. Word
• Адаптовані до TeX-у вимоги ВПЦ "Київський університет"
• 1pt=(25.4/72.27)mm≈0.35mm

updated 14.05.2015