Getting Started with LaTeX on the Macintosh
The best way to get started with LaTeX on the Macintosh is to download and install one of the implementations (heck, download more than one and see which you like the best), read the introductory documentation (the Read-Me's), and then typeset the test documents that usually come with each package. This will ensure that you have installed everything correctly and show you how the typesetting is done with that package. Then, get Kopka and Daly (see references below) and learn how to put together a simple LaTeX document. When I first got started, I was able to install Textures and typeset my first simple document within an hour or two after first receiving the stuff in the mail (way back in 1989). This was using Lamport's book, which I(GG) don't think is as good as Kopka and Daly.

A good overview of how things fit together can be found on Gerben Wierda's page. A must-see for those new to TeX.

LaTeX Tutorial
A colleague and I(GG) offered a 1-credit course at Penn State during the 2001 semester called "Technical Documents with LaTeX". We are offering it again during the spring 2005 semester. I have removed most of the old course materials in anticipation of revising them for the spring 2005 offering. Though these materials may be rather elementary for many readers of this site, they may be helpful to some, so I(GG) thought that I(GG) would post the announcement here. The course is based on Kopka & Daly and the 2nd edition of The LaTeX Companion. Feel free to download anything you like. You can find it at:
http://www.esm.psu.edu/courses/latex-course/
LaTeX equation catalog
Maria Chernenko has created an online catalog of equations for direct copying and pasting into your LaTeX document. This could certainly be a helpful starting point for a novice learning how to type equations in LaTeX.
Print References

Many of the links below could very easily change over time, so please let me know if they die, and better yet, what they should be. Further, we encourage our readers to buy books directly through the TUG books page. If you jump from there to the Addison-Wesley/Pearson site and order a book about TeX --- many good ones are there, including Kopka & Daly, and the updated LaTeX Companion --- then you'll get a 30% discount! Furthermore, the TeX User's Group (TUG) gets a decent percentage of the purchase price. This will go towards support of TeX and TeX Development projects, so you win twice over.

That said, this only works well in some locations (and many of the links for purchasing here only work fo a single locality) because of shipping. For worldwide searching on prices, try AddAll. Other recommendations are Everything Linux in Australia, or the usual Amazon.com or Barnes and Nobles in the US if you can't find something at the TUG site. Please let me know if you have good sources in Europe.

Helmut Kopka and Patrick W. Daly, A Guide to LATEX, 4th Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2003. ISBN: 0321173856
  • As the title says, this is a very nice book for everyone from beginners to veteran TeX'ers. If you only buy one book, I(GG) think this one should be it.
Giffiths, David F., and Higham, Desmond, J., "Learning LaTeX," SIAM, 1997 (84 pages/softcover/$23.00). ISBN: 0-89871-383-87
Here is a short, well-written book that covers the materials essential for learning LATEX without any unnecessary detail. It includes incisive examples that teach LATEX in a powerful yet abbreviated fashion. This is the handbook to have if you don't want to wade through extraneous material. This manual includes the following crucial features:
  1. numerous examples of widely used mathematical expressions
  2. complete documents illustrating the creation of articles, reports, and
  3. overhead projector slides
  4. troubleshooting tips to help you pinpoint an error
  5. details of how to set up a bibliography and an index
  6. information about LATEX resources available on the Internet

George Grätzer, First Steps in LaTeX, Birkhauser, 1999. ISBN: 0-8176-4132-7.

The author lays a clear structure to guide the newcomer through the process... With its clear structure and the well-organized index and quick finder it may also serve the more experienced TeXie as a reference.

George Grätzer, Math into LaTeX, 3rd Edition, Birkhauser, 2000. ISBN: 0-8176-4131-9

  • If you write a lot of equations, you should definitely consider using AMS-LaTeX (just LaTeX with some additional fonts and macros). If you use AMS-LaTeX, this book is a wonderful reference to have handy since it is the only book I(GG) am aware of that covers the AMS-LaTeX extensions.

Frank Mittelbach, Michel Goossens, Johannes Braams, David Carlisle, and Chris Rowley The LaTeX Companion, 2nd Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2004. ISBN: 0-201-54199-8

  • After you have used LaTeX for a while, you will want to start to do things that are a little "fancy". For these things and more, The LaTeX Companion is the only way to go.
Leslie Lamport, LaTeX: A Document Preparation System, 2nd Edition, Addison-Wesley, 1994. ISBN: 0-201-52983-1
  • A lot of people still swear by "The Original". Mr. Lamport is the original author of LaTeX and this second edition is an update to his original book so that it also covers LaTeX2e. I(GG) must admit, I(GG) learned LaTeX from his first edition.
Michel Goossens, Sebastian Rahtz, Eitan M. Gurari, Ross Moore, and Robert S. Sutor, The LaTeX Web Companion: Integrating TeX, HTML, and XML, 1999, Addison Wesley, ISBN 0201433117.
This book shows how you can publish LaTeX documents on the web. LaTeX was born of the scientist's need to prepare well-formatted information, particularly with pictures and mathematics included; the web was born of the scientist's need to communicate information electronically. Until now, it has been difficult to find solutions that address both needs. HTML and today's Web browsers deal inadequately with the nontextual components of scientific documents. This book, at last, describes tools and techniques for transforming LaTeX sources into web formats for electronic publication, and for transforming web sources into LaTeX documents for optimal printing.
Michel Goossens, Sebastian Rahtz, and Frank Mittelbach, The LaTeX Graphics Companion: Illustrating Documents with TeX and PostScript, Addison Wesley, 1997, ISBN 0201854694.
This handy reference describes techniques and tricks needed to illustrate LaTeX documents, and answers common user questions about graphics and PostScript fonts. It provides the first full description of the standard LaTeX color and graphics packages, and shows how you can combine TeX and PostScript capabilities to produce beautifully illustrated pages.
ConTeXt Documents (Electronic)
ConTeXt is a very high-powered alternative to LaTeX (both are macros that run on top of TeX). Unlike LaTeX, ConTeXt does not require a large number of potentially incompatible extensions to be highly functional. It also provides a number of tools that have been adopted by users of TeX and LaTeX (mptopdf being my favorite). Users swear by it, and in my observation, are knowledgable enough about LaTeX to be giving valid opinions. I don't know it well enough to judge it, but I've seen that it can do some really cool things. Tons of documents can be found at:
http://www.pragma-ade.com/document-1.htm
Electronic References
The following are available at CTAN or other sources. URLs change and documents are updated so it's best to go there for the latest. If you can't find them, please try your favorite internet search engine.

AMS LaTeX User's Guide
The Beauty of LaTeX- explanation and demonstration of why laTeX is superior. Specifically to Word.
A Beginner's Introduction to Typesetting With LaTeX, Peter Flynn
Math Into LaTeX, George Grätzer
Gentle Introduction to LaTeX, Michael Doob
LaTeX for Word Processor Users
The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e, Tobias Oetiker
TeX and LaTeX2e, Michael Downes : a broad overview of TeX, its history, and other resources.
Short Math Guide for LaTeX
TeX for the Impatient
Nicola Talbot's LaTeX for Complete Novices, LaTeX for Administrative Work, Using LaTeX to Write a PhD Thesis, Creating a PDF Document using PDFLaTeX
 

A broader list can be found here.

Note that all packages have documents specific to them, so they aren't listed here. Their location is generally given in the README file. Documentation can most often be found for a specific package by either LaTeXing the .dtx file or reading documentation inside the .sty file. More on how to install packages for your TeX installation is available with its own documentation.

TUG and CTAN YeX User's Group and Comprehensive TeX Archive Network

Web pages of the TeX User's Group

These are the main web sites for TeX. The TeX User's group web page is the platform-wide central information repository for TeX. It has links to a wide variety of resources.

WWW Interface to the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network

CTAN is where it's all (mostly) distributed. Some very useful additions to the standard LaTeX2e distribution can be found on CTAN (in addition to TeX implementations for almost every computer platform ever made and much more).
Useful TeX/LaTeX Web Sites
There is a lot out there, but the following list of sites has about everything you would ever need (or links to it), whether you are a beginner or an old pro. You would be amazed what you can discover from these sites.

(La)TeX Navigator
A (La)TeX encyclopedia with lots of useful information about TeX and LaTeX, including many links to documentation and introductions to LaTeX. Definately worth a look.

Interesting TeX-related URLs
A list compiled by Sebastian Rahtz for the TeX Users Group (TUG). A nice page hosted by the TUG with links to everything TeX. Also worth a gander!

Tips and Tricks for LaTeX Floats
I(GG) realize that this is not Mac specific, but I(GG) found a nice page with some excellent tips and tricks on LaTeX floats. I(GG) think this page is particularly helpful for those people who are frequently surprised and frustrated by LaTeX's placement of floats.

The TUG India pages and a tutorial covering various aspects of LaTeX.
A wealth of resources are located on the TUG India pages.

References for TeX and Friends includes documentation for each LaTeX command, amongst other things.

Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List.

Making presentations in TeX.

The UK List of TeX Frequently Asked Questions on the Web .

Inevitable corrections? Please . Last updated Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 11:13:02.