La Te X Beginner's Guide

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LaTeX
Beginner's Guide
Create high-quality and professional-looking texts, arcles,
and books for business and science using LaTeX
Stefan Kowitz
BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
LaTeX
Beginner's Guide
Copyright © 2011 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
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publisher, except in the case of brief quotaons embedded in crical arcles or reviews.
Every eort has been made in the preparaon of this book to ensure the accuracy of the
informaon presented. However, the informaon contained in this book is sold without
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First published: March 2011
Producon Reference: 1150311
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
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Olton
Birmingham, B27 6PA, UK.
ISBN 978-1-847199-86-7
www.packtpub.com
Cover Image by Asher Wishkerman (a.wishkerman@mpic.de)
Credits
Author
Stefan Kowitz
Reviewers
Kevin C. Klement
Joseph Wright
Acquision Editor
Eleanor Duy
Development Editor
Hyacintha D'Souza
Technical Editor
Sakina Kaydawala
Copy Editor
Leonard D'Silva
Indexer
Hemangini Bari
Editorial Team Leader
Mithun Sehgal
Project Team Leader
Lata Basantani
Project Coordinator
Vishal Bodwani
Proofreader
Aaron Nash
Graphics
Nilesh Mohite
Producon Coordinator
Adline Swetha Jesuthas
Cover Work
Adline Swetha Jesuthas
About the Author
Stefan Kowitz studied mathemacs in Jena and Hamburg. Aerwards, he worked as an
IT Administrator and Communicaon Ocer onboard cruise ships for AIDA Cruises and for
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Following 10 years of sailing around the world, he is now employed as
a Network & IT Security Engineer for AIDA Cruises, focusing on network infrastructure and
security such as managing rewall systems for headquarters and eet.
In between contracts, he worked as a freelance programmer and typography designer. For
many years he has been providing LaTeX support in online forums. He became a moderator
of the web forum http://latex-community.org/ and of the site http://golatex.
de/. Recently, he began supporng the newly established Q&A site http://tex.
stackexchange.com/ as a moderator.
He publishes ideas and news from the TeX world on his blog at http://texblog.net.
I would like to thank Joseph Wright and Kevin C. Klement for reviewing
this book. Special thanks go to Markus Kohm for his great valuable input. I
would also like to thank the people of Packt Publishing, who worked with
me on this book, in parcular my development editor Hyacintha D'Souza.
About the Reviewers
Kevin C. Klement is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of
Massachuses, Amherst. Besides using LaTeX in his academic work in the history of logic and
analyc philosophy, he is a maintainer of the PhilTeX blog, and an acve parcipant in many
online LaTeX communies, including PhilTeX, LaTeX Community, and TeX.SE.
Joseph Wright is a research assistant at the University of East Anglia. As well as using
LaTeX for his academic work as a chemist, he is a member of the LaTeX3 Project, runs the
blog Some TeX Developments and is one of the moderators on the TeX.SE site.
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Table of Contents
Preface 1
Chapter 1: Geng Started with LaTeX 9
What is LaTeX? 9
How we can benet 10
The virtues of open source 10
Separaon of form and content 11
Portability 11
Protecon for your work 11
Comparing it to word processor soware 12
What are the challenges? 12
Installing LaTeX 12
Time for acon – installing TeX Live using the net installer wizard 14
Time for acon – installing TeX Live oine 20
Installaon on other operang systems 20
Creang our rst document 21
Time for acon – wring our rst document with TeXworks 21
Summary 23
Chapter 2: Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs 25
Understanding logical formang 25
Time for acon – tling your document 26
Exploring the document structure 27
Understanding LaTeX commands 28
How LaTeX reads your input 28
Time for acon – trying out the eect of spaces, line breaks, and empty lines 29
Commenng your source text 30
Prinng out special symbols 30
Time for acon – wring special characters in our text 31
Formang text – fonts, shapes, and styles 31
Table of Contents
[ ii ]
Time for acon – tuning the font shape 32
Choosing the font family 33
Time for acon – switching to sans-serif and to typewriter fonts 33
Switching fonts 34
Time for acon – switching the font family 35
Summarizing font commands and declaraons 36
Deliming the eect of commands 36
Time for acon – exploring grouping by braces 36
Time for acon – exploring font sizes 37
Using environments 38
Time for acon – using an environment to adjust the font size 38
Saving me and eort – creang your own commands 39
Time for acon – creang our rst command using it as an abbreviaon 40
Gentle spacing aer commands 41
Time for acon – adding intelligent spacing to command output 41
Creang more universal commands – using arguments 42
Time for acon – creang a macro for formang keywords 42
Using oponal arguments 43
Time for acon – marking keywords with oponal formang 43
Using boxes to limit the width of paragraphs 45
Time for acon – creang a narrow text column 46
Common paragraph boxes 46
Boxes containing more text 48
Time for acon – using the minipage environment 48
Understanding environments 49
Breaking lines and paragraphs 50
Improving hyphenaon 50
Time for acon – stang division points for words 51
Improving the juscaon further 52
Time for acon – using microtype 52
Breaking lines manually 53
Time for acon – using line breaks 53
Prevenng line breaks 54
Managing line breaks wisely 55
Exploring the ne details 55
Time for acon – exploring ligatures 56
Understanding ligatures 57
Choosing the right dash 57
Seng dots 57
Time for acon – using dierently spaced dots 58
Table of Contents
[ iii ]
Time for acon – comparing dots to ellipsis 59
Seng accents 60
Time for acon – experimenng with accents 60
Using special characters directly in the editor 61
Time for acon – using accents directly 61
Turning o full juscaon 62
Time for acon – jusfying a paragraph to the le 62
Creang ragged-le text 62
Time for acon – centering a tle 63
Using environments for juscaon 63
Time for acon – centering verses 64
Displaying quotes 65
Time for acon – quong a scienst 65
Quong longer text 66
Time for acon – quong TeX's benets 66
Time for acon – spacing between paragraphs instead of indentaon 67
Summary 69
Chapter 3: Designing Pages 71
Dening the overall layout 71
Time for acon – wring a book with chapters 72
Reviewing LaTeX's default page layout 73
Dening the margins yourself 74
Time for acon – specifying margins 74
Using the geometry package 75
Choosing the paper size 76
Specifying the text area 76
Seng the margins 77
Obtaining package documentaon 78
Time for acon – nding the geometry package manual 78
Changing the line spacing 79
Time for acon – increasing line spacing 80
Using class opons to congure the document style 82
Time for acon – creang a two-column landscape document 82
Creang a table of contents 84
Time for acon – adding a table of contents 85
Seconing and the contents 86
Time for acon – shortening the table of content entries 86
Designing headers and footers 88
Time for acon – customizing headers with the fancyhdr package 88
Understanding page styles 90
Customizing header and footer 90
Table of Contents
[ iv ]
Using decorave lines in header or footer 91
Changing LaTeX's header marks 92
Breaking pages 92
Time for acon – inserng page breaks 92
Enlarging a page 95
Time for acon – sparing an almost empty page 96
Using footnotes 98
Time for acon – using footnotes in text and in headings 98
Modifying the dividing line 100
Time for acon – redening the footnote line 101
Using packages to expand footnote styles 102
Summary 103
Chapter 4: Creang Lists 105
Building a bulleted list 105
Time for acon – lisng LaTeX packages 105
Nesng lists 106
Time for acon – lisng packages by topic 106
Creang a numbered list 107
Time for acon – wring a step-by-step tutorial 108
Customizing lists 109
Saving space with compact lists 109
Time for acon – shrinking our tutorial 109
Choosing bullets and numbering format 111
Time for acon – modifying lists using enumitem 112
Suspending and connuing lists 115
Producing a denion list 115
Time for acon – explaining capabilies of packages 116
Summary 119
Chapter 5: Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures 121
Wring in columns 121
Time for acon – lining up informaon using the tabbing environment 122
Time for acon – lining up font commands 123
Typeseng tables 125
Time for acon – building a table of font family commands 125
Drawing lines in tables 126
Understanding formang arguments 126
Increasing the row height 128
Beaufying tables 129
Time for acon – adding nicer horizontal lines with the booktabs package 129
Spanning entries over mulple columns 131
Table of Contents
[ v ]
Time for acon – merging cells 131
Inserng code column-wise 132
Time for acon – using the array package 132
Spanning entries over mulple rows 133
Time for acon – merging cells using the mulrow package 134
Adding capons to tables 134
Time for acon – adding a capon to our font table 135
Placing capons above 136
Auto-ng columns to the table width 137
Generang mul-page tables 138
Coloring tables 139
Using landscape orientaon 139
Aligning columns at the decimal point 139
Handling narrow columns 139
Inserng pictures 140
Time for acon – including a picture 140
Scaling pictures 142
Choosing the opmal le type 143
Including whole pages 144
Pung images behind the text 144
Managing oang environments 144
Time for acon – leng a gure oat 144
Understanding oat placement opons 145
Forcing the output of oats 146
Liming oang 146
Avoiding oang at all 147
Spanning gures and tables over text columns 148
Leng text ow around gures 148
Time for acon – embedding a picture within text 148
Breaking gures and tables into pieces 150
Summary 150
Chapter 6: Cross-Referencing 153
Seng labels and referencing 154
Time for acon – referencing items of a top list 154
Assigning a key 155
Referring to a key 156
Referring to a page 156
Producing intelligent page references 157
Time for acon – introducing variable references 157
Fine-tuning page references 158
Table of Contents
[ vi ]
Referring to page ranges 159
Using automac reference names 160
Time for acon – referring cleverly 160
Combing cleveref and varioref 162
Referring to labels in other documents 162
Summary 163
Chapter 7: Lisng Content and References 165
Customizing the table of contents 165
Time for acon – rening an extensive table of contents 166
Adjusng the depth of the TOC 168
Shortening entries 168
Adding entries manually 169
Creang and customizing lists of gures 170
Time for acon – creang a list of diagrams 170
Creang a list of tables 171
Using packages for customizaon 171
Generang an index 172
Time for acon – marking words and building the index 172
Dening index entries and subentries 174
Specifying page ranges 174
Using symbols and macros in the index 174
Referring to other index entries 175
Fine-tuning page numbers 175
Designing the index layout 176
Creang a bibliography 177
Time for acon – cing texts and lisng the references 177
Using the standard bibliography environment 178
Using bibliography databases with BibTeX 179
Time for acon – creang and using a BibTeX database 179
Looking at the BibTeX entry elds 181
Understanding BibTeX entry types 182
Choosing the bibliography style 184
Lisng references without cing 184
Changing the headings 185
Summary 187
Chapter 8: Typing Math Formulas 189
Wring basic formulas 190
Time for acon – discussing quadrac equaons and roots 190
Embedding math expressions within text 192
Displaying formulas 193
Table of Contents
[ vii ]
Numbering equaons 193
Adding subscripts and superscripts 194
Extracng roots 194
Wring fracons 194
Greek leers 195
Script leers 196
Producing an ellipsis 196
Comparing in-line formulas to displayed formulas 196
Changing the font, style, and size 196
Customizing displayed formulas 198
Time for acon – typeseng mul-line formulas 199
Aligning mul-line equaons 200
Numbering rows in mul-line formulas 201
Inserng text into formulas 201
Fine-tuning formulas 201
Using operators 202
Exploring the wealth of math symbols 202
Binary operaon symbols 202
Binary relaon symbols 203
Inequality relaon symbols 203
Subset and superset symbols 203
Variable sized operators 204
Arrows 204
Harpoons 204
Symbols derived from leers 205
Variable sized delimiters 205
Miscellaneous symbols 206
Wring units 206
Building math structures 206
Creang arrays 207
Wring binomial coecients: 207
Typeseng matrices 207
Stacking expressions 208
Underlining and overlining 208
Seng accents 209
Pung a symbol above another 209
Wring theorems and denions 209
Summary 212
Chapter 9: Using Fonts 213
Preparing the encoding 214
Time for acon – directly using special characters 214
Installing addional fonts 216
Table of Contents
[ viii ]
Choosing the main font 217
Time for acon – comparing Computer Modern to Lan Modern 217
Loading font packages 218
Lan Modern – a replacement for the standard font 218
Kp-fonts – a full set of fonts 218
Serif fonts 219
Times Roman 219
Charter 220
Palano 220
Bookman 221
New Century Schoolbook 221
Concrete Roman 221
Sans-serif fonts 221
Helveca 222
Bera Sans 222
Computer Modern Bright 222
Kurier 222
Typewriter fonts 223
Courier 223
Inconsolata 223
Bera Mono 223
Exploring the world of LaTeX fonts 224
Summary 225
Chapter 10: Developing Large Documents 227
Spling the input 228
Time for acon – swapping out preamble and chapter contents 228
Including small pieces of code 230
Including bigger parts of a document 231
Compiling parts of a document 232
Creang front and back maer 232
Time for acon – adding a dedicaon and an appendix 233
Designing a tle page 235
Time for acon – creang a tle page 235
Working with templates 237
Time for acon – starng with a template 238
Summary 242
Chapter 11: Enhancing Your Documents Further 243
Using hyperlinks and bookmarks 243
Time for acon – adding hyperlinks 244
Time for acon – customizing the hyperlink appearance 246
Time for acon – eding PDF metadata 248
Creang hyperlinks manually 250
Creang bookmarks manually 250
Table of Contents
[ ix ]
Math formulas and special symbols in bookmarks 251
Beneng from other packages 251
Time for acon – vising the TeX Catalogue Online 252
Time for acon – installing a LaTeX package 255
Designing headings 256
Time for acon – designing chapter and secon headings 257
Coloring your document 260
Summary 264
Chapter 12: Troubleshoong 265
Understanding and xing errors 265
Time for acon – interpreng and xing an error 266
Using commands and environments 267
Wring math formulas 268
Handling the preamble and document body 268
Working with les 269
Creang tables and arrays 270
Working with lists 270
Working with oang gures and tables 271
General syntax errors 271
Handling warnings 272
Time for acon – emphasizing on a sans-serif font 272
Jusfying text 273
Referencing 274
Choosing fonts 274
Placing gures and tables 274
Customizing the document class 275
Avoiding obsolete classes and packages 275
General troubleshoong 277
Summary 279
Chapter 13: Using Online Resources 281
Web forums, discussion boards, and Q&A sites 281
Usenet groups 282
comp.text.tex 282
Newsgroups in other languages 282
Web forums 282
LaTeX-Community.org 282
TeX and LaTeX on Stack Exchange 283
Time for acon – asking a queson online 284
Frequently Asked Quesons 287
UK TeX FAQ 287
Visual LaTeX FAQ 287
Table of Contents
[ x ]
MacTeX FAQ 287
AMS-Math FAQ 288
LaTeX Picture FAQ 288
Mailing lists 288
texhax 288
tex-live 288
texworks 289
List collecons 289
TeX user group sites 289
TUG – the TeX users group 289
The LaTeX project 289
UK TUG – TeX in the United Kingdom 290
Local user groups 290
Homepages of LaTeX soware and editors 290
LaTeX distribuons 290
LaTeX editors 290
Cross-plaorm 291
Windows 291
Linux 291
Mac OS X 292
LaTeX archives and catalogs 292
CTAN – the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network 292
The TeX Catalogue Online 292
The LaTeX Font Catalogue 292
TeX Resources on the Web 293
Friends of LaTeX 293
XeTeX 293
LuaTeX 293
ConTeXt 293
LyX 294
LaTeX blogs 294
The TeXblog 294
Some TeX Developments 294
LaTeX Alive 294
LaTeX for Humans 294
The TeX community aggregator 295
Summary 295
Appendix: Pop Quiz Answers 297
Chapter 2: Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs 297
Commands 297
Lines and paragraphs 297
Table of Contents
[ xi ]
Chapter 3: Designing Pages 297
Chapter 4: Creang Lists 298
Chapter 5: Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures 298
Tables 298
Pictures and oats 298
Chapter 6: Cross-Referencing 298
Chapter 7: Lisng Content and References 298
Chapter 8: Typing Math Formulas 299
Chapter 9: Using Fonts 299
Chapter 10: Developing Large Documents 299
Chapter 11: Enhancing Your Documents Further 299
Chapter 12: Troubleshoong 299
Chapter 13: Using Online Resources 300
Index 301
Preface
LaTeX is a high-quality open source typeseng soware that produces professional prints
and PDF les. However, as LaTeX is a powerful and complex tool, geng started can be
inmidang. There is no ocial support and certain aspects such as layout modicaons can
seem rather complicated. It may seem more straighorward to use Word or other WYSIWG
programs, but once you've become acquainted, LaTeX's capabilies far outweigh any inial
dicules. This book guides you through these challenges and makes beginning with LaTeX
easy. If you are wring mathemacal, scienc, or business papers, then this is the perfect
book for you.
LaTeX Beginner's Guide oers you a praccal introducon to LaTeX. Beginning with the
installaon and basic usage, you will learn to typeset documents containing tables, gures,
formulas, and common book elements like bibliographies, glossaries, and indexes. Lots of
step-by-step examples start with ne-tuning text, formulas and page layout and go on to
managing complex documents and using modern PDF features. It's easy to use LaTeX, when
you have LaTeX Beginner's Guide at hand.
This praccal book will guide you through the essenal steps of Latex, from installing LaTeX,
formang, and juscaon, to page design. Finally, you will learn how to manage complex
documents and how to benet from modern PDF features. Right from the beginning, you
will learn to use macros and styles to maintain a consistent document structure while saving
typing work. This book will help you learn to create professional looking tables as well
as include gures and write complex mathemac formulas. You will see how to generate
bibliographies and indexes with ease. Detailed informaon about online resources like
soware archives, web forums, and online compilers complement this introductory guide.
Preface
[ 2 ]
What this book covers
Chapter 1, Geng Started with LaTeX, introduces LaTeX and explains its benets. It guides
you through the download and installaon of a comprehensive LaTeX distribuon and
shows you how to create your rst LaTeX document.
Chapter 2, Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs, explains how to vary font, shape, and
style of text. It deals with centering and juscaon of paragraphs and how you can improve
line breaks and hyphenaon. It introduces the concept of logical formang and teaches you
how to dene macros and how to use environments and packages.
Chapter 3, Designing Pages, shows how you can adjust the margins and change the line
spacing. It demonstrates portrait, landscape, and two-column layout. In this chapter, we will
create dynamic headers and footers and learn how to control page breaking and how to use
footnotes. Along the way, you will also learn about redening exisng commands and using
class opons. Furthermore, you will get familiar with accessing package documentaon.
Chapter 4, Creang Lists, deals with arranging text in bulleted, numbered, and denion
lists. We will learn how to choose bullets and numbering style and how to design the overall
layout of lists.
Chapter 5, Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures, shows you how to create
professional-looking tables and how to include external pictures in your documents.
It deals with typeseng capons to tables and gures. We will learn how to benet
from LaTeX's automated tables and gures placement and how to ne-tune it.
Chapter 6, Cross-Referencing, introduces means of intelligent referencing to secons,
footnotes, tables, gures, and numbered environments in general.
Chapter 7, Lisng Content and References, deals with creang and customizing of a table of
contents and lists of gures and tables. Furthermore, it teaches how to cite books, how to
create bibliographies, and how to generate an index.
Chapter 8, Typing Math Formulas, explains mathemacal typeseng in depth. It starts with
basic formulas and connues with centered and numbered equaons. It shows how to align
mul-line equaons. In detail, it shows how to typeset math symbols such as roots, arrows,
Greek leers, and operators. Moreover, you will learn how to build complex math structures
such as fracons, stacked expressions, and matrices.
Chapter 9, Using Fonts, takes us into the world of fonts and demonstrates various fonts for
Roman, sans-serif, and typewriter fonts in dierent shapes. By the way, you will learn about
character encoding and font encoding.
Preface
[ 3 ]
Chapter 10, Developing Large Documents, helps in managing large documents by spling
them into several les. It shows how to swap out sengs, how to reuse code, and how to
compile just parts of a bigger documents. Aer reading this chapter, you will be able to
create complex projects building upon sub-les. Furthermore, we deal with front maer
and back maer with dierent page numbering and separate tle pages. We will work it
out by creang an example book. By doing this, you will get familiar with using document
templates, nally being able to write our own thesis, book, or report.
Chapter 11, Enhancing Your Documents Further, brings color into your documents. It shows
you how to modify headings of chapters and all kinds of secons. We will learn how to
create feature-rich PDF documents with bookmarks, hyperlinks, and meta-data. While doing
this, we visit the TeX Catalogue Online to look out for further useful LaTeX packages and we
will go through a package installaon.
Chapter 12, Troubleshoong, provides us with tools for problem-solving. We will learn
about dierent kinds of LaTeX's errors and warnings and how to deal with them. Aer
reading this chapter, you will understand LaTeX's messages and you will know how to
use them for xing errors.
Chapter 13, Using Online Resources, guides you through the vast amount of LaTeX
informaon on the Internet. We will visit a LaTeX online forum and a LaTeX Queson &
Answer site. This chapter points the way to huge LaTeX soware archives, to homepages of
TeX user groups, to mailing lists, Usenet groups, and LaTeX blogs. It tells you where you can
download LaTeX capable editors and where you can nd enhanced versions of TeX, such
as XeTeX, LuaTeX, and ConTeXt. Finally, you will know how to access the knowledge of the
world-wide LaTeX community and how to become a part of it.
What you need for this book
You need access to a computer with LaTeX on it. An online connecon would be helpful
regarding installaon and updates. LaTeX can be installed on most operang systems, so
you can use Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, or Unix.
This book uses the freely available TeX Live distribuon, which runs on all menoned
plaorms. You just need an online connecon or the TeX Live DVD to install it. In the book,
we work with the cross-plaorm editor TeXworks, but you could use any editor you like.
Preface
[ 4 ]
Who this book is for
If you are about to write mathemacal or scienc papers, seminar handouts, or even
plan to write a thesis, then this book oers you a fast-paced and praccal introducon.
Parcularly when studying in school and university you will benet a lot, as a mathemacian
and a physicist as well as an engineer or a humanist. Everybody with high expectaons who
plans to write a paper or a book may be delighted by this stable soware.
Conventions
In this book, you will nd several headings appearing frequently. To give clear instrucons of
how to complete a procedure or task, we use:
Time for action - heading
1. Acon 1
2. Acon 2
3. Acon 3
Instrucons oen need some extra explanaon so that they make sense, so they are
followed with:
What just happened?
This heading explains the working of tasks or instrucons that you have just completed.
You will also nd some other learning aids in the book, including:
Pop quiz
These are short mulple choice quesons intended to help you test your own understanding.
Have a go hero - heading
These set praccal challenges and give you ideas for experimenng with what you have
learned.
You will also nd a number of styles of text that disnguish between dierent kinds of
informaon. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanaon of their meaning.
Code words in text are shown as follows: "The command \chapter produced a large
heading. This command will always begin on a new page."
Preface
[ 5 ]
A block of code is set as follows:
\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{book}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\begin{document}
\chapter{Exploring the page layout}
In this chapter we will study the layout of pages.
\section{Some filler text}
\blindtext
\section{A lot more filler text}
More dummy text will follow.
\subsection{Plenty of filler text}
\blindtext[10]
\end{document}
When we wish to draw your aenon to a parcular part of a code block, the relevant lines
or items are set in bold:
\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{book}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage[a4paper, inner=1.5cm, outer=3cm, top=2cm,
bottom=3cm, bindingoffset=1cm]{geometry}
\begin{document}
\chapter{Exploring the page layout}
In this chapter we will study the layout of pages.
\section{Some filler text}
\blindtext
\section{A lot more filler text}
More dummy text will follow.
\subsection{Plenty of filler text}
\blindtext[3]
\end{document}
Any command-line input or output is wrien as follows:
texdoc geometry
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in
menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "Save the document and
Typeset it."
Preface
[ 6 ]
Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.
Tips and tricks appear like this.
Reader feedback
Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about this
book—what you liked or may have disliked. Reader feedback is important for us to
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To send us general feedback, simply send an e-mail to feedback@packtpub.com, and
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contribung to a book on, see our author guide on www.packtpub.com/authors.
Customer support
Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to help you
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Downloading the example code
You can download the example code les for all Packt books you have purchased from your
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Preface
[ 7 ]
Errata
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1
Getting Started with LaTeX
Are you ready to leave those "what you see is what you get" word processors
behind and to enter the world of real, reliable, and high-quality typeseng?
Then let's go together!
It's great that you decided to learn LaTeX. This book will guide you along the way to help you
get the most out of it. Let's speak briey about LaTeX's benets and the challenges, and then
we shall prepare our tools.
In this chapter, we will:
Get to know LaTeX and talk about the pros and cons compared to word processors
Install a complete LaTeX soware bundle, including an editor
Write our rst LaTeX document
So, let's get started.
What is LaTeX?
LaTeX is a soware for typeseng documents. In other words, it's a document preparaon
system. LaTeX is not a word processor, but is used as a document markup language.
LaTeX is a free, open source soware. It was originally wrien by Leslie Lamport and is based
on the TeX typeseng engine by Donald Knuth. People oen refer to it as just TeX, meaning
LaTeX. It has a long history; you can read about it at http://www.tug.org/whatis.html.
For now, let's connue by looking at how we can make the best use of it.
Geng Started with LaTeX
[ 10 ]
How we can benet
LaTeX is especially well-suited for scienc and technical documents. Its superior typeseng
of mathemacal formulas is legendary. If you are a student or a scienst, then LaTeX is by far
the best choice, and even if you don't need its scienc capabilies, there are other uses —
it produces very high quality output, it is extremely stable, and handles complex documents
easily no maer how large they are.
Further remarkable strengths of LaTeX are its cross-referencing capabilies, its automac
numbering and generaon of lists of contents, gures and tables, indexes, glossaries,
and bibliographies. It is mullingual with language-specic features, and it is able to use
PostScript and PDF features.
Apart from being perfect for sciensts, LaTeX is incredibly exible—there are templates for
leers, presentaons, bills, philosophy books, law texts, music scores, and even for chess
game notaons. Hundreds of LaTeX users have wrien thousands of templates, styles, and
tools useful for every possible purpose. It is collected and categorized online on archiving
servers.
You could benet from its impressive high quality by starng with its default styles relying
on its intelligent formang, but you are free to customize and to modify everything. People
of the TeX community have already wrien a lot of extensions addressing nearly every
formang need.
The virtues of open source
The sources of LaTeX are completely free and readable for everyone. This enables you to
study and to change everything, from the core of LaTeX to the latest extension packages.
But what does this mean for you as a beginner? There's a huge LaTeX community with a lot
of friendly, helpful people. Even if you cannot benet from the open source code directly,
they can read the sources and assist you. Just join a LaTeX web forum and ask your quesons
there. Helpers will, if necessary, dig into LaTeX sources and in all probability nd a soluon
for you, somemes by recommending a suitable package, oen providing a redenion of a
default command.
Today, we're already prong from about 30 years of development by the TeX community.
The open source philosophy made it possible, as every user is invited to study and improve
the soware and develop it further. Chapter 13, Using Online Resources, will point the way
to the community.
Chapter 1
[ 11 ]
Separation of form and content
A basic principle of LaTeX is that the author should not be distracted too much by the
formang issues. Usually, the author focuses on the content and formats logically, for
example, instead of wring a chapter tle in big bold leers, you just tell LaTeX that it's a
chapter heading—you could let LaTeX design the heading or you decide in the document's
sengs what the headings will look like—just once for the whole document.
LaTeX uses style les extensively called classes and packages, making it easy to design
and to modify the appearance of the whole document and all of its details.
Portability
LaTeX is available for nearly every operang system, like Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and
many more. Its le format is plain text—readable and editable, on all operang systems.
LaTeX will produce the same output on all systems. Though there are dierent LaTeX
soware packages, so called TeX distribuons, we will focus on TeX Live, because this
distribuon is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
LaTeX itself doesn't have a graphical user interface; that's one of the reasons why it's so
portable. You can choose any text editor. There are many editors, even specialized in LaTeX,
for every operang system. Some editors are available for several systems. For instance,
TeXworks runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X; that's one of the reasons why we will use
it in our book. Another very important reason is that it's probably best-suited for beginners.
LaTeX generates PDF output—printable and readable, on most computers and looks idencal
regardless of the operang system. Besides PDF, it supports DVI, PostScript, and HTML
output, preparing the ground for distribuon both in print and online, on screen, electronic
book readers, or smart phones.
To sum up, LaTeX is portable in three ways—source, its implementaon, and output.
Protection for your work
LaTeX documents are stored in human readable text format, not in some obscure word
processing format, that may be altered in a dierent version of the same soware. Try to
open a 20 year old document wrien with a commercial word processor. What might your
modern soware show? Even if you can read the le, its visual appearance would certainly
be dierent than before. LaTeX promises that the document will always be readable and
will result in the same output. Though it's being further developed, it will remain backwards
compable.
Word processor documents could be infected with viruses, malicious macros could
destroy the data. Did you ever hear of a virus "hiding" in a text le? LaTeX is not
threatened by viruses.
Geng Started with LaTeX
[ 12 ]
Comparing it to word processor software
We've already described some advantages of the typeseng system LaTeX compared
to word processing soware. While LaTeX encourages structured wring, other word
processors may compel you to work inconsistently. They might hide the real formang
structure and encrypt your document in some proprietary le format. Compability is a big
problem, even between versions of the same soware.
There are some interesng arcles available online comparing LaTeX to other soware. Of
course, they are expressions of opinion. Some are years old and therefore do not cover the
most recent soware, but they discuss important points that are sll valid today. You will nd
them listed in Chapter 13, Using Online Resources.
What are the challenges?
The learning curve could be steep, but this book will to help you master it.
Though wring LaTeX looks like programming, don't be afraid. Soon you will know the
frequently used commands. Text editors with auto compleon and keyword highlighng
will support you. They might even provide menus and dialogs with commands for you.
Do you now think it will take a long me unl you would learn to achieve creditable results?
Don't worry; this book will give you a quick start. You will learn by praccing with a lot
of examples. Many more examples can be read and downloaded from the Internet. In
Chapter 13, we will explore the Internet resources.
We shall connue with the setup of LaTeX on our computer.
Installing LaTeX
Let's start o with the installaon of the LaTeX distribuon–TeX Live. This distribuon is
available for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and other Unix-like operang systems. TeX Live is
well maintained and it is being acvely developed.
Another very good and user-friendly LaTeX distribuon for Windows is
MiKTeX. It's easy to install like any other Windows applicaon, but it's not
available for other systems like Linux or Mac OS X. You can download it
from http://miktex.org.
At rst, we will visit the TeX Live homepage and take a survey of the installaon possibilies.
Feel free to explore the homepage in depth to study the informaon oered there.
Open the TeX Live homepage at http://tug.org/texlive.
Chapter 1
[ 13 ]
We will cover two ways of installaon. The rst will be online and requires an Internet
connecon. The other method starts with a huge download, but may be nished oine.
Let's check out the two installaon methods.
Geng Started with LaTeX
[ 14 ]
Time for action – installing TeX Live using the net
installer wizard
We will download the TeX Live net installer and install the complete TeX Live distribuon on
our computer.
1. Click on downloading over the net or navigate to http://
tug.org/texlive/acquire-netinstall.
2. Download the net installer for Windows by clicking on install-tl.zip.
3. Extract the le install-tl.zip using your favorite archiving program.
For example, WinZip, WinRar, or 7-Zip can do it for you.
4. Open the folder install-tl-*and double-click the Windows
batch le install-tl:
Chapter 1
[ 15 ]
5. The net installer will automacally detect your language. If it's showing the
wrong language, you can force the choice of the language using the lang
opon at the command prompt such as install-tl –lang=en:
Geng Started with LaTeX
[ 16 ]
6. The installaon wizard will pop up, as shown in the following screenshot:
7. Click on the Next buon, now it oers to change the installaon folder, but
it's ne to retain it. In our book, we will refer to this default locaon:
Chapter 1
[ 17 ]
8. Click on the Next buon. As shown in the following screenshot, choose
one of the opons, for example, for the creaon of shortcuts:
9. Click on the Next buon. You can then conrm the sengs and
actually start the installaon by clicking on the Install buon:
Geng Started with LaTeX
[ 18 ]
10. The next screenshot shows how you can monitor the installaon progress:
11. Finally, click on the Finish buon and you're done.
What just happened?
You have completed the installaon of TeX Live 2010. Now your Start menu contains
a folder called TeX Live 2010 containing six programs:
DVIOUT DVI viewer—a viewer program for the classic LaTeX output format DVI.
Today, most people choose PDF output, so you probably won't need it.
Chapter 1
[ 19 ]
PS_VIEW—a viewer program for the PostScript format; again you probably
won't need it, except if you would like to use the PostScript language or read
such documents.
TeX Live documentaon—well, that's useful regarding setup and use of your
soware!
TeX Live Manager—that's your tool for package management, for example,
installaon and update of LaTeX packages.
TeXdoc GUI—it's a graphical user interface oering access to a huge amount of
LaTeX-related informaon. There's a lot of it stored in your computer by now. Use it
to gather informaon whenever needed; it could be quicker than searching online.
TeXworks editor—this is an editor developed to create LaTeX documents
comfortably. We will make extensive use of it.
TeXworks is also shipped with MiKTeX 2.8 and higher.
If you would like to stay in control over what should be installed on your computer, start the
install-tl-advanced batch le instead of install-tl:
Geng Started with LaTeX
[ 20 ]
The TeX documentaon available online contains more informaon for advanced users.
Now, we will go through the oine installaon of TeX Live 2010.
Time for action – installing TeX Live ofine
We will download a compressed ISO image of TeX Live 2010 with a size of about 1.2
gigabytes. Aer extracon, we can choose to burn it on DVD or to extract it to our hard
disk drive and run the installaon from there:
1. Visit the download area at http://www.tug.org/texlive/acquire-iso.html.
2. Download texlive2010.xz. If possible, use a download manager,
especially if your Internet connecon is not stable.
3. Extract texlive2010.xz and you will get the le texlive2010.iso. If your
archiving program doesn't support the .xz le format, obtain, for instance, the
program 7-Zip version 9 or later from http://7zip.org and use it for extracon.
4. Either burn the ISO le on a DVD using a burning soware supporng the ISO format
or extract it to your hard disk drive. 7-Zip is also capable of doing that for you.
5. Among the extracted les or on your DVD, you will nd the installer batch les
install-tl and install-tl-advanced that we've already seen. Choose
one, start it, and go through the installaon like in the previous installaon.
What just happened?
It was similar to the rst installaon, but this me you've got all the data and you won't
need an Internet connecon. This complete download is especially recommended if it's
foreseeable that you will do another installaon of TeX Live later or if you would like to
give it to friends or colleagues.
Aer an oine installaon, it's recommended to run an update of TeX Live soon,
because packages on a DVD or within an image could already be outdated. Use
the TeX Live Manager to keep your system up-to-date if you are connected to
the Internet.
Installation on other operating systems
If you work on Mac OS X, you may download a customized version of TeX Live at http://
www.tug.org/mactex/. Download the huge .zip le and double-click on it to install.
Chapter 1
[ 21 ]
On most Linux systems, installaon is easy. Use your system's package manager. With
Ubuntu, you may use Synapc, on SUSE systems use YaST, with Red Hat a RPM frontend, and
on Debian systems use Aptude. In the respecve package manager, look out for texlive.
If you want to stay on the edge, you could download and install the most current version of
TeX Live from its homepage, instead of the version from the operang system's repositories.
But be aware that installing third party sources may harm the integrity of your system.
Now that we've prepared the ground, let's start to write LaTeX!
Creating our rst document
We have installed TeX and launched the editor; now let's jump in at the deep end by wring
our rst LaTeX document.
Time for action – writing our rst document with TeXworks
Our rst goal is to create a document that's prinng out just one sentence. We want to use it
to understand the basic structure of a LaTeX document.
1. Launch the TeXworks editor by clicking on the desktop icon or open it in the
Start menu.
2. Click on the New buon.
3. Enter the following lines:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
This is our first document.
\end{document}
4. Click on the Save buon and save the document. Choose a locaon where
you want to store your LaTeX documents, ideally in its own folder.
Geng Started with LaTeX
[ 22 ]
5. In the drop-down eld in the TeXworks toolbar, choose pdfLaTeX:
6. Click the Typeset buon .
7. The output window will automacally open. Have a look at it:
What just happened?
You have just seen the rst few minutes of the life of a LaTeX document. Its following hours
and days will be determined by eding, typeseng, and so on. Don't forget to save your
document frequently.
As announced in contrary to the classic word processor soware, you cannot see the eect
of changes immediately—but the result is just one click away.
Chapter 1
[ 23 ]
Have a go hero – checking out advanced LaTeX editors
Do you have experience in working with complex programs? Do you like using a feature-rich
and powerful editor? Then have a look at these LaTeX editors. Visit their websites to nd
screenshots and to read about their features:
TeXnicCenter— a very powerful editor for Windows, http://texniccenter.
org/
Kile— a user-friendly editor for operang systems with KDE, such as Linux,
http://kile.sourceforge.net/
TeXShop—an easy-to-use and very popular editor for Mac OS X, http://pages.
uoregon.edu/koch/texshop/
Texmaker—a cross-plaorm editor running on Linux, Mac OS X, Unix, and
Windows systems, http://www.xm1math.net/texmaker/
The menoned editors are free open source soware.
Summary
We learned in this chapter about the benets of LaTeX. It will be our turn to use the virtues
of LaTeX to achieve the best possible results.
Furthermore, we covered:
Installaon of TeX Live
Using the editor TeXworks
Creaon of a LaTeX document and generaon of output
Now that we've got a funconal and tested LaTeX system, we're ready to write our own
LaTeX documents. In the next chapter, we will work out the formang of text in detail.
2
Formatting Words, Lines, and
Paragraphs
In the last chapter, we installed LaTeX and used the TeXworks editor to write our
rst document. Now we will speak about the structure of a document and we
will focus on the text details and its formang.
In this chapter, we shall:
Speak about logical formang
Learn how to modify font, shape, and style of text
Use boxes to limit the text width
See how to break lines and how to improve hyphenaon
Explore juscaon and formang of paragraphs
By working with examples and trying out new features, we shall learn some basic concepts
of LaTeX. By the end of this chapter, we will be familiar with commands and environments.
You will even be able to dene your own commands.
Understanding logical formatting
In the previous chapter, we wrote a small example document. Let's extend it a bit to get an
illustrave example for understanding the typical document structure.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 26 ]
Time for action – titling your document
We will take the rst example and insert some commands that will produce a
nice-looking tle.
1. Type the following code in the editor; modify the previous example if you like:
\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{article}
\begin{document}
\title{Example 2}
\author{My name}
\date{January 5, 2011}
\maketitle
\section{What's this?}
This is our second document. It contains a title and a section
with text.
\end{document}
2. Click the Typeset buon.
3. View the output:
What just happened?
In the rst chapter, we talked about logical formang. First, let's look at this example
from that point of view. We told LaTeX that:
Our document is of the type article. It will be printed on A4 paper using a size
of 11 points for the base font.
The tle is "Example 2".
You are the author.
The document was wrien on January 5, 2011.
Chapter 2
[ 27 ]
Concerning the content of the document:
It begins with a tle.
The rst secon shall have the heading "What's this?"
The following text is "This is our second document."
Note, we did not choose the font size of the tle or heading; neither did we make something
bold or centered. Such formang is done by LaTeX but nevertheless you're free to tell LaTeX
how it actually should look.
We did not need to press the Save buon. TeXworks automacally saves
the document if we click the Typeset buon.
Exploring the document structure
Let's look at the details. A LaTeX document doesn't stand alone—commonly the document
is based on a versale template. Such a fundamental template is called a class. It provides
customizable features, usually built for a certain purpose. There are classes for books, for
journal arcles, for leers, for presentaons, for posters, and many more; hundreds of
reliable classes can be found in Internet archives but also on your computer now, aer
you've installed TeX Live. Here we have chosen the arcle class, a standard LaTeX class
suitable for smaller documents.
The rst line starts with \documentclass. This word begins with a backslash; such a
word is called a command. We used commands to specify the class and to state document
properes: title, author, and date.
This rst part of the document is called the preamble of the document. This is where we
choose the class, specify properes, and in general, make document-wide denions.
\begin{document} marks the end of the preamble and the beginning of the actual
document. \end{document} marks the end of it. Everything that follows would be
ignored by LaTeX. Such a piece of code, framed by a \begin … \end command pair,
is called an environment.
In the actual document, we've used the command \maketitle that prints the tle, author,
and date in a nicely formaed manner. By the \section command, we produced a heading,
bigger and bolder than normal text. Then we let some text follow. What we wrote here, in
the document environment, will be printed out. On the contrary, the preamble will never
produce any output.
Let's look at commands in detail.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 28 ]
Understanding LaTeX commands
LaTeX commands begin with a backslash, followed by big or small leers. LaTeX commands
are usually named with small leers and in a descripve way. There are excepons: you will
see some commands consisng of a backslash and just one special character.
Commands may have arguments, given in curly braces or in square brackets.
Calling a command looks like the following:
\command
Or:
\command{argument}
Or:
\command[optional argument]{argument}
There could be several arguments, each of them in braces or brackets. Arguments in curly
braces are mandatory. If a command is dened to require an argument, one has to be given.
For example, calling \documentclass would be fule if we hadn't stated a class name.
Arguments in square brackets are oponal; they may be given but it's not a
must. If no oponal argument is provided, the command will use a default
one. For instance, in the rst example in Chapter 1, Geng Started with LaTeX,
we wrote \documentclass{article}. This document has been typeset
with a base font size of 10pt, because this is the class default base font size.
In the second document, we wrote \documentclass[a4paper,11pt]
{article}; this way, we replaced default values with the given values, so now
the document will be adjusted for A4 paper using a base font size of 11pt.
There are commands generang output—try \LaTeX—and commands seng properes,
changing fonts or layout. Generally, the names of commands are chosen according to their
purpose. We will have a more detailed look in this chapter, but rst let's see how LaTeX
treats what we type.
How LaTeX reads your input
Before we connue wring, let's look at how LaTeX understands what you've wrien in
the editor.
Chapter 2
[ 29 ]
Time for action – trying out the effect of spaces, line
breaks, and empty lines
We will take the rst example and insert spaces and line breaks.
1. Modify the previous example as follows:
\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{article}
\begin{document}
\title{Example 3}
\author{My name}
\date{January 5, 2011}
\maketitle
\section{What's this?}
This is our
second document.
It contains two paragraphs. The first line of a paragraph will be
indented, but not when it follows a heading.
% Here's a comment.
\end{document}
2. Typeset.
3. View the output:
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 30 ]
What just happened?
Though we've inserted some spaces, the distances between the words in the output
remained the same. The reason is that LaTeX treats mulple spaces just like a single space.
Also, a single line break has the same eect like a single space. It doesn't maer how you
arrange your text in the editor using spaces or breaks, the output will stay the same.
A blank line denotes a paragraph break. Like spaces, mulple empty lines are treated as one.
Briey said, spaces separate words, empty lines separate paragraphs.
Commenting your source text
You've seen that the last line seems to be missing in the output. That's because the percent
sign introduces a comment. Everything following a percent sign unl the end of the line
will be ignored by LaTeX and won't be printed out. This enables you to insert notes into
your document. It's oen used in templates to inform the user what the template does at
that certain place. Note also that the end of the line, normally behaving like a space, will be
ignored aer a percent sign.
Easing experimenng by trial and error
If you want to disable a command temporarily, it may be favorable to insert a
percent sign instead of deleng the command. That way, you're able to undo this
change easily by removing the %.
If the percent sign behaves that way, what should we do if we want to write 100% in our
text? Let's gure out how to do it.
Printing out special symbols
Common text mostly contains upper and lowercase leers, digits, and punctuaon
characters. Simply type them with your editor. However, some characters are reserved for
LaTeX commands; they cannot be used directly. We already encountered such characters,
and besides the percent sign, there are the curly braces and so on. There are LaTeX
commands to print such symbols.
Chapter 2
[ 31 ]
Time for action – writing special characters in our text
We will write a very short example prinng out an amount of dollars and a percent number,
then we shall try more symbols:
1. Create a new document and enter the following lines:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Statement \#1:
50\% of \$100 makes \$50.
More special symbols are \&, \_, \{ and \}.
\end{document}
2. Typeset and view the output:
What just happened?
By pung a backslash before such a special symbol, we turned it into a LaTeX command.
This command has the only purpose of prinng out that symbol.
The command for prinng a backslash is \textbackslash. If you would
like to know what \\ might be used for, it is used as a shortcut for a line break
command. That's a bit odd, but line breaks occur frequently whereas backslashes
are rarely needed in the output, therefore this shortcut has been chosen.
There's a wealth of symbols that we can use for math formulas, chess notaon, zodiac signs,
music scores, and more. We don't need to deal with those symbols for now, but we shall
return to that subject in Chapter 8, Typing Math Formulas, when we will need symbols to
typeset math formulas.
Now that we know how to enter pure text, let's nd out how we can format it.
Formatting text – fonts, shapes, and styles
LaTeX already does some formang. For example, we've seen that secon headings are
bigger than normal text and bold faced. Now we will learn how to modify the appearance
of the text ourselves.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 32 ]
Time for action – tuning the font shape
We will emphasize an important word in a text and we will see how to make words appear
bold, italic, or slanted. We shall gure out how to highlight words in a part of some text
that's already emphasized:
1. Create a new document containing the following code:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Text can be \emph{emphasized}.
Besides being \textit{italic} words could be \textbf{bold},
\textsl{slanted} or typeset in \textsc{Small Caps}.
Such commands can be \textit{\textbf{nested}}.
\emph{See how \emph{emphasizing} looks when nested.}
\end{document}
2. Typeset and have a look at the output:
What just happened?
At rst, we used the command \emph, giving one word as an argument to this command.
This argument will be typeset in italic shape, because this is the default way how LaTeX
emphasizes text.
Text-formang commands usually look like \text**{argument}, where ** stands for a
two leer abbreviaon like bf for bold face, it for italic, and sl for slanted. The argument
will then be formaed accordingly like we've seen. Aer the command, the subsequent
text will be typeset as it was before the command—precisely aer the closing curly brace
marking the end of the argument. We checked it out.
We've nested the commands \textit and \textbf, which allowed us to achieve a
combinaon of those styles, and the text appears both italic and bold.
Chapter 2
[ 33 ]
Most font commands will show the same eect if they are applied twice like
\textbf{\textbf{words}}: the words won't become bolder. Only \emph behaves
dierently. We've seen that emphasized text will be italic, but if we use \emph onto a
piece of this text again, it will change from italic to normal font. Imagine an important
theorem completely typeset in italics—you should sll have the opportunity to highlight
words inside this theorem.
\emph is so called semanc markup, because it refers to the meaning, not just to the
appearance of text.
Emphasizing twice, such as marking bold and italic at the same
me, might be considered to be a quesonable style. Change
the font shape wisely—and consistently.
Choosing the font family
Compare the font of our examples and the standard font you see in this book. While the
LaTeX font has a decorave appearance, the text font of this book looks simple and clean.
Our code examples are dierent in another way: every leer has the same width. Let's see
how we can implement this in our wrings.
Time for action – switching to sans-serif and to typewriter fonts
Imagine that we start to write an arcle about LaTeX's Internet resources. To get a clearly
readable heading, we shall use a font without frills. The body text will contain a web address;
we choose a typewriter font to stress it:
1. Create a LaTeX document with the following code:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\section{\textsf{\LaTeX\ resources on the internet}}
The best place for downloading LaTeX related software is CTAN.
Its address is \texttt{http://www.ctan.org}.
\end{document}
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 34 ]
2. Typeset and look at the result:
What just happened?
We encountered more font commands. By using\textsf, we've chosen the sans-serif font in
the secon heading. We used the command \texttt to get the typewriter font for the web
address. Those commands can be used just like the font commands we've learned before.
The leers in the LaTeX standard font have so-called serifs, those small decorave details
at the end of a leer's strokes. Serifs shall improve readability by leading the reader's eyes
along the line. Therefore, they are widely used in body text. Such fonts are also called
Roman fonts. This name led to the command \textrm for the Roman text—the default
font with serifs.
Headings are oen done without serifs; the used font is called a sans-serif font. Such fonts
are also a good choice for screen text because of the beer readability on lower resoluons.
So you might want to choose a sans-serif font when you produce an e-book.
If every leer of a font has the same width, the font is called monospaced or a typewriter
font. Besides, on typewriters, such fonts were used with early computers; today they are sll
preferred for wring source code of computer programs, both in print and in text editors.
So if you want to typeset a program lisng or LaTeX source code, consider using a typewriter
font. Like we did in the previous example, this book is using a typewriter font to disnguish
code and web addresses from the normal text.
Switching fonts
Pung too much text into a command's argument could be unhandy. Somemes we would
like to set font properes of longer passages of text. LaTeX provides other commands, which
work like switches.
Chapter 2
[ 35 ]
Time for action – switching the font family
We will modify the previous example using font family switching commands:
1. Modify the example to get the following code:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\section{\sffamily\LaTeX\ resources in the internet}
The best place for downloading LaTeX related software is CTAN.
Its address is \ttfamily http://www.ctan.org\rmfamily.
\end{document}
2. Typeset and compare the output to the previous one; it's the same.
What just happened?
By using the command \sffamily, we switched over to sans serif font. This change has
been made inside an argument, so it's valid only there.
We used the command \ttfamily to switch to a typewriter font. The typewriter font will
be used from this point onwards. By using\rmfamily, we returned to Roman font.
These commands don't produce any output, but they will aect the following text. We will
call such a command a declaraon.
Now have a closer look at the secon number: it's a digit with serifs, which doesn't match
the remaining sans-serif heading. Moreover, changing the font within a\section command
feels wrong—and rightly so! The beer way is to declare the secon heading font once for
the complete document. We will learn how to globally modify heading fonts in Chapter 11,
Enhancing Your Documents Further, aer we prepared some more tools.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 36 ]
Summarizing font commands and declarations
Let's list the font commands and their corresponding declaraons together with
their meanings:
The corresponding declaraon to \emph is \em.
Delimiting the effect of commands
In the previous example, we've reversed the eect of \ttfamily by wring \rmfamily. To
be safe, we could write \normalfont to switch back to the base font. However, there's an
easier way.
Time for action – exploring grouping by braces
We shall use curly braces to tell LaTeX where to apply a command and where to stop that:
1. Modify our rst font shape example to get this code:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
{\sffamily
Text can be {\em emphasized}.
Besides being {\itshape italic} words could be {\bfseries bold},
{\slshape slanted} or typeset in {\scshape Small Caps}.
Such commands can be {\itshape\bfseries nested}.}
{\em See how {\em emphasizing} looks when nested.}
\end{document}
Chapter 2
[ 37 ]
2. Typeset and check out the output:
What just happened?
We started with an opening curly brace. The eect of the following command \sffamily
lasted unl we stopped it with the corresponding closing brace. That closing brace came
at the end of the highlighted code. This highlighng shows the area of the code where
\sffamily is valid.
We replaced every font command by the corresponding declaraon. Remember, \em is
the declaraon version of \emph. Further, we surrounded every declaraon and the
aected text by curly braces.
An opening curly brace tells LaTeX to begin a so called group. The following commands
are valid for the subsequent text unl a closing curly brace appears causing LaTeX to stop
using the commands or declaraons wrien in this group. Till a command is valid, that's
called its scope.
Groups can be nested as follows:
Normal text, {\sffamily sans serif text {\bfseries and bold}}.
We have to be careful to close each group; opening and closing braces should match.
Braces which enclose an argument of a command don't form a group. Together
with the argument, these braces are gobbled by the command. If necessary, use
addional braces.
Time for action – exploring font sizes
We will try out every font size available by LaTeX's default font size commands. For tesng,
we exceponally use them in the body text—their main use is in the macro denions:
1. Create a document with the following code:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\noindent\tiny We \scriptsize start \footnotesize \small small,
\normalsize get \large big \Large and \LARGE bigger,
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 38 ]
\huge huge and \Huge gigantic!
\end{document}
2. Typeset and observe the output:
What just happened?
At rst, we used \noindent. This command suppresses the paragraph indentaon. Then we
used all 10 available size declaraons, starng small with \tiny and ending really big with
\Huge. There are no corresponding commands taking arguments, so we would have to use
curly braces to delimit their scope, as we learned to before.
The actual resulng font size depends on the base font. If your document has a base font
of 12 pt, then \tiny would result in text bigger than with a base font of 10 pt. We have to
see it in relaon. Use \footnotesize, if you wish to get the same size like LaTeX uses for
footnotes; use \scriptsize, if you create a style with a size matching LaTeX subscripts and
superscripts. It's sll a kind of logical formang though they are quite low-level commands.
Normally, font size declaraons are used only in denions of macros in the preamble, just
as it does apply to the other font commands. You will rarely encounter font size or shape
commands in good body texts, except freely designed passages like tle pages—and test
examples like the ones here.
Using environments
When you use several declaraons and you group them by curly braces, will you always
know which closing brace matches which of the previously entered declaraons? An
environment forms a group. Using an environment instead of just curly braces improves
the readability of your code.
Time for action – using an environment to adjust the font size
We will produce a tle with a larger and bigger font:
1. Create another small document with this code:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\begin{huge}
\bfseries
A small example
Chapter 2
[ 39 ]
\end{huge}
\bigskip
This is just another small illustrative example.
\end{document}
2. Typeset to see the result:
What just happened?
By wring \begin{huge}, we told LaTeX to switch to a huge font size just like with the
\huge command. \end{huge} informs LaTeX that this size change should end now.
From this point onwards, the font size is the same as before \begin{huge}.
Inside this environment, we use the declaraon \bfseries. Note that the eect of this
declaraon ended together with the end of the environment.
The empty line before \end{huge} denotes a paragraph break. Using the command
\bigskip, we skipped some space vercally.
For every declaraon there's a corresponding environment carrying the same name except
the backslash. Using environments instead of braces might make complex code easily
understandable.
Commonly it's advisable to end the paragraph before a font size change, not
aer it. That's because TeX calculates the interline spacing depending on the
current font size when it reaches the end of the paragraph. That's the reason we
used the blank line before \end{huge} instead of aerwards.
Saving time and effort – creating your own commands
If you're frequently using the same term in your document, it would be annoying to type
it again and again. What if you later decided to change that term or its formang? To
avoid searching and replacing in the whole document, LaTeX allows you to dene your
own commands in your preamble. They are also called macros. Give it a name. Later in the
document you just need to use this name whenever you want to change this term. We need
to do it just once in the macro denion. This will aect the whole document. Let's see how
it works.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 40 ]
Time for action – creating our rst command using it as an
abbreviation
We will dene a short command prinng out the name of the TeX Users Group:
1. Type this code into a new document:
\documentclass{article}
\newcommand{\TUG}{TeX Users Group}
\begin{document}
\section{The \TUG}
The \TUG\ is an organization for people who are interested in
\TeX\ or \LaTeX.
\end{document}
2. Typeset and look at the result:
What just happened?
\newcommand in the highlighted line denes our command. The rst argument is the name
we chose for it, and the second argument is the text we want it to put out in the document.
Now, whenever we type \TUG in our document, the complete name will appear. If we later
decide to change the name or its formang, we just need to change this \newcommand line.
Then it will be applied for the complete document.
You may use formang commands inside your command denion. Let's say you would
like to change the formang of all occurrences of this name to be typeset in small caps;
just change the denion to the following:
\newcommand{\TUG}{\textsc{TeX Users Group}}
You have also seen that we've used the command \TeX. This command just prints out the
name of the basic typeseng system formaed like in its logo. It's an abbreviaon command
like we've wrien now and \LaTeX works similarly. Note that we had to use a backslash
aer \TeX! The following space would just separate the command from the following text;
it won't produce a space in the output. Using the backslash followed by a space forces the
output of the space that would otherwise be ignored. You may try oming that backslash to
be convinced.
Chapter 2
[ 41 ]
Gentle spacing after commands
A backslash following a command could easily be forgoen. Can't we modify the command
in order to automate that? Tasks like this, which aren't supported by LaTeX directly, could be
solved by using packages. These are collecons of styles and commands.
Time for action – adding intelligent spacing to command output
We will load the package xspace. Its only purpose is to fulll this need.
1. Modify the previous example to get the following code:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xspace}
\newcommand{\TUG}{\textsc{TeX Users Group}\xspace}
\begin{document}
\section{The \TUG}
The \TUG is an organization for people who are interested in \TeX\
or \LaTeX.
\end{document}
2. Typeset, see that the spacing between the words is correct, even without
the backslash:
What just happened?
\usepackage{xspace} tells LaTeX to load the package called xspace and to read in all
of its denions. From now on we may use all commands contained in that package. This
package provides the command \xspace that inserts a space depending on the following
character: If a dot, a comma, an exclamaon, or a quotaon mark follows, it won't insert a
space, but if a normal leer follows, then it will. Usually, that's exactly what we want.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 42 ]
Imagine you've menoned the TUG several mes in your document and now you've got
the idea to use the TeX logo style in its name. There's no need for changes in the document.
Now only the command in the preamble needs adjustment:
\newcommand{\TUG}{\textsc{\TeX\ Users Group}\xspace}
The heading in our last example doesn't contain small caps—have you seen it?
Not all font properes can be combined, depending on the chosen font. For
instance, fonts with small caps together with variaons like bold and italic are
rare. Therefore, some people even fake small caps if they don't want to change
to a more complex font.
By dening and using commands, you can ensure that the formang remains consistent
throughout your whole document.
Creating more universal commands – using arguments
Imagine that your text contains a lot of keywords that you want to be printed in bold. If you
use the \textbf{} command on all the keywords, what would happen if you later decide
to use an italic shape instead or a typewriter font? You would have to change that formang
for each keyword. There's a beer way: dening your own macro and using \textbf{} only
inside that.
Time for action – creating a macro for formatting keywords
We will use \newcommand again, but this me we will introduce a parameter that will
contain our keyword. Let's just use it on some terms that we've got to know in this chapter:
1. Type this code example:
\documentclass{article}
\newcommand{\keyword}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
\begin{document}
\keyword{Grouping} by curly braces limits the
\keyword{scope} of \keyword{declarations}.
\end{document}
Chapter 2
[ 43 ]
2. Typeset and noce the look of the keywords in the output:
What just happened?
Let's look at the highlighted line in the code. The number 1 in the square brackets marks the
number of arguments that we want to use in the command. #1 will be replaced by the value
of the rst argument. #2 would refer to a second argument, and so on.
Now if you want to modify the appearance of all keywords to be italic, just modify the
denion of \keyword and the change will be global.
Using optional arguments
In one preceding example, we've used \newcommand with two arguments. In the previous
example, there were three arguments. The addional argument has been put in square
brackets. That's the way we mark oponal arguments: those arguments may be given or
may be omied. If omied, they would have a default value. We've already noced that
with the \documentclass command. But how can we dene a command with oponal
arguments ourselves?
Time for action – marking keywords with optional formatting
We will use \newcommand another me, this me with an oponal parameter concerning
the formang and a mandatory argument for the keyword:
1. Modify the previous example to get this code:
\documentclass{article}
\newcommand{\keyword}[2][\bfseries]{{#1#2}}
\begin{document}
\keyword{Grouping} by curly braces limits the
\keyword{scope} of \keyword[\itshape]{declarations}.
\end{document}
2. Typeset and check out the result:
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 44 ]
What just happened?
Let's look again at the bold marked line in the code. By using [\bfseries], we introduced
an oponal parameter. We refer to it with #1. Its default value is \bfseries. Since we used
a declaraon this me, we added a pair of braces to ensure that only the keyword is aected
by the declaraon.
Later in the document, we gave [\itshape] to \keyword, changing the default formang
to italics.
Here's the denion of the\newcommand:
\newcommand{command}[arguments][optional]{definition}
command The name of the new command, starng with a backslash followed by lowercase
and/or uppercase leers or a backslash followed by a single non-leer symbol.
That name must not be already dened and is not allowed to begin with \end.
arguments An integer from 1 to 9, the number of arguments of the new command. If
omied, the command will have no arguments.
optional If this is present, then the rst of the arguments would be oponal with a default
value given here. Otherwise all arguments are mandatory.
definition Every occurrence of the command will be replaced by definition and every
occurrence of the form #n will then be replaced by the nth argument.
\newcommand is our key to introduce logical formang. We should avoid using LaTeX
font commands inside the document—you are on the right track if they appear only in the
preamble of the document. Use \newcommand to create styles for keywords, code snippets,
web addresses, names, notes, informaon boxes, or dierently emphasized text. How did we
achieve the consistent structure of this book? Using styles is the key!
Pop quiz – commands
1. Imagine your document contains some addresses of websites. Let's say we want
them to be typeset in typewriter font. According to this book, which of the following
possibilies would be the best way to print out, for instance, http://ctan.org?
a. \texttt{http://ctan.org}
b. {\ttfamilyhttp://ctan.org}
c. \newcommand{\CTAN}{\texttt{http://ctan.org}} in the preamble
and \CTAN in the body text
d. \newcommand{\site}[1]{\texttt{#1}} and \newcommand{\CTAN}
{http://ctan.org} in the preamble and \site{\CTAN} in the body text
Chapter 2
[ 45 ]
2. Which kind of punctuaon marks are used to enclose oponal arguments?
a. Parentheses: ()
b. Square brackets: []
c. Curly braces: {}
Have a go hero – saving effort using optional arguments
Most website addresses begin with http://. But there are sites that dier—some may
start with ftp://, so called FTP server, some sites begin with https://, so called secure
web server. Visit, for instance, ftp://ctan.org, and you will enter a le server instead
of a web server.
Extend the denion of \site of our last pop quiz. Introduce an oponal argument
denong the protocol of the site, that is, how the address starts. Default should start with
http://. It shall work like the following:
\site{www.tug.org} prints out http://www.tug.org in typewriter font
\site[ftp]{ctan.org} prints out ftp://ctan.org in typewriter font
Web addresses in texts
There's a package called url designed for typeseng web addresses.
Write \usepackage{url} in your preamble; this will provide the
command \url. This command takes an address for the argument and
will print it out with typewriter font. Furthermore, it is able to handle
special characters in addresses like underscores and percent signs. It even
enables hyphenaon in addresses, which is useful for websites with a very
long name.
Using boxes to limit the width of paragraphs
We won't always write the text just from le to right over the complete text width.
Somemes, we'd like a paragraph to have a smaller width, for instance, when we would
like to put text and a picture side-by-side.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 46 ]
Time for action – creating a narrow text column
We would like to explain the acronym TUG in a text column of only 3 cm width:
1. Create a new document containing these four lines:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\parbox{3cm}{TUG is an acronym. It means \TeX\ Users Group.}
\end{document}
2. Typeset and take a crical look at the output:
What just happened?
We used the command \parbox to create a column. We stated the width of 3 cm in the
rst argument and the contained text in the second argument to \parbox.
\parbox takes the argument text and formats the output to t the specied width. We
see that the text is fully jused. Our example shows an obvious problem: insisng on full
juscaon could lead to undesirable big gaps in the text. Possible soluons are:
Introducing hyphenaon: the word acronym could easily be divided
Improving juscaon: LaTeX could do beer
Giving up full juscaon: narrow text could look beer when it's only le jused
We will check out all of these opons. But rst, let's see how \parbox is working.
Common paragraph boxes
Usually we just need a text box with a certain width; occasionally we would like to have
some addional alignment to the surrounding text. So the common denion of the
\parbox command is:
\parbox[alignment]{width}{text}
Chapter 2
[ 47 ]
alignment Oponal argument for the vercal alignment. State t to align at the top line of
the box; write b to align at its boom line. The default behavior is to place the
box such that its center is in line with the center of the current text line.
width The width of the box. It can be given for example in ISO units like 3 cm, 44 mm,
or 2 in.
text The text that you want to put in that box. It should be a short piece of common
text. For complicated contents, we will get to know other methods.
Here's a demonstraon of the eect of the alignment parameters:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Text line
\quad\parbox[b]{1.8cm}{this parbox is aligned at its bottom line}
\quad\parbox{1.5cm}{center-aligned parbox}
\quad\parbox[t]{2cm}{another parbox aligned at its top line}
\end{document}
The command \quad produces some space; we used it to separate the boxes a bit. Here's
the output:
From now on we will call such a box a parbox.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 48 ]
Have a go hero – exploring further features of \parbox
\parbox is capable of doing even more. Here's the complete denion:
\parbox[alignment][height][inner alignment]{width}{text}
height If this oponal argument isn't given, the box will have just the natural
height of the text inside. Use this argument if you want to change the
height of the box to make it bigger or smaller.
inner alignment Especially, if the height of the box is dierent to the natural height of
the contained text, you might want to adjust the text posion. The
argument means:
c—vercally center the text in the box
t—place text at the top of the box
b—place text at its boom
s—stretch the text vercally if possible
If you omit this argument, the alignment argument will be
used here as the default value.
Take our previous demonstraon example and try the eect of the oponal arguments. Use
the command \fbox that helps to visualize the eect; if you write \fbox{\parbox[...]
{...}{text}}, the complete parbox will be framed.
Boxes containing more text
Parboxes are suitable for boxes with only a lile text inside. In case of a box containing
a large amount of text, the closing brace could easily be forgoen or overlooked. The
minipage environment would then be a beer choice.
Time for action – using the minipage environment
We will use the minipage environment instead of \parbox to get a text with a width of just
3 cm.
1. Modify the parbox example to get the following code:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\begin{minipage}{3cm}
TUG is an acronym. It means \TeX\ Users Group.
\end{minipage}
\end{document}
Chapter 2
[ 49 ]
2. Typeset and look at the output:
What just happened?
By using\begin{minipage}, we started a "page in a page". We specied the width of 3cm
by the mandatory argument. From this point onwards, the text lines will have a width of
3cm. They will be automacally wrapped and fully jused. We ended this restricon with
\end{minipage}. Any text typed aerwards would run over the complete body text width.
Note: There won't be a page break in such a "minipage".
Have you been a hero struggling with the \parbox and all of its oponal arguments? The
minipage environment accepts all those arguments as well with the same meaning.
Have a go hero – creating a footnote inside a minipage
Of course, LaTeX supports footnotes. You guessed it right—the corresponding command is
called \footnote{text}. Try it in one of our examples. You will get a footnote mark inside
the text and the text of the footnote will be put into the boom of the page.
A minipage is like a small page inside a normal page. Think of using a footnote inside
such a "page"; do you want to see the footnote text inside this small page? The minipage
environment supports it, just try it—use \footnote inside the minipage in the previous
example.
Understanding environments
LaTeX environments are started with \begin and ended with \end. Both commands require
the name of the environment as their argument.
Simple environments look like the following:
\begin{name}
…
\end{name}
Such environments can be used for each declaraon called \name.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 50 ]
Like commands, environments may also have arguments. Exactly like in the case of
commands, mandatory arguments are wrien in curly braces and oponal arguments in
square brackets. So you will encounter:
\begin{name}{argument}
…
\end{name}
And:
\begin{name}[optional argument]{argument}
…
\end{name}
Environments are like declaraons with a built-in scope. With \begin, the environment
introduces a change in layout, font, or other properes. There must be an\end command,
where this change will be canceled. The eect of the environment name is delimited to the
piece of code between \begin{name} and \end{name}.
Furthermore, the eect of all local declaraons used inside an environment will end together
with the surrounding environment.
Breaking lines and paragraphs
Generally, when you're wring text, you don't need to care about the line wrapping.
Just type the text with your editor; LaTeX will make it t to the line and take care of the
juscaon. If you want to begin a new paragraph, in consequence of geng a line break
in the output, just insert an empty line before you connue with your text.
Now we will nd out how to control the line wrapping. First we will see how to improve the
automac line breaking. Then we will learn commands to insert breaks directly.
Improving hyphenation
If you look at longer texts, you will noce that it's outstanding how the text is fully jused
by LaTeX and how the spacing between words is evenly distributed on the lines. If necessary,
LaTeX will divide words and put hyphens at the end of the line in order to break the lines in a
beer way. LaTeX already uses very good algorithms to hyphenate words, but it may happen
that it can't nd an acceptable way to divide a word. The previous example pointed out this
problem: breaking the word acronym would improve the output, but LaTeX does not know
where to divide it. We shall nd out how to solve that.
Chapter 2
[ 51 ]
Time for action – stating division points for words
No maer how good the juscaon skill is, text in very narrow columns is extremely hard
to jusfy. The previous example showed it piless. We will tell LaTeX how a word could be
divided:
1. Insert the following line into the preamble of the previous example:
\hyphenation{acro-nym}
2. Typeset and look at the output:
What just happened?
We've told LaTeX that the word acronym may have a division point between acro and nym.
That means a hyphen might be put aer acro at the end of the line and nym goes to the
following line.
The \hyphenation command tells LaTeX where the division points of a word may be. Its
argument may contain several words separated by spaces. For each word, we can indicate
several points. For instance we could extend the argument by more division points and more
word variants like this:
\hyphenation{ac-ro-nym ac-ro-nym-ic a-cro-nym-i-cal-ly}
You could also indicate division points in the body text by inserng a backslash followed
by a hyphen, like ac\-ro\-nym. But if you do it in the preamble, you'll collect all rules
there and they will be used consistently. Use it especially in the rare cases when LaTeX's
automaon fails.
Prevenng hyphenaon
If you want to prevent the hyphenaon of a certain word at all, there are two
ways: either declare it in the preamble by using it in the \hyphenation
argument without any division points, like \hyphenation{indivisible},
or you protect it inside the text using the \mbox command: The following
word is \mbox{indivisible}.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 52 ]
Have a go hero – exploiting the hyphenat package
The hyphenat package extends the possibilies:
\usepackage[none]{hyphenat} prevents hyphenaon throughout the
document.
\usepackage[htt]{hyphenat} enables hyphenaon for typewriter text.
Otherwise such monospaced fonts won't be hyphenated by LaTeX.
Such oponal arguments to \usepackage are called package opons. They congure the
behavior of a package. The menoned opons may be combined, separated by commas.
Even if you don't use the opon none, you can disable hyphenaon for short pieces of text
using the command \nohyphens{text}. Try out these features if you want to prot from
them. The package documentaon explains more features that you might need somemes,
such as hyphenaon aer special characters like numerals and punctuaon characters—TeX
would not break there.
Improving the justication further
Today's most popular TeX compiler is pdfTeX, which directly produces PDF output. When
Hàn Thế Thành developed pdfTeX, he extended TeX by micro-typographic capabilies. When
we typeset directly to PDF, we're actually using pdfLaTeX and we can benet from the new
features by using the microtype package.
Time for action – using microtype
We will improve our previous example by loading the microtype package:
1. Insert the following line into the preamble of the previous example:
\usepackage{microtype}
2. Typeset and look at the output:
Chapter 2
[ 53 ]
What just happened?
We have loaded the microtype package without any opons, relying on its default
behavior. It introduces font expansion to tweak the juscaon and uses hanging
punctuaon to improve the opcal appearance of the margins. This may reduce the need of
hyphenaon and improves the "grayness" of the output. You've seen its eect on a narrow
column—imagine the improvement on wide text—keep that in mind and try it out later!
Though microtype provides powerful features and opons for the advanced typeseer,
we usually won't need to do more than just load it to prot from it. There's an extensive
package documentaon if you want to study it in depth.
microtype does nice tweaking, but it's not a cure-all; we should sll take care of proper
hyphenaon.
Breaking lines manually
We might choose to end a line overriding the automasm. There are several commands with
dierent eects.
Time for action – using line breaks
We will type the beginning of a famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe. As the author has specied
where a verse has to end, we shall insert line breaks there.
1. Create a document containing these lines:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\emph{Annabel Lee}\\
It was many and many a year ago,\\
In a kingdom by the sea,\\
That a maiden there lived whom you may know\\
By the name of Annabel Lee
\end{document}
2. Typeset and view the output:
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 54 ]
What just happened?
The very short command \\ ended a line; the following text was put to the next line.
That's dierent to a paragraph break: we're sll in the same paragraph. The command
called \newline has the same eect.
There's another command called \linebreak, which tells LaTeX to end the line but to keep
the full juscaon. Therefore, the space between the words would be stretched to reach
the right margin. This could cause unpleasant gaps—that's why that command is rarely used.
Have a go hero – exploring line breaking options
Both introduced commands understand oponal arguments.
\\[value] would insert addional vercal space aer the break depending on the
value, like \\[3mm].
\\*[value] is a variaon of the same but prevents a page break before the next
line of text.
\linebreak[number] can be used to inuence the line break slightly or strongly:
If number is 0, a line break is allowed, 1 means it's desired, 2 and 3 mark more
insistent requests, and 4 will force it. The laer is the default behavior if no number
was given.
Change the heading of our poem example to the following:
\emph{Annabel Lee}\\[3mm]
This will insert some space between our heading and the poem fragment. Try the opons
further and check out their eects. If you're daring, try \linebreak instead of \\ to end a
poem line just to see its eect.
Preventing line breaks
The command \linebreak has a direct counterpart: \nolinebreak. This command
prevents a line break at the current posion. Like its counterpart, it takes an oponal
argument. If you write \nolinebreak[0], you recommend to not break the line there.
Using 1, 2, or even 3 makes the request stronger and \nolinebreak[4] forbids it
completely. The laer will be presumed if you don't provide an argument.
The already menoned command, \mbox[text], does not only disable hyphenaon
of a word, it will also prevent a line break for the complete text.
Chapter 2
[ 55 ]
LaTeX will break lines at spaces between words if meaningful. The symbol ~ stands for an
interword space where no break is allowed: if you would write Dr.~Watson, the tle Dr.
would never stand lonely at the end of a line.
Managing line breaks wisely
Bad hyphenaon could sll disappear as the document grows, so stang some sensible
hyphenaon rules would not do any harm but could prove to be useful.
But only use \\, \newline, and \linebreak for line adjustment when you're working
on the nal version of your document! While you're sll eding your text, you don't need
to worry about line breaks. They sll may change during the wring process. Bad looking
juscaon could sll change and become beer without intervenon. On the other hand,
if you break a line manually but later insert text before, the result could be an unwanted
short line.
So don't waste your energy on formang while you're wring.
Exploring the ne details
Typographic convenons may require paying aenon to small details; there are dierent
dashes, and the space around a dot may vary depending on the context. The space aer
some leers may depend on the following one, so much so that some leers may even
be joined to a single one. Such construcons are called ligatures. Let's have a closer look
at them.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 56 ]
Time for action – exploring ligatures
We will check out Example 3 to discover a ligature. Aerwards, we will have a close look at
the default ligatures:
1. Open Example 3 in TeXworks, click the Typeset buon. Move the mouse pointer into
the output window, right over the word rst, and then click the le buon.
2. Go to the editor window, and then add a paragraph break by with empty line and
the following leer combinaons: ff fi flffiffl -- ---
3. Add a paragraph break, repeat the preceding line, but this me insert \/ between
the leers: f\/f f\/i f\/l f\/f\/i f\/f\/l -\/- -\/-\/-
4. Typeset and compare the leers in the output:
What just happened?
By le-clicking the mouse in the output window, you acvated TeXworks' magnifying glass. It
allows inspecng the output in detail as the area around the mouse pointer will be enlarged.
You can see that two or even three leers have been joined, but not in the last line: the
command \/ prevented this.
Chapter 2
[ 57 ]
Understanding ligatures
If the leer i follows the leer f, the dot of the leer i could collide with the head of the f. It
could be avoided in two ways: either by increasing the space between those two leers or by
combining them. The laer will result in a ligature. This will automacally be done by LaTeX
when the used font provides such ligatures.
Somemes this behavior might be undesirable, for instance, in compound words like
"halife". In this case, you can suppress this behavior by inserng \/ geng half\/life.
Curly braces can be used to achieve the same eect. For instance, in -{}- and {-}{-}, the
dashes cannot be joined because this would cross group boundaries.
If you don't like ligatures, for instance, because your PDF reader doesn't support
search or copy and paste of ligatures, completely suppressing ligatures could be
done easily by passing the opon noligatures to the microtype package:
\usepackage[noligatures]{microtype}.
Choosing the right dash
We've seen several kinds of dashes up unl now. Let's sort them out:
A short dash is used to mark hyphenaon or compound words. In LaTeX: -
A longer dash is used to indicate a range of some values, such as 2-3 hours.
Generally this dash has the same width like a digit. In LaTeX: --
Even wider is the dash commonly used to mark a parenthecal thought. In LaTeX:
---
Hyphenaon is always done using the short dash. Regarding the wider dashes, it's a maer
of style which kind of dash should be used, and further whether there should be a space
around the dash or not. You decide—but now you know how to typeset those dashes.
Setting dots
How wide is the space following a dot? Some styles require addional space aer the period
that ends a sentence, but not aer the period marking an abbreviaon. Furthermore, three
consecuve dots, forming an ellipsis, aren't usually wrien by just typing three dots. Let's
gure this out.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 58 ]
Time for action – using differently spaced dots
We shall typeset a short text containing periods to see the default behavior. Aerwards, we
will create an example where LaTeX's automaon fails; we shall see how to correct it. We will
learn how to simplify all this spacing using a dierent style.
1. Create a new document in TeXworks:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\TeX\ was designed by Donald E. Knuth.
It has become a de facto standard in mathematics.
\end{document}
2. Typeset to see the output:
3. Now add a paragraph break followed by this line:
Look at the spacing etc. in LaTeX. See it?
4. Check out the spacing aer the two periods in the output:
5. Correct the spacing by inserng a backslash and \@:
Look at the spacing etc.\ in LaTeX\@. See it?
6. Now remove the extra \ and \@ we've added, insert the declaraon
\frenchspacing into the preamble, and typeset to see the dierence:
Chapter 2
[ 59 ]
What just happened?
The rst step shows typical text and its output. As you can see, LaTeX adds a lile space aer
the period ending a sentence. But not following the leer E: in case of periods aer capital
leers, LaTeX assumes that it's an abbreviaon, therefore it doesn't add the extra space.
Generally, this automasm is helpful. However, you might encounter excepons: in step 3,
we constructed such a situaon where LaTeX's assumpons are wrong. We've got unwanted
extra space aer etc. and missed a space aer the last period.
In step 5, we corrected it: the backslash followed by a space (a "quoted space") produces the
normal interword space, the \@ before the dot states that the following dot stands at the
end of a sentence. Now the spacing is correct.
If you prefer to avoid this extra space or if the style you're following requires it, you could
switch o this default sentence spacing. We've done it in step 6 with the declaraon
\frenchspacing. Now the spacing aer sentences will be as it is between words.
The counterpart to \frenchspacing is \nonfrenchspacing, which is default.
Time for action – comparing dots to ellipsis
We will write an ellipsis in two ways: rstly by simply wring dots, secondly by using a
dedicated command. Let's compare!
1. Create a new document in TeXworks:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Here are three dots... compare them to the ellipsis\ldots
\end{document}
2. Check out the dierence:
What just happened?
We used the command \ldots to print out an ellipsis—three consecuve dots with a wider
spacing. Such dots may indicate a pause, an unnished thought, or an omied word. When
we just accumulated dots, they were typeset ghtly together. However, it's common to print
those dots wider.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 60 ]
Setting accents
Some languages have leers with accents that you can't simply type with your editor. In case
you need to write such leers: let's see how to do it.
Time for action – experimenting with accents
We will write some words having leers with accents in Portuguese and in French.
1. Create a new document:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
N\~{a}o compreendo. H\'{a} aqui algu\'{e}mque fale ingl\^{e}s?
Comment \c{c}a va? O\`{u} se trouve l'a\'{e}roport?
\end{document}
2. Typeset to see the generated accents:
What just happened?
LaTeX provides some special commands to produce a variety of accents. They may be
combined with any leer. Such a command consists of a backslash followed by one
character. The accent will be put above or below the leer that has to follow in curly
braces. The following table will list these commands and their eect:
Chapter 2
[ 61 ]
Using special characters directly in the editor
It might be a bit cumbersome to use those accent commands. There's a package that extends
LaTeX basic capabilies. It allows you to enter at least some commonly used accented and
other special characters directly.
Time for action – using accents directly
We will modify the previous example daring to enter accented leers directly in the editor.
1. Create a new document:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\begin{document}
Não compreendo. Há aqui alguém que fale inglês?
Comment çava? Où se trouve l'aéroport?
\end{document}
2. Typeset and compare to the previous output:
What just happened?
We loaded the inputenc package. The opon utf8 tells the package to use Unicode input
encoding, which provides many more symbols than just the ASCII code. Now we just need
to nd the symbol on the keyboard and to type it.
TeXworks supports Unicode/UTF-8. Depending on operang system and editor, you might
need to use another opon when loading inputenc. A rule of thumb: utf8 works on most
Linux and Unix systems, like Mac OS X, and latin1 works with most Windows editors.
Today, many Windows editors move to UTF-8. This is seemingly
becoming the cross-plaorm standard.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 62 ]
Turning off full justication
Though commonly your text will look ne if full juscaon is used, there may be occasions
when it's not the opmum. For instance, full juscaon could be displeasing if the text lines
are short. In such a case, it could be sucient to jusfy only to the le side. We shall see
how to put this into pracce, further how to right-jusfy, and how to get centered lines.
Time for action – justifying a paragraph to the left
Remember the rst parbox example which was fully jused but had those big gaps between
the words. We shall give up juscaon to the right side to avoid such gaps.
1. Create a new document containing these lines:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\parbox{3cm}{\raggedright
TUG is an acronym. It means \TeX\ Users Group.}
\end{document}
2. Typeset and look at the output:
What just happened?
We inserted the declaraon \raggedright. From this point onwards, the text will be
ragged-right. In other words, the text will be moved to the le margin - "ushed-le".
There won't be hyphenaon.
Because we used this declaraon inside a box, it's only valid there, like inside environments.
Aer the box, the text will be fully jused again.
If we want the whole document to be ragged-right, we just need to use \raggedright in
our preamble.
Creating ragged-left text
There might be occasions when we would like to achieve the opposite eect: ushing the
text to the right margin. We can do it similarly by inserng the declaraon \raggedleft.
Remember, you're able to control where lines are broken by inserng \\.
Chapter 2
[ 63 ]
Time for action – centering a title
We shall create a nice looking tle for our document. It should contain the tle, the author,
and the date. All those lines have to be centered.
1. Write a document containing this code:
\documentclass{article}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
{\centering
\huge\bfseries Centered text \\
\Large\normalfont written by me \\
\normalsize\today
}
\end{document}
2. Typeset to see the output:
What just happened?
Because only the tle should be centered, we opened a group to limit the centering. Through
the declaraon \centering, we made the remaining text of this group horizontally aligned
to the center. We inserted a paragraph break: it's always a good idea to do it before ending
the group when paragraph-aecng commands were used. By the brace aer \today, we
ended the group. If you complement some following text, it will be typeset normally, not
centered.
\centering is commonly used when pictures or tables are inserted, further on tle pages
and somemes for headings.
Using environments for justication
As there's a corresponding environment for every declaraon, as we learned, we could
have wrien \begin{centering} … \end{centering} in our previous example. It
could be done similarly for ragged-right and ragged-le text. There's a couple of predened
environments acng similarly but starng a new paragraph at the same me.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 64 ]
Time for action – centering verses
Let's reuse the fragment of the poem "Annabel Lee". This me we shall center all verses:
1. Create a document containing these lines:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{url}
\begin{document}
\noindent This is the beginning of a poem
by Edgar Allan Poe:
\begin{center}
\emph{Annabel Lee}
\end{center}
\begin{center}
It was many and many a year ago,\\
In a kingdom by the sea,\\
That a maiden there lived whom you may know\\
By the name of Annabel Lee
\end{center}
The complete poem can be read on
\url{http://www.online-literature.com/poe/576/}.
\end{document}
2. Typeset and see the output:
What just happened?
We began with \noindent avoiding the paragraph indentaon. \begin{center} started
the center environment. It begins a new paragraph, leaving some space to the preceding
text. \end{center} ended this environment. We used the environment twice. In the
second one, we inserted \\ to end the verses.
Chapter 2
[ 65 ]
Aer the center environment ended, some space followed and the next paragraph began
at the le margin.
The corresponding environment for ragged-right text is called ushle, and for ragged-le
text it's ushright.
Displaying quotes
Imagine your text contains a quotaon of another author. It might be hard to read if it's just
embedded in your words. A common way to improve the readability is displaying: seng the
text o by indenng on both margins.
Time for action – quoting a scientist
We will quote thoughts of famous physicists.
1. Create a new document containing these lines:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Niels Bohr said: ``An expert is a person who has made
all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.''
Albert Einstein said:
\begin{quote}
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
\end{quote}
Errors are inevitable. So, let's be brave trying something new.
\end{document}
2. Typeset to see the result:
What just happened?
Firstly we quoted inline. `produced a le quotaon mark; the character is also called a
backck. 'gave a right quotaon mark. We just typed two such symbols to get double
quotes.
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 66 ]
Then we used the quote environment to display a quotaon. We did not begin a new
paragraph for it, because the quotaon is already set a bit o. That's the reason we
don't use a blank line before and aer the environment.
Quoting longer text
When wring short quotaons, the quote environment looks very good. However, when
you would like to quote a text containing several paragraphs, you might wish to have the
same paragraph indentaon like in your surrounding text. The quotaon environment will
do it for you.
Time for action – quoting TeX's benets
We will quote some of the benets of TeX and LaTeX found on a web page on CTAN.
1. Start a new document. This me, it will be a bit longer:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{url}
\begin{document}
The authors of the CTAN team listed ten good reasons
for using \TeX. Among them are:
\begin{quotation}
\TeX\ has the best output. What you end with,
the symbols on the page, is as useable, and beautiful,
as a non-professional can produce.
\TeX\ knows typesetting. As those plain text samples
show, \TeX's has more sophisticated typographical algorithms
such as those for making paragraphs and for hyphenating.
\TeX\ is fast. On today's machines \TeX\ is very fast.
It is easy on memory and disk space, too.
\TeX\ is stable. It is in wide use, with a long history.
It has been tested by millions of users, on demanding input.
It will never eat your document. Never.
\end{quotation}
The original text can be found on
\url{ http://www.ctan.org/what_is_tex.html}.
\end{document}
2. Typeset and look at the output:
Chapter 2
[ 67 ]
What just happened?
This me, we used the quotation environment to display some paragraphs. As in normal
text, blank lines separate the paragraphs. They are le-indented at their beginning just like in
all our body text.
But what if we don't like that paragraph indentaon? Let's check out an alternave.
Time for action – spacing between paragraphs instead of
indentation
We like to avoid the paragraph indentaon. Instead, we shall separate the paragraphs by
some vercal space.
1. Create copy of the previous example and reuse most of it this way:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{parskip}
\usepackage{url}
\begin{document}
The authors of the CTAN team listed ten good reasons
for using \TeX. Among them are:
\TeX\ has the best output. What you end with,
the symbols on the page, is as useable, and beautiful,
as a non-professional can produce\ldots
The original text can be found on
\url{ http://www.ctan.org/what_is_tex.html}.
\end{document}
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
[ 68 ]
2. See the eect:
What just happened?
The highlighted line shows that we've loaded the parskip package. Its only purpose is to
remove the paragraph indentaon completely. At the same me, this package introduces
a skip between paragraphs. But this package doesn't aect the denion of the quotaon
environment—you sll could use the quote environment.
In order to disnguish paragraphs, there are two common ways. One is to indent the
beginning of each paragraph; this is the default LaTeX style. The other way is to insert vercal
space between paragraphs while oming the indentaon, which is suitable for narrow
columns where indenng would cost too much width.
Pop quiz – lines and paragraphs
1. Which of the following designates the end of a paragraph?
a. \newline
b. \\
c. A blank line
2. How do the words in a \hyphenation command be separated?
a. By commas
b. By semicolons
c. By spaces
3. Which command switches to le-aligned text?
a. \raggedleft
b. \raggedright
c. \flushright
Chapter 2
[ 69 ]
Summary
In this chapter, we developed the basics: eding, arranging, and formang of text.
Specically, we covered:
Modifying shape and style of text and its font
Breaking lines and improving hyphenaon
Controlling juscaon of text
We got to know the basic LaTeX concepts:
Commands and declaraons, mandatory and oponal arguments
Denion of new commands
Using environments
Using packages, how they can be loaded and opons to packages
Keep in mind that even though we've used formang commands directly in the text when
exploring them, you should use them inside command denions in the preamble to allow
easy changes for the future. During your learning and wring process, you probably will get
to know further useful commands and packages that could improve your previously wrien
commands.
We've learned general pracces:
As oen as possible, create your own macros to achieve a logical structure. You
will be rewarded with consistent formang and changes could easily be applied
to the whole document.
Deal with line or page breaking issues at the earliest when you go for your nal
version.
Now that we've learned about the detailed formang of text, we're ready to enter the next
chapter that deals with formang and layout of whole pages and documents.
3
Designing Pages
Aer the previous chapter, formang text should be easy for us. So, let's turn
to whole pages!
In this chapter, we will learn how to:
Adjust the margins
Change the line spacing
Secon the document
Create a table of contents
Design headers and footers
Control page breaking
Set footnotes and modify their appearance
In learning this, we shall gain a deeper insight into classes and packages.
Dening the overall layout
We shall write an example document spanning over several pages. This will be our test
object for modifying margins, line spacing, headers, footers, and more.
Designing Pages
[ 72 ]
Time for action – writing a book with chapters
We will start to write a book. At rst, we shall choose a class, further we will use some ller
text to work out the page layout.
1. Create a new document with the following code:
\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{book}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\begin{document}
\chapter{Exploring the page layout}
In this chapter we will study the layout of pages.
\section{Some filler text}
\blindtext
\section{A lot more filler text}
More dummy text will follow.
\subsection{Plenty of filler text}
\blindtext[10]
\end{document}
2. Save the document and Typeset it. Look at the rst page:
Chapter 3
[ 73 ]
What just happened?
We have chosen the document class book. As the name implies, this class is suitable for
book-like documents. Books are commonly two-sided and consist of chapters which usually
start at right-hand pages. They may have a front maer with one or more tle pages and a
back maer with bibliography, index, and so on. The book class supports all of this.
We loaded the babel package. This is useful especially for typeseng in other languages
than English regarding hyphenaon, language-specic characters, and more.
Even for English language, there are several opons: USenglish, american, english,
UKenglish, british, canadian, australian, and newzealand. Obviously, some mean
the same, such as UKenglish and british. However, there are dierences in hyphenaon
rules between USenglish (american, english) and UKenglish (british).
For now, we just need babel to load blindtext: this package has been developed to produce
ller text. It requires babel to detect the language of the document. We stated the language
English to babel, which means American English.
The command \chapter produced a large heading. This command will always begin on a
new page.
We've already seen the \section command. It's our second seconing level and generates
a smaller heading than \chapter. It's automacally numbered per chapter. The command
\blindtext followed, prinng some dummy text just to ll the space with some text.
At last, we rened the seconing with a \subsection command followed by more dummy
text to ll up the page.
There's another popular package for generang dummy text. It's called lipsum
and it produces the famous LoremIpsum text which has been the typeseer's
dummy text for hundreds of years.
Reviewing LaTeX's default page layout
For the example in the current chapter, we used A4 paper and a font size of 12 pt. We let
LaTeX dene the margins. Let's look at them:
The right margin is the outer margin of the book, because the chapter starts on a
right-hand page. It might seem to be a bit wide—but good text isn't just intended to
ll as much space as possible: it should be well-readable for our eyes. Therefore the
lines shouldn't be too long.
Designing Pages
[ 74 ]
The le margin is the inner margin on such a right-hand page. A user asked why the
inner margin is smaller than the outer, even further some space will get lost because
of the binding. The explanaon is simple, if we imagine the book lies opened right
before us: the inner margins would look joined. It's a good idea to aim at equal
margins—le, middle, and right. In this sense, we could choose the inner margin to
be half of the size of the outer margin—plus some oset for the binding.
The boom margin contains the page number.
The top margin looks very tall. It's caused by the chapter heading, there's always
more space le above. By looking at the second page, you will see that normal
pages have a smaller top margin.
If you ever doubt LaTeX's design, look at some books in your shelves and compare, whether
it's regarding margins, ligatures, numbering, or anything else.
Dening the margins yourself
A publisher or a supervisor may request you to follow his specicaons. Besides font size,
interline spacing, and other style issues, this might also apply to the margins. In this case,
you would need to override LaTeX's recommendaons specifying the margins precisely.
There's a package fullling these demands.
Time for action – specifying margins
We shall load the geometry package and state the exact width and height of all margins.
1. Extend the preamble of the previous example with this command:
\usepackage[a4paper, inner=1.5cm, outer=3cm, top=2cm,
bottom=3cm, bindingoffset=1cm]{geometry}
2. Typeset and examine the margins:
Chapter 3
[ 75 ]
What just happened?
We loaded another package with the name geometry. This package takes care of our layout
regarding the paper size, margins, and more dimensions. We chose A4 paper size, an outer
margin of 3 cm, and an inner margin of just 1.5 cm, remembering that the two inner margins
will be perceived as one space when the two-sided book is opened. We stated the top and
the boom margin. At last, we specied a value of 1 cm for the binding correcon. We need
the inner margins to be wider because we expect to lose this space later because of the
binding like gluing or stapling.
Using the geometry package
In the early days of LaTeX, it was common to manipulate the layout dimensions directly. This
approach had some disadvantages. We could easily make mistakes in calculang the lengths,
for instance le margin + right margin + text width might not t to the paper width. The
geometry package comes to the rescue. It provides a comfortable interface for specifying
layout parameters. Further, it provides auto-compleon. It calculates missing values to match
the paper size. It even adds missing lengths using a heurisc approach to achieve a good
layout. Let's look at it in detail.
Designing Pages
[ 76 ]
The geometry package understands arguments of the form "key=value", separated by
commas. If you load geometry without arguments, those arguments could alternavely
be used by calling \geometry{argument list}. We shall look at some of them.
Choosing the paper size
Geometry provides several opons to set the paper size and orientaon:
paper=name states the paper name, for example, paper=a4paper. It may be
abbreviated like we did in our example. The package supports a lot of paper sizes,
such as letterpaper, executivepaper, legalpaper, a0paper, … ,a6paper,
b0paper, … , b6paper, and more.
paperwidth, paperheight allow you to choose the paper dimensions freely,
like paperwidth=7in, paperheight=10in.
papersize={width,height} sets width and height of the paper like
papersize={7in,10in}. This is an example of a double-valued argument.
landscape changes the paper orientaon to landscape mode.
portrait switches to portrait mode. This is the default.
If you already specied the paper name to the document class, geometry will
inherit it. That's valid in general: all document class opons will be automacally
given to the packages that recognize them.
Specifying the text area
The text area may be adjusted by these opons:
textwidth sets the width of the text area, like textwidth=140mm.
textheight states the height of the text area, like textheight=180mm.
lines gives another way to specify the text height by the number of lines, like
lines=25.
includehead causes the header of the page to be included into the body area;
set false by default.
includefoot causes the footer of the page to be included into the body area;
set false by default.
Chapter 3
[ 77 ]
Setting the margins
The size of the visible margins can be specied by these opons:
left, right set the width of the le and the right margin, like left=2cm.
Use it for one-sided documents.
inner, outer set the width of the inner and the outer margin, like inner=2cm.
Use it for two-sided documents.
top, bottom set the height of the top and the boom margin, like top=25mm.
twoside switches to two-sided mode. This means that le and right margins
would be swapped on le-hand pages, also called verso pages.
bindingoffset reserves space on the le margin (one-side), respecvely the
inner margin (two-sided) for the binding.
That's just a selecon of commonly used opons—there are many more. You could choose
and set some opons intuively—for instance, \usepackage[margin=3cm]{geometry}
will result in a 3 cm margin on each edge of the paper and the paper size comes from the
document class opon.
The auto-compleon works like this:
paperwidth = left + width + right, where width=textwidth by default
paperheight = top + height + bottom, where height=textheight by default
If you decide to include marginal notes within the text body when calculang, width could
get wider than textwidth. If two dimensions of the right side of each formula are given,
the missing dimension would be calculated. That's why it may be enough to specify left
and right, top and bottom, respecvely. Even if just one margin is specied, the other
dimensions would be determined using default margin raos:
top:bottom = 2:3
left:right = 1:1 for one-sided documents
inner:outer = 2:3 for two-sided documents
Sounds complicated? That's just intended to help you to achieve praccal dimensions even if
some values were missing.
In 2010, version 5 of geometry introduced the commands
\newgeometry{argument list} and \restoregeometry,
allowing users to change margin dimensions in the middle of a document.
Their auto-compleon may also dier a bit from previous versions.
Designing Pages
[ 78 ]
The geometry package provides an extensive manual. Don't be worried by the amount of
documentaon: it's an oer to guide you through the variety of features.
Obtaining package documentation
There are hundreds of LaTeX packages available. No book could ever explain all of their
features on its own. But most of those packages oer good documentaon that you can read
for free. If you work your way through this book and supplement it with the documentaon
of the menoned packages, you're on the right track to become a LaTeX power user.
Time for action – nding the geometry package manual
We would like to examine the documentaon of the geometry package. At rst, we shall look
for it locally on our computer. Aerwards, we will see how to nd the documentaon online:
1. Click the Start buon and choose All Programs| Accessories |Command prompt
2. Type the following:
texdoc geometry
3. A PDF viewer should start and show the package manual. The same command works
at the command prompt on Linux/Unix computers.
4. Hit the Start buon again; this me, choose All Programs | TeX Live 2010 |TeXdoc
GUI. Click on Search texdoctk's database, enter the keyword geometry, and
press Enter:
5. Have a look at the search result. Open it by double-clicking or hit the View buon.
A viewer should open the documentaon.
Chapter 3
[ 79 ]
6. Open an Internet browser and visit the site http://ctan.org/pkg/geometry.
Scroll down to Documentaon on CTAN and hit the link User's manual. Again, your
PDF viewer or a browser plug-in will show the documentaon.
What just happened?
We've tried three ways of obtaining the documentaon. At rst, we used texdoc. This is a
tool to nd and to view LaTeX documentaon. It can be used at the command prompt; just
type texdoc followed by a keyword. For this, it's required to be in the operang system's
search path. The TeX distribuon installer takes care of it. The argument to texdoc doesn't
have to be the package name, as texdoc understands aliases. Further, we used a GUI for
texdoc providing a search feature supplemented by a category classicaon. Perhaps
browse for a lile while through the categories.
If texdoc doesn't help you, there's another opportunity: visit CTAN. You
just need to know the package name. Simply visit http://ctan.org/
pkg/packagename to get to the package homepage, there you may nd
documentaon.
In case you don't know the package name or you just have a vague idea what
you're looking for, visit the TeX Catalogue Online on http://texcatalogue.
sarovar.org/bytopic.html. It lists hundreds of packages sorted by topic.
Note: The online documentaon might match a dierent package version than
the one on your computer.
Have a go hero – constructing the page layout with typearea
Now that you know how to open package documentaon, you could gure out if you want
to benet from the typearea package. While the geometry package allows you to control
all margins yourself, typearea provides a dierent approach. It supports you in creang
a page layout based on proven typography standards. typearea is explained within the
KOMA-Script manual, so the keywords for texdoc and CTAN would be koma-script or
typearea. Reading Chapter 2 of the manual on Page Layout could give you an insight into
typography, even if you decide not to use typearea.
Changing the line spacing
Without some vercal space between the lines, the readability of a text could suer.
Adding such space would help lead the eye along the line.
Designing Pages
[ 80 ]
Time for action – increasing line spacing
Though LaTeX already takes care of good readability by choosing a meaningful interline
spacing, publishers might require dierent spacing. We shall modify our example by adding
half of a line height to the line spacing.
1. Extend the preamble of our example with this command:
\usepackage[onehalfspacing]{setspace}
2. Typeset to see the change:
What just happened?
We loaded the setspace package. Its only purpose is to adjust the line spacing. We provided
the opon onehalfspacing. This increases the spacing by half of a line height for the
whole document.
Chapter 3
[ 81 ]
setspace understands three opons:
singlespacing is the default. No addional space will be inserted. The text will
be typeset with LaTeX's default interline spacing, which is about 20 percent of the
line height.
onehalfspacing means one-and-a-half spacing like in our example.
doublespacing can be used for even more spacing: the distance between the
baselines of successive text lines would be twice as high as a single line.
Commonly, we choose the spacing for the complete document. In that case, such an opon
would be sucient. For each of the opons, there's a corresponding environment. They are
called singlespace, onehalfspace, and doublespace. Those environments may be
used to adjust the spacing within the document. They shouldn't be nested. For the need of
a dierent stretching factor, the spacing environment is provided. It may be used like the
following:
\begin{spacing}{2.4}
This text is stretched by a factor of 2.4.
\end{spacing}
In typeseer's jargon, the distance between the baselines of consecuve text
lines is called leading.
Have a go hero – examining a package source le
In some cases the documentaon of a package is not easily accessible. This applies to
setspace: the explanaon of the opons, commands, and environments is contained in the
package source le itself. How can we obtain it? We could visit CTAN, as we described before,
or locate the le on our computer. A package lename usually ends with .sty, standing for
style le. TeX Live provides a tool for locang such source les. Try it: open the command
prompt, that is, hit the Start buon and click All Programs |Accessories |Command prompt.
Then type the following:
kpsewhich setspace.sty
And press Enter. The program will print the locaon of the le, as follows:
c:/texlive/2010/texmf-dist/tex/latex/setspace/setspace.sty
Open the le using TeXworks or any text editor. There are a lot of comment lines explaining
the package features.
Designing Pages
[ 82 ]
The kpsewhich tool belongs to the kpathsea library. kpathsea's
fundamental purpose is lename lookup.
Using class options to congure the document style
We already know that a document class is the basis of our document. It provides commands
and environments extending the LaTeX standard features. Though the class provides a
default style, it's sll customizable with opons.
Time for action – creating a two-column landscape document
We shall change the orientaon of our example to landscape. We would also like to typeset
our text in two columns:
1. Add the opons landscape and twocolumn to the \documentclass statement
of our example, as follows:
\documentclass[a4paper,12pt,landscape,twocolumn]{book}
2. Typeset and see how the layout has changed:
Chapter 3
[ 83 ]
What just happened?
By using the landscape opon, we switched the orientaon. By stang the twocolumn
opon, we caused the body text to be divided into two columns.
There's a command\twocolumn[opening text] starng a two-column
page with oponal opening text over the whole width. \onecolumn begins a
one-column page.
If you'd like to balance the columns on the last page or if you wish to have
more than two columns, use the mulcols package.
The LaTeX base classes are arcle, book, report, slides, and leer. As the name suggests, the
last one can be used to write leers, though there are further suitable classes like scrlr2.
slides can be used to create presentaons, but today there are more powerful and feature
rich classes like beamer and powerdot.
Let's sum up the opons of the base classes:
a4paper, a5paper, b5paper, letterpaper, legalpaper, or executivepaper:
The output will be formaed according to this paper size, that is, A4: 210 mm x 297
mm. letterpaper (8.5 in x 11 in) is the default. Loading the geometry package
allows more sizes.
10pt, 11pt, or 12pt: The size of normal text in the document; the default is ten
points (10pt). The size of headings, footnotes, indexes, and so on, will be adjusted
accordingly.
landscape: Switches to landscape format; width and height of the output size
will be interchanged.
onecolumn or twocolumn: Decides whether the pages will be one-column
(default) or two-column. It's not supported by the leer class.
oneside or twoside: Formang for prinng on one side or both sides of a page.
oneside is the default, except for the book class. twoside is not usable with the
slides class and the letter class.
openright or openany: The rst decides that chapters have to begin on a right-
hand page (the default for the book class), openany allows chapters to start on any
page (default for the report class). These opons are only supported by the book
and the report class because the other classes don't provide chapters.
titlepage or notitlepage: The rst causes a separate tle page when
\maketitle is used and is the default, except for the article class. The
default of article is notitlepage, which means that normal text may follow
the tle on the same page.
Designing Pages
[ 84 ]
final or draft: If draft is set, then LaTeX will mark overfull lines with a black
box, which is helpful in reviewing and improving the output. Some packages support
these opon as well, behaving dierently then, such as oming embedding of
graphics and lisngs when draft has been chosen. final is the default.
openbib: When this opon is set, a bibliography would be formaed in open style
instead of compressed style.
fleqn: Causes displayed formulas to be le-aligned.
leqno: For numbered displayed formulas, the number would be put to the le side.
The right side is the default.
Many other classes support these opons as well and even more. For
the need of an uncommon base font size, the classes extarticle,
extbook, extreport, and extletter provide base font sizes from
8 pts to 20 pts. The so called KOMA-Script classes allow arbitrary base
font sizes. They understand such a large amount of opons that they're
addionally supporng a "key=value" interface like we've seen with the
geometry package.
Have a go hero – trying KOMA-Script classes
Have you been so brave to check out the typearea package documentaon? Then you've
already seen the KOMA-Script manual accessible by texdoc koma-script. Open it again;
this me, read it with the idea of choosing KOMA classes for your documents. They may be
used like the base classes: for each base class, there's a corresponding KOMA class. They
dier in some meaningful presets; for instance, headings use a sans-serif font by default.
However, the presets can easily be changed. Those classes extend the base classes very
much, providing a huge amount of commands. Web forums frequently show user quesons
being hard to solve using base classes, but being easily achievable by a single KOMA class
command.
Creating a table of contents
A book commonly begins with a table of contents, so let's create one.
Chapter 3
[ 85 ]
Time for action – adding a table of contents
We shall create a table of contents based on our numbered headings.
1. Let's remove the opons landscape and twocolumn. We also don't load
the setspace package. Add the command\tableofcontents right aer
\begin{document}. Our code shall now be:
\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{book}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage[a4paper, inner=1.5cm, outer=3cm, top=2cm,
bottom=3cm, bindingoffset=1cm]{geometry}
\begin{document}
\tableofcontents
\chapter{Exploring the page layout}
In this chapter we will study the layout of pages.
\section{Some filler text}
\blindtext
\section{A lot more filler text}
More dummy text will follow.
\subsection{Plenty of filler text}
\blindtext[10]
\end{document}
2. Typeset twice. Aerwards, the rst page of your output will contain this table:
What just happened?
The command \tableofcontents tells LaTeX to produce a le with the extension .toc.
This le will be used to generate a table of contents. We had to typeset twice: in the rst run,
the .toc le was wrien and in the second run, LaTeX read it and processed it.
The entries are created by the seconing commands. We used \chapter, \section, and
\subsection, and we've got an entry for each.
Designing Pages
[ 86 ]
Sectioning and the contents
A heading might be very long; it could span over two or more lines. In that case, we might
wish to shorten its corresponding table of contents entry. Let's see how.
Time for action – shortening the table of content entries
We will use the oponal argument of the seconing commands to produce shorter entries,
dierent to the actual headings:
1. Take our example and modify the seconing commands as shown in the
highlighted lines:
\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{book}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage[a4paper, inner=1.5cm, outer=3cm, top=2cm,
bottom=3cm, bindingoffset=1cm]{geometry}
\begin{document}
\tableofcontents
\chapter[Page layout]{Exploring the page layout}
In this chapter we will study the layout of pages.
\section[Filler text]{Some filler text}
\blindtext
\section[More]{A lot more filler text}
More blindtext will follow.
\subsection[Plenty]{Plenty of filler text}
\blindtext[10]
\end{document}
2. Typeset twice and look at the modied table of contents:
Chapter 3
[ 87 ]
What just happened?
Besides the mandatory argument producing the heading, each seconing command
understands an oponal argument. If this is given, it will be used instead of the mandatory
heading for the table of contents entry.
Again, we had to typeset twice to noce a change. This is not unusual. You will encounter
more situaons when several LaTeX runs would be necessary, like creang an index or
a bibliography.
In Chapter 7, Lisng Content and References, we shall take a further look and learn how
to customize the table of contents. Let's look again at the seconing commands of book,
report, and article. There are seven levels in those base classes:
\part: For dividing the document in major units. The numbering of other seconal
units is independent of \part. A part heading will use a whole page in book and
report documents.
\chapter: A large heading that will start at a new page, available in the book and
report classes.
\section, \subsection, \subsubsection: Bold headings available in all classes,
the following text comes below.
\paragraph, \subparagraph: Available in all classes, produces a run-in heading.
Except \part, all seconing commands reset the counter of the secon that's one level
below in the hierarchy. For instance, \chapter resets the secon counter. This way, the
secons will be numbered per chapter.
To sum up, though these commands are easy to use, they do a lot, such as:
Cause a page break (\part and \chapter with book and report classes)
Generate a number and a presentaon for it, some depending on the higher-level
counters (like 2.1)
Reset the counter of the next-level seconal unit (except \part)
Produce a table of contents entry storing it in the .toc le
Format the heading, usually bold-faced and the larger the higher in the hierarchy
If needed, save the heading for use in a page header
All seconing commands provide a starred form, as follows:
\section*{title}
Designing Pages
[ 88 ]
If you use this form, the numbering will be suppressed and there won't be an entry in the
table of contents or in a header. Look at the heading Contents in our example; this has
actually been typeset by \chapter* inside the \tableofcontents macro.
As page headers have been menoned, let's explore them now.
Designing headers and footers
Already during tesng of the rst version of our example, you might have noced that except
for the page where the chapter started, all pages already showed the page number, chapter
tle, and secon tle in their header:
Though these standard headers are already quite useful, we shall see how to customize them
to meet our individual requirements.
Time for action – customizing headers with the
fancyhdr package
The default shape of the page headings is slanted. Furthermore, they are wrien in capital
leers. We shall use bold typeface instead and we will use capital leers only for the chapter
tle. We will load the fancyhdr package and use its commands to achieve that:
1. Load the rst version of our example. Insert the highlighted lines:
\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{book}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\fancyhf{}
\fancyhead[LE]{\leftmark}
\fancyhead[RO]{\nouppercase{\rightmark}}
\fancyfoot[LE,RO]{\thepage}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\begin{document}
\chapter{Exploring the page layout}
In this chapter we will study the layout of pages.
\section{Some filler text}
Chapter 3
[ 89 ]
\blindtext
\section{A lot more filler text}
More dummy text will follow.
\subsection{Plenty of filler text}
\blindtext[10]
\end{document}
2. Typeset—the footers will contain the page number on their outer side and the
headers should look like the following:
What just happened?
We loaded the fancyhdr package. Our rst acon was calling \fancyhf{}; this command
clears the headers and footers. Further, we used the following:
\leftmark: Used by the book class to store the chapter tle together with the
chapter number. Capital leers are used as default.
\rightmark: Used by the book class to store the secon tle together with its
number. Capital leers are used as well.
We used the command \fancyhead with the oponal argument LE to put the chapter tle
into the header. LE stands for le-even and means that this chapter tle will be put on the
le side of the header on even-numbered pages.
Analogous, we called the command \fancyhead with RO to put the secon tle into the
header. RO stands for right-odd and means that this secon heading shall be displayed on
right side of the header on odd-numbered pages.
Aerwards, we used \fancyfoot to display the page number in the footer. This me, we
used LE and RO that showed the page number on even as well as on odd pages, always on
the outer side. The command \thepage prints the page number.
All those commands are used to modify a page style provided by fancyhdr; this
style is called fancy. We had to tell LaTeX to use this style and we did it through
\pagestyle{fancy}.
Designing Pages
[ 90 ]
Emphasizing by wring all leers capitalized, like fancyhdr does by default,
is called all caps. It is widely regarded as a quesonable style. If it's used at
all, then it's recommended to slightly increase the spacing between the capital
leers. For adjusng this so called leerspacing, you can use the microtype
package or the soul package.
Understanding page styles
LaTeX and its base classes provide four page styles:
empty: Neither a header nor a footer is shown.
plain: No header. The page number will be printed and centered in the footer.
headings: The header contains tles of chapters, secons, and/or subsecons,
depending on the class and also the page number. The footer is empty.
myheadings: The header contains a user-dened text and the page number;
the footer is empty.
fancyhdr adds one page style:
fancy: Both the header and footer may be customized by the user.
Two commands may be used to choose the page style:
\pagestyle{name}: Switches to the page style name from this point onwards.
\thispagestyle{name}: Chooses the page style name only or the current page;
the following pages will have the style that's been used before.
You have seen that where a chapter starts, the page style is dierent to the style of other
pages. Such pages will have plain style. If you thought all pages should use the same style,
look into some books: it's very common that chapter beginnings dier in style. They usually
have a blank header. \thispagestyle could be used to override that.
Customizing header and footer
Let's divide the header and footer into six pieces: le, center, and right (l, c, r) both for the
header and footer. The commands to modify those areas are as follows:
For the header: \lhead, \chead, \rhead
For the footer: \lfoot, \cfoot, \rfoot
Each of these commands requires a mandatory argument, like \chead{User's guide}
or \cfoot{\thepage}. This argument will be put into the corresponding area of the page.
Chapter 3
[ 91 ]
Alternavely, you could use these versale commands:
For the header: \fancyhead[code]{text}
For the footer: \fancyfoot[code]{text}
Here, code may consist of one or more leers:
Symbol Meaning
L le
Ccenter
R right
E even page
O odd page
H header
F footer
It doesn't maer if we choose uppercase or lowercase leers. We already used such
combinaons in our example.
Using decorative lines in header or footer
We can introduce or delete lines between header and body text and body text and footer,
respecvely, with these two commands:
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{width}
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{width}
Where width may be a value like 1pt, 0.5mm, and so on. Just set it to 0pt if you don't like
such a line. The default is 0.4pt for the header line and 0pt for the footer line.
\renewcommand works exactly like \newcommand, except that the command must already
exist. It will get the new meaning. Incidentally, we've got to know a new concept: a lot of
LaTeX commands may be redened in this way. We shall take advantage of it from now on.
There are starred versions-\newcommand, and \renewcommand,
respecvely. They are called short commands. Their arguments must not contain
paragraph breaks. This limitaon eases troubleshoong, as TeX would be able to
pick up an error earlier. That's why many people use them whenever possible.
Designing Pages
[ 92 ]
Changing LaTeX's header marks
As we already know, LaTeX classes and packages store seconing numbers and headings
in the macros \leftmark and \rightmark automacally. It will be done when we call
\chapter, \section, or \subsection. So, we could just use \leftmark and
\rightmark in the arguments of the fancyhdr commands.
We will somemes want to change those entries manually, even if we rely on this
automasm. For instance, the starred seconing commands like \chapter* and
\section* won't produce a header entry, like indicated earlier. In such a case, two
commands will help us:
\markright{right head} sets the right heading
\markboth{left head}{right head} sets both le and right heading
The default style headings is easy-to-use and gives good results. myheadings can be
used together with \markright and \markboth. However, the most exible way is
given by fancy, especially in combinaon with \markright and \markboth.
There's a very good alternave to fancyhdr, which is a package
called scrpage2. It belongs to KOMA-Script, but works with other
classes as well. It provides a similar funconality and oers even
more features.
Breaking pages
As you've seen in our example, LaTeX took care of the page breaking. There might be
occasions where we'd like to insert a page break ourselves. LaTeX oers several commands
to do it; with vercal balance or without.
Time for action – inserting page breaks
We will go back to the rst version of our example and we shall manually insert a page break
right before the subsecon 1.2.1.
1. Insert the highlighted line into our example:
\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{book}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\begin{document}
\chapter{Exploring the page layout}
In this chapter we will study the layout of pages.
\section{Some filler text}
Chapter 3
[ 93 ]
\blindtext
\section{A lot more filler text}
More dummy text will follow.
\pagebreak
\subsection{Plenty of filler text}
\blindtext[10]
\end{document}
2. Typeset and have a look:
3. Replace \pagebreak by \newpage.
Designing Pages
[ 94 ]
4. Typeset and compare:
What just happened?
At rst, we inserted the command \pagebreak. Like its name suggests, it causes a page
break. Furthermore, the text has been stretched to ll the page down to the boom.
Aerwards, because of the obviously unpleasant whitespace between the paragraphs and
the headings, we replaced \pagebreak with \newpage. This command breaks the page
as well, but it doesn't stretch the text: the remaining space of the page will stay empty.
So, \pagebreak behaves like \linebreak and \newpage works like \newline, for
pages instead of lines. There's even a command \nopagebreak that's analogous to
\nolinebreak and forbids page breaking.
Chapter 3
[ 95 ]
\pagebreak won't break a line. Furthermore, \nopagebreak doesn't refer to the middle
of a line: both commands apply at the end of the current line. Of course, they immediately
have eect when used between paragraphs.
If you use the two-column format, both \pagebreak and \newpage would begin on a new
column instead of a new page.
There are two further variants: \clearpage works like \newpage,
except that it will start on a new page, even in two-column mode.
\cleardoublepage does the same, but causes the following text to start
on a right-hand page, inserng a blank page if necessary. The laer is useful
for two-sided documents.
More importantly, both commands cause all gures and tables that LaTeX has
in its memory to be printed out immediately.
Somemes you may noce large gaps between headings and paragraphs. Those could be
the result of a bad page break like in our example. In that case, you could assist LaTeX by
such a page break command or you switch o vercal juscaon by the command
\raggedbottom. Its counterpart \flushbottom will switch it on, which is the default
in the book class.
What we learned about line breaking is valid for page breaking as well: don't worry about it
while your work is sll in progress. Only when you're done with your document and you're
preparing the nal version, will it be me to tweak the page breaks.
Have a go hero – exploring page breaking options
Remember the oponal arguments for \linebreak and \nolinebreak. \pagebreak and
\nopagebreak are able to take an oponal argument as well, an integer between 0 and 4.
While 0 recommends, 4 demands. Again, try the previous example. This me use an oponal
argument for \pagebreak. Test with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4. Only \pagebreak[4] will cause the page
break because the necessary stretching is so much that LaTeX doesn't like to follow either a
weak or a strong request.
Enlarging a page
LaTeX's rules are not set in stone; they also apply to page balancing. There may be occasions
where we want to put a lile more text onto a page, even if the text would be squeezed a bit
or the text height increases. There's a command that will help us out: \enlargethispage.
Designing Pages
[ 96 ]
Time for action – sparing an almost empty page
We shall modify our example a bit. This me, we will try to avoid a nearly empty page by
squeezing their text to the preceding page.
1. Remove the command \newpage from our example and switch to 11pt base font.
This me, use less ller text in the subsecon:
\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{book}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage[a4paper, inner=1.5cm, outer=3cm, top=2cm,
bottom=3cm, bindingoffset=1cm]{geometry}
\begin{document}
\chapter{Exploring the page layout}
In this chapter we will study the layout of pages.
\section{Some filler text}
\blindtext
\section{A lot more filler text}
More dummy text will follow.
\subsection{Plenty of filler text}
\blindtext[3]
\end{document}
2. Typeset, and the result will consist of two pages:
Chapter 3
[ 97 ]
3. Insert this command right aer the \subsection line:
\enlargethispage{\baselineskip}
4. Typeset. Now our document ts in only one page:
Designing Pages
[ 98 ]
What just happened?
We used the command \enlargethispage to squeeze more text onto a page. This
command takes the addionally requested height as its argument. The command
\baselineskip returns the height of a text line that we used as the argument. So,
LaTeX could put one extra line onto the page, and even the remaining line ed in as
well because LaTeX compressed some whitespace.
We could use factors: write \enlargethispage{2\baselineskip} to get two more lines
on a page. It doesn't even need to be an integer value. Like always, when you state a length,
you could use other units such as 10pt, 0.5in, 1cm, or 5mm, and even negave values.
Only the current page will be aected by this command.
There's a starred version: \enlargethispage* would
addionally shrink all vercal spaces on the page to their minimum.
Using footnotes
As briey menoned in Chapter 2, Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs, LaTeX provides
a command to typeset footnotes. Let's see it in acon.
Time for action – using footnotes in text and in headings
Let's go back to the very rst example of this chapter. We shall insert one footnote in the
body text and one in a secon heading:
1. Modify the example inserng a footnote, as shown in the highlighted line:
\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{book}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\begin{document}
\chapter{Exploring the page layout}
In this chapter we will study the layout of pages.
\section{Some filler text}
\blindtext
\section{A lot more filler text}
More dummy text\footnote{serving as a placeholder} will follow.
\subsection{Plenty of filler text}
\blindtext[10]
\end{document}
Chapter 3
[ 99 ]
2. Typeset to see how the footnote looks in print:
3. Insert a footnote in the second secon header. This me, put \protect right
before:
\section{A lot more filler text\protect\footnote{to fill the
page}}
4. Typeset to check that it works:
Designing Pages
[ 100 ]
What just happened?
The command \footnote{text} placed a superscripted number at the current posion.
Further, it prints its argument text into the boom of the page, marked by the same
number. As we've seen, such notes are separated from the main text by a horizontal line.
The other \footnote command has been preceded by the command \protect. If we
omied that, an error would be raised—try it. Such an error may occur when we use
\footnote inside an argument, where it's being further processed. \protect simply
prevents this processing error. As a rule of thumb, if a command causes an error when
it's used inside an argument, like in headings, try to x it by pung \protect right
before that command. Cases where \protect would hurt instead of helping are rare.
Generally, a heading might not be a good place for footnotes. If you simply use \footnote in
headings, be aware that they would appear in the table of contents and perhaps also in page
headers. If you want to avoid that, use the oponal parameter of the seconing commands
without \footnote, that is, \section[title without footnote]{title with
footnote}. The same applies to \chapter, and so on, and even further to \caption.
The complete denion of \footnote is:
\footnote[number]{text} produces a footnote marked by this oponal
number, an integer. If we don't give the oponal number, an internal counter would
be stepped and used. This would be done automacally; we don't need to worry.
Nevertheless, if we encounter dicules in placing footnotes, there are two commands
that help us:
\footnotemark[number] produces a superscripted number in the text as a
footnote mark. If the oponal argument wasn't given, it's also stepping and using
the internal footnote counter. No footnote will be generated.
\footnotetext[number]{text} generates a footnote without pung a
footnote mark into the text without stepping the internal footnote counter.
Both the commands may be used together in circumstances when \footnote would fail.
Set a footnote command right aer the related text. Don't leave a space in-between.
Otherwise, you would get a gap between the text and the following footnote mark.
Modifying the dividing line
The line that separates footnotes from the text is produced by the command
\footnoterule. If we wish to omit that line or if we want to modify it, we must
redene it. We learned about \renewcommand—so, let's use it.
Chapter 3
[ 101 ]
Time for action – redening the footnote line
We will use \renewcommand to override the default \footnoterule command:
1. Take the previous example and add the following lines to the preamble:
\renewcommand{\footnoterule}
{\noindent\smash{\rule[3pt]{\textwidth}{0.4pt}}}
2. Typeset and see how the line has changed:
What just happened?
Remember the denion of \newcommand—here it's analogous. The exisng command
\footnoterule will be replaced by a new denion that we wrote in the second line. The
command \rule[raising]{width}{height} draws a line, here 0.4 pt thick, and as
wide as the text, raised a bit by 3 pt. Through the command \smash, we let our line pretend
to have a height and a depth of zero, so it's occupying no vercal space at all. This way,
the page balancing will not be aected. You already know \noindent, which avoids the
paragraph indentaon.
If you want to omit that line completely, you just need to write:
\renewcommand{\footnoterule}{}
Now the command is dened to do nothing.
Designing Pages
[ 102 ]
Using packages to expand footnote styles
There are dierent habits for seng footnotes. Some styles require footnotes numbered
per page, they might have to be placed in the document as so called endnotes, and symbols
instead of numbers may be used. More demands exist and therefore several packages have
been developed to comply with them. Here's a selecon:
endnotes: Places footnotes at the end of the document
manyfoot: Allows nested footnotes
bigfoot: Replaces and extends manyfoot, improves page break handling with
footnotes
savefnmark: Useful when you need to use footnotes several mes
footmisc: All-round package; introduces numbering per page, is able to save space
when many short footnotes are used, oers symbols instead of numbers as footnote
marks, provides hanging indentaon and other styles
Have a look at the respecve package documentaon to learn more—now you know how to
obtain it.
Pop quiz
1. According to the text, which of the following points should be the goal when
designing the page layout?
a. Fill the page as much as possible
b. Achieve an arsc design
c. Improve readability
d. Disnguish the work from other publicaons
2. Which opons are preset by the book class?
a. openright and twoside
b. openany and twoside
c. openright and oneside
d. openany and oneside
3. Which page style is used as default on the rst page of a chapter?
a. empty
b. plain
c. headings
d. myheadings
e. fancy
Chapter 3
[ 103 ]
4. One of these page breaking commands is able to stretch the text to the boom to
ll the page. Which one?
a. \newpage
b. \clearpage
c. \cleardoublepage
d. \pagebreak
5. We would like to put a footnote into a chapter heading. Choose the best way!
a. \chapter{title\footnote{text}}
b. \chapter*{title\footnote{text}}
c. \chapter{title\protect\footnote{text}}
d. \chapter[title]{title\footnote{text}}
Summary
In this chapter, we have worked out how to design the overall layout of a document.
Specically, we learned about:
Adjusng the page dimensions and margins
Using landscape orientaon and two-column layout
Modifying the spacing between lines
Breaking pages and paying aenon to the vercal juscaon
Designing headers and footers with tles and page numbers
Using footnotes
Further, we covered some general topics:
Obtaining documentaon of packages in several ways
Changing document properes by choosing class opons
Redening exisng commands
Now it's me to deal with further text structures. In the next chapter, we shall learn how to
create lists for presenng text in an easy-to-read way.
4
Creating Lists
Arranging text in the form of a list can be very reader-friendly. You can present
several ideas by a clear structure which is easy to survey. Commonly, three
types of lists are used:
1. Bulleted lists
2. Numbered lists
3. Denion lists
In this chapter, we shall learn how to create such lists.
Building a bulleted list
We shall start with the simplest kind of list. It contains just the items without numbers. Each
item is marked by a bullet.
Time for action – listing LaTeX packages
We shall create a list of packages that we got to know in the previous chapter:
1. Begin a new document and enter the following code:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\section*{Useful packages}
LaTeX provides several packages for designing the layout:
\begin{itemize}
\item geometry
Creang Lists
[ 106 ]
\item typearea
\item fancyhdr
\item scrpage2
\item setspace
\end{itemize}
\end{document}
2. Typeset and have a look at the output:
What just happened?
It was not necessary to load any package. We began with a heading followed by some
text. For the actual list, we used an environment called itemize. As we know about
environments, \begin{itemize} starts it and \end{itemize} ends it. The command
\item tells LaTeX that a new item to the list follows. Each item may contain text of any
length and even paragraph breaks. Well, that's prey easy, isn't it?
Nesting lists
When a list gets longer, we could make it clearer by dividing it. We just create lists in a
list. It's advisable to use dierent bullets to keep the list levels apart easily. LaTeX does
it for us automacally.
Time for action – listing packages by topic
We shall rene the package list by introducing categories:
1. Rene the aforemenoned highlighted itemize environment of our
example in the following way:
\begin{itemize}
\item Page layout
\begin{itemize}
Chapter 4
[ 107 ]
\item geometry
\item typearea
\end{itemize}
\item Headers and footers
\begin{itemize}
\item fancyhdr
\item scrpage2
\end{itemize}
\item Line spacing
\begin{itemize}
\item setspace
\end{itemize}
\end{itemize}
2. Typeset to see the new list:
What just happened?
We simply inserted another list inside the list. Up to four levels are possible, otherwise LaTeX
would stop and print out the error message ! LaTeX Error: Too deeply nested. As we saw, the
rst level is marked by a bullet, and the second by an en dash. A third level item would start
with an asterisk symbol *. The fourth and last level would be marked by a centered dot.
Deeply nested lists can rarely be seen; such complicated structures might be hard to read.
In such cases, it could be a good idea to revise the text structure or at least split the list.
Creating a numbered list
Bulleted lists are useful if the order of the items doesn't maer. However, if the order is
important, we could organize the items by giving them numbers and creang a sorted list.
That would allow a reader to follow our thoughts easily.
Creang Lists
[ 108 ]
Time for action – writing a step-by-step tutorial
Let's prepare a ny "how-to" about designing the page layout:
1. Start with a new document and enter the following code:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\begin{enumerate}
\item State the paper size by an option to the document class
\item Determine the margin dimensions using one of these
packages:
\begin{itemize}
\item geometry
\item typearea
\end{itemize}
\item Customize header and footer by one of these packages:
\begin{itemize}
\item fancyhdr
\item scrpage2
\end{itemize}
\item Adjust the line spacing for the whole document
\begin{itemize}
\item by using the setspace package
\item or by the command \verb|\linespread{factor}|
\end{itemize}
\end{enumerate}
\end{document}
2. Typeset to generate the «how-to»:
Chapter 4
[ 109 ]
What just happened?
We used an enumerate environment. Except for the name, we use it just like the itemize
environment; each list item is introduced by the command \item. Again, we nested two
lists, but this me the lists are of a dierent kind. As we saw, that's no problem. Even though
the unnumbered list is embedded within a numbered list, it's marked by bullets, because it's
the rst unnumbered level. Mixed nesng could go further than four levels, but four is the
maximum for each kind and six in general.
The default numbering scheme for the enumerate environment is as follows:
\item understands an oponal argument; if you write \item[text], then text will be
printed instead of a number or a bullet. This way, you could use any numbering and any
symbol for the bullet.
Customizing lists
The default appearance of lists is meaningful regarding spacing, indentaon, and symbols.
Nevertheless, it may be required to use another scheme for the enumeraon, for the bullets,
or to modify the line spacing or their indentaon. There are packages helping us both to save
space and to customize the symbols; let's start with the spacing.
Saving space with compact lists
A frequently arising queson is how to reduce the space. LaTeX's lists are oen regarded as
being too spacious. We shall see how to implement that.
Time for action – shrinking our tutorial
We shall remove the white space around the list items and before and aer the whole list
as well:
1. In the previous example, load the package paralist and replace
enumerate with compactenum and itemize with compactitem:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{paralist}
\begin{document}
Creang Lists
[ 110 ]
\begin{compactenum}
\item State the paper size by an option to the document class
\item Determine the margin dimensions using one of these
packages:
\begin{compactitem}
\item geometry
\item typearea
\end{compactitem}
\item Customize header and footer by one of these packages:
\begin{compactitem}
\item fancyhdr
\item scrpage2
\end{compactitem}
\item Adjust the line spacing for the whole document
\begin{compactitem}
\item by using the setspace package
\item or by the command \verb|\linespread{factor}|
\end{compactitem}
\end{compactenum}
\end{document}
2. Typeset and compare the spacing:
3. Now extend the highlighted list item for setspace as follows:
\item by using the setspace package and one of its options:
\begin{inparaenum}
\item singlespacing
\item onehalfspacing
\item double spacing
\end{inparaenum}
Chapter 4
[ 111 ]
2. Typeset and look at the change in the line spacing subject:
What just happened?
The used package paralist provides several new list environments designed to be
typeset within paragraphs or in a very compact look. We loaded this package and replaced
the standard environments with their compact counterparts. In step 3, we used a new
environment, where the items are enumerated but stay within the same paragraph.
For each standard environment, paralist adds three corresponding environments:
Numbered lists:
compactenum: Compact version of the enumerate environment without any
vercal space before or aer the list or its items
inparaenum: An enumerated list typeset within a paragraph
asparaenum: Every list item is formaed like a separate common LaTeX paragraph,
but numbered
Bulleted lists:
compactitem: Compact version of the itemize environment like compactenum
inparaitem: An itemized list typeset within a paragraph, rarely seen in print
asparaitem: Like asparaenum, but with symbols instead of numbers
Choosing bullets and numbering format
To follow language specic habits or certain requirements, we might wish to enumerate
by Roman numbers or alphabecally; parentheses or dots might be required. Some may
prefer dashes instead of bullets. The package enumitem provides sophiscated features to
implement such requirements.
Creang Lists
[ 112 ]
Time for action – modifying lists using enumitem
Let's change the numbering scheme. We shall number alphabecally using circled leers.
Furthermore, we will replace bullets by dashes:
1. We shall discard paralist and load the package enumitem instead. We will turn
away from the compact environments returning to the standard list notaon:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\setlist{nolistsep}
\setitemize[1]{label=---}
\setenumerate[1]{label=\textcircled{\scriptsize\Alph*},
font=\sffamily}
\begin{document}
\begin{enumerate}
\item State the paper size by an option to the document class
\item Determine the margin dimensions using one of these
packages:
\begin{itemize}
\item geometry
\item typearea
\end{itemize}
\item Customize header and footer by one of these packages:
\begin{itemize}
\item fancyhdr
\item scrpage2
\end{itemize}
\item Adjust the line spacing for the whole document
\begin{itemize}
\item by using the setspace package
\item or by the command \verb|\linespread{factor}|
\end{itemize}
\end{enumerate}
\end{document}
2. Typeset and see the output:
Chapter 4
[ 113 ]
3. Right above the highlighted line, insert the following lines:
\end{enumerate}
\subsubsection*{Tweaking the line spacing:}
\begin{enumerate}[resume*]
4. Typeset to see the change:
What just happened?
We used the enumitem command to specify list properes. Let's take a closer look:
\setlist{nolistsep}: \setlist sets properes valid for all types of lists. Here
we specied nolistsep to achieve very compact lists analogous to the compact
paralist environment.
\setitemize[1]{label=–--}: \setitemize modies properes of bulleted
lists. Here we chose an em dash as the label to get a leading wide dash.
Creang Lists
[ 114 ]
\setenumerate[1]{label=\textcircled{\scriptsize\Alph*},font=\
sffamily}: \setenumerate sets properes valid for numbered lists. We used it
to set a label and a font for the label. The command \Alph* stands for enumeraon
in capital leers.
All of those three commands allow arguments of the form key=value. Some useful
parameters are as follows:
Parameter Meaning Values Example
font Modies the label font Any font command font=\bfseries
label Sets the label for the
current level
May contain
\arabic*,
\alph*, \Alph*, \
roman*, \Roman*
label=\emph\
alph*)
label* Like label but
appended to the
current label
Like label label*=\arabic)
align Alignment of the label left or right align=right
start Number of the rst
item
Integer start=10
resume,
resume*
Let's the counter
continue from the
previous lists value
resume
noitemsep No extra space
between items and
paragraphs
noitemsep
nolistsep No extra vertical
spacing at all
nolistsep
These opons may be set globally like \setenumerate[level]{key=value list}.
If the oponal argument level is missing, this global command will apply to all levels.
Those opons may be used locally like we did with resume*. Other examples are:
\begin{itemize}[noitemsep] for a compact bulleted list
\begin{enumerate}[label=\Roman*.,start=3] numbered by III., IV., ...
\begin{enumerate}[label=\alph*)],nolistsep] for a very compact list
numbered a), b), c), ...
Chapter 4
[ 115 ]
The labeling commands would achieve a numbering as follows:
\arabic* 1, 2, 3, 4, …
\alph* a, b, c, d, …
\Alph* A, B, C, D, …
\roman* i, ii, iii, iv, …
\Roman* I, II, III, IV, …
The * has been added to disnguish those commands from LaTeX commands with the same
name. Parentheses and punctuaon may be used as wished. Later in the book, you will learn
how to choose between thousands of symbols for labels and bullets.
There's even a short form: if you load enumitem with the opon shortlabels, you may
use a compact syntax like \begin{enumerate}[(i)], \begin{enumerate}[(1)] where
1, a, A, i, I stand for \arabic*, \alph*, \Alph*, \roman*, \Roman* respecvely. This
allows customizaon quickly and easily. However, consider using global commands to keep
formang consistent.
Suspending and continuing lists
In step 3 of our example, we interrupted the list. We connued wring normal text unl we
restarted the list by \begin{enumerate}[resume*]. The resume opon tells enumitem
to connue the list with the next number. The starred variant resume* does it with the
same formang like before. If you would like to complete the document, note that a \
subsubsection command should be preceded by a \subsection command. This should
follow a \section command. Just using a lower-level heading without a parent heading
could result in numbering like 0.0.1.
Producing a denition list
We shall proceed to the third kind of list, namely, denion lists, also called descripon lists.
Every list item consists of a term followed by its descripon.
Creang Lists
[ 116 ]
Time for action – explaining capabilities of packages
Now that we know some packages for creang lists, we shall write a short overview to show
their capabilies. Let's choose some addional packages listed on http://texcatalogue.
sarovar.org:
1. We will use a descripon environment. Create a document with the following code:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\begin{description}
\item[paralist] provides compact lists and list versions that
can be used within paragraphs, helps to customize labels and
layout
\item[enumitem] gives control over labels and lengths
in all kind of lists
\item[mdwlist] is useful to customize description lists, it
even allows multi-line labels. It features compact lists and
the capability to suspend and resume.
\item[desclist] offers more flexibility in definition list
\item[multenum] produces vertical enumeration in multiple
columns
\end{description}
\end{document}
2. Typeset to get the denion list:
Chapter 4
[ 117 ]
What just happened?
We used the descripon environment like the other lists, except that we used the oponal
argument of \item. In the description environment, \item is dened such that the
oponal parameter will be typeset in the bold typeface.
The package paralist supports the description environment as well; there are
the compactdesc, inparadesc, and asparadesc versions working analogous to
the other lists.
The same is valid for enumitem: there's the global command \setdescription{format}
working like \setitemize and \setenumerate. Furthermore, it also extends the
descripon environment to accept oponal formang arguments of the form key=value,
supporng the short form as well.
Have a go hero – adjusting the dimensions of lists
LaTeX's lists have a meaningful layout. However, there might be occasions when you would
like to modify this layout, for instance, to change the margins or the item indentaon. All
layout dimensions are determined by LaTeX macros, so called lengths.
There's a package which is really great for visualizing layouts, which presents these length
macros. It's called layouts and it has been wrien by Peter Wilson. Let's use it to examine
LaTeX's list dimensions. We will use this small document:
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{layouts}
\begin{document}
\listdiagram
\end{document}
Creang Lists
[ 118 ]
By simply typeseng it, we will get the following diagram:
Isn't it fantasc? The layouts package can do even more, which you can read about in its
documentaon. For now, we stay on topic regarding lists.
Though there are LaTeX commands for customizing those lengths, for example,
\setlength{\labelwidth}{2cm}, applying them to individual lists and certain
nesng depths is hard. If you need to modify the list layout, the enumitem package
comes handy again. Its commands like \setlist and its key=value interface may be
used also for adjusng the values of the lengths you could see in the previous diagram.
For example, if we would like to remove the space between list items in the
description environment and to reduce the le margin, we could load
enumitem and write the following:
\setdescription{itemsep=0cm,parsep=0cm,leftmargin=0.5cm}
Note, we don't use the backslash for keys. Similarly, \setitemize, \setenumerate, and
\setlist can be used for ne-tuning. Try assigning values by yourself, and test the eect on
our examples. If you would like to learn more, have a look at the enumitem documentaon.
Chapter 4
[ 119 ]
Pop quiz
1. A list environment may be nested to up to how many levels?
a. Two
b. Three
c. Four
d. Any number, just depending on the memory
2. All but one of these packages understand opons in the form key=value. Which
does not?
a. geometry
b. paralist
c. enumitem
3. In which environment should \item be used with an oponal argument?
a. itemize
b. enumerate
c. description
d. inparaenum
Summary
In this chapter, we got to know a new way to structure our text—lists. Specically, we
learned to create:
Bulleted lists using the itemize environment
Numbered lists using the enumerate environment
Denion lists using the description environment
Furthermore, we worked with compact versions of such lists provided by the packages
paralist and enumitem. Those packages allowed us to customize our lists at will.
You may regard those lists as an addional possibility to structure your text. Use it to clarify
your ideas. Though you may design the layout of lists as you wish, it's highly recommended
to use the same bullets and numbering scheme respecvely for the same nesng level.
5
Creating Tables and Inserting
Pictures
Scienc documents and others do not just contain plain text; they also present
informaon and data in tables and use diagrams and drawings to visualize
them. We shall become familiar with that.
In this chapter, we will learn how to perform the following:
Lining up text and data in columns
Typeseng complex tables
Including pictures in our documents
Adding capons to pictures and tables
Controlling the placement of gures and tables
Let's tackle these tasks!
Writing in columns
Remember the me of the typewriter and early word processing soware? When we
needed to line up some text in columns, we could use tab stops. LaTeX provides a similar
way to easily align text in columns, namely, the tabbing environment.
Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures
[ 122 ]
Time for action – lining up information using the tabbing
environment
We would like to present a quick overview regarding LaTeX. We shall present one point on
each line, aligned at words and double colons:
1. Begin a new document and open a tabbing environment:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabbing}
2. Write the text, set tab stops by \=, and end the line by \\:
\emph{Info:} \= Software \= : \= \LaTeX \\
3. Add further lines, move to the next tab stop by \>, and again end lines by \\:
\> Author \> : \> Leslie Lamport \\
\> Website \> : \> www.latex-project.org
4. Close the tabbing environment and end the document:
\end{tabbing}
\end{document}
5. Typeset to get the output:
What just happened?
The tabbing environment that we used begins a new line. We used three simple tags
for markup:
\= sets a tab stop. We could put several tab stops on a line. If we use \=
later, the next awaited tab stop would be reset to this posion.
\\ ends a row.
\> goes to the next tab stop. This could also mean to go backwards.
This way, we can quickly produce columns containing le-aligned text. If the rows of the
tabbing environment would reach the end of a page, it could connue on the next page.
What if a column is too long, running over the tab stop? Let's see how to solve that.
Chapter 5
[ 123 ]
Time for action – lining up font commands
In Chapter 2, Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs, we've got to know a lot of font
commands and declaraons. We saw a table containing those commands and example
output. Now we shall create such a table ourselves:
1. Begin a new document, like the one in step 1 of our previous example,
but dene a command for seng the font of our header:
\documentclass{article}
\newcommand{\head}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabbing}
2. Write the rst row set tab stops by \= and use \> to move to the tab stops.
Use the command \verb|…| to typeset the LaTeX commands:
\begin{tabbing}
Family \= \verb|\textrm{...}| \= \head{Declaration} \= \kill
\> \head{Command} \> \head{Declaration} \> \head{Example}\\
Family \> \verb|\textrm{...}| \> \verb|\rmfamily|
\> \rmfamily Example text\\
\> \verb|\textsf{...}| \> \verb|\sffamily|
\> \sffamily Example text\\
\> \verb|\texttt{...}| \> \verb|\ttfamily|
\> \ttfamily Example text
\end{tabbing}
3. Typeset and examine:
4. As we can see, the tab stops are too narrow. We shall correct it. Create a new head
row containing the tab stops; this me, we will mark the line by \kill to hide that
line. Use ller text to specify the width between the tab stops. Complete it with
further font commands:
\begin{tabbing}
Family \= \verb|\textrm{...}| \= \head{Declaration} \= \kill
\> \head{Command} \> \head{Declaration} \> \head{Example}\\
Family \> \verb|\textrm{...}| \> \verb|\rmfamily|
\> \rmfamily Example text\\
\> \verb|\textsf{...}| \> \verb|\sffamily|
\> \sffamily Example text\\
\> \verb|\texttt{...}| \> \verb|\ttfamily|
\> \ttfamily Example text
\end{tabbing}
Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures
[ 124 ]
5. Typeset to get the result:
What just happened?
Aer we noced that our tab stops have been set too narrow, we constructed a new rst row
containing the tab stops. It consists of words represenng the widest entries of each column.
To hide this auxiliary row, we used the command \kill right at the end of the line; \kill
at the end of a line causes this line to have no output.
Like in this example, the command \verb|code| typesets code "as it is",
without interpreng commands within. Instead of |, any character may be
chosen as the delimiter. \verb cannot be used in arguments of commands
including \section and \footnote, and not in table heads.
For longer, verbam text, use the environment with the same name:
verbatim.
There are further useful commands:
\+ at the end of a line causes each subsequent line to start at the rst tab.
Use it twice \+\+ to start at the second tab and so on.
\- cancels a preceding \+; also using mulply has cumulave eect.
\< at the beginning of a line cancels the eect of one previous \+ command
for that line.
The menoned commands already allow a good use of the tabbing environment. Even more
commands can be found in the reference manual: http://texblog.net/help/latex/
tabbing.html.
Inside tabbing environments, declaraons are local to the
current item. A following \=, \>, \\, or \kill command
would stop the eect.
Tabbing environments cannot be nested.
Chapter 5
[ 125 ]
Typesetting tables
We might need more complicated structures and formang, like centering in columns,
dividing lines, or even nested structures. LaTeX provides the tabular environment for
typeseng simple and complex tables which can be nested.
Time for action – building a table of font family commands
We shall create a table like in the previous example, but this me, we would like to make all
entries in a column horizontally centered to each other. We will also add some horizontal
lines to mark the border and the header of the table:
1. Create a new document. Dene a command for seng the font for the head row:
\documentclass{article}
\newcommand{\head}[1]{\textnormal{\textbf{#1}}}
\begin{document}
2. Begin a tabular environment. As a mandatory argument, provide ccc standing
for three centered columns:
\begin{tabular}{ccc}
3. Write the table head row, write & to separate column entries, and \\ to end rows.
Use \hline to insert horizontal lines:
\hline
\head{Command} & \head{Declaration} & \head{Output}\\
\hline
4. Connue with the table body and end the environment and the document. For
typeseng LaTeX commands, write \verb|\command|:
\verb|\textrm| & \verb|\rmfamily| & \rmfamily Example text\\
\verb|\textsf| & \verb|\sffamily| & \sffamily Example text\\
\verb|\texttt| & \verb|\ttfamily| & \ttfamily Example text\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{document}
5. Typeset to see the table:
Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures
[ 126 ]
What just happened?
In the mandatory argument, we wrote a list of characters. Each character stands for a
formang opon. As we used three characters, we've got three columns. c stands for
centered alignment. Therefore, the entries of all columns have been centered.
Column entries are separated by &, while rows are terminated by \\. Don't end the last
line by \\ unless you further wish to write a line below. It's also a good idea to align the
ampersands in our source code to keep it readable.
Inside the entries, you may use ordinary text as well as LaTeX commands. As in the tabbing
environment, declaraons are local to the entry, like if each entry was surrounded by curly
braces.
Furthermore, tabular has an oponal alignment argument just like minipage. So, the
complete denion is:
\begin{tabular}[position]{column specifiers}
row 1 col 1 entry & row 1 col 2 entry ... & row 1 col n entry\\
...
\end{tabular}
In the oponal argument, t means alignment at the top row and b means alignment at the
boom row. The default is vercally centered alignment. This may come in handy if you
would like to place two tables next to each other or within further text.
Drawing lines in tables
Within tabular, three types of lines may be used:
\hline draws a horizontal line over the whole width of the table
\cline{m-n} draws a horizontal line starng at the beginning of column m and
ending at the end of column n
\vline draws a vercal line over the full height and depth of the current row
Understanding formatting arguments
Of course, further formang is possible. Have a look at this example table:
\begin{tabular}{|l|c|r|p{1.7cm}|}
\hline
left & centered & right & a fully justified paragraph cell\\
\hline
l & c & r & p\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
Chapter 5
[ 127 ]
This code would produce the following table:
The opons understood by the tabular environment are as follows:
l for le alignment.
c for centered alignment.
r for right alignment.
p{width} for a "paragraph" cell of a certain width. . If you place several p cells
next to each other, they will be aligned at their top line. It's equivalent to using
\parbox[t]{width} within a cell.
@{code} inserts code instead of empty space before or aer a column. This might
also be some text or it could be le empty to avoid this space.
| stands for a vercal line.
*{n}{options} is equivalent to n copies of options, where n is a posive integer
and options may consist of one or more column speciers including * as well.
It is very advisable to avoid vercal lines in tables. Lines should subtly support
your informaon but not make reading dicult.
Aer loading the array package by \usepackage{array} you may use some opons,
such as:
m{width} is similar to\parbox{width}: the base line is at the middle
b{width} is like \parbox[b]{width}: the base line is at the boom
!{code} can be used like | but inserts code instead of a vercal line.
In contrast to @{…}, the space between columns will not be suppressed.
>{code} can be used before an l, c, r, p, m, or b opon and inserts code right at
the beginning of each entry of that column
<{code} can be used aer an l, c, r, p, m, or b opon and inserts code at the end
of the entry of that column
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This example shows the eect of @{} and the alignment arguments p, m, and b:
\begin{tabular}{@{}lp{1.2cm}m{1.2cm}b{1.2cm}@{}}
\hline
baseline & aligned at the top & aligned at the middle
& aligned at the bottom\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
The output table is as follows:
Increasing the row height
You may have noced that horizontal lines nearly touch the leers in the cells, especially
capital leers. The array package introduces a length called \extrarowheight. If it has a
posive value, this will be added to the height of every row of the table.
The next example, following the very rst example of this chapter, shows how to extend
the row height and shows the eect of the remaining array opons:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{array}
\setlength{\extrarowheight}{4pt}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{@{}>{\itshape}ll!{:}l<{.}@{}}
\hline
Info: & Software & \LaTeX\\
& Author & Leslie Lamport\\
& Website & www.latex-project.org\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{document}
The output is as follows:
Chapter 5
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Here, >{\itshape} has been used to change the font of a row to italic. >{} is oen used
to insert an alignment declaraon, but there's a piall: such declaraons might change the
internal meaning of \\, which is a shortcut for \tabularnewline within tables. But the
array package oers a command to repair it; in such cases, just add \arraybackslash, for
example:
\begin{tabular}{>{\centering\arraybackslash}p{5cm}}
Otherwise, the content of paragraph cells stated by p, m, or b will be fully jused.
Aer a specic row, you can add vercal space by the oponal argument of \\, such as
\\[10pt].
You may even stretch a whole table: the macro \arraystretch contains a stretching factor
with a default value of 1. Just redene it. For example, \renewcommand{\arraystretch}
{1.5} will increase the height of the rows by 50 percent. You could use it inside a group or
an environment to keep the eect local.
Beautifying tables
Sll our tables don't look as perfect as they look in good books. Especially, the lines and their
distances to the text might need improvement. The booktabs package comes to the rescue;
aer loading it, you can enhance the quality of your tables by new line commands replacing
\hline and \cline.
Time for action – adding nicer horizontal lines with the
booktabs package
We shall use the new commands introduced by booktabs:
1. In the previous example, load the package booktabs:
\usepackage{booktabs}
2. Use \toprule, \midrule, and \bottomrule instead of \hline. Specify a
thickness as an oponal argument:
\begin{tabular}{ccc}
\toprule[1.5pt]
\head{Command} & \head{Declaration} & \head{Output}\\
\midrule
\verb|\textrm| & \verb|\rmfamily| & \rmfamily Example text\\
\verb|\textsf| & \verb|\sffamily| & \sffamily Example text\\
\verb|\texttt| & \verb|\ttfamily| & \ttfamily Example text\\
\bottomrule[1.5pt]
\end{tabular}
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3. Typeset to see the dierence:
What just happened?
Brish typeseers call a line a rule. The booktabs developer chose this terminology for
the new commands. We used three of them. These are their denions:
\toprule[thickness] may be used to draw a horizontal line at the top of the
table. If desired, a thickness may be specied, like 1pt or 0.5mm.
\midrule[thickness] draws a horizontal dividing line between rows of a table.
\bottomrule[thickness] draws a horizontal line to nish o a table.
\cmidrule[thickness](trim){m–n} draws a horizontal line from column m to
column n. (trim) is oponal like thickness, it could be (l) or (r) to trim the
line at its le or right end. Write (lr) to trim at both ends. Even adding {width},
like in (l{10pt}), is possible and species the trim width.
The package does not dene vercal lines. They are not advisable anyway. The same applies
to double rules. Neither vercal nor double rules are recommended. They are even widely
considered to be bad typographic style.
Consider using \toprule and the other line commands without oponal arguments—let's
gure out how.
Have a go hero – adjusting lengths
We briey introduced the command \setlength. Instead of specifying a line thickness by
an oponal argument to \toprule, \midrule, \cmidrule, or \bottomrule, always omit
it. Instead, specify it once for your whole document by \setlength in the preamble.
These are the lengths that may be adjusted:
\heavyrulewidth for the thickness of the top and boom lines
\lightrulewidth for the thickness of the middle lines by \midrule
\cmidrulewidth for the thickness of \cmidrule
\cmidrulekern for the trimming in \cmidrule
\abovetopsep is the space above the top rule; the default is 0pt
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\belowbottomsep is the space below the boom rule; the default is 0pt
\aboverulesep species the space above \midrule, \cmidrule, and
\bottomrule
\belowrulesep stands for the space below \midrule, \cmidrule, and
\toprule
Try to change the thickness of the lines. The lengths already have reasoned values, but
you may change them. So, the adjustment in your preamble would improve all tables in
your document.
Spanning entries over multiple columns
Columns concerning the same subject might be grouped by a common header. In such
a case, two cells in the header should be merged. The command \multicolumn does it
for us.
Time for action – merging cells
Regarding our example table, commands and declaraons are both input, whereas, the
remaining column contains output. We shall emphasize that in our header:
1. In our example, insert another header row. Use \multicolumn to merge cells. Alter
the column formang argument and the middle rule. Changes are highlighted:
\begin{tabular}{@{}*3l@{}}
\toprule[1.5pt]
\multicolumn{2}{c}{\head{Input}} &
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\head{Output}}\\
\head{Command} & \head{Declaration} & \\
\cmidrule(r){1-2}\cmidrule(l){3-3}
\verb|\textrm| & \verb|\rmfamily| & \rmfamily Example text\\
\verb|\textsf| & \verb|\sffamily| & \sffamily Example text\\
\verb|\texttt| & \verb|\ttfamily| & \ttfamily Example text\\
\bottomrule[1.5pt]
\end{tabular}
2. Typeset and see the output:
Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures
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What just happened?
We used the command \multicolumn twice; once to merge two cells and surprisingly
another me just for one cell. Let's rst look at its denion:
\multicolumn{number of columns}{formatting options}{entry text}
The number of columns to be spanned may be a posive integer or just 1. The formang
opons will be applied instead of the opons specied in the tabular denion for this cell.
We took advantage of this when we used \multicolumn{1}{c}{…}, overriding the l
opon of the column by a c opon to get just this cell centered.
The other change we made concerns \cmidrule. We used it instead of \midrule together
with the trimming argument to get a gap between the input and the output column.
Inserting code column-wise
There are many more font commands that we would like to add to the table. Wring
\verb|…| in each cell is resome. We shall exploit the >{…} feature of the array package
to dene the formang of the entries once for the column.
Time for action – using the array package
We shall modify the table denion to set our input columns in the typewriter font. At the
same me, we will insert a column on the le, standing for our command type:
1. Extend the preamble of our example by dening a command \normal. It shall use
\multicolumn to produce an l cell, no maer what the column formang is:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\newcommand{\head}[1]{\textnormal{\textbf{#1}}}
\newcommand{\normal}[1]{\multicolumn{1}{l}{#1}}
\begin{document}
2. As \verb cannot be used in table headers, we shall use \ttfamily. Preceding it
with \textbackslash is enough for our purposes. Use >{…} to insert it twice.
Then add <{Example text} to the last column to save typing work:
\begin{tabular}{@{}l*2{>{\textbackslash\ttfamily}l}l%
<{Example text}@{}}
\toprule[1.5pt]
& \multicolumn{2}{c}{\head{Input}} &
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\head{Output}}\\
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3. We'll use the \normal command to avoid the typewriter formang in the header:
& \normal{\head{Command}} & \normal{\head{Declaration}}
& \normal{}\\
\cmidrule(lr){2-3}\cmidrule(l){4-4}
4. Now we may connue lisng the font command names:
Family & textrm&rmfamily & \rmfamily\\
& textsf & sffamily & \sffamily\\
& texttt & ttfamily & \ttfamily\\
\bottomrule[1.5pt]
\end{tabular}
\end{document}
5. Typeset and look at the result:
What just happened?
Using >{\textbackslash\ttfamily}l denes a le aligned row, where each entry is
preceded by a backslash and by switching to typewriter font. We wrote *2{…} to dene two
columns of this style. Because the example text has been inserted according to our table
denion with <{…}, we just had to put the declaraons into the last column without the
text.
Spanning entries over multiple rows
We already know how to span text over several columns. But what if text should cross over
several rows? LaTeX doesn't dene a command for it. However, the package mulrow does.
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Time for action – merging cells using the multirow package
Before we complement the font table, we would like to center the command type "Family"
vercally, that is, span this cell over three columns. If we gured this out, we could use it
later on:
1. In our previous example, addionally load multirow:
\usepackage{multirow}
2. Replace the word «Family»:
\multirow{3}{*}{Family} & textrm & rmfamily & \rmfamily & \\
3. Typeset to see the small change:
What just happened?
We used the command \multirow to span three rows. Its denion is:
\multirow{number of rows}{width}{entry text}
The entry will span that number of rows from the row on which \multirow has been used.
If the number is negave, it will span the rows above.
You can specify a width or just write * for the natural width. If a width has been specied,
the text would be wrapped accordingly.
multirow understands further oponal arguments for ne tuning. They are described in
its documentaon.
Adding captions to tables
Especially with longer text, we would like to add capons and numbers to our tables.
Numbering the tables allows referring to them, whereas capons are informave, if the
table is not exactly placed where we refer to it. LaTeX has built-in features to achieve that.
Chapter 5
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Time for action – adding a caption to our font table
Now it's me to complete our table. We shall list the remaining font commands. We'll use
the rst column to describe the category of the font commands: Family, Weight, Shape, and
so on. Then we will add another column to show the eect of combining font commands.
To nish, we shall center the table and provide a number and a capon:
1. Put a table environment around our example table, use \centering inside, and
insert a \caption command at the end of the table environment. Add more font
commands and add another column at the right containing more examples:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{multirow}
\newcommand{\head}[1]{\textnormal{\textbf{#1}}}
\newcommand{\normal}[1]{\multicolumn{1}{l}{#1}}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{@{}l*2{>{\textbackslash\ttfamily}l}%
l<{Example text}l@{}}
\toprule[1.5pt]
& \multicolumn{2}{c}{\head{Input}}
& \multicolumn{2}{c}{\head{Output}}\\
& \normal{\head{Command}} & \normal{\head{Declaration}}
& \normal{\head{Single use}} & \head{Combined}\\
\cmidrule(lr){2-3}\cmidrule(l){4-5}
\multirow{3}{*}{Family} & textrm & rmfamily & \rmfamily & \\
& textsf & sffamily & \sffamily& \\
& texttt & ttfamily & \ttfamily& \\
\cmidrule(lr){2-3}\cmidrule(lr){4-4}
\multirow{2}{1.1cm}{Weight} & textbf & bfseries & \bfseries
& \multirow{2}{1.8cm}{\sffamily\bfseries Bold and sans-serif} \\
& textmd & mdseries & \mdseries & \\
\cmidrule(lr){2-3}\cmidrule(lr){4-4}
\multirow{4}{*}{Shape} & textit & itshape & \itshape & \\
& textsl & slshape & \slshape &
\multirow{2}{1.8cm}{\sffamily\slshape Slanted and sans-serif}\\
& textsc & scshape & \scshape & \\
& textup & upshape & \upshape & \\
\cmidrule(lr){2-3}\cmidrule(lr){4-4}
Default & textnormal & normalfont & \normalfont & \\
\bottomrule[1.5pt]
\end{tabular}
\caption{\LaTeX\ font selection}
\end{table}
\end{document}
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2. Typeset and our table is now ready:
What just happened?
We put the tabular environment in a table environment. It's used in this way together
with the \caption command:
\begin{table}[placement options]
table body
\caption{table title}
\end{table}
The table environment is a so-called oang environment. Unlike normal text, they might
appear somewhere else other than what is dened by their posion in the source code. The
oponal placement argument determines where the table might appear. However, LaTeX
decides it. We shall discuss this at the end of this chapter together with the placement of
graphics.
\caption understands an oponal argument as well: if you write \caption[short
text]{long text}, then short text will appear in a list of tables and long text
in the document body. That's useful if you need very long descripve capons.
Tables are automacally numbered.
Placing captions above
In typeseng, it's very common to place capons above the tables instead of below. This can
be achieved by wring \caption before the table body. However, LaTeX expects capon to
always be below, resulng in a cramped look to the table. There's too lile space between
the capon and the following table. You might wish to add some space, for instance, by
entering \vspace{10pt} directly aer a top capon.
Chapter 5
[ 137 ]
Remember booktabs? If you begin tables with \toprule, just specify the length
\abovetopskip, for example:
\setlength{\abovetopsep}{10pt}
By pung this line into your preamble, 10pt space would be added below the capon and
above the top line of the table.
Have a go hero – customizing captions
By default, the capons look like normal body text; there's no visual dierence. Would you
like to have a slight change in font size, a dierent formang of the label, some margins or
indentaon, or any other customizaon? The capon package is the answer to most needs.
By using a few opons, you could enhance the visual appearance of all of your capons. Try:
\usepackage[font=small,labelfont=bf,margin=1cm]{caption}
This way, your capons will be smaller than normal text, the label with number will be
bold, and it will not be as wide as normal text. The package oers a lot of features, both for
document wide sengs and ne-tuning. It's very well documented. So, have a look at its
documentaon.
Auto-tting columns to the table width
l, c, and r columns have the width of their content. For p columns, you specify the width.
This way, it's hard to nd out the actual width of the table. Wouldn't it be a good idea to
specify the table width and let LaTeX decide how wide the columns may be? The tabularx
package allows that. Using it looks like:
\usepackage{tabularx}
...
\begin{tabularx}{width}{column specifiers}
...
\end{tabularx}
The new environment tabularx requires an addional argument: the width of the table. It
introduces a new column type X. X columns behave like p columns, but they use all available
space. One X column would take all of the available space. If you use several X columns, they
would share the space equally. So you could write, for instance:
\begin{tabularx}{0.6\textwidth}{lcX}
This way you would get a table occupying 60 percent of the text width, a le aligned and a
centered column as wide as their content, and a paragraph column as wide as possible unl
60 percent is reached.
Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures
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Though it's easy to use, the tabularx documentaon gives further examples, informs about
the derived types, and gives advice like this: don't let \multicolumn entries cross any X
column.
There are two similar approaches:
LaTeX provides a starred version of the tabular environment:
\begin{tabular*}{width}[position]{column specifiers}
The table is set to width, but by modifying the inter-column space. tabularx has
been developed sasfying the need for a more useful way.
The tabulary package provides another sophiscated tabular environment taking
the total width. It's weighng each column width according to the natural width of
the widest cell in the column.
Generating multi-page tables
All tabular environments we've got to know unl now cannot cross page boundaries.
The tabbing environment is an excepon due to its dierent nature.
As tables might contain a lot of data, we need a soluon. There are several packages:
longtable provides an environment with the same name that's like a mul-page
version of tabular. It provides commands to set table capons, connued
capons, and special headers and footers when a page break occurs. It's probably
the easiest way for mul-page tables and therefore the most popular. The package
documentaon describes all you need. In combinaon with the booktabs package,
you will get very good results.
ltxtable provides a combinaon of longtable and tabularx.
ltablex is another approach to combine the features of longtable and tabularx.
supertabular oers another mul-page extension of the internally used tabular
environment, providing oponal table tails and heads where page breaks occur.
xtab extends supertabular and reduces some of its weaknesses.
stabular implements a simple way to use page breaks in tabular without
much ado.
Example tables and links to documentaon can be found at
http://texblog.net/beginners-guide/tables/.
Chapter 5
[ 139 ]
Coloring tables
We didn't even color text yet, as this usually isn't what we do rst with LaTeX. But of course,
this can be done with text as well as with tables. For coloring text, use the color package
or, beer, the extension xcolor. For coloring tables, use the package colortbl. All can be
combined by using:
\usepackage[table]{xcolor}
The package allows coloring columns, rows, single entries, and lines in many ways. The
package documentaon may tell you more.
Using landscape orientation
Very wide tables could be typeset in landscape orientaon. The rotang package oers an
environment called sidewaystable that you could use instead of the table environment.
Both table and capon would be rotated +-90 degrees and placed on a separate page. The
package provides further rotaon-related environments and commands.
Aligning columns at the decimal point
Columns containing numbers are more readable when the entries are aligned at the
decimal marker and perhaps at an exponent. Several packages support this:
siunitx is primarily intended for typeseng values with units in a consistent way
according to scienc convenons. However, it provides a tabular column type
for such decimal alignment of numbers.
dcolumn oers a column type for aligning at a comma, a period, or another single
character.
rccol denes a column type where numbers are "right-centered", that is, they are
centered with respect to other entries but ushed right to each other. This way
corresponding digits are aligned along the column.
In contrast to dcolumn and rccol, the siunitx package is very new and powerful.
Handling narrow columns
Text in very narrow columns might require special aenon because juscaon is dicult
if there's lile space. Here's some advice:
Have a look at the correct hyphenaon. If necessary, improve it like we did in
Chapter 2.
Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures
[ 140 ]
TeX doesn't hyphenate the rst word of a line, a box, or a table entry. So, a long
word may cross the column boundary. To enable hyphenaon, insert an empty
word: write \hspace{0pt} directly at the beginning.
Load microtype to improve juscaon, it shows the best eect in narrow
columns.
Full juscaon in p columns and the like may look bad because of big gaps.
Consider using >{\raggedright\arraybackslash} for such columns.
From the ragged2e package, using the command \RaggedRight can do even
beer and doesn't need \arraybackslash.
Pop quiz – tables
1. Which of these environments cannot cross page boundaries?
a. tabular
b. longtable
c. tabbing
2. If you would like to format one entry dierent from the specicaon of its column,
which command may be used?
a. >{…}
b. @{…}
c. \multirow
d. \multicolumn
Inserting pictures
Documents may not consist of just text and tables. You might wish to include pictures,
diagrams, or drawings made with other programs. The graphicx package is dedicated to this.
Time for action – including a picture
We shall create a short document. Between two paragraphs, we would like to insert a
picture. If there's no picture le available, we will use the demo mode of graphicx:
1. Begin a new document and load babel and blindtext to print some ller text:
\documentclass[a5paper]{article}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}
Chapter 5
[ 141 ]
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
\section{Including a picture}
\blindtext
2. Open a figure environment and declare centering:
\begin{figure}
\centering
3. Use the command \includegraphics with the lename as the argument:
\includegraphics{test}
4. Declare a capon, close the figure environment, and end the document with
ller text:
\caption{Test figure}
\end{figure}
\blindtext
\end{document}
5. Typeset and have a look at the output:
Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures
[ 142 ]
What just happened?
The most important command is \includegraphics. We specied a lename. This le
would be loaded if it exists. Otherwise an error would occur. LaTeX supports the following
le types:
PNG, JPG, and PDF if you directly compile to PDF (pdfLaTeX)
EPS if you compile to DVI and convert to PS and PDF (tradional LaTeX)
To clarify, PS means PostScript, EPS means Encapsulated PostScript, and DVI means Device
Independent Format. The laer was the rst output format to be supported by TeX. You
denitely know the very popular picture formats PNG and JPG, oen used for screenshots
or photos.
You don't need to specify a lename extension, it will be automacally added. Put the le
into the same directory as your document; otherwise specify a full or relave path name:
\includegraphics{appendix/figure1}
Don't use blanks in the lename or path! Blanks and special characters may cause problems
with \includegraphics. If such symbols in lenames are required, load the package
grle to try to x it. Also, in lenames, use slashes / instead of backslashes \, as the laer
begin a LaTeX command.
Because we specied the demo opon, graphicx doesn't require a le test.png or any other
le; instead it's just prinng a black lled rectangle. This is useful for tesng or if you would like
to discuss a LaTeX problem in an online forum, but don't wish to publish your pictures.
Go ahead; copy a picture of your choice into your document directory, give
\includegraphics its lename, and compile. The picture will be embedded with
its original size.
Scaling pictures
You may choose a dierent size. For this, let's look at the denion of includegraphics:
\includegraphics[key=value list]{file name}
The graphicx documentaon lists all keys and possible values. Here are the most
popular ones:
width: The graphic would be resized to this width. Example: width=
0.9\textwidth.
height: The graphic would be resized to this height. Example: height=3cm.
scale: The graphic would be scaled by this factor. Example: scale=0.5.
angle: The graphic would be turned by this angle. Example: angle=90.
Chapter 5
[ 143 ]
There are opons for clipping, but such post processing can be easily done with any graphics
soware.
Instead of turning a gure by 90 degrees, you could use the sidewaysfigure environment of
the rotating package. It's analogous to sidewaystable that has been menoned before.
Choosing the optimal le type
If you've got the nal picture, well, just use this format and include it. However, if you are
free to choose a le format, you could think about it for a moment.
EPS and PDF are both vector graphics format. They are scalable, also looking good at high
resoluon or if you zoom in. So, whenever possible, PDF (or EPS) should be preferred, for
instance, when you export drawings or diagrams out of other oce soware. For such
graphics, vector formats are common.
PNG and JPG are bitmap formats, also called raster graphics, commonly used for photos. If
you zoom in, you would noce a loss of quality. PNG uses a lossless compression, whereas
JPG pictures may lose quality when they are saved. So, if you make screenshots, use PNG or
at least ensure that there's no loss compression if you choose JPG.
Besides supporng vector graphics, both EPS and PDF may contain bitmap
graphics. They are also called container formats.
There are a lot of tools to convert between graphic formats. These three are especially useful
and included in both TeX Live and MiKTeX:
dvips converts DVI les to the PostScript format
ps2pdf converts PostScript les to PDF
epstopdf converts EPS les to PDF, a package with the same name does it on-the-y
These are command line tools. Some editors like TeXnicCenter use them to automate the
way TEX => DVI => PS => PDF.
epstopdf is especially useful if you have to include Postscript pictures, but wish to benet
from pdfLaTeX features like font expansion and character protrusion accessible by
microtype.
For further working with graphics, ImageMagick and GIMP are very capable open
source programs.
Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures
[ 144 ]
Including whole pages
How can we include pictures wider or higher than the text area? \includegraphics
could do it, but LaTeX would complain about width or size and might put it o to the next
page. Oversized images and even whole pages can be included using the pdfpages package.
It provides a command, \includepdf, which is able to include a complete page and
even a mul-page PDF document at once. Despite its name and not even menoned in its
otherwise good documentaon, it's capable of including PNG and JPG les, not just PDF.
pdfpages could also be used to resize several PDF pages and to arrange them on a
single sheet.
Putting images behind the text
Do you need watermarks? Background images? Textboxes posioned at arbitrary posions
on the page, preferably not interfering with the other text? The package eso-pic does it
for you.
Another approach is oered by the textpos package, developed for placing boxes with text
or graphics at absolute posions on a page.
Managing oating environments
When a page break occurs, normal text can be broken to connue on the next page.
However, pictures cannot be divided. Simple tables cannot be split either. That's why LaTeX
provides two oang environments, namely, figure and table. They are briey called
oats. Their content may oat to a place where it's the opmum for the page layout. Let's
gure out how to deal with it.
Time for action – letting a gure oat
Both the figure and the table environment take an oponal argument aecng the nal
placement of the gure or the table. We shall test the eect in our graphics example:
1. Go back to the previous example. This me, add the opons h and t:
\begin{figure}[ht]
\centering
\includegraphics{test}
\caption{Test figure}
\end{figure}
Chapter 5
[ 145 ]
2. Typeset, noce the change in the output.
3. Change the opons into !b:
\begin{figure}[!b]
4. Typeset, the gure is now forced to oat to the boom. Compare both results:
What just happened?
Just by adding some characters standing for placement opons, we could force the gure to
appear where we wanted it to.
Understanding oat placement options
The oponal argument of the figure and table environment tells LaTeX where it's allowed
to place the gure or the table. Four leers stand for four possible places:
h stands for here. The oat may appear where it's been wrien in the source code.
t stands for top. Placing at the top of a page is permied.
b stands for boom. The oat may appear at the boom of a page.
p stands for page. The oat is allowed to appear on a separate page, where only
oats may reside but no normal text.
Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures
[ 146 ]
A h opon might come in handy:
! tells LaTeX to try harder! Some constraints may be ignored, easing the placement.
If you don't specify any opon, the oat could be placed far away. New LaTeX users might
be surprised. Specifying more opons would help to place it as near as possible. The most
exible is using the placement [!htbp], allowing a oat everywhere. You sll could consider
removing a placement specier if you don't like it.
Forcing the output of oats
If you would like to stop LaTeX from pung the oats, there's a way; the \clearpage
command ends the current page and causes all already dened gures and tables to be
printed out. You can use \cleardoublepage that does the same but in a two-sided layout
it ensures that the next non-oat page is a right-hand page. . If necessary, a blank page
would be inserted.
Immediately ending the page might not be the best thing to do. It could leave a lot of empty
space on the current page. The aerpage package oers a clever possibility; this package
allows deferring the execuon of \clearpage unl the current page has ended:
\usepackage{afterpage}
...
body text
\afterpage{\clearpage}
Limiting oating
It may happen that tables and gures oat far away, perhaps even into another secon. The
placeins package provides a useful command to restrict the oang. If you load placeins
with \usepackage{placeins} and write \FloatBarrier somewhere in your document,
no table or gure could oat past it. This macro keeps oats in their place.
A very convenient way to prevent oats from crossing secon boundaries is stang the
secon opon:
\usepackage[section]{placeins}
This opon causes an implicit \FloatBarrier to be used at the beginning of each secon.
Two further opons, namely, above and below, allow you to lower the restricons,
prevenng oats from appearing above the start of the current secon or below the start
of the next secon.
Figures don't oat into the next chapter because \chapter implicitly uses \clearpage.
Chapter 5
[ 147 ]
Avoiding oating at all
Would you like to place a oat exactly where you want it? The obvious answer is: don't use
a oang environment! Even a capon doesn't have the same importance if the table or
gure is placed at the current point. However, if you really need a capon, you may use the
\captionof command without a oat. Both the capon package , KOMA-Script classes,
and the ny capt-of package provide that command:
\usepackage{capt-of}% or caption
…
\begin{center}
\begin{minipage}{\linewidth}%
\centering%
\includegraphics{test}%
\captionof{figure}{Test figure}%
\end{minipage}
\end{center}
The minipage keeps a picture and capon together. Furthermore, it's centered. Use
\captionof within a group or environment like minipage or center. The denion is
the same as \caption, except there is the addional argument specifying the oat type:
\captionof{figure}[short text]{long text}
\captionof{table}[short text]{long text}
Be aware that the numbering could get wrong if you mix real oats and xed gures or
tables. As you don't benet from LaTeX's posioning capabilies, you have to take care that
pages are sll properly lled.
The oat package provides a convenient and consistent looking approach. It introduces the
placement opon H causing the oat to appear right there:
\usepackage{float}
…
\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\includegraphics{test}
\caption{Test figure}
\end{figure}
You may choose between these two opons. If you wish to exploit further features of
the float package, load it. Otherwise, consider using the one-liner capt-of. Perhaps
not even that is necessary, assuming that you're already using the caption package or
a KOMA-Script class.
Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures
[ 148 ]
Spanning gures and tables over text columns
There are starred forms of oats, namely, figure* and table*. In a two-column layout,
they put the oat into a single column. In one-column mode, there's no dierence to the
non-starred form.
Letting text ow around gures
Though it's a bit playful, you might wish to let text ow around a table or a gure. This can
be achieved using the wrapg package and its environments wrapfigure and wraptable.
Time for action – embedding a picture within text
We shall modify our picture embedding an example. We would like the picture to appear on
the le side, accompanied by the body text on the right side:
1. In our example, addionally load the wrapfig package:
\documentclass[a5paper]{article}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}
\usepackage{wrapfig}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
2. Begin an unnumbered secon, place a wrapfig environment within some ller
text:
\section*{Text flowing around a picture}
\blindtext
\begin{wrapfigure}{l}{4.4cm}
\includegraphics[width=4.4cm]{test}
\caption{Test figure}
\end{wrapfigure}
\blindtext
\end{document}
Chapter 5
[ 149 ]
3. Typeset and look:
What just happened?
The wrapfigure environment understands parameters other than the figure
environment. We used just two of them. If you need more, here's the complete denion:
\begin{wrapfigure}[number of lines]{placement}[overhang] {width}
The rst oponal argument states the number of wrapped text lines. If omied, it would be
automacally calculated from the height. placement can be one of the characters r, l, i, o
for right, le, inner, or outer side or the corresponding uppercase leers R, L, I, O with the
same meaning, but allowing the gure to oat. Only one character for specifying the opon
is allowed. The other oponal argument, overhang, may specify a width that the gure
might sck into the margin. The nal and mandatory argument gives the width of the gure.
The wraptable environment works analogous.
Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures
[ 150 ]
Breaking gures and tables into pieces
For grouping several sub gures or sub tables with capons within a single gure or table,
there are several supporng packages you can choose from:
subg is a sophiscated package supporng inclusion of small gures and tables.
It takes care of posioning, labeling, and caponing within single oats.
subcapon is another package for this purpose and belongs to the
caption package.
subgure is sll available, but considered as obsolete since subfig has appeared.
Pop quiz – pictures and oats
1. This chapter listed all graphic formats supported by LaTeX. Now, idenfy from the
following le types which is not directly supported by LaTeX!
a. jpg
b. gif
c. png
d. eps
e. pdf
2. If you would like a gure or a table to oat but to appear as near as possible to its
source, which of the following oat placement opons would be appropriate?
a. h
b. H
c. htbp
d. !htbp
Summary
In this chapter, we have learned to create tables and gures, and how to place them within
our document. Specically, we dealt with:
Pung text into columns
Typeseng tables with capons
Spanning columns and rows in tables
Using packages to auto-t columns and to create colored, landscape, and even
mul-page tables
Chapter 5
[ 151 ]
Including pictures with capons
Controlling and tuning placement of gures and tables
LaTeX is able to generate lists of tables and gures like a table of contents. We shall deal
with such lists in Chapter 7, Lisng Contents and References.
As our gures and tables are numbered, we can use these numbers to refer to them within
the text. In the next chapter, we shall gure out how to do this, beneng from LaTeX's
cross-referencing capabilies.
6
Cross-Referencing
Our documents contain a lot of numbered things such as pages, secons, list
items, gures, and tables. There's even more we have not covered yet. For
instance, if you would like to write a mathemacal text, you may number
equaons, theorems, denions, and many more.
We number things not just to count them, but to refer to them in other places
of our document. If you want to point the reader to the ninth gure in the third
chapter, you might write "See gure 3.9". LaTeX automacally enumerates the
gures for you. If you insert another gure, LaTeX will automacally adjust the
numbering of all gures aer it. But what's with the references?
LaTeX is able to take care of all of our cross-references. This is the subject of this chapter.
We shall learn how to:
Set labels that we shall use to refer to
Refer to secons, footnotes, list items, tables, and more
Refer to page numbers and ranges
Make LaTeX refer verbosely to adjacent pages
Automate naming of references
Create references to external documents
Let's gure out how to do all this.
Cross-Referencing
[ 154 ]
Setting labels and referencing
To be able to refer to a certain point, we have to mark it by a label. The name of that label
will serve us aerwards.
Time for action – referencing items of a top list
We shall typeset a list of the most used packages for papers on the e-print archive site
http://arXiv.org. Through the command \label, we will mark items that we can
later refer to with the command \ref.
1. Create a new document with this code:
\documentclass{book}
\begin{document}
\chapter{Statistics}
\section{Most used packages on arXiv.org}\label{sec:packages}
The Top Five packages, used on arXiv.org\footnote{according
to the arXMLiv project\label{fn:project}}:
\begin{enumerate}
\item graphicx
\item amssymb \label{item:amssymb}
\item amsmath \label{item:amsmath}
\item epsfig
\item amsfonts
\end{enumerate}
\chapter{Mathematics}
\emph{amsmath}, on position \ref{item:amsmath} of the top list
in section~\ref{sec:packages} on page~\pageref{sec:packages},
is indispensable to high-quality mathematical typesetting in
\LaTeX.\emph{amssymb}, on position \ref{item:amssymb},
provides a huge amount of math symbols.
See also the footnote on page~\pageref{fn:project}.
\end{document}
2. Typeset and have a look at the text on page 3:
Chapter 6
[ 155 ]
3. Do you see the queson marks? The references are sll missing! Typeset again
and compare:
What just happened?
We created cross-references with just three commands: \label marks the posion, \ref
prints the number of the element we refer to, and \pageref prints the page number of
that element. Each command takes the name of the element as argument. Any name may
be chosen by us.
We had to Typeset twice because LaTeX needs one run to produce the references that can
be read in during the next compiler run. If LaTeX cannot resolve a reference, it prints two
queson marks instead.
Let's have a closer look.
Assigning a key
The command \label{name} assigns the current posion to the key name. Specically:
If the \label command appeared in ordinary text, then the current seconal unit,
like the chapter or the secon, would be assigned.
If the \label would be placed within a numbered environment, that environment
would be assigned to the key.
So, we cannot mark a secon within a table environment. To avoid any problem because of
a possible unsuitable posioning, a good rule of thumb is to place the \label command
right aer the posion we would like to mark. For instance, place it directly aer the
corresponding \chapter or aer \section—not before, of course.
In the gure or table environments, \caption is responsible for the numbering. That's
why \label has to be placed aer \caption, not before. Therefore, typical oang
environments look like the following:
\begin{figure}[htp]
\centering
\includegraphics{filename}
\caption{Test figure}\label{fig:name}
\end{figure}
Cross-Referencing
[ 156 ]
Or as follows:
\begin{table}[hbp]
\centering
\caption{table descripion}\label{tab:name}
\begin{tabular}{cc}
…
\end{tabular}
\end{table}
A key may consist of leers, digits, or punctuaon characters. Keys are case-sensive.
If you write larger documents, the number of keys could become very high. Imagine, you
have a secon dealing with fonts and a font table—how to disnguish their keys? We could
prex them with the type of environment. It has become common pracce to label gures
with fig:name, tables with tab:name, secons with sec:name, and similar in other cases.
Referring to a key
Once a label has been set and given a name, we may refer to that name. For this, we use
\ref{name}: this command prints the number that belongs to name. It could already be
used before the corresponding \label command appears in your code.
Even though it's that simple, it's powerful. Each me we Typeset a document, LaTeX checks
the keys and reassigns the numbers, responding to all changes. If LaTeX noced that labels
have been changed, it would inform you that a second Typeset run would be required to
update the corresponding labels. If in doubt Typeset twice.
Referring to a page
The command \pageref{name} works analogous to \ref, except that it prints the
corresponding page number.
Would all the references stay correct if we changed the secon and page numbers?
Let's put it to the test! Insert a secon and a page break at the beginning:
\chapter{Statistics}
\section{Introduction}
\newpage
\section{Most used packages on arXiv.org}\label{sec:packages}
Typeset once. LaTeX will compile it, but it will show a message: LaTeX Warning: Label(s) may
have changed. Rerun to get cross-references right. That's what we shall do! Typeset a second
me, now all the numbers have been correctly adjusted:
Chapter 6
[ 157 ]
Using a reference together with the page number reference, you may write:
See figure~\ref{fig:name} on page~\pageref{fig:name}.
As you know how to dene a command, you could make such referencing easier:
\newcommand{\fullref}[1]{\ref{#1} on page~\pageref{#1}}
…
See figure~\fullref{fig:name}.
This way, you would get a full reference like "See gure 4.2 on page 32". However, if the
reference appears on the same page, like the gure, wring out the page number looks
a bit odd. How can we avoid that? The varioref package provides a way.
Producing intelligent page references
The varioref package oers a command being able to add "on the preceding page", "on
the following page", or on the page number to a reference, depending on the context.
Time for action – introducing variable references
We will use the varioref commands, \vref and \vpageref, to achieve enhanced
reference texts:
1. Open our current example. Add the package varioref to your preamble:
\usepackage{varioref}
2. Edit the content of the second chapter:
\emph{amsmath}, on position \ref{item:amsmath} of the top list
in section~\vref{sec:packages}, is indispensable to high-quality
mathematical typesetting in \LaTeX. \emph{amssymb}, on position
\ref{item:amssymb}, provides a huge amount of math symbols.
See also the footnote \vpageref{fn:project}.
Cross-Referencing
[ 158 ]
3. Typeset twice and look at the result:
What just happened?
The command \vref checked the distance to the referenced secon. As it's on the facing
page, that is, on the preceding page in a two-sided layout, it wrote "1.2 on the facing page".
Similar for \vpageref, it refers to "the preceding page".
\vref{name} acts in the following way:
If the reference and \label{name} are on the same page, it behaves exactly
like \ref. The page number will not be printed.
If the reference and the corresponding \label are on two successive pages, \vref
prints the referred number and addionally "on the preceding page" or "on the
following page", or "on the facing page". The laer will be chosen if the document
is two-sided, that is, if \label and the reference fall onto a double-page spread.
Otherwise it will print both \ref and \pageref.
\vpageref is equivalent to \pageref, but behaves like \vref concerning the page
reference.
Even though varioref denes new commands, you may sll use the common \ref
and \pageref.
Fine-tuning page references
If label and reference are very close to each other, they would probably fall on the same
page, but not necessarily. In such cases, we usually know if the label comes before or aer
the reference. It allows specifying an oponal argument to \vpageref:
see the figure \vpageref[above]{fig:name}
This will print:
"see the gure above" if the gure is on the same page
"see the gure on the page before" if the gure is on the preceding page
Chapter 6
[ 159 ]
Whereas, with the following:
see the footnote \vpageref[below]{fn:name}
This will print:
"see the footnote below" if the footnote is on the same page
"see the footnote on the following page" if the footnote is on the next page
In fact, \vpageref understands two oponal arguments. The second oponal argument
would be used if the label and reference would fall on dierent pages. So, we could even
write:
see the figure \vpageref[above figure][figure]{fig:name}
This would print:
"see the above gure" if the gure is on the same page
"see the gure on the page before" if the gure is on the preceding page
Actually, reversing the word order to "above gure" if necessary.
Sounds complicated? Well, your demands might increase over me, requiring more
sophiscated features, so these features might come in handy some day.
Referring to page ranges
varioref oers two more commands:
\vpagerefrange[opt]{key1}{key2}, where key1 and key2 denote a range
(like a sequence of gures from fig:a to fig:c). If both labels fall onto the same
page, the result is the same as with \vpageref. Otherwise, the output will be a
range like "on pages 32-36". opt would be used if both labels fall onto the current
page.
\vpageref [opt]{key1}{key2}is analogous, but similar to \vref: see
figures \vpageref{fig:a}{fig:c} may result in "see gures 4.2 to 4.4 on
pages 36-37".
\vref, \vpageref, and \vpagerefrange have been implemented to remove any space to
their le before they insert space of their own. For example, \vref inserts a nonbreakable
space like we did before with ~. If this is not desired, use starred forms \vref*, \
vpageref*, or \vpagerefrange*.
More informaon regarding customizaon may be found in the package manual.
Cross-Referencing
[ 160 ]
Using automatic reference names
Tired of wring figure~\ref{fig:name} and table~\ref{fig:name}again and
again? Wouldn't it be great if LaTeX knew what type is meant by \ref{name} wring type
and number? What if we desire to abbreviate, say, fig.~\ref{fig:name}in the whole
document? The cleverev package eases the work: it automacally determines the type of
cross-reference and the context in which it's used.
Basically, you could just use \cref instead of \ref or \Cref if you wish to capitalize.
The corresponding range commands are \crefrange and \Crefrange.
Time for action – referring cleverly
We shall rewrite our rst example using cleveref. To verify that the package acts cleverly,
we consciously omit prexes in key names to \label and \cref.
1. Modify our rst example in this way:
\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{cleveref}
\crefname{enumi}{position}{positions}
\begin{document}
\chapter{Statistics}\label{stats}
\section{Most used packages on arXiv.org}\label{packages}
The Top Five packages, used on arXiv.org\footnote{according
to the arXMLiv project\label{project}}:
\begin{enumerate}
\item graphicx
\item amssymb \label{amssymb}
\item amsmath \label{amsmath}
\item epsfig
\item amsfonts
\end{enumerate}
\begin{table}[tp]
\centering
(Identify obsolete packages on CTAN)
\caption{Obsolete packages}\label{obsolete}
\end{table}
\chapter{Mathematics}
\emph{amsmath}, on \cref{amsmath} of the top list in
\cref{packages} of \cref{stats}, is indispensable to high-quality
Mathematical typesetting in \LaTeX. \emph{amssymb}, on
\cref{amssymb}, provides a huge amount of math symbols.
Chapter 6
[ 161 ]
\Cref{obsolete} shows obsolete and outdated packages that
should be avoided. See also the \cref{project}.
\end{document}
2. Typeset twice and check the references for having the correct names:
What just happened?
As we can see, we never needed to specify which object we refer to. \cref always chooses
the right name and the correct number for us. That's really comfortable!
We used the command \crefname to tell cleveref which name it should use for
enumerated items. The denion of \crefname is:
\crefname{type}{singular}{plural}
type may be one of chapter, section, figure, table, enumi, equation, theorem,
or many other types we did not encounter yet. The singular version will be used for
single references and the plural version for mulple. If you need capitalized versions, use
\Crefname. So, a typical use may be:
\crefname{figure}{fig.}{figs.}
\Crefname{figure}{Fig.}{Figs.}
To sum up your benets:
You save much typing.
You could use arbitrary labels. The package fancyref does a similar job but relies
on prexes like chap, g, tab, and so on.
If you decide to change wordings, it could be done easily by doing this once in the
preamble, having the desired eect in the whole document.
However, it's recommended to use a prex like fig: or sec: to disnguish the kind of
referenced object; your code would become more understandable—it's common.
Cross-Referencing
[ 162 ]
Combing cleveref and varioref
As cleveref fully supports varioref, you may use both to get the most out of them.
cleveref redenes the commands of varioref to use \cref internally. So, you could
use the good page referencing features of varioref together with the clever naming
automasm!
Just load varioref before cleveref:
\usepackage{varioref}
\usepackage{cleveref}
Now, you may use \vref, \cref, \ref, or the other commands—whichever seems
appropriate.
Referring to labels in other documents
If you write several related documents that refer to each other, you might want to
use references to labels of another document. The package with the short name
xr (standing for eXternal References) implements it. First load the package:
\usepackage{xr}
If you need to refer to secons or environments in an external document called, say,
doc.tex, insert this command into your preamble:
\externaldocument{doc}
This enables you to addionally refer to anything that has been given a label in doc.tex.
You may do this for several documents. If you need to avoid conicts when an external
document uses the same \label like the main document, declare a prex using the oponal
argument of \externaldocument:
\externaldocument[D-]{doc}
This way, all references from doc.tex would be prexed by D- and you could write
\ref{D-name} to refer to name in doc.tex. Instead of D- you may choose any prex
that transforms your labels such that they become unique.
Have a go hero – turning references into hyperlinks
PDF documents oer bookmarks and hyperlink capabilies. How about exploing that
ourselves? There's an outstanding package oering hyperlink support; it's called hyperref.
Try it: load hyperref right before cleveref. This order is important for the references to
work. Even without any opons or commands, your document will be hyperlinked as much
as possible:
Chapter 6
[ 163 ]
All references become hyperlinks. Click any of those numbers to jump to the
referred table, list item, secon, or page.
Each footnote marker is a hyperlink to the footnote text. Click it to jump down.
If you insert \tableofcontents, you will get a bookmark list for the document,
chapters, and secons listed in a navigaon bar of you PDF reader.
hyperref can do even more for you: linking index entries to text passages, back-referencing
of bibliography entries, and more. You can nely customize the behavior using opons, for
instance, choosing color or frames for hyperlinks. So, you could keep that valuable package
in mind. In Chapter 11, Enhancing Your Documents Further, we shall return to this topic.
Pop quiz
1. For a reference to a table, at which posion should the \label be placed?
a. Before \caption
b. Aer \caption
c. Aer\end{table}
2. What should we do if we see two unexpected consecuve queson marks in
the output?
a. Load the hyperref package.
b. Look out for an undened command. Check the syntax at that point.
c. Typeset again. If the queson marks stay, check the key to the reference
at that point.
Summary
In this chapter, we learned how to reference chapters, secons, footnotes, and environments
by their number or by the number of the corresponding page.
We even got to know some ways of clever and context dependent referencing.
In the next chapter, we shall deal with lists, which consist mainly of references: table of
contents, lists of gures and tables, and bibliographies.
7
Listing Content and References
LaTeX makes it very easy to create lists for many purposes. For example, we've
seen that just the simple command \tableofcontents creates a nice looking
table of contents. Let's just call it the TOC from now on. It simply takes the
entries from the headings and from the numbers of the pages they fall on.
In this chapter, we will perform the following:
Decide which headings at which numbering level go to the TOC
Create and customize a list of gures (LOF) and a list of tables (LOT)
Insert arbitrary text and commands into the TOC and into other lists
Cite books and create a bibliography
Create an index
Modify the headings for all those lists
We shall start with the content.
Customizing the table of contents
Besides just calling \tableofcontents to get a pre-designed list of content, LaTeX provides
basic ways to modify it. Let's use some.
Lisng Content and References
[ 166 ]
Time for action – rening an extensive table of contents
We shall build the frame of a document containing some headings. We will modify the
automacally created table of contents to be ner and to contain addional entries.
In Chapter 3, Designing Pages, we saw the eect of \tableofcontents. The entries have
been collected from the headings. We shall use this down to the subsubsecon level.
Then we shall extend the TOC further. We will manually add entries for some headings:
1. Create a new document with the following code:
\documentclass{book}
\setcounter{tocdepth}{3}
\begin{document}
\tableofcontents
\part{First Part}
\chapter*{Preface}
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Preface}
\chapter{First main chapter}
\section{A section}
\section{Another section}
\subsection{A smaller section}
\subsubsection[Deeper level]{This section has an even deeper
level}
\chapter{Second main chapter}
\part{Second part}
\chapter{Third main chapter}
\appendix
\cleardoublepage
\addtocontents{toc}{\bigskip}
\addcontentsline{toc}{part}{Appendix}
\chapter{Glossary}
\chapter{Symbols}
\end{document}
2. Typeset. The rst page will just show Contents but no entries.
3. Typeset a second me. Now the table of contents will be displayed:
Chapter 7
[ 167 ]
What just happened?
We structured a document using several seconing commands. In the rst run, LaTeX read
all of our seconing commands and created a le with the extension .toc. This le contains
the commands and the tles for all entries in the table of contents. During the rst run, that
le didn't exist yet, thus the TOC remained empty.
During the second run, the command \tableofcontents read the .toc le and printed
the TOC.
In this example, we raised the depth of the TOC by one level. We added a chapter-like entry
for the preface and inserted a part-like heading showing the beginning of the appendix, using
\addcontentsline. Through \addtocontents, we inserted some space before the laer
heading. Let's look at these commands in detail.
Lisng Content and References
[ 168 ]
Adjusting the depth of the TOC
These are the standard seconing commands and their so called TOC level:
Command Level
\part -1 (book and report class)
\chapter 0 (not available in article class)
\section 1
\subsection 2
\subsubsection 3
\paragraph 4
\subparagraph 5
In the book and in the report class, LaTeX creates TOC entries unl level 2, in the article
class unl level 3. In a book, this means, for example, \subsubsection doesn't generate
a TOC entry. There's a variable represenng the level, namely, \tocdepth. It's an integer
variable which we call a counter. To tell LaTeX to include subsubsecons in the TOC, we
would have to raise this counter. There are two basic ways to adjust a counter value:
\setcounter{name}{n} species an integer value of n for the counter name
\addtocounter{name}{n} adds the integer value of n to value of the counter
name. n may be negave
Thus, the following command would ensure that even \subparagraph gives a TOC entry:
\setcounter{tocdepth}{5}
Using \addcounter instead you may raise or lower the level without knowing its number.
In contrast to commands, counter names don't begin with a backslash.
Shortening entries
As you have already learned in Chapter 3, you may choose a text for the TOC that's dierent
to the heading in the body text. Each seconing command understands an oponal
argument for the TOC entry, which is especially useful if you wish to use very long headings,
but a shorter TOC entry would be sucient. In our example, we did this by:
\subsubsection[Deeper level]{This section has an even deeper level}
Chapter 7
[ 169 ]
The body text shows the long heading while the TOC shows the short one. Running tles in
the headings would use the short entry as well, as the space in headings is very limited.
Adding entries manually
Starred commands like \chapter* and \section* don't produce a TOC entry. In our
example, we did that manually using this command:
\addcontentsline{file extension}{sectional unit}{text}
This command can be used in several contexts: the file extension may be:
toc for the table of contents le
lof for the list of gures le
lot for the list of tables le
Or, any another extension of such a le type known to LaTeX.
The sectional unit determines the formang of the entry. Specify chapter to create
an entry that's formaed like normal chapter entries and similar for other seconal units like
part, secon, or subsecon.
The third argument contains the text for the entry. This text may contain commands. Do
you remember the \protect command? For a macro inside the entries, it's usually a good
idea to write \protect right before it.
You may insert text or commands more directly with:
\addtocontents{file extension}{entry}
In contrary to \addcontentsline, the argument entry is wrien directly to the le
without any addional formang. You may choose any formang you like.
This command may even be used for some customizaon, for example:
\addtocontents{toc}{\protect\enlargethispage{\baselineskip}}
extends the text height such that one addional line ts to the contents page.
\addtocontents{toc}{\protect\newpage} causes a page break in the TOC.
For instance, if the automac page break happens aer a chapter entry and before
the following secon entries, you might wish to force a page break already before
the chapter entry.
\addtocontents{toc}{\protect\thispagestyle{fancy}} changes the
page style of the current TOC page to fancy. As the rst page of a chapter is of
plain style by default, the rst page of the TOC would be plain as well, even if you
specied \pagestyle{fancy}. This command overrides it.
Lisng Content and References
[ 170 ]
Place such commands where they should be eecve. To aect the rst TOC page, place it
at the beginning of your document. To cause a page break before a certain chapter, place it
right before the corresponding \chapter call.
Creating and customizing lists of gures
As briey menoned in the previous chapter, the two commands for creang lists of gures
and tables are \listoffigures and \listoftables. Depending on the class, they produce
a ne list of all capons together with the gure respecvely the table number and the
corresponding page numbers. As with the TOC, all can be done automacally. However, we
may use the same techniques, like with the TOC, to customize the other lists. Let's try that.
Time for action – creating a list of diagrams
Suppose all of our gures are diagrams. We shall avoid the term gure and we will typeset a
list of diagrams:
1. Open our current example. Add these lines to your preamble:
\renewcommand{\figurename}{Diagram}
\renewcommand{\listfigurename}{List of Diagrams}
2. Right aer \tableofcontents, add:
\listoffigures
3. Add a diagram somewhere in Chapter 1:
\begin{figure}
\centering
\fbox{Diagram placeholder}
\caption{Enterprize Organizational Chart}
\end{figure}
4. In the second part, in the third chapter, we'd like to add network design diagrams.
Let's mark that in the LOF and let the diagrams follow:
\addtocontents{lof}{Network Diagrams:}
\begin{figure}
\centering
\fbox{Diagram placeholder}
\caption{Network overview}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}
\centering
Chapter 7
[ 171 ]
\fbox{Diagram placeholder}
\caption{WLAN Design}
\end{figure}
5. Typeset twice to get the document and the list:
What just happened?
We renamed the gures and the list heading by redening LaTeX macros. At the end of
the chapter, you will get a list of names used by LaTeX classes that you may redene.
Like with the TOC, we used the command \addtocontents; this me to insert a bold
heading into the .lof le where LaTeX collects the capons. It works similar to the TOC.
Creating a list of tables
You already know all you need to create and customize a list of tables! The le, where LaTeX
collects the capons of the tables, has the extension .lot, and that's why the rst argument
of \addtocontents would be lot. Everything works analogous, like \listoftables,
\tablename, and \listtablename.
Using packages for customization
Besides the described simple methods, there are packages providing sophiscated features
for customizing the table of contents and the lists of gures and tables:
toclo gives extensive control over the typography of TOC, LOF, and LOT. You may
even dene new kinds of such lists.
tletoc oers convenient handling of entries and is the companion to tlesec,
a very good package for customizing seconing headings.
Lisng Content and References
[ 172 ]
multoc oers a layout in two or more columns using the mulcol package.
minitoc can create small TOCs for each part, chapter, or secon.
tocbibind can automacally add bibliography, index, TOC, LOF, and LOT to the table
of contents. It's even capable of using numbered headings instead of the default
unnumbered ones.
Let's connue with the announced index and the bibliography.
Generating an index
Extensive documents oen contain an index. It is a list of words or phrases and page
numbers poinng to where related material can be found in the document. In contrary
to a full-text search feature, the index provides selecve pointers to relevant informaon.
While it's our turn to idenfy and to mark the words for the index, LaTeX will collect this
informaon and is able to typeset the index for us.
Time for action – marking words and building the index
Suppose our example would contain informaon about an enterprise and its structure and
further about its network structure and design. We shall mark places in the text where these
concepts occur. Finally, we will order LaTeX to typeset the index:
1. Go back to our example. In the preamble, load the index package and add the
command to create the index:
\usepackage{index}
\makeindex
2. In the capon of our enterprise diagram, index this point with the keyword
enterprise:
\caption{\index{enterprise}Enterprise Organizational Chart}
3. In the third chapter, which contains our diagrams, index by the keyword network:
\index{network}
4. Directly before \end{document}, create an entry for the index for the table of
contents. To ensure that it shows the correct page number, end the page before:
\clearpage
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Index}
Chapter 7
[ 173 ]
5. In the next line, order LaTeX to typeset the index:
\printindex
6. If you're using TeXworks, choose MakeIndex instead of pdfLaTeX in the drop-down
box next to the typeset buon. Then click typeset. If you use another editor, use its
MakeIndex feature or type the following at the command prompt in the document
directory:
makeindex documentname
7. Switch back to pdfLaTeX, Typeset, and look at the last page:
What just happened?
We loaded the index package, which improves LaTeX's built-in indexing capabilies.
Alternavely, you could use the makeidx package which is part of standard LaTeX. The
command \makeindex prepared the index. Both commands must be put into the preamble.
The command \index takes just one argument, namely, the word or the phrase to be
indexed. This will be wrien to a le with the extension .idx. If you look into this le,
you will nd lines like the following:
\indexentry {enterprise}{9}
\indexentry {network}{15}
These stand for the index entries and the corresponding page numbers.
The external program makeindex takes that .idx le and produces an .ind le. The
laer consists of LaTeX code for the index creaon. Specically, it contains the index list
environment together with the items and looks like the following:
\begin{theindex}
\item enterprise, 9
\indexspace
\item network, 15
\end{theindex}
Lisng Content and References
[ 174 ]
More complex indexes may contain subitems, page ranges, and references to other items.
Let's see how to produce such an index.
Dening index entries and subentries
We already created simple index entries with:
\index{phrase}
Subentries are produced by specifying the main entry followed by the subentry, separated
by an exclamaon mark, for example:
\index{network!overview}
Also subentries may have subentries; just use another ! symbol, for example:
\index{enterprise!organization}
\index{enterprise!organization!sales}
\index{enterprise!organization!controlling}
\index{enterprise!organization!operation}
Up to three levels are possible.
Specifying page ranges
If several pages deal with the same concept, you may specify a page range for the index
entry. Sux the entry with |( where the range starts and add |) where it ends, as follows:
\index{network|(}
at the beginning of the network chapter and:
\index{network|)}
at the end of this chapter. This results in an entry of the form Network, 15-17.
Using symbols and macros in the index
makeindex sorts the entries alphabecally. If you would like to include symbols in the index,
for example, Greek leers, chemical formulas, or math symbols, you could face the problem
of integrang them into the sorng. For this purpose, \index understands a sort key. Use
this key as prex for the entry, separated by an @ symbol, for instance:
\index{Gamma@$\Gamma$}
Chapter 7
[ 175 ]
Using macros for index entries is generally not really recommended. Macros would be sorted
according to the macro name including the backslash, though it would be expanded when
the index is typeset. Imagine, you've got a macro \group standing for TeX Users Group. If
you write the following, then the entry TeX Users Group would be treated like \group in the
sorng and won't appear among the entries beginning with T:
\index{\group}
However, you could repair such issues by adding a sort key:
\index{TeX@\group}
\index{schon@sch\"{o}n}
What if you wish to use the symbols |, @, and ! within index entries? Quote them by using
a preceding ":
\index{exclamation ("!)!loud}
And don't worry, " itself may be used within verbam text as follows:
\index{quote (\verb|""|)}
Referring to other index entries
Dierent words may stand for the same concept. For such cases, it's possible to add a cross-
reference to the main phrase without a page number. Adding the code |see{entry list}
achieves that, for example:
\index{network|see{WLAN}}
\index{WLAN}
As such references don't print a page number, their posion in the text doesn't maer. You
could collect them in one place of your document.
Fine-tuning page numbers
If an index entry refers to several pages, you might want to emphasize one page number to
indicate it as the primary reference. You could dene a command for emphasizing as follows:
\newcommand{\main}[1]{\emph{#1}}
And for the index entry, add a pipe symbol and the command name:
\index{WLAN|main}
Lisng Content and References
[ 176 ]
Thus, the corresponding page number would be emphasized. Simply wring
\index{WLAN|emph} or \index{WLAN|texbf} is possible as well. However, dening
your own macro is more consistent—remember the concept of separang form and content.
Designing the index layout
If we extend our example document with the aforemenoned example commands,
\printindex gives us this layout, containing subentries, ranges, references, and
emphasized entries:
LaTeX provides some index styles called latex (the default), gind, din, and iso. To use
another style, specify it using the –s opon of the makeindex program, for example:
makeindex –s iso documentname
If you typeset aer this call, the index layout would be changed to:
Chapter 7
[ 177 ]
You could even dene your own styles. To learn more about indexing and makeindex, use
texdoc at the command prompt:
texdoc index
texdoc makeindex
Though it seems natural to generate the index while wring the
document, this might lead to inconsistencies in the index. It's
recommendable rst to nish wring and aerwards to work out what
should appear in the index.
Creating a bibliography
Especially in scienc documents, a list of references or bibliography is very common.
We shall work out how to typeset a bibliography and how to refer to its entries.
Time for action – citing texts and listing the references
Using LaTeX's standard features, we shall create a small list of references containing a book
and an arcle by Donald E. Knuth, the creator of TeX. In our body text, we will refer to both:
1. Create a new document as follows:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\section*{Recommended texts}
To study \TeX\ in depth, see \cite{DK86}. For writing math texts,
see \cite{DK89}.
\begin{thebibliography}{8}
\bibitem{DK86} D.E. Knuth, \emph{The {\TeX}book}, 1986
\bibitem{DK89} D.E. Knuth, \emph{Typesetting Concrete
Mathematics}, 1989
\end{thebibliography}
\end{document}
Lisng Content and References
[ 178 ]
2. Typeset and view the output:
What just happened?
We used an environment called thebibliography to typeset the list of references, which is
similar to a descripon list as we've seen in Chapter 4, Creang Lists. Each item of this list
has got a key. For cing in the body text, we referred to that key using the \cite command.
Let's look at these commands in detail.
Using the standard bibliography environment
LaTeX's standard environment for bibliographies has the following form:
\begin{thebibliography}{widest label}
\bibitem[label]{key} author, title, year etc.
\bibitem…
…
\end{thebibliography}
Each item is specied using the command \bibitem. This command requires a mandatory
argument determining the key. We may simply refer to this key by \cite{key} or
\cite{key1,key2}. \cite accepts an oponal argument stang a page range, for
example, \cite[p.\,18--20]{key}. You may choose a label by the oponal argument
of \bibitem. If no label has been given, LaTeX will number the items consecuvely in
square brackets, as we've seen.
Using labels, the environment could look as follows:
\begin{thebibliography}{Knuth89}
\bibitem[Knuth86]{DK86} D.E. Knuth, \emph{The {\TeX}book}, 1986
\bibitem[Knuth89]{DK89} D.E. Knuth, \emph{Typesetting Concrete
Mathematics}, 1989
\end{thebibliography}
Chapter 7
[ 179 ]
And the output would then be as follows:
As you can see, the output of \cite has been automacally adjusted to the new labels.
The cite package oers compressed and sorted lists
of numerical citaons, like [2,4-6], and further
formang opons for in-text citaons.
The mandatory item of the environment should contain the widest label for the alignment
of the items. So, for instance, if you have more than 9 but fewer than a 100 items, you may
write two digits into the argument.
Using bibliography databases with BibTeX
Manually creang the bibliography is laborious. Especially, if you use references in
several documents, it would be benecial to use a database and let a program create
the bibliography for you. This sounds more complicated than it really is. We will try this.
Time for action – creating and using a BibTeX database
We shall create a separate database le containing the references of our previous example.
We will modify our example to use that database. To make this database usable, we have to
call the external program BibTeX:
1. Create a new document. Begin with wring the entry for the TeXbook:
@book{DK86,
author = "D.E. Knuth",
title = "The {\TeX}book",
publisher = "Addison Wesley",
year = 1986
}
Lisng Content and References
[ 180 ]
2. For the next entry, that is, the arcle, we will specify even more elds:
@article{DK89,
author = "D.E. Knuth",
title = "Typesetting Concrete Mathematics",
journal = "TUGboat",
volume = 10,
number = 1,
pages = "31--36",
month = apr,
year = 1989
}
3. Save the le and give it the name tex.bib. Open our example tex document and
modify it as follows:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\section*{Recommended texts}
To study \TeX\ in depth, see \cite{DK86}. For writing math texts,
see \cite{DK89}.
\bibliographystyle{alpha}
\bibliography{tex}
\end{document}
4. Typeset one me with pdfLaTeX.
5. If you're using TeXworks, choose BibTeX instead of pdfLaTeX, present in the
drop-down box next to the Typeset buon, and then click on Typeset. If you
write with another editor, use its BibTeX opon or type at the command
prompt in the document directory as follows:
bibtex documentname
6. Typeset twice with pdfLaTeX. Here's the result:
Chapter 7
[ 181 ]
What just happened?
We created a text le containing all bibliography entries. In the next secon, we shall look
at its format in depth. In our document, we chose a style called alpha, which sorts entries
according to the author's name and uses a shortcut consisng of author and year as label.
Then we told LaTeX to load the bibliography le called tex. The extension .bib has been
automacally added.
Aerwards, we called the external program BibTeX. This program knows from the example
.tex le that tex.bib has to be translated. Thus out of this .bib le, it creates a .bbl
le, which contains a LaTeX thebibliography environment and the nal entries.
Finally, we had to Typeset twice, to ensure that all cross-references are correct.
Though we need some more steps to generate the bibliography, there are benets: we don't
need to ne-tune each entry. We can easily switch between styles. We can then reuse the
.bib le.
So, let's look at the .bib le format. It supports various entry types like book and article.
Furthermore, these entries contain elds like author, title, and year. Let's rst look at
the supported elds, and aerwards we shall talk about the dierent kinds of entries.
Looking at the BibTeX entry elds
Here's a list of the standard elds. Some elds are common, some are rarely used—we just
list them in alphabecal order, following the BibTeX documentaon:
address Usually the address of the publisher. At least for small publishers, this
informaon might be useful.
annote An annotaon, not used by the standard bibliography styles. Other styles or
macros might use this.
author The name(s) of the author(s).
booktle The tle of a book, if you cite a part of that. For a book, use the title eld
instead.
chapter A chapter number.
crossref The key of the database entry being cross referenced.
edion The edion (First, Second, and alike) of a book. Commonly it's capitalized.
editor The name(s) of the editor(s).
howpublished The way of publishing, especially if it's unusual. Capitalize the rst word.
instuon Could be a sponsoring instuon.
journal A journal name; you may use common abbreviaons.
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key Used for alphabezing, cross-referencing, and labeling if the author informaon
is missing. Don't confuse it with the key used in the \cite command which
corresponds to the beginning of the entry.
month The month in which the work was published or wrien if it's not yet published.
Usually a three leer abbreviaon is used.
note Any addional useful informaon. Capitalize the rst word.
number The number of a journal or another kind of work in a series.
organizaon Might be a sponsoring organizaon.
pages A page number or range of page numbers, like 12-18 or 22+.
publisher The name of the publisher.
school Could be the name of the school where the document was wrien.
series The name of a series of books or its number of a mul-volume set.
tle The tle of the work.
type The type of the publicaon.
volume The volume of a journal or mul-volume book.
year The year of the publicaon or the year when it was wrien if it hasn't been
published yet. Commonly four numerals are used, such as 2010.
You may use any elds possibly supported by other styles and ignored by standard styles.
Referring to Internet resources
Today we oen refer to online sources. To put Internet addresses into BibTeX
elds, use the \url command of the url or hyperref package, for example,
howpublished = {\url{http://texblog.net}}. Some styles oer
a url eld.
Understanding BibTeX entry types
Firstly, you decide which type of entry you want to add and then you ll in the elds.
Dierent types may support dierent elds. Some elds are required, some are oponal
and may be omied, and some are simply ignored.
Chapter 7
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Usually the name of the entry tells you its meaning. These are the standard entry types and
their required and oponal elds, according to the BibTeX reference:
Type Required elds Oponal elds
arcle author, title, journal,
year
volume, number, pages, month, note
book author or editor,
title, publisher, year
volume or number, series, address,
edition, month, note
booklet title author, howpublished, address,
month, year, note
conference author, title,
booktitle, year
editor, volume or number, series,
pages, address, month, organization,
publisher, note
manual title author, organization, address,
edition, month, year, note
mastersthesis author, title, school,
year
type, address, month, note
misc none author, title, howpublished, month,
year, note
phdthesis author, title, school,
year
type, address, month, note
proceedings title, year editor, volume or number, series,
address, month, organization,
publisher, note
techreport author, title,
institution, year
type, number, address, month, note
unpublished author, title, note month, year
Have a look at the BibTeX reference for more details:
texdoc bibtex
If no other entry ts, choose misc. It doesn't maer if you use capitals or small leers;
@ARTICLE is understood the same as @article. As the example showed, entries have
the following form:
@entrytype{keyword,
fieldname = {field text},
fieldname = {field text},
…
}
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[ 184 ]
Use braces around the field text. Straight quotes instead like in "field text" are
supported as well. For numbers, you may omit the braces.
Some styles change the capitalizaon, which might lead to undesired
lowercase leers. To protect leers or words from becoming lowercase, put
addional braces around them. Preferably around a word instead of just the
leer to keep ligatures and kerning improvement, that is, {WAL} looks beer
than {W}AL as TeX moves an A closer to a preceding W. Separang braces
hampers TeX's micro-typographic improvements.
Choosing the bibliography style
Standard styles are as follows:
plain Arabic numbers for the labels, sorted according to the names of the authors. The number
is wrien in square brackets, which also appear with \cite.
unsrt No sorng. All entries appear like they were cited in the text, otherwise it looks like
plain.
alpha Sorng is according to the names of the authors, the labels are shortcuts made of the
authors name and the year of publicaon. Also here, square brackets are used.
abbrv Like plain, but rst names and other eld entries are abbreviated.
The style should be chosen aer \begin{document} and before \bibliography. You
may write \bibliographystyle right before \bibliography to keep it together.
There are more styles available in TeX distribuons and on the Internet. For instance, the
natbib package provides styles and the capability to cite in a nice author-year scheme. This
package further adds some elds, like ISBN, ISSN, and URL.
The package biblatex provides a complete reimplementaon of the
bibliographic features oered by BibTeX and LaTeX. Without learning the BibTeX
language, you could create new styles just by using your LaTeX knowledge.
Listing references without citing
BibTeX takes only those references from the database that are cited in the text, and prints
them out. However, you may specify keys for references, which should appear nevertheless
the following for a single reference. Just write the following for a single reference:
\nocite{key}
Chapter 7
[ 185 ]
Or write the following to list the complete database
\nocite{*}
Changing the headings
Like in our diagram example, if you don't like the heading Contents, you could easily change
it. The text of the heading is stored in the text macro \contentsname. So, just redene it
as follows:
\renewcommand{\contentsname}{Table of Contents}
Here's a list of all those headings:
List Heading command Default heading
Table of contents \contentsname Contents
List of gures \listfigurename List of gures
List of tables \listtablename List of tables
Bibliography \bibname in book and report
\refname in article
Bibliography in book and report
References in article
Index \indexname Index
Furthermore, as promised, here's a list of further macros for names used by LaTeX:
Name Command Default value
gure \figurename Figure
table \tablename Table
part \partname Part
chapter \chaptername Chapter
abstract \abstractname Abstract
appendix \appendixname Appendix
Not really surprising! Using name macros is especially useful when another language will be
used. For instance, the babel package takes a language opon and redenes all those name
macros according to those languages.
However, they are also useful to choose abbreviaons like Fig. or Appendices instead
of Appendix.
Lisng Content and References
[ 186 ]
Have a go hero – using natbib
Load the already menoned natbib package and try its new styles plainnat, abbrvnat, and
unsrtnat, for instance:
\usepackage{natbib}
\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
Our example would change as follows:
natbib reimplemented the \cite command and oers variaons to it, with the main
purpose of supporng author-year citaons. It works with most other available styles.
natbib introduces the citaon command \citet for textual citaons and the command
\citep for parenthecal citaons. There are starred variants prinng the full author list,
and oponal arguments allow adding text before and aer.
Check out the documentaon if you would like to benet from this ne package.
Pop quiz
1. Which of these commands should be used for adding unnumbered headings to the
table of contents?
a. \addtocontents
b. \addcontentsline
c. \contentsname
2. Which of the following indexing commands has to come before \begin{document}?
a. \index
b. \printindex
c. \makeindex
Chapter 7
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3. Which command generates the bibliography?
a. \bibliography
b. \bibliographystyle
c. \bibitem
Summary
In this chapter, we dealt with many kinds of lists. Specically, we learned about:
Generang and customizing the table of contents and lists of gures and tables
Producing an index poinng to relevant informaon for keywords and phrases
Creang bibliographies, both manually and using a bibliography database
These lists are intended to guide the reader to the informaon he's/she's looking for; they
aren't just for lisng and summarizing. That's why the headings of the list of gures and the
list of tables usually don't appear in the TOC, as they commonly directly follow the TOC.
Somemes there's even the strange requirement to list the table of contents within itself. If
you are not sure with a design or a requirement, have a look at a good book in your special
eld, to see how exemplary tables of contents, lists, and indexes might look.
In the next chapter, we shall look at scienc wring in depth.
8
Typing Math Formulas
Chapter 1, Geng started with LaTeX, claimed that LaTeX oers excellent
quality for mathemacal typeseng. Now it's me to prove this.
To make the most of LaTeX's capabilies, we shall learn how to perform the following:
Wring basic formulas
Embedding formulas within text and text within formulas
Centering and numbering equaons
Aligning mul-line equaons
Typeseng math symbols such as roots, operators, Greek leers, and arrows
Building fracons
Stacking expressions
Building matrices
That's a great undertaking—let's tackle it!
Typing Math Formulas
[ 190 ]
Writing basic formulas
LaTeX knows three general modes:
The paragraph mode: The text is typeset as a sequence of words in lines,
paragraphs, and pages. That's what we used unl now.
The le-to-right mode: The text is also considered to be a sequence of words,
but LaTeX typesets it from le to right without breaking the line. For instance,
the argument of \mbox will be typeset in this mode; that's why \mbox prevents
hyphenaon.
The math mode: Leers are treated as math symbols. That's why they're typeset
in italic shape, which is common for variables. A lot of symbols can be used, most
of them exclusively in this mode. Such symbols are roots, sum signs, relaon
signs, math accents, arrows, and various delimiters like brackets and braces. Space
characters between leers and symbols are ignored. Instead, the spacing depends
on the type of symbols—distances to relaon signs are dierent from distances to
opening or closing delimiters. This mode is required for all math expressions.
Now we shall enter the math mode for the rst me.
Time for action – discussing quadratic equations and roots
Our rst small math text shall deal with the soluons of quadrac equaons. We need to
typeset formulas with constants, variables, superscripts for the square, and subscripts for
the soluons. The soluon itself needs a root symbol. Finally, we will use cross-references to
formulas.
1. Start a new document. For now, we don't need any package:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\section*{Quadratic equations}
2. State the quadrac equaon with its condions. Use an equaon environment
for it. Surround small pieces of math within text by \( … \):
The quadratic equation
\begin{equation}
\label{quad}
ax^2 + bx + c = 0,
\end{equation}
where \( a, b \) and \( c \) are constants and \( a \neq 0 \),
has two solutions for the variable \( x \):
Chapter 8
[ 191 ]
3. Use another equaon for the soluons. The command for the square root is
\sqrt. The command for a fracon is \frac:
\begin{equation}
\label{root}
x_{1,2} = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}.
\end{equation}
4. Let's introduce the discriminant and discuss the case zero. To get an
unnumbered displayed equaon, we surround the formula with \[ … \]:
If the \emph{discrimimant} \( \Delta \) with
\[
\Delta = b^2 - 4ac
\]
is zero, then the equation (\ref{quad}) has a double solution:
(\ref{root}) becomes
\[
x = - \frac{b}{2a}.
\]
\end{document}
5. Typeset twice and look at the result:
Typing Math Formulas
[ 192 ]
What just happened?
Just as we said in Chapter 1, wring formulas also looks a lot like programming. However,
this chapter will help you master it, and the results are worth the eort. The formulas have
been built with commands: there are commands with arguments, like for roots and fracons,
and simple commands for symbols, like for the Greek leer. Most symbols have to be within
a math environment and don't simply work within normal text.
The equaon environment created a displayed formula; that formula has been horizontally
centered, some vercal space has been added before and aer, further these formulas are
consecuvely numbered.
However, \[ … \] and \( … \) are also, in truth, environments. Let's sort this out.
Embedding math expressions within text
LaTeX provides the math environment in-text formulas:
\begin{math}
expression
\end{math}
Since it's very laborious to write this environment for each small expression or symbol, LaTeX
oers an alias that's doing the same:
\(
expression
\)
You may write it without line breaks, such as \(expression\).
A third way is by using a shortcut, coming from TeX:
$expression$
A disadvantage of the laer is that the commands for beginning and ending the math
environment are the same, which may easily lead to errors. However, it's much easier to
type, which may be the reason why it's sll popular among LaTeX users.
\( … \) might cause problems in moving arguments like in headings. To
prevent any such problems, just load the package xltx2e, which xes this as
well as other issues.
Chapter 8
[ 193 ]
Displaying formulas
For displayed formulas, which have to be centered, LaTeX oers the displaymath
environment:
\begin{displaymath}
expression
\end{displaymath}
The eect of this environment is that the paragraph will be ended, some vercal space
follows, then the centered formula plus the following vercal space. As this math
environment takes care of the spacing, don't leave empty lines before and aer it! This
would cause addional vercal space because of the superuous paragraph breaks.
Also for this environment there's a shortcut. We already used it:
\[
expression
\]
In this case, pung the shortcuts \[ and \] on separate lines commonly improves the
readability as the formula is also kind of displayed in the source code.
There's also a TeX low level command:
$$
expression
$$
However, it's strongly recommended to use\[ … \], because this LaTeX environment
handles vercal spacing beer.
For the rest of this chapter, all pieces of code use math mode. Either we explicitly use a math
environment or we imagine that we are already in math mode, for short pieces of code.
Numbering equations
Equaons and formulas in general may be numbered. However, this applies only to displayed
formulas. The equation environment is responsible for this:
\begin{equation}
\label{key}
expression
\end{equation}
It looks similar to displaymath but numbered this me. The number will be displayed in
parentheses on the right side of the equaon.
Typing Math Formulas
[ 194 ]
Adding subscripts and superscripts
As exponents and indexes are frequently used, there are very short commands for
typeseng them, for example, _ gives an index or subscript, ^ produces an exponent
or superscript. Use braces to mark the concerned expression. So, the common forms are
as follows:
{expression}_{subscript}
And:
{expression}^{superscript}
This may be nested. If you use subscripts and superscripts to the same expression, the order
of ^ and _ is not important. In the case of single leers, numerals, or symbols, you can omit
the braces. Let's look at an example:
\[ x_1^2 + x_2^2 = 1, \quad 2^{2^x} = 64 \]
Extracting roots
Our example contained a square root: \sqrt{value}. As there are roots of higher order,
this command accepts an oponal argument for the order. The complete denion is:
\sqrt[order]{value}
The size of the root symbol will be automacally adjusted to the height and the width of
the value expression. Roots may be nested. Both can be seen in this example:
\sqrt[64]{x} = \sqrt{\sqrt{\sqrt{\sqrt{\sqrt{\sqrt{x}}}}}}
Writing fractions
Within text formulas, you may just write / to denote fracons, such as \( (a+b)/2 \).
For larger fracons, there's the \frac command:
\frac{numerator}{denumerator}
Chapter 8
[ 195 ]
This command may also be used for in-text formulas. However, the line spacing could
increase.
\[ \frac{n(n+1)}{2}, \quad \frac{\frac{\sqrt{x}+1}{2}-x}{y^2} \]
Greek letters
Mathemacians like to use Greek leers, for instance, to denote constants. To get a
lowercase Greek leer, just write the name with a backslash for the command. Here
are the lowercase Greek leers with their corresponding LaTeX commands:
For some leers, variants are available:
As the omicron just looks like an o, there's no command for it. It's similar for most uppercase
Greek leers, which are equal to Roman leers. The remaining uppercase Greek leers are
produced as follows:
For upright Greek leers, you may use the upgreek package.
Typing Math Formulas
[ 196 ]
Script letters
For the twenty-six uppercase leers A, B, C, … , Z, there's a calligraphic shape, produced
by \mathcal:
\[ \mathcal{A}, \mathcal{B}, \mathcal{C}, \ldots, \mathcal{Z} \]
There are packages oering dierent calligraphic fonts, such as zapno and xits.
Producing an ellipsis
You already know \ldots for a low ellipsis. It also works in math mode. We use the low
ellipsis mainly between leers and commas. Between operaon and relaon symbols, a
centered ellipsis is commonly used. Furthermore, a matrix may require a vercal ellipsis.
Here's how all of them may be produced:
Comparing in-line formulas to displayed formulas
Wring formulas in-line saves space and allows uent explanaons. This is recommendable
for short math expressions within text.
Formulas in the displayed style are outstanding; they are centered and require more space.
Furthermore, they can be numbered and you may refer to them using the \label and \ref
techniques that you learned in Chapter 5, Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures.
Choose the style that is opmal for the readability of your text.
Changing the font, style, and size
In Chapter 2, Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs, we learned how to modify the font
of common text. There are further commands changing the font style in math mode:
Chapter 8
[ 197 ]
Though leers in math mode are italic, they are considered to be separate symbols, which
results in a dierent spacing than that of an italic word. For instance, in math mode,  may
be the product of the variables f and i, but not the ligature . Compare:
\textit{Definition}, \(Definition\)
Also, \mathit treats the argument as text in italic math font. So, for text within formulas,
use a text or math font command, or even beer: use \text{…} of amsmath—we will
return to this very soon.
If you wish to switch to bold typeface for a complete math expression, you can use the
declaraon \boldmath before the expression, that is, already outside math mode. The
declaraon \unboldmath switches back to the normal typeface. The laer has to be used
outside math mode as well.
To make parts of a formula bold, you can switch to the le-to-right mode by \mbox and by
using \boldmath in its argument.
Four math styles are available, determining the way of typeseng and the font size:
Style Command Meaning
display \displaystyle Default for leers and symbols in displayed
formulas
text \textstyle Default for leers and symbols within in-text
formulas
script \scriptstyle Smaller font size, used for subscripts and for
superscripts
scriptscript \scriptscriptstyle Even smaller font size, for nested script style
Typing Math Formulas
[ 198 ]
The textstyle diers from the displaystyle in mainly two ways; in textstyle,
variable sized symbols are smaller and subscripts and superscripts are usually placed beside
the expression instead of below and above, respecvely. Otherwise the font size is the same.
LaTeX switches the style automacally; if you write a simple exponent, it will be typeset in
script style, that is, with a smaller font size.
You may force a desired style using one of the commands in the aforemenoned table.
This allows you, for instance, to:
Type formulas within the text exactly like they would appear in a displayed formula:
bigger fracon, bigger sum signs, further subscripts are set below, and superscripts
are set above. Note, all of this increases the line spacing.
Write exponents or indexes with bigger symbols.
Customizing displayed formulas
There are two opons that modify the way the formulas are displayed:
fleqn "le equaon numbers" This causes all displayed formulas to be aligned at
the le margin.
leqno "le equaon numbers" All numbered formulas would get the numbers on
the le side instead of the right.
Oen, formulas are not displayed just standalone. We may encounter situaons where:
A formula is too long to t on one line
Several formulas are listed row-by-row
An equaon shall be transformed step-by-step
A chain of inequalies spans over more than one line
Several formulas shall be aligned at relaon symbols
We may also encounter similar situaons, where we have to write mul-line formulas, oen
with some kind of alignment. The amsmath package oers specialized environments for
nearly every such need.
Chapter 8
[ 199 ]
Time for action – typesetting multi-line formulas
We shall use the amsmath package to experiment with a very long formula and with a
system of equaons:
1. Start a new document on an A6 paper and load the amsmath package.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[a6paper]{geometry}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
2. Use the multline environment to span a long equaon over three lines.
End the lines with\\:
\begin{multline}
\sum = a + b + c + d + e \\
+ f + g + h + i + j \\
+ k + l + m + n
\end{multline}
\end{document}
3. Typeset and look at the formula:
4. Now we handle a system of equaons. Use the gather environment
to add these equaons. Again, end lines with \\:
\begin{gather}
x + y + z = 0 \\
y - z = 1
\end{gather}
5. Typeset and look at the equaons:
Typing Math Formulas
[ 200 ]
6. Commonly, equaon systems are aligned at the equal sign. Let's do this. Use the
& symbol to mark the point that we wish to align:
\begin{align}
x + y + z &= 0 \\
y - z &= 1
\end{align}
7. Typeset; now the equaons are aligned as desired:
What just happened?
Because we loaded the amsmath package, we have access to several mul-line math
environments.
Each line in such an environment is ended by \\, except the last one. The alignment depends
on the environment, as we've seen:
multline: The rst line is le-aligned, the last line right-aligned, and all
other lines in between are centered
gather: All lines are centered
align: The lines are aligned at marked relaon signs
Let's have a closer look.
Aligning multi-line equations
Here's a list of the amsmath mul-line environments:
Name Meaning
multline First line is le-aligned, last line is right-aligned, all others are centered.
gather Each line is centered.
align Use & to mark a symbol where the formulas shall be aligned. Use another
& to end a column, if you need several aligned columns.
flalign Similar to align with more than one column, but the columns are ushed
to the le and the right margin, respecvely.
alignat Alignment at several places, each has to be marked by &.
Chapter 8
[ 201 ]
Name Meaning
split Similar to align, but within another math environment, thus
unnumbered.
aligned,
gathered,
alignedat
Used for an aligned block within a math environment. This can be
displayed math or in-line math.
Numbering rows in multi-line formulas
In mul-line math environments, each line would be numbered like a normal equaon.
If you wish to suppress the numbering of a line, write \notag before the end of the line.
Use the starred variant like align*, or gather*, if you would like to avoid numbering
completely.
Inserting text into formulas
To insert some text into a formula, standard LaTeX provides the \mbox command. amsmath
oers further commands:
\text{words} inserts text within a math formula. The size is adjusted according
to the current math style, that is, \text produces smaller text within subscripts or
superscripts.
\intertext{text} suspends the formula, the text follows in a separate
paragraph, then the mul-line formula is resumed, keeping the alignment.
Use it for longer text.
These commands are the best choice, when you would like to use text within math
environments.
Fine-tuning formulas
If we go beyond wring variables and basic math operators, we may need many symbols for
special purposes: certain relaon signs, unary and binary operators, funcon-like operators,
sum and integral symbols and variants of the laer, arrows, and many more. LaTeX and
addional packages oer thousands of symbols for many purposes. We shall have a look at
some of them. But rstly, let's gure out how to write funcons.
Typing Math Formulas
[ 202 ]
Using operators
Trigonometric funcons, logarithm funcons, and other analyc and algebraic funcons are
commonly wrien with upright Roman leers. Simply typing log would otherwise look like a
product of the three variables, namely, l, o, and g. To ease the input, there are commands for
many common funcons or so called operators. Here's an alphabecal list of the predened
ones:
\arccos, \arcsin, \arctan, \arg, \cos, \cosh, \cot, \coth, \scs, \deg, \det, \dim,
\exp, \gcd, \hom, \inf, \ker, \lg, \lim, \liminf, \limsup, \ln, \log, \max, \min,
\Pr, \sec, \sin, \sinh, \sup, \tan, \tanh
The modulo funcon may be wrien in two ways, either by using \bmod for a binary relaon
or by using \pmod{argument} for a modulo expression in parentheses.
Some operators support subscripts which are set as follows:
\[ \lim_{n=1, 2, \ldots} a_n, \qquad \max_{x<X} x \]
Superscripts would be set above then.
Exploring the wealth of math symbols
Now, let's look at some math symbols and the commands for producing them. We shall
cover many standard LaTeX symbols, some addional symbols are provided by the latexsym
package. Even more symbols are accessible using, for instance, the amssymb package.
Binary operation symbols
Besides plus and minus, there are a few more operaons:
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Binary relation symbols
Values of expressions might be equal, but there are more possible relaons, for example,
they may be congruent, parallel, or they might stand in any other relaon:
Inequality relation symbols
If expressions are not equal, the inequality might be expressed in dierent ways:
Subset and superset symbols
For comparing sets and expressing relaons between them, there are many symbols:
Typing Math Formulas
[ 204 ]
Variable sized operators
For sums, products, and set operaons, for example, we can use operator symbols
which are variable in size: bigger in display style and smaller in text style.
Arrows
Arrows are used for implicaons, maps, or descripve expressions:
Harpoons
There are special arrows called harpoons:
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Symbols derived from letters
Some leer-like symbols are used in math:
Variable sized delimiters
Also, delimiters such as parentheses, brackets, and braces can vary in size. If you write \left
or \right before such a delimiter, its size will be automacally matched to the size of the
inner expression. These size macros have to be used in pairs. To match a pair, if you don't
wish to match a delimiter, use\left. or\right. to get an invisible delimiter.
Typing Math Formulas
[ 206 ]
Miscellaneous symbols
Here are more LaTeX symbols that do not match the menoned categories:
"The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List" lists about 5000 symbols sorted in categories. If you
need to search for a symbol, have a look at this document. As usual, with TeX Live, you could
open this document by using the following at the command prompt:
texdoc symbols
You can nd it on CTAN as well.
Writing units
If you use units in text, they should not look like variables: 'm' for meters should not look
exactly like a variable m. Similarly, analogous 's' may stand for seconds, but not for a variable.
A typographical convenon is to use an upright font shape for units. Furthermore, it's
common to use a thin space between the value and the dimension. So, for 10 meters, you
may write 10\,\mathrm{m}. However, this is very me-consuming. That's why several
packages have been developed supporng correct and nice typeseng of units, for example,
units, fancyunits, and siunits.
The most modern and comprehensive units package is siunitx, providing features of all the
other packages and even more. It requires reading some documentaon before use, but it's
worth the eort.
Building math structures
Variables and constants are simple. But there are more complex objects, like binomial
coecients, vectors, and matrices. We shall gure out how to typeset such structures.
Let's begin with simple arrays.
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Creating arrays
For arranging math expressions within a surrounding expression, there's the array
environment. We use it exactly like a tabular environment. However, it requires math
mode and all of its entries are made using the math mode as well.
For example, by using variable sized parentheses around the array:
\[
A = \left(
\begin{array}{cc}
a_{11} & a_{12} \\
a_{21} & a_{22}
\end{array}
\right)
\]
Writing binomial coefcients:
Binomial coecients and matrices may be typeset using an array together with delimiters.
However, the amsmath package provides shorter commands, for instance, \binom for
binomial coecients:
\binom{n}{k} = \frac{n!}{k!(n-k)!}
Typesetting matrices
As you might expect now of amsmath, there are many special matrix environments. A
standard matrix can be typeset by the pmatrix environment:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
\[
A = \begin{pmatrix}
a_{11} & a_{12} \\
a_{21} & a_{22}
Typing Math Formulas
[ 208 ]
\end{pmatrix}
\]
\end{document}
You may noce that the parentheses are closer to the matrix entries than in the array
example.
These are amsmath's matrix environments:
Name Delimiters of the matrix
matrix without delimiters
pmatrix parentheses ( )
bmatrix square brackets [ ]
Bmatrix braces { }
vmatrix | |
Vmatrix || ||
smallmatrix without delimiters, add them if needed, more compact
The compact smallmatrix environment is useful for matrices within running text.
Stacking expressions
Formulas may become complex: we might need to put one symbol above another one or
above whole expressions, or we wish to put lines, braces, or dots above symbols. There are
several ways.
Underlining and overlining
\overline puts a line above its argument, which may be nested:
s = \overline{AB}
The counterpart is \underline.
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It doesn't have to be a line; braces are popular too. The commands are \underbrace and
\overbrace. You may use subscripts and superscripts:
N = \underbrace{1 + 1 + \cdots + 1}_n
Setting accents
We've already seen accents in text mode. For the math mode, we need dierent commands.
They may be applied to any leer. Here's the list of math accents using the lowercase leer
'a' as an example:
The extensible ones are also called wide accents; they try to t the width of their argument.
Putting a symbol above another
Besides the array environment, there are amsmath commands to directly stack expressions:
\underset{expression below}{expression} puts an expression below
another, using the subscript size below.
\overset{expression above}{expression} puts an expression above
another, using the subscript size above.
Writing theorems and denitions
LaTeX provides environment for theorems, denions, and alike. Returning to our rst
example in this chapter, we could dene a theorem environment by:
\newtheorem{thm}{Theorem}
Then, we declare a denion environment, using an oponal argument stang an exisng
environment with which we would like to share the numbering:
\newtheorem{dfn}[thm]{Definition}
Typing Math Formulas
[ 210 ]
And in this simple way, we may use these environments:
\begin{dfn}
A quadratic equation is an equation of the form
\begin{equation}
\label{quad}
ax^2 + bx + c = 0,
\end{equation}
where \( a, b \) and \( c \) are constants and \( a \neq 0 \).
\end{dfn}
\begin{thm}
A quadratic equation (\ref{quad}) has two solutions for the variable
\( x \):
\begin{equation}
\label{root}
x_{1,2} = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}.
\end{equation}
\end{thm}
In the output, such environments are numbered and labeled "Theorem" and "Denion",
respecvely. In Chapter 10, Developing Large Documents, when we are going to develop
large documents, we will use this to create a complete document containing denions,
theorems, and lemmas.
There are two remarkable packages oering much more exibility:
amsthm provides several styles, allows ne customizaon, and includes a proof
environment.
ntheorem does similar work, but handles end marks in a beer way.
If you would like to use such environments, have a look at their documentaon, and
compare the features to decide which package is the best for you.
Have a go hero – checking out the mathtools package
The mathtools package extends amsmath. If you need a certain feature and cannot nd it,
neither in standard LaTeX nor in amsmath, always look rst at mathtools. Here are some of
its features with examples:
Tools for ne-tuning math typeseng, for example, compact styles:
Chapter 8
[ 211 ]
Aligning limits of operators:
Adjusng the width of operators:
Beer control over tags; modifying their appearance and showing only tags for
equaons that have been actually referenced
Extensible symbols; more arrows and being able to automacally adjust their
width, also extensible brackets and braces to be set under or over expressions
New math environments for more exible matrices, cases, improved mul-line
formulas, and arrows between aligned formulas
Less spacing for shorter inter text
Declaraon of paired delimiters
Addional symbols such as a vercally centered colon, combinaons of relaon
symbols with colons, shortcuts for auto-sized parentheses
Techniques such as spreading lines in mul-line formulas, seng le sub- and
superscripts, typeseng math within italic text, and producing mul-line fracons
Try to typeset these examples rst without mathtools. You will noce some dicules.
Have a look into the documentaon of this valuable package and nd out which commands
can be applied to achieve the aforemenoned styles and alignments.
Pop quiz
1. Which environment produces a displayed formula?
a. \begin{math} … \end{math}
b. \[ … \]
c. \( … \)
2. Which of these environments has to be used within math mode?
a. align
b. aligned
c. alignat
Typing Math Formulas
[ 212 ]
3. The following commands may be used to insert text within math formulas.
According to this chapter, which command would generally be the most
appropriate?
a. \mbox
b. \mathrm
c. \textrm
d. \text
Summary
Now that we've got the necessary tools to write scienc texts, we are able to write
complex math formulas, ne-tune math expressions, align and number equaons, and
access thousands of math symbols.
In the next chapter, we will not only deal further with math fonts, but also with fonts in
general.
9
Using Fonts
The appearance of your text is signicantly determined by the base font. You
may choose a font that's especially clear and readable for a long piece of
wring, or a fancy font for a greeng card. Your job applicaon leer might
use a very clear and serious font, whereas a mathemacal arcle requires
fonts with a lot of symbols and a text font that ts well with them.
Unl now, we have been covering the logical properes of fonts. Though we
always used the LaTeX standard font, we switched, for instance, from roman to
sans-serif, or to typewriter, learned how to make text bold, italic, or slanted, but
we never le the standard set of fonts.
In this chapter, we shall learn how to:
Choose other sets of fonts for the whole document
Load font packages for specic shapes
During this, we will also:
See how to install addional fonts
Look at various fonts and learn how to use them
Speak about encoding of input text and of fonts in the output
Let's start discussing the encodings.
Using Fonts
[ 214 ]
Preparing the encoding
Do you remember the ASCII code? All operang systems are able to understand it. However,
when it comes to special characters like German umlauts or diacrics in general, currency
symbols, and non-lan language characters, some systems work dierently. We shall see
how to deal with that.
Also, the output needs some kind of encoding. We shall gure out how to perfect that.
Time for action – directly using special characters
In a TeX document, we would like to use the German name of a street. It contains diacrics,
so called umlauts. Let's check out how to make it work right.
1. Start a new document. Within a small parbox, write the text:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\parbox{3cm}{Meeting point: K\"onigsstra\ss e (King's Street)}
\end{document}
2. Typeset and have a rst look:
3. Try babel instead! It provides shortcuts for German umlauts, if you state the
ngerman opon. Use "u for ü, a for ä, and s for ß":
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}
…
\parbox{3cm}{Meeting point: K"onigsstra"se (King'sStreet)}
4. The output would be the same. Sll the hyphenaon remains as a problem: TeX
cannot use hyphenaon rules if macros are inside the words.
5. As babel is required for good hyphenaon, we keep that. But we use Unicode
encoding and another called T1 font encoding:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
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\begin{document}
\parbox{3cm}{Meeting point: Königsstraße (King's Street)}
\end{document}
6. Typeset. Now we've got the correct hyphenaon:
What just happened?
Firstly, using accent macros, or babel shortcut macros to construct diacrics, makes the TeX
code less readable and hard to type. Furthermore, it creates a problem with hyphenaon: for
macros, hyphenaon rules cannot be applied. That's why the juscaon has been so bad.
Two packages solve those problems:
inputenc takes care of the input and translates special characters into TeX macros.
It understands an opon to mark the encoding. This depends on the editor and
the operang system. As a rule of thumb: on Linux and Mac OS X, use utf8;
on Windows, use latin1, except with TeXworks. Also, on Windows, TeXworks
understands utf8, which is an implementaon of Unicode.
fontenc is responsible for the output encoding: TeX macros are translated into
special characters. For instance, ö is no longer constructed of o and dots, but it's
the glyph ö of the current font. Thus, hyphenaon rules can be applied, the search
feature of a PDF reader works with those characters, even copy and paste works
ne. With standard encoding, copying and pasng ö would result in dots and an o.
Unicode is an industry standard for text encoding, which hugely extends
the ASCII code. Unicode supports more than 100,000 characters of
many languages. It's become more and more supported by modern
operang systems and editors.
To be able to benet from those packages, you should know the encoding and you
should use a font supporng the T1 encoding, also known as Cork encoding. Take it
just as a name—we don't need to care further about encoding for now.
To see what happens with and without fontenc, use:
\showhyphens{Königsstraße}
Using Fonts
[ 216 ]
Use it together with babel and inputenc and examine the log le. With standard font
encoding, called OT1, you would read:
\OT1/cmr/m/n/10 K^^?onigsstra^^Ye
However, with T1 encoding, the log le would show:
\T1/cmr/m/n/10 Kö-nigs-straße
Installing additional fonts
TeX distribuons usually install a lot of fonts. A package manager allows the installaon of
further fonts, like mpm with MiKTeX or tlmgr with TeX Live.
TeX Live includes only freely licensed fonts. Non-free fonts may be installed using a separate
program. It's called getnonfreefonts. If it's not already installed with your version of TeX Live,
you can download it from http://www.tug.org/fonts/getnonfreefonts/.
getnonfreefonts –l
This command lists all addionally available non-free fonts. If you wish to install a font,
give its name as the argument or just type the following to install all available fonts:
getnonfreefonts –a
Type the following to get a brief documentaon:
getnonfreefonts
getnonfreefonts would install the fonts in your TeX home directory. To make the fonts
available for the complete local system, use getnonfreefonts-sys instead.
Progams ending with -sys work system wide. Further examples are: updmap-
sys, which updates font map les, and fmtutil-sys for (re)creaon of
so-called format les. Such programs require administrator privileges, so run it
as via sudo or as root on Linux or Mac OS X, on Windows use an administrator
account if you ever need it. Normally the TeX distribuon calls them
automacally during installaon and updates if required.
If you use T1 font encoding, which is strongly recommended, you might noce a decreased
font quality. Don't worry this could happen if you don't have good T1 supporng standard
fonts installed, thus bitmap fonts were used as replacement. It can be easily repaired by
installing the cm-super package, which contains the European Computer Modern fonts,
which are enhanced versions of the default Computer Modern fonts, with T1 support, in
high quality. Alternavely, use one of the following fonts.
Chapter 9
[ 217 ]
Choosing the main font
We shall explore some TeX fonts. To test fonts, we may use a pangram. This word has a
Greek origin: "pan gramma" meaning "every leer". It stands for a sentence that uses every
leer of the alphabet. Thus, a pangram is very convenient for displaying fonts.
Time for action – comparing Computer Modern to Latin Modern
We shall print out a very famous pangram phrase, once using the standard font Computer
Modern and once using the Lan Modern font. Because Lan Modern is very similar to
the standard font, but supports diacrics much beer, while providing very high quality,
it is widely considered that it will become the successor to the standard font. We will just
compare serif and sans-serif typefaces:
1. Start a new document. Create a macro for the pangram plus numerals and use it:
\documentclass{article}
\newcommand{\pangram}[1][\rmfamily]{{#1 The quick brown fox jumps
over the lazy dog. 1234567890}\par}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\begin{document}
\large
\pangram
\pangram[\sffamily]
\pangram[\ttfamily]
\pangram[\itshape]
\pangram[\slshape]
\end{document}
2. Typeset and look at the font shapes:
3. Add this line to the preamble:
\usepackage{lmodern}
Using Fonts
[ 218 ]
4. Typeset again and compare:
What just happened?
You might noce that the fonts are indeed looking the same. So, why use lmodern?
Let's see.
Loading font packages
There are packages which provide fonts for all standards, shapes and weights, and more.
Just load one to change all at once.
Latin Modern – a replacement for the standard font
Lan Modern has been designed to look like Computer Modern, but the encoding and
manual ne-tuning has been improved. Lan Modern contains a huge amount of diacric
characters, whereas with Computer Modern such characters are built from leers and
accents.
If you use lmodern, you don't need to install the big cm-super package anymore.
Kp-fonts – a full set of fonts
This font collecon from the Johannes Kepler project provides Roman, sans-serif, and
monospaced fonts as well as mathemacs symbol fonts in dierent shapes and weights.
Even bold extended and combinaons like slanted Roman small caps are present.
Just load the package to use those fonts:
\usepackage{kpfonts}
The previous example will change to:
Chapter 9
[ 219 ]
Kp-fonts oers light versions with the same font metrics. They might look nice in print, but
they aren't recommended for reading on screen.
To switch to the light font set, load the package with the opon light:
\usepackage[light]{kpfonts}
The look will be dierent:
Now let's look at specialized font packages.
Serif fonts
The standard serif font is called Computer Modern Roman. Lan Modern provides a very
similar font, and you already know the Kp-fonts serif font. Further packages are specialized
in serif fonts.
Times Roman
The package mathptmx denes a Times Roman text font. Addionally, it provides math
support using suitable symbols of the standard Computer Modern symbol font together
with Times Roman leers and more glyphs of further fonts. It supersedes the mes package.
\usepackage{mathptmx}
As you can see, Times is a very narrow font that's suitable for mul-column text like in
newspapers, but not recommended for single-column text. Wide lines would be less readable.
The txfonts package is a good alternave, especially if you
use Greek characters.
Using Fonts
[ 220 ]
Charter
Charter is similar to Computer Modern, but a bit bolder:
\usepackage{charter}
For suitable math support, it's recommended to load
the mathdesign package with the charter opon:
\usepackage[charter]{mathdesign}.
Palatino
The package mathpazo provides the Pazo math fonts, which are suitable for the Palano
text font. It may be loaded by:
\usepackage{mathpazo}
Two opons are recommended for mathpazo:
sc "small caps" Loads Palano with "real" small caps instead of
producing fake small caps by scaling capital leers.
osf "old style gures" Load Palano with old style gures which would be
used in text mode, not in math mode
Call texdoc psnfss2e to learn more. This opens the document Using common PostScript
fonts with LaTeX by Walter Schmidt. Among others, it describes how to use mathpazo and
mathptmx.
For Palano, a slightly higher line spacing is recommended. So, a typical way to load Palano
together with Pazo is:
\usepackage[sc]{mathpazo}
\linespread{1.05}
Chapter 9
[ 221 ]
Bookman
This is an old style serif font, provided by the bookman package:
\usepackage{bookman}
New Century Schoolbook
The newcent package provides this easy-to-read serif typeface:
\usepackage{newcent}
For a suitable math font, you might load the fourier math fonts:
\usepackage{fouriernc}.
Concrete Roman
The Concrete font doesn't look well on screen, but oers a high quality in print. Just load the
concrete package:
\usepackage{concrete}
Also for Concrete Roman, there's a matching math font package:
\usepackage{concmath}.
Sans-serif fonts
We already talked about sans-serif fonts: they might be appropriate for headings,
but many believe that running text with tradional serifs is much more readable.
If required, the main body font could be made sans-serif by \
renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault}.
Using Fonts
[ 222 ]
Helvetica
The classical sans-serif font Helveca is simple and clean. You probably know a
descendant: Arial.
\usepackage{helvet}
Use the opon scaled if the font looks too big, especially when used together with a serif
font. For instance, if you also use times or mathptmx, you might write:
\usepackage[scaled=0.92]{helvet}
Bera Sans
Another nice sans-serif font is oered by berasans. It has been derived from Fruger.
\usepackage{berasans}
Computer Modern Bright
CM Bright has been derived from Computer Modern Sans Serif. The package cmbright
provides this font together with a lighter typewriter font and a sans-serif math font.
\usepackage{cmbright}
Kurier
Kurier is a bit dierent; look at the leer g:
\usepackage{kurier}
Chapter 9
[ 223 ]
Typewriter fonts
Typewriter, a.k.a. monospaced, fonts are widely used for source codes. We've seen it already.
Courier
Courier is a very wide running typewriter font, provided by the package with the same name.
\usepackage{courier}
Inconsolata
Inconsolata is a very nice monospaced font designed for source code lisngs. It's very
readable and not as wide as Courier.
\usepackage{inconsolata}
Bera Mono
Bera Mono is another font of the Bera family, consisng of Bera Serif, Bera Sans, and Bera
Mono. Originally, they had been developed under the name Bitstream Vera.
\usepackage{beramono}
Using Fonts
[ 224 ]
Exploring the world of LaTeX fonts
Probably the best place to browse LaTeX fonts is The LaTeX Font Catalogue.
Visit http://www.tug.dk/FontCatalogue/:
Just choose a category, click on a font to see some examples, usage, and sources.
Chapter 9
[ 225 ]
Pop quiz
1. Which package allows us to type ä, ü, ü, ß, and other such characters directly
in the editor?
a. babel
b. inputenc
c. fontenc
2. All but one of the following packages improves full juscaon. Which one
does not?
a. babel
b. microtype
c. inputenc
d. fontenc
Summary
Now we are able to use dierent body text fonts. Our documents doesn't need to look like
standard LaTeX wrings anymore.
We learned about:
Specifying the encoding for source and output
Installing and choosing font sets and specic fonts
You probably know Truetype fonts: though they generally oer lower quality, there's a lot,
and they may be used with XeTeX, XeLaTeX, LuaTeX, and LuaLaTeX. These compilers even
support the OpenType font standard. All these compilers are supported by TeX Live and
TeXworks as well which are enhanced versions of TeX, LaTeX respecvely.
Now let's go back to LaTeX; we shall learn how to develop and manage bigger documents in
the next chapter.
10
Developing Large Documents
The rst chapter of this book claimed that LaTeX handles large documents
easily. When you create extensive documents, you will noce that LaTeX keeps
on doing its job reliably. For the computer, it doesn't maer how the source
code is formaed. But for you, as the developer, it's important to keep your
source document manageable. Aer all, it may consist of hundreds of pages
with thousands of lines, possibly containing a lot of external pictures.
In this chapter, we shall learn how to:
Split a document into several les
Input and reuse pieces of code
Swap out document-wide sengs
Compile just a part of a document
Create a main document built upon sub-les
A bigger document requires a more complex structure, so we shall gure out how to:
Design a tle page
Use Roman page numbers in the front maer
Add a back maer without seconing numbers
We will work it out while developing a book, using separate les for the preamble and for
each chapter.
Developing Large Documents
[ 228 ]
Bigger documents require more work, so we shall nd out how to:
Work more eecve using templates
Acquire and evaluate templates
That's a big step forward on the way to wring a thesis, a book, or an extensive report.
Let's go on with it.
Splitting the input
Divide and conquer—this could be our moo now. We shall gure out how to break down
a document into several sub-documents. Thus, while we are wring, we will be able to
manage a huge project consisng of many chapters in separate les.
Firstly, we shall separate sengs and body text by swapping out the preamble. Secondly,
we shall write chapters in separate les and include them aerwards.
Time for action – swapping out preamble and chapter contents
We begin to write an extensive document about equaons and equaon systems.
The result should be in the style of a thesis or a book. We can use the last example in
Chapter 8, TypingMath Formulas, where we dealt with theorems concerning equaons.
1. Create a new document. Inside this, load all the packages and specify the opons,
like we did in our preambles before. Use all the benecial packages that we already
learned about:
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage{microtype}
\usepackage{natbib}
\usepackage{tocbibind}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amsthm}
\newtheorem{thm}{Theorem}[chapter]
\newtheorem{lem}[thm]{Lemma}
\theoremstyle{definition}
\newtheorem{dfn}[thm]{Definition}
2. Save this document under the name preamble.tex.
Chapter 10
[ 229 ]
3. Start another new document and copy the contents of the chapter Equations in
the theorem example of Chapter 8 into it:
\chapter{Equations}
\section{Quadratic equations}
\begin{dfn}
A quadratic equation is an equation of the form
\begin{equation}
\label{quad}
ax^2 + bx + c = 0
\end{equation}
where \( a, b \) and \( c \) are constants and \( a \neq 0 \).
\end{dfn}
4. Save this document under the name chapter1.tex.
5. Create another document for the next chapter, write something, and save it as
chapter2.tex:
\chapter{Equation Systems}
\section{Linear Systems}
…
\section{Non-linear Systems}
…
6. Now we shall construct the top-level document. Create another le called
equations.tex. This one starts with the documentclass and lists the
preamble and the chapters for inclusion:
\documentclass{book}
\input{preamble}
\begin{document}
\tableofcontents
\include{chapter1}
\include{chapter2}
\end{document}
Developing Large Documents
[ 230 ]
7. Typeset the document twice. Remember, this acon is necessary to get the table
of contents. For now, check the contents, to see if everything is in its place:
What just happened?
We constructed a top-level document that we called equations.tex. It's tempng to just
call it main.tex or something similar. However, as this lename determines the name of the
resulng PDF document, we chose a meaningful name.
This is the framework of our project. It's an ordinary LaTeX document, but we reduced it as
much as possible and used two commands to import external .tex les:
\input reads in another le, just as if it had been typed in.
\include also reads in an external le, but automacally inserts \clearpage
before and aer.
The laer oers more to you, so let's have a closer look—we shall treat the simpler
command rst.
Including small pieces of code
The simplest command to read in a le is:
\input{filename}
When LaTeX encounters this command, it reads in the le with the name filename exactly
as if its contents have been typed at that point. Accordingly, all commands in this le would
be processed by the LaTeX compiler. You can even nest \input—this command may be used
inside an included le.
Chapter 10
[ 231 ]
If the lename doesn't have an extension, the extension .tex will be added automacally,
thus filename.tex would be inserted. You may also specify a path, relave or absolute. As a
backslash begins a command, use slashes / instead of backslashes \ in paths, also in Windows.
Using relave path names makes moving and copying of a
project easier.
Use \input if you wish to put your preamble into a separate le. Besides keeping your root
document clean, a separate preamble can easily be copied and adjusted for use in another
document.
However, simply spling and inpung is not yet considered document management. For
instance, though you could comment out selected \input lines for paral compilaon, the
numbering of pages, secons, and so on may be ruined, and cross-referencing to omied
document parts would fail.
There's a beer way—so let's look at the other command.
Including bigger parts of a document
When it comes to including one or more pages, this command proves to be useful:
\include{filename}
The argument is treated the same way as \input. However, there are some important
dierences:
1. \include implicitly starts new pages.\include{filename} behaves like:
\clearpage
\include{filename}
\clearpage
2. This makes it useful for page ranges such as chapters or secons. One consequence
is that you may use \include only aer \begin{document}.
3. \include cannot be nested. You could sll use \input within included
documents, though it might not be a good idea to complicate the structure further.
4. Most importantly, \include supports a mechanism of choosing which parts of
the document you wish to compile—so we come to another command, namely,
\includeonly.
Let's see how the laer command works.
Developing Large Documents
[ 232 ]
Compiling parts of a document
Such a paral document, which is intended for \input or \include, cannot be compiled
standalone: you need a root document that species the document class.
However, once you swapped out parts of the document using \include, while compiling
your root document, you may specify which parts are actually included by this command:
\includeonly{file list}
The argument may be a comma-separated list of lenames. If a le, name.tex, is not
specied within this argument, \include{name} would not insert this le but just behave
like \clearpage instead. This allows excluding chunks or whole chapters from compiling. If
you work on a huge document, this speeds up compilaon if you choose to include just your
current chapter while keeping the labels and references of the excluded chapter this way.
You may noce that LaTeX produces an .aux le for each included .tex le. LaTeX sll
reads in all those .aux les containing informaon such as chapter and page numbers. Of
course, the included les need to be Typeset at least once. This way, cross-referencing the
numbering of pages, chapters, secons, and so on will remain intact even if you temporarily
exclude the chapters.
Try it out—add the following:
\includeonly{chapter2}
Add it to your preamble in equation.tex and compile. The result will be just the second
chapter keeping the correct numbering.
You can use \include without \includeonly. Finally, when you nish your work, just
comment the laer command out to typeset your complete document.
Creating front and back matter
In contrast to reports, books oen begin with introductory material such as copyright
informaon, a foreword, acknowledgements, or a dedicaon. This part, including the tle
page and the table of contents, is called the front maer.
At the end, a book might include an aerword and supporng material like a bibliography,
and an index. This part is called the back maer.
The book class and some other classes like scrbook and memoir support this kind of
seconing directly. Oen, desired consequences of this seconing are dierences in the
numbering of pages and chapters. Let's see how it works.
Chapter 10
[ 233 ]
Time for action – adding a dedication and an appendix
Our book shall begin with a dedicaon. The front maer shall consist of the table of
contents, lists of tables and gures, and a dedicaon. All the pages of the front maer shall
be numbered with Roman leers. Finally, we add an appendix providing supplementary
proofs which we like to present outside the main chapters:
1. Create a le dedication.tex:
\chapter{Dedication}
This book is dedicated to one of the greatest mathematicians of
all time: Carl Friedrich Gauss. Without him, this book wouldn't
have been possible.
2. Create a le proofs.tex:
\chapter{Proofs}
...
3. Extend the main le equation.tex by the highlighted lines:
\documentclass{book}
\input{preamble}
\begin{document}
\frontmatter
\include{dedication}
\tableofcontents
\listoftables
\listoffigures
\mainmatter
\include{chapter1}
\include{chapter2}
\backmatter
\include{proofs}
\nocite{*}
\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
\bibliography{tex}
\end{document}
Developing Large Documents
[ 234 ]
4. As you can see in the last highlighted line, we re-used the le tex.bib from
Chapter 7, Lisng Contents and References. Typeset, run BibTeX, and Typeset
again. Check out the numbering within the table of contents:
What just happened?
We saw that the page number of the contents page has been typeset in Roman numbers.
This applies to all front maer pages. Further, all the chapters in front and back maer are
unnumbered even though we did not use the starred command \chapter*.
The three commands \frontmatter, \mainmatter, and \backmatter are responsible.
They modied both the page and chapter numbering in the following way:
\frontmatter Pages are numbered with lowercase Roman numbers.
Chapters generate a table of contents entry but don't get a number.
\mainmatter Pages are numbered with Arabic numbers.
Chapters are numbered and produce a table of contents entry.
Chapter 10
[ 235 ]
\backmatter Pages are numbered with Arabic numbers.
Chapters generate a table of contents entry but don't get a number.
Besides that, \frontmatter and \mainmatter call \cleardoublepage. \backmatter
calls \cleardoublepage in openright mode, that is, if chapters start on right hand pages,
otherwise it's using just \clearpage.
Like the book class, the classes scrbook and memoir provide the same command with very
similar behavior.
Designing a title page
A good looking tle page can quickly be created using \maketitle as we did in Chapter 2,
Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs. Document classes usually oer this command
to generate a suitable pre-formaed tle page. Alternavely, you could use a titlepage
environment to freely design its layout. So, let's design a nice tle page for our book of
equaons.
Time for action – creating a title page
In Chapter 2, we have already used some formang commands such as \centering and
font size and shape commands such as \Huge and \bfseries to format a tle. We shall do
it similarly within a titlepage environment:
1. Create a le title.tex with the following content:
\begin{titlepage}
\raggedleft
{\Large The Author\\[1in]}
{\large The Big Book of\\}
{\Huge\scshape Equations\\[.2in]}
{\large Packed with hundreds of examples and solutions\\}
\vfill
{\itshape 2011, Publishing company}
\end{titlepage}
2. Our nal book shall have A5 format, and so shall the tle page. Therefore, let's add
that to the preamble:
\usepackage[a5paper]{geometry}
Developing Large Documents
[ 236 ]
3. Typeset. Now we've got a tle page:
What just happened?
The titlepage environment typesets its contents on a separate page. Though this tle
page will be numbered like any other page, the page number won't be printed on that page.
Within this environment, we used some basic LaTeX font commands to modify the font
size and shape. By grouping with curly braces, we limited those commands. Line breaks like
\\[.2in] just cause some more space before the following line. \vfill inserts an elasc
vercal space which stretches as much as possible such that the page is lled. This way we
put the last line o to the end of the page.
Note, this page has the same page dimensions as the other pages in the document. That
means, in a double-sided book it's a right-hand page. Thus, you may noce unequal le and
right margins, which might look undesirable especially, if your tle is in the center. But the
explanaon is simple: this tle page is intended to be an inner tle, not the cover page. The
inner tle page is of course a right-hand page.
Chapter 10
[ 237 ]
A cover page is a dierent thing. This should be one-side and thus it should have equal le
and right margins. A cover page is oen produced as a stand-alone document, printed out
separately. For a electronic document, you may use the pdfpages package or a tool like
pdam to merge PDF documents.
The tling package oers features to create sophiscated tle pages. To
get some ideas how tle pages may be designed, you could have a look at
Some Examples of Title Pages by Peter Wilson, available from texdoc
titlepages and at http://ctan.org/pkg/titlepages.
Working with templates
When we start to develop a document, we specify the document class, choose meaningful
packages and opons, and create a frame for the contents. To repeat these steps for each
document would be too laborious.
If we plan to write several documents of the same type, we may create a template.
This could be a .tex le containing:
Declaraon of a suitable document class together with a set of meaningful opons
Rounely-used packages and packages which are most eligible for our document
type
A predened layout for header, footer, and body of the text
Self-made macros to ease our work
A framework of seconing commands, where we ll in the headings and the
body text
Or a framework containing \include or \input commands, for which we create
the body text chunks later on.
While we improve our LaTeX knowledge, such templates might grow and become beer
and more sophiscated. Many users publish their elaborate templates on the Internet.
Many universies, instutes, journals, and publishers do the same, oering templates for
documents such as thesis, papers, journal arcles, and books, meeng their requirements.
You will nd a collecon of templates, arranged by document type such as thesis,
reports, leers, and presentaons, accompanied by sample output, in a template
gallery at http://texblog.net/latex/templates.
You may download a template and start to ll in your text. Alternavely, you could start a
document with a pre-dened template oered by your editor. Let's try that.
Developing Large Documents
[ 238 ]
Time for action – starting with a template
LaTeX editors oen provide templates to start with. TeXworks oers some as well. So we
shall test this feature, let's take one, open it, modify it, and Typeset:
1. In the TeXworks main menu, click on File and then on New from template. A
window will open allowing you to choose a template:
2. In the lower part of the window, you can read the template's source. Here's an
example of KOMA-Script (KOMA-letter.tex):
% !TEX TS-program = pdflatex
% !TEX encoding = UTF-8 Unicode
% An alternative to the standard LaTeX letter class.
\documentclass[fontsize=12pt, paper=a4]{scrlttr2}
% Don't forget to read the KOMA-Script documentation, scrguien.pdf
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\setkomavar{fromname}{} % your name
\setkomavar{fromaddress}{Address \\ of \\ Sender}
\setkomavar{signature}{} % printed after the \closing
Chapter 10
[ 239 ]
\renewcommand{\raggedsignature}{\raggedright} % make the signature
ragged right
\setkomavar{subject}{} % subject of the letter
\begin{document}
\begin{letter}{Name and \\ Address \\ of \\ Recipient}
\opening{} % eg. Hello
\closing{} %eg. Regards
\end{letter}
\end{document}
3. Click on Open. Fill in the gaps and edit the ller text of the example:
\documentclass[fontsize=12pt, paper=a4]{scrlttr2}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\setkomavar{fromname}{My name} % your name
\setkomavar{fromaddress}{Street, City}
\setkomavar{signature}{Name} % printed after the \closing
\setkomavar{subject}{Invoice 1/2011} % subject of the letter
\setkomavar{place}{Place}
\setkomavar{date}{January 1, 2011 }
\begin{document}
\begin{letter}{Customer Name\\ Street No. X \\ City \\ Zipcode}
\opening{To whom it may concern} % eg. Hello
Text follows \ldots
\bigskip
\closing{With kind regards} %eg. Regards
\end{letter}
\end{document}
Developing Large Documents
[ 240 ]
4. Typeset. Have a look at our test leer:
What just happened?
That was easy! We just opened the template and modied the ller texts. Reading the
KOMA-Script documentaon, we can learn that the command \setkomavar is used for
specifying values for template parameters such as name, address, and subject. We used
that to declare the date and the place as well.
Once we have wrien our personal data into this template, we may save that for later use
instead of typing our address for each leer.
Chapter 10
[ 241 ]
The KOMA-Script documentaon (texdoc scrguien) describes the features of this leer
class well. Using this, you would be able to create your personal professional-looking leer
template for business use.
Imagine pung a job applicaon leer created with the LaTeX layout and fonts together
with microtype next to an applicaon leer produced with some other word processing
soware—which one will use to create a beer impression!
Have a go hero – evaluating and enhancing templates
While looking for LaTeX templates, code, and ps on the internet, you will nd a lot of
informaon and code. This code might be outdated and this informaon might be obsolete.
When you develop your own template, you probably would like to be sure to use the best
packages, opons, and soluons available today. How can you be sure?
Both quesons can be answered by studying l2tabu. This is the common shortcut for
An essenal guide to LaTeX2e usage, a document focusing on obsolete commands and
packages, which also demonstrates the most common and severe mistakes that LaTeX user's
tend to make. As LaTeX has developed over many years, some packages and techniques are
sll available and described in online resources, but it may not be recommendable any more.
Read this guide. It will help you to evaluate templates and code found on the Internet, but
also to ensure that you produce opmal code yourself.
Just type:
texdoc l2tabuen
At the command prompt or visit http://ctan.org/pkg/l2tabu.
To test a template, you may use the blindtext package and its command
\Blinddocument. This command generates dummy content for a big
document, which would demonstrate the output quality of a template. This
package is required to load babel. If you don't like that, you may use the
lipsum package instead.
Developing Large Documents
[ 242 ]
Pop quiz
1. Which of these commands can be used both in the preamble and body text?
a. \input
b. \include
c. \includeonly
2. All but one of the following commands may cause a page break. Which is the one
that doesn't?
a. \include
b. \input
c. \mainmatter
d. \begin{titlepage}
Summary
The techniques we learned in this chapter will help us to develop and maintain bigger
projects. Though enthusiasc users prefer LaTeX also to write small documents, many people
learn LaTeX because they plan to write longer texts. However, spling documents and the
use of templates are useful as well for small wrings such as leers—just think of header,
footer, address elds, and so on.
In this chapter, we dealt with:
Creang and managing large documents consisng of several les
Structuring documents with front maer and back maer
Designing a separate tle page
Using, creang, and evaluang templates
Now that we're able to develop and handle large documents, we shall see how to improve
them further.
11
Enhancing Your Documents Further
By now, you're capable of wring structured documents in ne typographical
quality. You are able to meet high expectaons for classic publicaons such as
books, journal arcles, or a university thesis.
What about presentaons? They are usually more colorful than prints. Perhaps
you would like to publish your documents online? Such electronic documents or
e-books usually require some kind of navigaon.
This chapter shall provide us with tools for such enhancements. We shall gure out
how to perform the following:
Adding hyperlinks to the table of contents, lists of gures and tables, and to any
cross-reference
Creang bookmarks for a navigaon bar
Designing headings
Using color with LaTeX
Let's implement this by using packages that are dedicated to these subjects.
Using hyperlinks and bookmarks
There's a sophiscated package called hyperref, which does nearly all basic hyper-linking
automacally. That's great! Let's check it out.
Enhancing Your Documents Further
[ 244 ]
Time for action – adding hyperlinks
We shall load the hyperref package and inspect its eect:
1. Open the le preamble.tex, which we used in the previous chapter. At its end,
add this line:
\usepackage{hyperref}
2. Save this document under the same name.
3. Open our book of equaons from the previous chapter; we called it equations.
tex.
4. Typeset the document twice without making any changes. Let's see how the
document now appears!
Chapter 11
[ 245 ]
5. The Chapter 1 looks like the following screenshot:
What just happened?
By just loading the hyperref package, our document has signicantly changed:
We got a bookmark bar, which allows us to easily navigate through the document.
Each entry in the table of contents has become a hyperlink to the beginning of the
corresponding chapter respecvely. Hyperlinks are marked by red frames.
All cross-references have become hyperlinks.
This is a great improvement for electronic versions of our documents! The print version
would not be aected—neither the bookmarks nor those red frames would be printed.
If you don't like the default look of the hyperlinks, it can easily be changed by eding the
opons to hyperref. Let's try this.
Enhancing Your Documents Further
[ 246 ]
Time for action – customizing the hyperlink appearance
We shall pass opons to hyperref aecng the way hyperlinks are emphasized:
1. Open the le preamble.tex again. This me, specify the opons for hyperref:
\usepackage[colorlinks=true,linkcolor=red]{hyperref}
2. Save this document, go to the main document equations.tex, and compile it
twice. The table of contents is changed:
What just happened?
Instead of frames, we now got a red color for emphasized links. The color can be seen
in a printed document.
hyperref oers ways to set up the opons. The rst one we used is:
\usepackage[key=value list]{hyperref}
Alternavely, we could just write \usepackage{hyperref} and set the opons
aerwards:
\hypersetup{key=value list}
Chapter 11
[ 247 ]
Our example would do the same with:
\hypersetup{colorlinks=true,linkcolor=red}
These methods may be combined. Here's a selecon of especially useful opons:
Opon Type Default Eect
draft boolean false Turns o all hypertext opons
final boolean true Turns all hypertext opons on
debug boolean false Prints extra diagnosc messages into the log
le
raiselinks boolean true Fits the height of links to the real size of
objects such as text or graphics
breaklinks boolean false Links may be broken across lines (true by
default with pdex)
pageanchor boolean true Gives pages implicit anchors, needed for the
index
backref boolean false Adds back links to bibliography items
hyperindex boolean true Links page numbers in the index, the
pageanchor opon should be set
hyperfootnotes boolean true Converts footnote markers into hyperlinks
linktocpage boolean false In TOC, LOF and LOT page numbers would be
linked instead of the text
colorlinks boolean false Writes links and anchors in color, depending
on the type of link such as page references,
URLs, le references, and citaons
linkcolor color red Color for internal links
anchorcolor color black Color for anchor texts
citecolor color green Color for citaons of bibliography items
filecolor color cyan Color for links to local les
urlcolor color magenta Color for URLs
frenchlinks boolean false Uses small caps for links instead of color
bookmarks boolean true Writes bookmarks for the Acrobat Reader
bookmarksopen boolean false Shows all bookmarks in an expanded view
bookmarksnumbered boolean false Includes the secon number in bookmarks
pdfstartpage text 1 Species which page would be shown when
the PDF le is opened
Enhancing Your Documents Further
[ 248 ]
There are many more opons for customizing link borders, PDF page size, anchors, bookmark
appearance, and PDF page display style. The hyperref documentaon lists them all. Have a
look at it—it's a really valuable document! Many PDF and hypertext-related quesons in web
forums just arise because users did not know that they have already got an extensive manual
on their own hard disk, namely, texdoc hyperref.
hyperref supports more than just pdfLaTeX, which most users choose today. If you, for
instance, use XeTeX, you may give the xetex opon to hyperref. If you typeset to DVI
and use dvips to convert to Postscript and to PDF aerwards, use the dvips opon. There
are more than a dozen of such driver opons; you can read about those backend drivers in
the manual. If no driver is specied, the hypertex driver would be used, which is, in most
mes, the appropriate driver.
Some text opons allow us to specify the metadata of PDF les, such as the author name,
tle, and keywords. This informaon is shown if you inspect the document properes with
the PDF reader. Even more benecial, Internet search engines are able to nd and classify
your PDF document according to this meta informaon. If you publish on the Internet, this
improves the chances of the readers nding your publicaon!
Time for action – editing PDF metadata
We shall add PDF metadata to our book of equaons. Besides choosing sensible keywords,
we will set the tle and the author's name. During development, why not choose the great
mathemacian to whom we dedicated our book. So, let's do it!
1. Open the le preamble.tex and add the following lines:
\hypersetup{pdfauthor={Carl Friedrich Gauss},
pdftitle={The Big Book of Equations},
pdfsubject={Solving Equations and Equation Systems},
pdfkeywords={equations,mathematics}}
2. Save that le. Go to the main document equations.tex and Typeset. Let's inspect
the document properes! So, if you use the Acrobat Reader, click on the File menu
and then Properes:
Chapter 11
[ 249 ]
What just happened?
Well, that was easy. We provided all document properes by using the hyperref opon.
We just had to take care to enclose each entry in curly braces.
The most commonly used meta-informaon opons are:
Opon PDF meta-informaon eld
pdftitle Sets the tle
pdfauthor Sets the author
pdfsubject Sets the subject
pdfcreator Sets the creator
pdfproducer Sets the producer
pdfkeywords Sets the keywords
As hyperref redenes many commands of other packages in order to
add hyperlink funconality, it has to be loaded aer those packages. A good
rule of thumb is to load the package as the last package in your preamble. A
few packages are excepons to that rule, namely, algorithm, amsrefs,
bookmark, chappg, cleveref, glossaries, hypernat, linguex,
sidecap, and tabularx are known to be excepons.
Enhancing Your Documents Further
[ 250 ]
Creating hyperlinks manually
As hyperref already creates links for nearly all kinds of references, it's rarely necessary to
create links by oneself. But of course, it's possible. hyperref provides user commands for
that:
\href{URL}{text} makes text to a hyperlink, which points to the URL address
\url{URL} prints the URL and links it
\nolinkurl{URL} prints the URL without linking it
\hyperref{label}{text} changes text to a hyperlink, which links to the place
where the label has been set, thus to the same place \ref{label} would point to
\hypertarget{name}{text} creates a target name for potenal hyperlinks with
text as the anchor
\hyperlink{name}{text} makes text to a hyperlink, which points to the target
name
Somemes you might need just an anchor, for instance, if you use \addcontentsline,
which creates a hyperlinked TOC entry, but there hasn't been a seconing command seng
the anchor. The TOC entry would point to the previously set anchor, thus to the wrong place!
The command \phantomsection comes to the rescue; it's just seng an anchor like
\hypertarget{}{} would do. It's mostly used this way for creang a TOC entry for the
bibliography while linking to the correct page as follows:
\cleardoublepage
\phantomsection
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{\bibname}
\bibliography{name}
This ny command has been the answer to a lot of quesons on online forums. Well, not
everybody reads manuals.
Creating bookmarks manually
Your bookmark panel might already be full of chapter and secon entries. But what if you
wish to add bookmarks by yourself? That's been foreseen.
\pdfbookmark[level]{text}{name} creates a bookmark with text at the oponally
specied level. The default level is 0. Treat name just as\label; it should be unique
because it stands for the internal anchor.
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You can also create bookmarks relave to the current level:
\currentpdfbookmark{text}{name} puts a bookmark at the current level
\belowpdfbookmark{text}{name} creates a bookmark one level deeper
\subpdfbookmark{text}{name} increases the level and creates a bookmark at
that deeper level
The bookmarks package oers more features for customizing bookmarks.
Moreover, it requires just one compiler run in contrary to hyperref; thus its
use is recommended.
Math formulas and special symbols in bookmarks
Due to PDF restricons, math and special symbols cannot be used in PDF bookmarks. This
might cause a problem, for instance, in seconing commands with math symbols in their
tle or font commands which would be passed to the bookmark. There's a soluon though:
\texorpdfstring{string with TeX code}{text string}
It returns the argument depending on the context to avoid such problems. It can be used
like this:
\section{The equation \texorpdfstring{$y=x^2$}{y=x\texttwosuperior}}
That may come handy sooner than you might guess.
If you load hyperref with unicode opon, you could use Unicode characters
in bookmarks, such as in \section{\texorpdfstring{$\gamma$}{\
textgamma} radiation}.
Benetting from other packages
There's a huge amount of LaTeX packages. For nearly every possible task, somebody has
wrien a package either solving or supporng it. Nearly all packages are stored on CTAN.
But how can we nd what we need? Let's have a look at an online catalogue.
Enhancing Your Documents Further
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Time for action – visiting the TeX Catalogue Online
We shall browse for PDF-related packages in the online catalogue to nd something that's
useful for us:
1. Open your favorite Internet browser and go to the address
http://texcatalogue.sarovar.org/ :
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2. We can see dierent indexes. The systemac topical index is oen the most useful
when you're looking for some subject, So, let's click on Topical. We get a huge list. In
the overview, click on Creang PDF documents. Then it scrolls down to that category:
Enhancing Your Documents Further
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3. Well, we found some packages! cooltoolps sounds fancy, so let's click it:
4. Now we may read the brief descripon and open the documentaon to learn more
about that package.
What just happened?
The TeX Catalogue is a really valuable source. Its category view is especially useful if you
are looking for a package but don't know its exact name. It's also an easy way to locate
and download documentaon if texdoc doesn't work for you.
So, you found cooltooltips, and now you can enhance your PDF document by
mouse-over eects and pop-ups.
If the package you desire is not yet on your computer, then you need to install it.
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Time for action – installing a LaTeX package
The prey new biblatex package is oen not yet installed. So, let's catch up on it!
1. Go to the Start menu and look for the TeX Live Manager:
2. Launch the TeX Live Manager with a mouse click:
Enhancing Your Documents Further
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If you installed TeX Live on Linux or without a Start menu group, you
may start the TeX Live Manager at the command prompt. The name of
the executable le is tlmgr. So, type tlmgr –help to get a summary
of the available opons and acons.
3. In the menu, click on tlmgr and then Load default net repository to get the most
recent repository. The status bar at the boom will inform you about the success.
4. Choose the package you desire! Perhaps lter the Status to make it easier. Then click
on Install. Done!
What just happened?
Though you could just download packages to your computer, it's very recommendable to use
a package manager instead. That's what we did! With TeX Live, use the TeX Live Manager
a.k.a. tlmgr, and with MiKTeX, use the MiKTeX package manager a.k.a. mpm. If you use
Linux and installed TeX Live using your operang system's repositories instead of tlmgr, then
use your OS package manager for adding LaTeX packages; this might be Synapc, aptude,
apt-get, YaST, rpm, or any other, depending on your kind of Linux distribuon—you will
know it for sure if you use Linux.
Package managers are usually easy to handle: choose, install, or update plus some further
useful features. A manual installaon could be hard, at least if a package consists of more
than a .sty le—there might be documented source les needing compilaon or various
font les requiring some know-how regarding the TeX lesystem structure. The UK TeX FAQ,
listed among the online resources in the last chapter, oers detailed informaon about
package installaon.
Use a package manager, if available, so that you are on the safe side.
Designing headings
In Chapter 2, Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs, we encountered the problem of
customizing headings. There has to be a consistent way to modify the font of the headings,
their spacing, and their numbering for the whole document. Fortunately, there’s a handy
package for that, it’s called tlesec. We shall use it now.
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Time for action – designing chapter and section headings
We return to our example that we used in this chapter. Our goal is to create centered
headings. The font size should be smaller, further we reduce the space above and below.
Finally, we switch to a sans serif font which is a good choice for bold headings:
1. Open the le preamble.tex which we already used in this chapter. Insert this line
to load the titlesec package:
\usepackage{titlesec}
2. Add this command to specify layout and font of the chapter headings:
\titleformat{\chapter}[display]
{\normalfont\sffamily\Large\bfseries\centering}
{\chaptertitlename\ \thechapter}{0pt}{\Huge}
3. Now dene the secon heading by calling \titleformat again:
\titleformat{\section}
{\normalfont\sffamily\large\bfseries\centering}
{\thesection}{1em}{}
4. Add this line to adjust the chapter headings spacing:
\titlespacing*{\chapter}{0pt}{30pt}{20pt}
5. Save preamble.tex and Typeset the main document equation.tex.
Let’s see how the headings have changed:
Enhancing Your Documents Further
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What just happened?
We loaded the package titlesec, which provides a comprehensive interface for
customizing headings, of parts, chapters, secons, and even smaller seconing parts down
to subparagraphs.
In step 2 we chose displayed style, which means that numbering and actual tle use separate
lines. Firstly, we used \normalfont to switch to the base font, to be on the safe side. By \
sffamily we switched to sans-serif font, chose size and weight and nally declared that
the complete heading shall be centered. In step 3 we did this very similar, we just omied
[display] to get number and tle on the same line.
To understand the remaining arguments, have a look at the \titleformat denion:
\titleformat{cmd}[shape]{format}{label}{sep}{before}[after]
The meaning of the arguments is as follows:
cmd stands for the seconing command we redene, that is, \part, \chapter, \
section, \subsection, \subsubsection, \paragraph, or \subparagraph
shape species the paragraph shape. The eect of the possible values is:
display puts the label into a separate paragraph
hang creates a hanging label like in standard secons and is the default
opon
runin produces a run-in tle like \paragraph does by default
leftmargin sets the tle into the le margin
rightmargin puts the tle into the right margin
drop wraps the text around the tle, requires care to avoid overlapping
wrap works like drop but adjusts the space for the tle to match the
longest text line
frame works like display and addionally frames the tle
format may contains commands which will be applied to label and text of the tle.
label prints the label, that is, the number.
sep is a length which species the separaon between label and tle text. With
display opon, it’s the vercal separaon, with frame opon it means the
distance between text and frame, otherwise it’s the horizontal separaon between
label and tle.
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before can contain code which comes before the tle body. The last command of it
is allowed to take an argument, which should then be the tle text.
after can contain code which comes aer the tle body.
That’s a lot of opons! Have a look at the titlesec documentaon to learn even more.
We used the titlesec command \chaptertitlename, which is \chaptername by
default, that is, it defaults to Chapter. In an appendix, it changes to \appendixname.
By the remaining command we customized the spacing of all chapter headings:
\titlespacing*{cmd}{left}{beforesep}{aftersep}[right]
left works dierently depending on the shape: with drop, leftmargin and
rightmargin it’s the tle width. With wrap, it’s the maximum width. With
runin, it sets the indentaon before the tle. Otherwise it increases the le
margin. If negave, it decreases, which means overhanging into the margin.
beforesep sets the vercal space before the tle.
aftersep sets the separaon between tle and text. With hang, block, and
display, it’s has a vercal meaning. With runin, drop, wrap, leftmargin,
and rightmargin, it’s a horizontal width. Again, it may be a negave value.
right increases the right margin when hang, block or display shape is used.
If you use the star, the indentaon of the following paragraph would be removed as you
know of secons. With drop, wrap and run-in the starred version has no meaning.
In our example, we avoided the indentaon of the paragraph which follows a chapter
heading, and we specied a space of 30 pt before the heading and 20 pt aer it. That’s
less than before, standard classes use 50 pt above chapter headings.
It’s very recommendable to read the titlesec documentaon to get the most out of it.
In its appendix, it shows how the headings in standard classes would be dened by
\titleformat and \titlesec. That’s a great point to start o by copying these
denions and beginning to modify them.
Using sans-serif headings is very common today. They don’t have such a heavy and ancient
appearance like bold serif headings. However, serif text oers the best readability for body
test. Now it’s up to you to choose—you’ve got the tools!
Enhancing Your Documents Further
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Coloring your document
We could enhance our texts further by colors. We didn't deal with it yet, because most
people use LaTeX for wring serious books and arcles, or leers where too much color may
harm the appearance. But why not try something fancy? For instance, diagrams and tables in
presentaons are oen colorful.
We just need to load the color package:
\usepackage{color}
From now on, we have to use a command to set the text color:
\color{name} is a declaraon that switches to the color name. Just try
\color{blue}.
\textcolor{name}{text} is the corresponding command form, coloring just
text. That's like {\color{name}}, not new for you.
The package oers the command \definecolor. Use this to mix your own colors. You may
read it in the documentaon of the color package or of the graphicx package, if needed.
But much beer is to use the xcolor package, which extends the color facilies. It oers
a lot of readily mixed colors; you just need to call it by its name and it has powerful
capabilies regarding color denion. If only for the huge color samples table, look at
the package documentaon.
Have a go hero – creating colorful tables
Now you're able to do everything with the color you like. Now think of diagrams in nancial
journals or tables of sports tournaments using rounded corners, shading, and fading. Is LaTeX
capable of that? Yes, it is!
The following presentaon slide has been created with LaTeX— can you believe it?
Chapter 11
[ 261 ]
The code for this presentaon can be found on http://texblog.net and in the book's
example archive.
Oponally, you can have a look at this dierently designed table, before we come to its
source code:
Rank Distribution Hits
1 Ubuntu 2114
2 Fedora 1451
3 Mint 1297 –
4 OpenSUSE 1228
5 Debian 910
6 Mandriva 907
7 PCLinuxOS 764
8 Puppy 738
9 Sabayon 671
10 Arch 625
Enhancing Your Documents Further
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The document is not very long, but it contains some new subjects:
\documentclass[svgnames]{beamer}
\setbeamertemplate{background canvas}[vertical shading]%
[top=blue!1,bottom=blue!30]
\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix}
\newcommand{\up}{\textcolor{YellowGreen}{$\blacktriangle$}}
\newcommand{\down}{\textcolor{Red}{$\blacktriangledown$}}
\newcommand{\const}{\textcolor{darkgray}{\textbf{--}}}
\newcommand{\head}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
\newenvironment{matrixtable}[4]{%
\begin{tikzpicture}[matrix of nodes/.style={
execute at begin cell=\node\bgroup\strut,
execute at end cell=\egroup;}]
\matrix (m) [matrix of nodes,top color=blue!20,
bottom color=blue!80,draw=white,
nodes={draw,top color=blue!10,bottom color=blue!35,
draw,innersep=2pt,minimum height=3.1ex},
columnsep=1ex,row sep=0.6ex,inner sep=2ex,
roundedcorners,column 1/.style={minimum width=#1},
column 2/.style={minimum width=#2},
column 3/.style={minimum width=#3},
column 4/.style={minimum width=#4}]}%
{;\end{tikzpicture}}
\begin{document}
\begin{frame}[fragile,bg=lightgray]
\begin{center}
\begin{matrixtable}{1.2cm}{2.4cm}{1.2cm}{0.6cm}{
\head{Rank} & \head{Distribution} & \head{Hits} & \\
1 & Ubuntu & 2114 & \down \\
2 & Fedora & 1451 & \up \\
3 & Mint & 1297 & \const \\
4 &OpenSUSE& 1228 & \up \\
5 &Debian& 910 & \down \\
6 &Mandriva& 907 & \up \\
7 &PCLinuxOS& 764 & \up \\
8 & Puppy & 738 & \up \\
9 & Sabayon & 671 & \up \\
10 & Arch & 625 & \down \\
}
\end{matrixtable}
\end{center}
\end{frame}
\end{document}
Chapter 11
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Indeed, this looks a bit dierent than what we've done before. However, as you are a hero,
you may check out the magic behind it! We used the following:
The beamer class—this is a feature-rich presentaon class for producing slides.
It oers many predesigned colorful themes. More can be found on the Internet.
There's a user's guide with many examples on more than 200 pages—and it's
probably already on your hard drive! texdoc, you know.
The xcolor package—the beamer class loads it implicitly, so we did not have to do
this. We just gave beamer the svgnames opon to pass it along to xcolor, which
provides us with a color naming scheme.
The TikZ package—that's a jewel! TikZ is an enormously capable package for
creang graphics. Our small example just used a ny feature of it: a matrix of nodes.
The manual is twice as large as the beamer documentaon. However, this benets
you—a free book about producing graphics with LaTeX. You can learn to create
diagrams, charts, plots, trees, and arbitrary graphics using coordinates, nodes,
shapes, layers, transparency, shadings, transformaons, and shadings.
That's heavy stu. But check it out—you will see that there's more in the LaTeX world than
dry scienc or technical texts!
Pop quiz
1. By which command could you create an anchor, to which a hyperlink can point?
a. \href
b. \hyperlink
c. \hyperref
d. \hypertarget
e. \hypersetup
2. According to the text, which characters are allowed in bookmarks?
a. only leers
b. only leers and numbers
c. only leers and Unicode characters including numbers
d. leers and math symbols without line breaks
Enhancing Your Documents Further
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Summary
This chapter started with easy and comfortable hyper-linking and ended with an outlook
to a very powerful graphic package, namely, TikZ.
By reading this chapter, we are now capable of:
Enhancing our document with a hypertext structure
Designing visually dierent styles for dierent types of links
Providing a navigaon bar for the reader by adding bookmarks
Eding the PDF metadata
Designing font and layout of headings
Adding color to our texts
Now that we've got most of the tools we need for successful wring, what's ahead is
specialized advanced classes and packages. However, this won't be dicult for you. Since you
have mastered the fundamental LaTeX challenges, you're now able to use any other package
together with reading its documentaon. The vast majority of classes and packages are very
well documented. And there are no secrets—everything is open source.
During our work, we may encounter errors and warnings. That's common, also for advanced
LaTeX users. The following chapter will prepare us for troubleshoong.
12
Troubleshooting
During typeseng, it may happen that LaTeX prints out warning messages. It's
even possible that LaTeX doesn't produce the desired output but shows error
messages instead. That's absolutely normal and can be caused, for example,
by small typos in command names or by unbalanced braces. Even professional
LaTeX typeseers have to deal with errors—they just know how to do it
eciently.
Don't worry too much about the potenal errors—let LaTeX check it for you.
Then you just need to do the correcons at the places pointed out by LaTeX.
This chapter prepares us to:
Understand error messages and to x them
Deal with warnings
Use all the informaon LaTeX produces during typeseng
Let's rst tackle the error handling.
Understanding and xing errors
If the LaTeX typeseng engine encounters a problem, it will issue an error message. This is
informave and it's intended to help you. So, read the messages carefully. Besides the line
number, where the error occurred, a diagnosc message is also provided.
Concentrate on the very rst error message. If you connue typeseng, further errors might
be just a consequence of the rst one that confused the compiler.
Troubleshoong
[ 266 ]
Time for action – interpreting and xing an error
Let's create a ny test document. For sure you know those "Hello world!" prinng
programs—we shall write one in LaTeX. Though we are used to the uncommon capitalizaon
used in the words TeX and LaTeX, we will now try if \Latex works as well.
1. Create a new document containing these lines:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\Latex\ says: Hello world!
\end{document}
2. Typeset. LaTeX will stop and print out the following message:
! Undened control sequence.
l.3 \Latex
\ says: Hello world!
3. Click on the cancel icon in the upper-le corner of TeXworks to stop typeseng.
Go to line 3, correct \Latex into \LaTeX and Typeset again. Now LaTeX produces
output without an error:
What just happened?
LaTeX commands are case-sensive. Because we did not respect that, LaTeX had to deal
with a macro called \Latex, which is just unknown. As a command is also called a control
sequence, we got the error Undened control sequence.
If TeX encounters an error, it stops typeseng and asks for user input. You could press the
Enter key to connue typeseng though or cancel and correct the error immediately.
Let's analyze the three parts of the error output:
An error message begins with an exclamaon mark, which is followed by a short
descripon of the problem.
Then LaTeX prints out the number of the input line where the error was raised
and the part of the line unl the problem occurred.
Aer a line break, the remaining part of the input line is printed out.
Chapter 12
[ 267 ]
So you are not on your own without a clue! LaTeX tells you exactly:
The kind of error
The exact locaon of the error
Most editors show you the line number or allow jumping to the line number you enter. As
you are now at the problemac place, you only need to know why LaTeX complains—if you
don't see it yourself immediately. Leslie Lamport's LaTeX book and documentaon lists error
messages alphabecally together with some background informaon. You may choose that
for look-up.
We shall now have a closer look at frequent TeX and LaTeX error messages. In this book,
let's do that by topic.
Using commands and environments
Command names might easily be misspelled or just misused. Let's check out LaTeX's
common complaints.
Undened control sequence: As in our example, TeX stumbled across an unknown
command name. There are two possible reasons:
The command name might be misspelled. In that case, you just need to
correct it and restart the typeseng.
The command name is correct, but it's dened by a package you didn't
load. Add a \usepackage command to your preamble, which loads that
package.
Environment undened: That's similar to Undened control sequence, but this
me you began an environment which is unknown. Again, this may be caused by
misspelling or by a missing package—you know how to correct it.
Command already dened: This happens when you create a command with a name
that's already used, for example, with \newcommand or \newenvironment. Just
choose a dierent name. If you really would like to override that command, use
\renewcommand or \renewenvironment instead.
Missing control sequence inserted: A control sequence has been expected but
didn't appear. A common cause is using \newcommand, \renewcommand, or
\providecommand, but not specifying a command name as its rst argument.
\verb illegal in command argument: The \verb command for producing verbam
text is a delicate one; it cannot be used within arguments of commands or
environments. The examplep package oers commands for using verbam text in
such places.
Troubleshoong
[ 268 ]
Writing math formulas
The most frequent mistake is forgeng to enter math mode. The rst of the following errors
would be raised then:
Missing $ inserted: There are a lot of commands which may only be used in math
mode. Just think of symbols; most of them require math mode. If TeX is not in math
mode, but encounters such a symbol, it stops and prints out that error. Usually it can
be repaired by inserng that missing $, possibly several. Remember that you cannot
use paragraph breaks inside a math expression. This means that blank lines within a
math expression are illegal; the math mode has to be ended before the blank line.
Command invalid in math mode: Some commands are not applicable within math
formulas. In that case, use the command outside the math mode.
Double subscript, double superscript: Two subsequent subscripts, superscripts
respecvely such as in $a_n_1$ cannot be typeset. To correct that, group by braces,
like in $a_{n_1}$ or $a_{n_{1}}$.
Bad math environment delimiter: This can be a consequence of illegally nesng
math mode. You must not start math mode if you are already inside math mode, for
example, don't use \[ within an equation environment. Similarly, you must not
end the math mode before you started it. Ensure that your math mode delimiters
match and that braces are balanced.
Handling the preamble and document body
The preamble is intended for document-wide sengs like class, packages, opons, and
command denions. Aer the preamble has ended, output may be produced in the
document body. If these rules are broken, one of the following errors would occur:
Missing \begin{document}: It seems to be obvious; you might have forgoen
the command \begin{document}. But the error may occur even if you did not
forget that! In that case, there may be a problem in the preamble. Specically, if a
character or a command within the preamble produces output, that error would be
raised. Just remember: output is not allowed before \begin{document}.
Can be used only in preamble: This error message belongs to a command which is
only allowed to be used in the preamble, not aer \begin{document}. Move that
command upwards into your preamble, or remove it. For example, \usepackage
can only be used in the preamble.
Chapter 12
[ 269 ]
Opon clash for package: An opon clash happens if you load a package twice
but with dierent opons. If you did that, it's usually beer to reduce it to one
\usepackage call with the desired opons. But the cause might be hidden.
Imagine that a class or a package implicitly loads a certain package together
with some opons. If you want to load the package too but with dierent opons,
there's a problem!
You could try to x an opon clash by oming reloading the package while
specifying the desired opons to the document class. Remember, class
opons are inherited by packages. Some packages and classes even oer
commands to set opons aer loading. For example, the hyperref package
provides \hypersetup{options}, and similarly the caption package
oers \captionsetup. KOMA classes support such late opons and are
described in their manual.
Working with les
The most common errors regarding les are mistakes in lename or path. Then the rst
of the following errors would be raised:
File not found: LaTeX tried to open a le that doesn't exist. Possibly you:
Used \include or \input to include a .tex le but a le with the
specied name doesn't exist
Tried to use a non-exisng package or misspelled the package's name.
Packages can be recognized by the le extension .sty.
Used a document class that doesn't exist or just has a dierent name.
Class les have the extension .cls.
Well, just correct the lename in your input document or rename the le.
\include cannot be nested: We learned in Chapter 10, Developing Large Documents,
that we cannot use \include within les that are being included by themselves.
Instead, use \input within such les.
Troubleshoong
[ 270 ]
Creating tables and arrays
Admiedly, tabular and array environments don't have the simplest syntax. Those & and
\\ might easily be misplaced, which causes LaTeX to complain. Further, we have to be careful
with the formang arguments. Let's start with the arguments to the environment:
Illegal character in array arg: In the argument to a tabular or an array
environment, you may specify the column formang. You line up characters such
as l, c, r, p, @, and width arguments such as {1cm}. If you use any character that
doesn't have such a meaning, LaTeX will tell you that. The same applies to the
formang argument of \multicolumn.
Missing p-arg in array arg: A bit more specic than the previous message, it tells us
that the width argument to the p opon is missing. Supplement the p with a width
such as {1cm} or change the p into another opon such as l, c, or r.
Missing @-exp in array arg: That's similar to the error; the expression aer the @
opon is missing. You just need to add it, in curly braces, or remove the @ opon.
Now we shall take a look at the potenal error messages concerning the table body.
Misplaced alignment tab character &: As you know, the ampersand character
has the special meaning of separang columns in a row of a tabular or array
environment. If you accidentally use it in normal text, this error will appear.
Type \& if you desire an ampersand symbol in the output.
Extra alignment tab has been changed to \cr: This happens if you use more
separaon characters & than the dened columns. For example, the \\ ending
a row could have been forgoen.
Working with lists
Lists follow a certain structure and cannot be endlessly nested. At some point, LaTeX would
complain:
Too deeply nested: As menoned in Chapter 4, Creang Lists, you can nest four
levels of a list. If you mix list types, you could go up to six. But if you go further than
what LaTeX accepts, you would get this error message.
Think over if you really need a deep nesng. If this is the case, you could
consider using seconing commands like \paragraph or \subsubsection
for outer levels.
Chapter 12
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Working with oating gures and tables
In Chapter 5, Creang Tables and Inserng Pictures, we learned about inserng gures and
tables, and how to adjust their placement. If you use a lot of gures or tables, you might
encounter the following error:
Too many unprocessed oats: If you use many oang objects and LaTeX saves
them because it doesn't nd an appropriate place, LaTeX's room for that might get
full, so this error appears. There might even be just one non-ng oat blocking
those who follow. It may be solved as follows:
By adding placement opons to the gure and table environment
respecvely, thus lowering their placement requirements.
By inserng a \clearpage to ush out the oats at a suitable place,
or perhaps even cleverer: \afterpage{clearpage} with the
aerpage package.
General syntax errors
Just like with any markup or programming language, LaTeX's documents have to follow a
syntax. For example, braces and delimiters have to match. If there's a mistake, LaTeX would
point to it:
Missing { inserted, missing } inserted: Though it reads its like caused by unbalanced
braces, it may be because of a confusion of TeX, which could be caused before the
place where the error occurred. Well, check the used syntax thoroughly.
Extra }, or forgoen $: This me there's a problem with unbalanced braces,
or math mode delimiters don't match correctly. You need to correct the matching.
There's no line here to end: Using \\ or \newline between paragraphs in
vercal mode, is not meaningful and causes this error. Don't try to get more
vercal space by wring \\. Use \vspace instead or other skip commands
like \bigskip, \medskip, or \smallskip. For instance, a blank line may be
produced by \vspace{\baselineskip}.
Somemes, the cause of the error might be a bit hidden to the user: TeX might
be in vercal mode when you don't expect it to be. In such cases, you could force
the \\ to work if you write \leavevmode directly before it. Inserng some
whitespace before, like using ~, works too.
Troubleshoong
[ 272 ]
Handling warnings
Warning messages are just for your informaon. They don't need to point to a serious
problem, but oen it's a good idea to read these ps carefully and to act accordingly. This
may improve your document.
Time for action – emphasizing on a sans-serif font
We shall write our complete document using a sans-serif font. As we did not yet see how
emphasizing without serifs looks, we will try that:
1. Take our "Hello world!" example and modify it this way:
\documentclass{article}
\renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault}
\begin{document}
\emph{Hello world!}
\end{document}
2. Typeset. LaTeX will print out a warning:
LaTeX Font Warning: Font shape `OT1/cmss/m/it' in size <10> not available
(Font) Font shape `OT1/cmss/m/sl' tried instead on input line 4.
3. Check the output:
What just happened?
The macro \familydefault stands for the default font family which shall be used in the
LaTeX document. For this macro, we specied the value \sfdefault, which means the default
sans-serif font. This means simply that sans-serif is now default, no maer which font has been
chosen. As you can imagine, other possible values are \rmdefault and \ttdefault. By
changing \familydefault, we don't have to write \sffamily again and again.
But then we emphasized our text and got a warning! The message means that simply there's
no Computer Modern Sans Serif font (cmss) in OT1 encoding (just standard), in medium
weight (m) and italic shape (it) in 10pt size. Further, LaTeX told us how it tried to repair that;
instead of italic it chose a slanted shape. That's not too bad; at least it looks similar and the
output is produced.
Chapter 12
[ 273 ]
This is basically what happens when warnings occur: LaTeX informs about a potenal
problem or disadvantage, but it tries to choose the best alternave and connues
typeseng. It's not uncommon that a longer document produces dozens of warnings,
most oen dealing with horizontal or vercal juscaon.
Oen, it doesn't hurt if you ignore warnings, which don't seem very serious. Though
following them up is a good habit. Who desires to have a perfect document, xes all
warnings. This way you cannot overlook a potenal real problem.
Let's have a look at very common warning messages, what they mean, and how we could
x them.
Justifying text
These warnings are the most frequently occurring:
Overfull \hbox: A line is too long and doesn't t to the text width. This may result in
text extending past the margin. This may be caused by hyphenaon problems, which
can be xed by using \hyphenation, as you already learned, or by inserng \-.
You could break the line manually or polish your words otherwise.
Underfull \hbox: The opposite to the previous warning; a line is not wide enough
to t to the text width. This could be caused by \linebreak, if there's not enough
text on the line. Also, \\or \newline may cause it, such as \\\\.
Overfull \vbox: The page is too long because TeX could not break it accordingly.
The text might hang out past the boom margin.
Underfull \vbox: There's not enough text on the page. TeX had to break the page
too early.
In Chapter 2, Formang Words, Lines, and Paragraphs, we learned how to improve the
juscaon, reducing such warnings. Remember, already loading the microtype package
may help a bit.
The declaraon\sloppy switches to a prey relaxed typeseng, thus
avoiding many such warnings. It's counterpart is \fuzzy, switching back
to the default behavior. If you ever use \sloppy, maybe in a kind of
emergency, it's beer to keep it local by grouping or use the respecve
environment—\begin{sloppypar} … \end{sloppypar}.
Addionally, check out recommendaons and alternaves regarding \
sloppy in l2tabu, which has been menoned in Chapter 10.
Troubleshoong
[ 274 ]
Referencing
Many warnings deal with referencing. Common mistakes are missing label or cite keys or
keys that have been used twice. Somemes LaTeX just tells you that another typeset run
is required.
Label mulply dened: \label or \bibitem has been used with a label name
that's already been used. Make label names unique.
There were mulply-dened labels: Like the previous warning, but aer processing
the complete document; a label has been dened by two \label commands.
Labels may have changed. Rerun to get cross-references right: Just typeset again to
let LaTeX correct the referencing.
Reference ... on page ... undened: \ref or \pageref has been used without a
corresponding \label denion. Insert a \label command at a suitable place.
Citaon ... on page ... undened: A \cite command did not have a corresponding
\bibitem command.
There were undened references or citaons: Summarizing aer processing—any
\ref or \cite command did not have a corresponding \label or \bibitem
command.
Whenever you get warnings regarding referencing, it’s a good idea to simply
rerun typeseng. Oen, such warnings then disappear, because LaTeX couldn’t
resolve all references in the rst run itself.
Choosing fonts
We already encountered the rst of the following warnings in our example:
Font shape … in size <…> not available: You chose a font that's not available. This
may be a result of combining font commands that results in a non-exisng font.
Also, it could just be of an unavailable size. LaTeX would choose a dierent font or
size and inform you about that choice in detail.
Some font shapes were not available, defaults substuted: LaTeX prints this aer
processing the enre document if any of the chosen fonts had been unavailable.
Placing gures and tables
We already encountered the rst of the following warnings in our example:
Float too large for page: A gure or table is too large to t the page.
It would be output, but on an oversize page.
Chapter 12
[ 275 ]
h oat specier changed to ht: If you specied an h opon to a oang gure or
table which doesn't t there, it would be placed on top of the next page and that
warning would be issued. The same can occur for !h and !ht.
Customizing the document class
A warning may be issued if you use an illegal class opon:
Unused global opon(s): You specied an opon to \documentclass, which
is unknown to the class and to any loaded package. This could be, for example,
a base font size which is not supported. Just check the opon which LaTeX
complains about.
Also packages may print out warnings if they foresee any problem. All these warnings are
intended to help you in designing your document.
Avoiding obsolete classes and packages
At the end of Chapter 10, we talked about the dangers of outdated informaon. LaTeX exists
since decades, and so do tutorials, examples, packages, and templates. Many are totally
outdated and some even refer to the old LaTeX standard 2.09, where even document classes
didn't exist. In Chapter 10, we pointed to the denive guide l2tabu that comes to the rescue.
Many problems just occur because of the use of obsolete packages. For example, some that
aren't maintained any more may conict with newer packages. Oen, you just need to nd
the recommended successor of an obsolete package and use that.
Here's a short list for helping you in that maer:
Obsolete packages Recommended successors
a4, a4wide, anysize geometry, typearea
backrefx backref
bitfield bytefield
caption2 caption
dinat natdin
doublespace setspace
dropping lettrine
eps, epsfig graphicx
Troubleshoong
[ 276 ]
Obsolete packages Recommended successors
euler eulervm
eurotex inputenx
fancyheadings fancyhdr
floatfig floatflt
glossary glossaries
here float
isolatin, isolatin1 inputenc
mathpple mathpazo
mathptm mathptmx
nthm ntheorem
palatino mathpazo
picinpar floatflt, picins,
wrapfig
prosper, HA-prosper powerdot, beamer
ps4pdf pst-pdf
raggedr ragged2e
scrlettr scrlttr2
scrpage scrpage2
seminar powerdot, beamer
subfigure subfig, subcaption
t1enc fontenc
times mathptmx
utopia fourier
vmargin geometry, typearea
That's not set in stone. Of course, you may sll use the so-called obsolete packages. They
may work well even today. But check out their descripon on their CTAN package home
page; usually there are comments regarding up-to-dateness and related packages.
Chapter 12
[ 277 ]
An up-to-date version of that list can also be found on http://texblog.net/packages.
There's an ongoing discussion at http://mrunix.de on the creaon and maintenance of
such a list.
General troubleshooting
There may be situaons where we cannot solve a problem simply by reading and acng
on warnings or error messages. Imagine a mysterious error, an untraceable error locaon,
irresolvable references, or just unclear messages from classes or packages.
Locang the cause by the line number which LaTeX printed out or by knowing what we've
done since the previous typeseng run, usually helps. Once a problemac line or chunk is
located, it could be removed or xed. Otherwise, it might become dicult.
Here are the general rst steps we might go through then:
Compile several mes. This may be necessary for correct referencing, posioning
of oang gures, and creaon of table of contents, bibliography, and lists of tables
and gures.
Check the order in which you load the packages. Some packages, like hyperref,
don't work well if loaded before or aer certain packages. You may just swap some
lines to correct or to test that.
Remove auxiliary les. If anything strange happens, it's somemes a good idea to
remove all les created by LaTeX during typeseng. These les have the same name
as the main document but have extensions such as .aux, .toc, .lot, .lof, .bbl,
.idx, or .nav, just to name some examples.
If the problem persists, we could try to isolate the cause.
1. Create a copy of your document. If necessary, copy the complete folder. From now
on, work on the copy.
2. Remove a part of the document which probably is not involved in the problem.
3. Typeset, to ensure that the problem persists. If this is the case, go back to step 2. If
the problem is gone, you isolated the problem within the part you just removed. In
this laer case, restore the deleted part, you may delete other parts.
4. Aer some repeons, you located the problem. If you didn't already, reduce the
number of loaded packages, repeang step 2 and typeseng.
5. You end up with a really ny but complete example document which reproduces
the error.
Troubleshoong
[ 278 ]
Removing or rewring that idened part of your document could help. What if you really
want to use that part and would like to x that error? Now that your problem can be shown
with such a very small example code, you could post that problem to an online LaTeX forum
and ask for help.
Have a go hero – examining LaTeX's log les
You are not dependent on just the errors and warnings that your editor shows to you! LaTeX
keeps track of any informaon, each warning, and every error. All of these will be collected
in a le with the same name like your document but carrying the extension .log. This is an
ordinary text le and may be opened with any editor, including your LaTeX editor.
For instance, the log le for our second example looks like the following:
This is pdfTeX, Version 3.1415926-1.40.10 (Web2C 2009)
(format=pdflatex 2010.6.25) 20JAN 2011 23:16
entering extended mode
%&-line parsing enabled.
**helloworld.tex
(./helloworld.tex
LaTeX2e <2009/09/24>
Babel <v3.8l> and hyphenation patterns for english, ... loaded.
(c:/texlive/2009/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/article.cls
Document Class: article 2007/10/19 v1.4h Standard LaTeX document class
(c:/texlive/2009/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/size10.clo
File: size10.clo 2007/10/19 v1.4h Standard LaTeX file (size option)
)
\c@part=\count79
\c@section=\count80
\c@subsection=\count81
\c@subsubsection=\count82
\c@paragraph=\count83
\c@subparagraph=\count84
\c@figure=\count85
\c@table=\count86
\abovecaptionskip=\skip41
\belowcaptionskip=\skip42
\bibindent=\dimen102
) (./warning.aux)
\openout1 = `warning.aux'.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for OML/cmm/m/it on input line 3.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 3.
...
Chapter 12
[ 279 ]
LaTeX Font Warning: Font shape `OT1/cmss/m/it' in size <10> not
available
(Font) Font shape `OT1/cmss/m/sl' tried instead on input line 4.
[1
{c:/Users/guest/.texlive2009/texmf-var/fonts/map/pdftex/updmap/pdftex.
map}]
(./helloworld.aux) )
Output written on helloworld.pdf (1 page, 17376 bytes).
Check out the log les of some documents you produced unl now. The informaon therein
makes a very technical impression, but this might help you a lot in troubleshoong.
Pop quiz – troubleshooting
1. If you get several error messages during one typeseng run, which one is the most
important, according to the text?
a. The rst
b. The last
c. All error messages should be dealt with before another typeseng run
2. Which it the extension of the le containing errors, warnings, and informaon?
a. aux
b. toc
c. log
d. lof
Summary
This chapter prepared us to solve problems that might occur.
Specically, we have learned about:
Locang and xing errors
Understanding warning messages
Analyzing LaTeX's typeseng log
Correcng errors is absolutely necessary. Dealing with warnings is a valuable bonus.
Troubleshoong
[ 280 ]
If you encounter any problem which you aren't able to solve on your own, don't hesitate to
ask for help on a LaTeX Internet forum. You've got the tools within this chapter, and also:
You know how to create a ny but complete example which demonstrates the
problem
You are able to report an error message
You know about the log le and could provide its informaon
For LaTeX friends online, it's oen an easy task to use this informaon in solving your
problem, and denitely a lot of LaTeX enthusiasts have fun in helping other LaTeX users.
The next chapter will point the way to LaTeX web forums and also to many other
online resources.
13
Using Online Resources
There's a vast amount of LaTeX informaon and material on the Internet,
and it has grown over many years. Today, thanks to the virtues of free and
open source soware, a huge TeX community exists, sharing knowledge and
experse.
On the Internet, you can nd:
Soware archives oering nearly all LaTeX material available
Web forums, where LaTeX users talk about problems and soluons
Homepages of user groups, TeX distribuons, and free editors
Blogs of individual LaTeX users
LaTeX mailing lists you may subscribe to
As you know how to navigate through the World Wide Web, this chapter does not contain
praccal examples. Instead, let's take a walk through the Internet.
Web forums, discussion boards, and Q&A sites
Before we proceed to soware archives and homepages, let's go where the online world
takes place!
Using Online Resources
[ 282 ]
Usenet groups
It all began with the Usenet. Around 1980, a long me before the World Wide Web
was born, this discussion network emerged. It consists of many thousands of groups,
so-called newsgroups, each dedicated to a certain subject. Not to our surprise, there's
a TeX newsgroup!
comp.text.tex
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.text.tex/topics
The easiest way is just to access this URL hosted by Google. Just browse it using its web
interface. Alternavely, you could install a Usenet reader program and connect to a Usenet
web server. At this point, you should familiarize yourself beer with Usenet. A great starng
point is its Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet. There you
would nd an introducon, links to necessary soware, and further reading.
comp.text.tex is the classic TeX discussion board. Then and now, there are disnguished
experts reading and posng messages. You can search and browse an archive reaching
back over more than 20 years.
Newsgroups in other languages
If you understand the language, you could check out the German or French Usenet
TeX groups:
http://groups.google.de/group/de.comp.text.tex/topics
http://groups.google.de/group/fr.comp.text.tex/topics
Web forums
During the last few years, web forums emerged. They oer an easier and more user-friendly
access to discussion groups. Inially, LaTeX has been the topic in sub forums of more general
computer forums, among other soware. Aer LaTeX became more and more popular,
websites dedicated to it have been founded.
LaTeX-Community.org
http://www.latex-community.org/
In January 2007, the originator of the LaTeX editor TeXnicCenter—Sven Wiegand, founded
the web forum LaTeX Community. This site has been the rst forum with the single topic
LaTeX. It is split into many sub forums, each dealing with a certain LaTeX topic, such as
Math and Science or Fonts and Character Sets, with a certain LaTeX distribuon or a
specic LaTeX editor.
Chapter 13
[ 283 ]
Today it's supplemented by a news secon and a know-how secon containing arcles and
essays of the community.
The author of this book supports the fellow community members as a moderator on
that site.
Parcipang is as easy as in any other web forum. You don't need to register for reading, as
it's freely available. Just for wring, you need to register once, choosing a login name and
a password. Then you may ask quesons yourself or support other users who turned there
looking for help.
Quesons are very welcome! They are the foundaon of the site. You may increase the
chance of receiving helpful answers by:
Choosing a meaningful header
Describing your problem clearly
Quong the error or warning messages you've got
Including a code example, which allows others to reproduce the problem
The laer is the opmal approach. There's even a website explaining why and how at
http://www.minimalbeispiel.de, in English and German. Once a problem could be
reproduced, it's nearly solved, even if it seems to be dicult at rst sight. Experienced users
who are familiar with the source code of the LaTeX kernel and packages can explain how
something works and are able to create soluons for nearly any problem.
TeX and LaTeX on Stack Exchange
http://tex.stackexchange.com/
There are queson and answer sites, which are dierent to classical web forums. While in
the web forums, people talk and discuss, these Q&A sites have a simpler structure. There's
a queson, followed by answers. There's no discussion, besides comments.
Using Online Resources
[ 284 ]
Time for action – asking a question online
Is there anything you wanted to know about LaTeX? Did you encounter any serious problem
you could not solve? Then post a queson on http://tex.stackexchange.com/:
1. Visit http://tex.stackexchange.com :
Chapter 13
[ 285 ]
2. In the upper-right corner, click on Ask Queson:
3. Fill out the Title eld and type in your queson, and choose some meaningful
keywords for the Tags eld. When you are done, click on Post Your Queson.
The nal queson will look like the following:
Using Online Resources
[ 286 ]
What just happened?
That wasn't really hard! Besides eding our queson we:
Chose a meaningful tle to get readers interested in checking out our queson
Specied some keywords, so called tags, which are used to lter the site's contents
Stack Exchange is a network of free, community-driven Q&A sites. The TeX site, oen briey
called TeX.SE, was founded in 2010 specically for users of TeX and LaTeX.
You don't have to register to post quesons and answers—you could simply start o just
as we saw! Like in the LaTeX Community web forum, nearly all quesons will be answered,
because on this site also, TeX users are happy to share their experse with everybody. It's
extremely rare that a queson would not get a sasfactory answer. Unl now, that happened
only with very unclear quesons without details which nobody could answer at all. If you
think of the advice aforemenoned regarding formulang good quesons, this won't happen
to you.
This TeX Q&A site is developed to an easily accessible knowledge base, because:
Quesons are tagged. For each queson, one or more tags should be chosen,
describing the subject. For example, if your queson is about a problem with
\label and \ref for equaons, choose the tags cross-referencing and equaons.
This makes it easy to nd answers to certain subjects. Specialized experts watch
their favorite tags.
Answers are voted on. Users vote helpful and meaningful answers up, while
misinformaon is voted down. This way, the best answer oats to the top.
So you don't have to read through an enre mul-page thread to nd the best
soluon, like it's necessary in classical web forums.
Both tagging and vong enhance the informaon access. They may be used for sorng and
rening search results.
There's another concept called reputaon. You don't need to care about that, but perhaps
you would like to know what it means. Users who post good quesons and useful answers
earn reputaon points depending on the votes on their quesons and answers. A certain
amount of reputaon points allows going beyond simply asking and answering, for example:
You can leave comments
You can create new tags or retag quesons
Adversing is reduced
You are able to edit other users posts
You could even have access to moderaon tools
Chapter 13
[ 287 ]
The reputaon is a rough measurement for the user status in the community. A user with
high reputaon is so trusted by the community that we can be sure he/she would act
carefully. Thus, the site is community-moderated and shows aspects of a collaborave Wiki.
The site oers a list of frequently asked quesons that explain all the details—check it out.
Such lists are common, so let's have a look at LaTeX-specic lists next.
Frequently Asked Questions
Now you know where to ask for help. However, during the long existence of online LaTeX
communies, the probability that another user has had the same problem like you is very
high! There's a bunch of quesons which appear again and again. If you post such a queson,
the community member might point you to a FAQ. This is an abbreviaon for "Frequently
Asked Quesons" and refers to a list of such quesons that also contains answers to them.
UK TeX FAQ
http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?introduction=yes
This is a FAQ site maintained by the UK TeX Users' Group, especially by Robin Fairbairns.
It is regularly posted to comp.text.tex. It contains several hundred frequently asked
quesons and well-thought answers. They are sorted by topic, and that list is sll growing
and is connuously being improved.
Visual LaTeX FAQ
http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/help/Catalogue/entries/visualfaq.html
This is a very dierent approach: the Visual FAQ is a PDF document containing hundreds of
text and graphic elements, such as tables, gures, lists, footnotes, and math formulas: thirty
pages full of samples. At all these objects, key posions are marked and hyperlinked. Just
click on any marked object and you will be lead to the corresponding UK TeX FAQ entry. Take
a look—it's a fancy interface.
MacTeX FAQ
http://tug.org/mactex/faq/
Are you a Mac user? Then this FAQ is made for you. It covers installaon and use of the
MacTeX LaTeX distribuon and the popular Mac LaTeX editor TeXShop.
Using Online Resources
[ 288 ]
AMS-Math FAQ
http://www.ams.org/tex/amsmath-faq.html
As you know, amsmath is the most recommended math package. There's a list of quesons
and answers to amsmath and AMS classes and packages on the website of the American
Mathemacal Society.
LaTeX Picture FAQ
http://ctan.org/pkg/l2picfaq
As a lot of quesons are about including pictures, this How-to has been developed. It deals,
for example, with the various image le formats, conversion tools, picture manipulaon, and
placement of oang gures. The document contains a lot of small code examples and is a
very useful small resource for a LaTeX beginner.
As it originates in a German LaTeX forum, http://mrunix.de, it's been wrien in German.
It has been translated into English, but the translaon is not yet published on CTAN.
Mailing lists
Now we come again to a classic media: electronic mailing lists. They are both used
for announcements and for discussion. If you subscribe to such a list, you will receive
announcements and discussion contribuons by other subscribers. You could silently
receive and read all the messages, and you could send e-mails to the list address which
would then be sent to all other subscribers. Now you know you should read an FAQ before.
Today many people prefer easier accessible media, such as web forums. However, these
lists sll exist and might be as long as e-mail is popular.
texhax
http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/texhax
This is a list for general TeX discussion, a companion to comp.text.tex, established in the
1980s. It has hundreds of subscribers and there are many experts among them.
tex-live
http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/tex-live
The name says it all: it deals with the TeX Live collecon. If you installed this soware
distribuon, you might be interested in subscribing to get the latest news and to read
and write about issues with it.
Chapter 13
[ 289 ]
texworks
http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/texworks
This list supports the user of the LaTeX editor—TeXworks, that we used in the rst chapter.
If you decided to use that editor later on and you are interested in the latest builds, tricks,
scripts, and news, you may subscribe.
List collections
Aforemenoned were some especially useful examples matching the soware used in this
book. There's a lot more that you can nd here:
http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo : More than 50 mailing lists for TeX and
LaTeX-specic subjects such as bibliographies, hyphenaon, PostScript, pdfTeX,
and development.
http://gmane.org/lists.php : A collecon of mailing lists; some of them
are (La)TeX related.
TeX user groups as well as developers of LaTeX editors and other soware oen provide
mailing lists, especially for announcements. You can read about that on their homepages.
We shall now look at some of them.
TeX user group sites
TeX user groups are organizaons for people interested in TeX and LaTeX. They provide
support for their members, but also for TeX and LaTeX users in general.
TUG – the TeX users group
http://www.tug.org/
That's a big instuon. It was founded in 1980 and has always had a great inuence on the
development and popularity of TeX. Their homepage is a portal to the TeX world with links
to support, documentaon, and soware.
The LaTeX project
http://www.latex-project.org/
The LaTeX3 project team maintains the LaTeX 2e standard and develops the next version
of LaTeX, called LaTeX3. This website informs about their work and about LaTeX in general.
Using Online Resources
[ 290 ]
UK TUG – TeX in the United Kingdom
http://uk.tug.org/
This user group supports and promotes TeX in the UK. Also this site is a good starng point
to explore TeX resources but specically those oered by the UK TUG.
Local user groups
http://www.tug.org/usergroups.html
http://www.ntg.nl/lug/
These pages list local TeX user groups from many countries in the world. Their websites
oen contain material in naonal languages and further informaon on the TeX world.
Homepages of LaTeX software and editors
Like most soware manufacturers and distributors, free and open source soware projects
oer informaon on their homepages.
LaTeX distributions
Today there are two big LaTeX distribuons, both very modern and comprehensive, plus
some descendants:
TeX Live: http://tug.org/texlive/ is a cross-plaorm LaTeX soware
collecon. It runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Unix.
MiKTeX: http://www.miktex.org/ is a very user-friendly and popular LaTeX
distribuon specically for the Windows operang system.
proTeXt: http://www.tug.org/protext/ is a MiKTeX-based distribuon for
Windows that especially focuses on easy installaon.
MacTeX: http://www.tug.org/mactex/ is derived from TeX Live and has been
customized specically for Mac OS X.
LaTeX editors
There are many LaTeX editors available, from easy-to-use to complex and professional.
Chapter 13
[ 291 ]
Cross-platform
These editors support many systems including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Unix:
TeXworks: http://tug.org/texworks/ is light-weight and comfortable.
Texmaker: http://www.xm1math.net/texmaker/ oers many features.
TexmakerX: http://texmakerx.sourceforge.net/ is derived from Texmaker
and provides many addional capabilies.
Emacs: http://www.tug.org/mactex/ is extensible and very customizable,
though not easy-to-use for everybody. However, it's great together with AUCTeX:
http://www.gnu.org/software/auctex/.
vim: http://www.vim.org/ is based on commands given in a text interface. It's
enhanced by the vim LaTeX-suite: http://vim-latex.sourceforge.net/.
Windows
These editors are specically for the Windows operang system, running on most versions:
TeXnicCenter: http://www.texniccenter.org/ is an enormously feature-rich
editor, a great tool for developing complex TeX projects.
LEd: http://www.latexeditor.org/ is a free-to-use mullingual LaTeX editor
with project management.
WinShell: http://www.winshell.de/ is a free and mullingual customizable
editor, also with project management and wizards.
MeWa LaTeX editor: http://www.meshwalk.com/latexeditor/ is another
LaTeX editor with a graphical user interface similar to TeXnicCenter.
WinEdt: http://www.winedt.com/ is powerful and very popular. This
one is distributed as shareware. Also see the WinEdt community site on
http://www.winedt.org/.
Linux
Besides the cross-plaorm editors, TeXworks, Texmaker, TexmakerX, Emacs, and vim
there are:
Kile: http://kile.sourceforge.net/ is very powerful and designed for
the KDE window system, but also runs on other window managers like GNOME,
if KDE libraries are installed. Just this editor is worth using KDE also on GNOME.
gedit: http://www.gnome.org/projects/gedit/ is the light-weight GNOME
standard editor and there's a LaTeX plugin: http://live.gnome.org/Gedit/
LaTeXPlugin.
Using Online Resources
[ 292 ]
Mac OS X
Though cross-plaorm editors run on Macs, there's one very popular Mac LaTeX editor:
TeXshop: http://www.uoregon.edu/~koch/texshop/ is believed to have led
many new users to LaTeX because of its outstanding usability.
LaTeX archives and catalogs
There are websites archiving and sharing LaTeX tools and packages and providing catalogs
for easy look-up.
CTAN – the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network
http://ctan.org/
This network consists of many servers world-wide, which store the biggest collecon
of TeX-related material. Nearly every serious LaTeX package can be found in this archive.
On the homepage, you will nd search features or you may just start browsing the
archive directories.
The TeX Catalogue Online
http://texcatalogue.sarovar.org/
This catalog oers a topical, a hierarchical, a brief, and an alphabecal index to nearly 4,000
TeX and LaTeX packages and tools. It is closely related to CTAN, which actually stores the
soware. This site is great for browsing especially if you work on a topic, but don't know
which packages may exist for that purpose.
The LaTeX Font Catalogue
http://www.tug.dk/FontCatalogue/
Nearly all fonts available for use with LaTeX are listed here. About a dozen categories, such
as Sans-Serif, Typewriter, and Calligraphy fonts, assist in nding the right font. The fonts
are displayed both briey in overviews but also extensively with several style and math
examples. The cherries on the cake are concrete code examples.
Chapter 13
[ 293 ]
TeX Resources on the Web
http://www.tug.org/interest.html
This extensive collecon of TeX-related Internet resources is maintained by the TeX users
group. An index and a substanal amount of links point you the way to helpful material on
the Internet.
Friends of LaTeX
Some soware builds on LaTeX or is closely related and oers dierent interesng
approaches.
XeTeX
http://scripts.sil.org/xetex
XeTeX extends TeX by Unicode support and modern font technologies for using OpenType
and TrueType fonts and Apple Advanced Typography. It navely supports Unicode.
The LaTeX version is called XeLaTeX.
Inially developed for Mac OS X, XeTeX is now available for Windows and Linux/Unix as
well. For example, you can use it with TeXworks by choosing XeTeX, XeLaTeX respecvely,
as typesetng engine
LuaTeX
http://www.luatex.org/
LuaTeX is an extended version of pdfTeX. It uses Lua as its scripng language. The LuaTeX
project aims to develop an enhanced TeX version while keeping downward compability.
Lua is a fast and powerful but light-weight and portable scripng language. You can read
about it at http://www.lua.org/.
ConTeXt
http://wiki.contextgarden.net/
Like LaTeX, ConTeXt is a document markup language based on TeX. Unlike LaTeX, it oers a
direct interface for handling typography giving the user more control over the formang.
It supports both pdfTeX and LuaTeX.
Using Online Resources
[ 294 ]
LyX
http://www.lyx.org/
LyX looks and feels like word processor soware, but is built on LaTeX. It combines an
easy-to-use graphical user interface with the power and structure of LaTeX. You can
develop documents mainly using LyX's toolbars and menus, but you may insert LaTeX
code at any point.
The LyX wiki oers an extensive documentaon at http://www.lyx.org/.
On one of the LyX homepage's, you will nd links for download, news, and support. As LyX is
very popular, it's also the subject of discussions at http://www.latex-community.org/.
Quesons about LyX are also welcome at http://tex.stackexchange.com/.
LaTeX blogs
Are you interested in LaTeX news and expert opinions? Then LaTeX blogs may supply you
with current LaTeX reading.
The TeXblog
http://texblog.net/
This is the blog of the author of this book. It regularly brings LaTeX-related news, oers a lot
of ps and tricks, and provides a structured link collecon, sorted by subject. And of course,
it contains all code examples of this book, plus supplementary material.
Some TeX Developments
http://www.texdev.net/
Joseph Wright, a member of the LaTeX project and author of LaTeX tools, writes this blog.
LaTeX Alive
http://latex-alive.tumblr.com/
This is the blog of the LaTeX developer Will Robertson. It provides interesng insights.
LaTeX for Humans
http://latexforhumans.wordpress.com/
This blog supports LaTeX in the humanies, with a special focus on Middle Eastern Studies.
Chapter 13
[ 295 ]
The TeX community aggregator
http://www.texample.net/community/
This page summarizes about 30 TeX and LaTeX-related blogs and may keep you updated.
Summary
While you have learned about the LaTeX fundamentals in this book, this chapter gave an
overview about further reading online.
Now you know about:
Finding and downloading LaTeX soware
Accessing the world wide LaTeX community knowledge
Geng the latest news from blogs
Asking quesons online if you would encounter any problem that you cannot solve
alone.
TeX friends will welcome you on any community website. As you have learned much in this
book, you may soon become an experienced LaTeX user who supports LaTeX novices. At
some me, you might be the advisor who answers quesons on LaTeX web forums.
Pop Quiz Answers
Chapter 2: Formatting Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
Commands
Queson Answer
1 d.
2 b.
Lines and paragraphs
Queson Answer
1c.
2c.
3b.
Chapter 3: Designing Pages
Queson Answer
1c.
2 a.
3b.
4 d.
5d.
Pop Quiz Answers
[ 298 ]
Chapter 4: Creating Lists
Queson Answer
1c.
2 b.
3 c.
Chapter 5: Creating Tables and Inserting Pictures
Tables
Queson Answer
1 a.
2 d.
Pictures and oats
Queson Answer
1 b.
2 d.
Chapter 6: Cross-Referencing
Queson Answer
1 b.
2c.
Chapter 7: Listing Content and References
Queson Answer
1 a.
2c.
3a.
Appendix
[ 299 ]
Chapter 8: Typing Math Formulas
Queson Answer
1 b.
2 b.
3d.
Chapter 9: Using Fonts
Queson Answer
1 b.
2c.
Chapter 10: Developing Large Documents
Queson Answer
1 a.
2 b.
Chapter 11: Enhancing Your Documents Further
Queson Answer
1 d.
2c.
Chapter 12: Troubleshooting
Queson Answer
1 a.
2c.
Index
Symbols
\aboverulesep 131
\abovetopsep 130
\addcontentsline command 167, 250
\addtocontents command 167, 171
\backmaer command 234
\belowboomsep 131
\belowpdookmark command 251
\belowrulesep 131
\bfseries declaraon 39
\bigskip command 39
\boomrule command 130
\centering 63
\centering command 235
\chapter command 168
\cline 126
\cmidrule command 130
\cmidrulekern 130
\cmidrulewidth 130
\color command 260
\crefname 161
\currentpdookmark command 251
\denecolor command 260
\documentclass command 43
\emph 33
\extrarowheight 128
\fancyfoot command 89
\fancyhead command 89
\fancyhf{} command 89
\FloatBarrier 146
\footnotesize 38
\frontmaer command 234
\heavyrulewidth 130
\hline 126
\huge command 39
\hyphenaon command 51
\intertext{text} command 201
\label command 155
\lemark command 89
\lightrulewidth 130
\listogures command 170
\listoables command 170
\mainmaer command 234
\maketle command 235
\mbox command 51
\midrule command 130
\mulcolumn command 131
\newcommand
about 40
denion 44
\noindent 38
\normalfont command 258
\overbrace command 209
\overline command 208
\overset command 209
\paragraph command 168
\parbox
about 46
common denion 46
features 48
\part command 168
\phantomsecon command 250
\raggedright 62
\rightmark command 89
\scriptsize 38
\secon command 73, 168
\setenumerate, enumitem commands 114
\setemize, enumitem commands 113
\setlength command 130
\setlist, enumitem commands 113
\subparagraph command 168
[ 302 ]
\subpdookmark command 251
\subsecon command 73, 168
\TeX command 40
\textbf command 32
\text command 32
\text{words} command 201
\today 63
\toprule command 130
\underbrace command 209
\underset command 209
\usepackage 52
\vline 126
\vpagerefrange, varioref commands 159
\vpageref, varioref commands 157, 159
\vref, varioref commands 157
\xspace command 41
A
accents, ligatures
experimenng with 60
seng 60
using 61
aerpage package 146
all caps 90
alpha 181
AMS-Math FAQ
about 288
URL 288
amsmath matrix environments
about 208
bmatrix 208
Bmatrix 208
matrix 208
pmatrix 208
smallmatrix 208
vmatrix 208
Vmatrix 208
amsmath package 198
amssymb package 202
arguments 28
arrays
creang 207
arrows 204
asparaenum, numbered lists 111
asparaitem, bulleted lists 111
automac line breaking
division points, stang for words 51
hyphenaon, improving 50
hyphenat package, exploing 52
improving 50
juscaon further, improving 52, 53
microtype package, using 52
automac reference names
cleveref, using 160, 161
using 160
B
babel package 73, 185
back maer, document
about 232
appendix, adding 233, 234
creang 232
backck 65
beamer class 263
Bera Mono, typewriter fonts 223
Bera Sans, sans-serif fonts 222
biblatex package 255
bibliography
bibliography databases, using with BibTeX 179
bibliography style, selecng 184
BibTeX entry elds 181
BibTeX entry types 182
creang 177
references, lisng 177, 184
standard bibliography environment, using
178, 179
texts, cing 177
bibliography style
abbrv 184
alpha 184
plain 184
selecng 184
unsrt 184
BibTeX 179
BibTeX database
creang 179, 181
using 179, 181
BibTeX entry elds
address 181
annote 181
author 181
[ 303 ]
booktle 181
chapter 181
crossref 181
edion 181
editor 181
howpublished 181
instuon 181
journal 181
key 182
month 182
note 182
number 182
organizaon 182
pages 182
publisher 182
school 182
series 182
tle 182
type 182
volume 182
year 182
BibTeX entry types
arcle 183
book 183
booklet 183
conference 183
manual 183
mastersthesis 183
misc 183
phdthesis 183
proceedings 183
techreport 183
unpublished 183
BibTeX reference 183
binary operaon symbols 202
binary relaon symbols 203
binomial coecients
wring 207
bitmap formats 143
blindtext package 241
bookman package 221
Bookman, serif fonts 221
bookmarks
adding, to documents 243-245
creang manually 250
math formulas 251
special symbols 251
booktabs package 129
bulleted list
asparaitem 111
building 105
compactem 111
inparaitem 111
LaTeX packages, lisng 105, 106
nesng 106
packages, lisng by topic 106, 107
C
caponof command 147
capons
adding, to font table 135, 136
adding, to tables 134
customizing 137
placing above 136, 137
cells
merging, \mulcolumn used 131
merging, mulrow used 134
center environment 64
Charter, serif fonts 220
cite package 179
class 27
class opons
using, for document style conguraon 82
cleveref
combining with, varioref 162
using 160, 161
cleverev package 160
cmbright package 222
cm-super package 216
color package 260
colortbl package 139
command 27
comment 30
common complaints 267
compactenum, numbered lists 111
compactem, bulleted lists 111
comp.text.tex 282
Computer Modern
comparing, to Lan Modern 217, 218
Computer Modern Bright, sans-serif fonts 222
Computer Modern Roman 219
concrete package 221
Concrete Roman, serif fonts 221
[ 304 ]
control sequence 266
Cork encoding 215
counter 168
Courier, typewriter fonts 223
cross-referencing
about 153
intelligent page references, creang 157
labels, seng 154
referencing, seng 154
top list items, referencing 154, 155
custom commands
creang 39, 40
intelligent spacing, adding 41
keywords, marking with oponal formang
43, 44
macro, creang for formang keywords 42
oponal arguments, using 43
universal commands, creang 42
D
dcolumn package 139
declaraon 35
denion list
creang 115
dimensions, adjusng 117, 118
packages capabilies, explaining 116, 117
delimiters 205
descripon environment 116
displayed formulas, customizing
eqn 198
leqno 198
mul-line equaons, aligning 200
mul-line formulas, typeseng 199, 200
opons 198
rows in mul-line formulas, numbering 201
text, inserng into formulas 201
displaymath environment 193
document
chapter and secon headings, designing
257-259
headings, designing 256
documentclass 229
document page layout
construcng, typearea used 79
dening 71
geometry package, using 75, 76
line spacing, changing 79
margins, dening 74
margins, specifying 74, 75
package documentaon, obtaining 78
documents
oang environments, managing 144
picture, inserng 140
pictures, inserng 140
table, typeseng 125
text, inserng in columns 121
documents, developing
about 227
back maer, creang 232
codes, including 230
front maer, creang 232
input, spling 228
one or more pages, including 231
paral document, compiling 232
preamble and chapter contents, swapping
out 228-230
templates, working with 237
tle page, designing 235
documents, enhancing
bookmarks, adding 243-245
bookmarks, creang manually 250
colorful tables, creang 260-263
hyperlink appearance, customizing 246, 248
hyperlinks, adding 243-245
hyperlinks, creang manually 250
PDF metadata, eding 248, 249
texts, coloring 260
document style
conguring, class opons used 82
two-column landscape document,
creang 82, 83
dots, ligatures
comparing, to ellipsis 59
dierently spaced dots, using 58, 59
seng 57
doublespace 81
dvips 143
E
ellipsis, math formulas
producing 196
[ 305 ]
entries, in TOC
adding manually 169
shortening 168
enumerate environment 109
enumitem commands
\setenumerate 114
\setemize 113
\setlist 113
parameters 114
enumitem package 111
environment 27
environments
using, for adjusng font size 38, 39
epstopdf 143
errors
commands and environments, using 267
les, working with 269
xing 265, 266
oang gures and tables, working with 271
interpreng 266
lists, working with 270
math formulas, wring 268
preamble and document body, handling 268
syntax errors 271
tables and arrays, creang 270
eso-pic package 144
expressions
accents, seng 209
overlining 208, 209
stacking 208
symbol, pung above another 209
underlining 208, 209
F
fancy 89
fancyhdr package 88
fancyref package 161
fancyunits 206
FAQs
about 287
AMS-Math FAQ 288
LaTeX Picture FAQ 288
MacTeX FAQ 287
UK TeX FAQ 287
Visual LaTeX FAQ 287
xltx2e package 192
oang
liming 146
oang environments
about 136
gures and tables, grouping 150
gures and tables, spanning over text
columns 148
oang, avoiding 147
oang, liming 146
oat output, forcing 146
oat placement opons 145
managing 144
picture, embedding within text 148, 149
tesng 144, 145
text, owing around gures 148
oats 144
ushle 65
ushright 65
fontenc 215
font, math formulas
modifying 196
font packages
Kp-fonts 218, 219
Lan Modern 218
fonts, LaTeX
addional fonts, installing 216
encoding, preparing 214
exploring 224
main font, selecng 217
reference link 224
special characters, using 214, 215
footnotes
dividing line, modifying 100
expanding, packages used 102
footnote line, redening 101
using 98
using, in text and headings 98, 99
fourier math fonts 221
fracons, math formulas
wring 194
front maer, documents
about 232
creang 232
dedicaon, adding 233, 234
full juscaon
disabling 62
environments, using 63
[ 306 ]
paragraph, jusfying to le 62
ragged-le text, creang 62
tle, centering 63
verses, centering 64
G
general modes, LaTeX
le-to-right mode 190
math mode 190
paragraph mode 190
geometry package, document page layout
margins, seng 77
paper size, selecng 76
text area, specifying 76
using 75
German umlauts
working 214
getnonfreefonts 216
graphicx package 140
Greek leers, math formulas 195
grle package 142
group 37
H
harpoons 204
headers
customizing, fancyhdr package used 88, 89
headers and footers, designing
customizing 90
decorave lines, using 91
header marks, changing 92
headers, customizing with fancyhdr package
88, 89
page styles 90
headings
chapter and secon headings, designing
257-259
designing 256
changing 185
changing, natbib using 186
Helvec, sans-serif fonts 222
homepage, TeX Live
demo 12
horizontal lines
adding, to table 129
hyperlink appearance
customizing 246
hyperlinks
adding, to documents 243-245
creang manually 250
hyperref 162, 163
hyperref package
about 243
loading 244
meta-informaon opons 249
opons 247
user commands 250
hyperref package, opons
anchorcolor 247
backref 247
bookmarks 247
bookmarksnumbered 247
bookmarksopen 247
breaklinks 247
citecolor 247
colorlinks 247
debug 247
dra 247
lecolor 247
nal 247
frenchlinks 247
hyperfootnotes 247
hyperindex 247
linkcolor 247
linktocpage 247
pageanchor 247
pdfstartpage 247
raiselinks 247
urlcolor 247
hyphenat package
exploing 52
I
Imagemagick 143
Inconsolata, typewriter fonts 223
index, generang
cross-reference 175
index entries, dening 174
index layout, designing 176, 177
page numbers, emphasizing 175, 176
page ranges, specifying 174
[ 307 ]
subentries, dening 174
symbols and macros, using 174
words, marking 172-174
inequality relaon symbols 203
in-line formulas
comparing, to displayed formulas 196
inparaenum, numbered lists 111
inparaitem, bulleted lists 111
inputenc 215
inputenc package 61
input, LaTeX
line breaks, inserng 29
source text, commenng 30
spaces, inserng 29
special characters, wring 31
special symbols, prinng out 30
installaon, LaTex
about 12
oine installaon 20
TeX Live, installing using net installer wizard
14-18
intelligent page references
automac reference names, using 160
cleveref and varioref, combining 162
creang 157
labels, referring to 162
page ranges, referring to 159
page references, ne-tuning 158, 159
references, turning into hyperlinks 162, 163
variable references, introducing 157, 158
itemize environment 109
K
Kile
about 23
URL 23
KOMA-Script classes 84
KOMA-Script documentaon 241
kpathsea library 82
Kp-fonts 218, 219
kpsewhich tool 82
Kurier, sans-serif fonts 222
L
l2tabu 241
labels and referencing, cross-referencing
key, assigning 155, 156
key, referring to 156
page, referring to 156, 157
seng 154
top list items, referencing 154, 155
landscape orientaon
using 139
LaTeX
about 9
basic formulas, wring 190
basic principle 11
benets 10
bibliography, creang 177
book, wring with chapters 72, 73
bulleted list 105
challenges 12
classes 11
common complaints 267
comparing, with word processor soware 12
cross-referencing 153
default page layout, reviewing 73, 74
denion list 115
documents, enhancing 243
empty page, sparing 96-98
features 10, 11
fonts 213
footnotes, using 98
full juscaon, disabling 62
general modes 190
headings, changing 185
index, generang 172
input, reading 28
installing 12
large documents, developing 227
ligatures, exploring 55
line breaking 50
list of tables, creang 171
lists, customizing 109
lists of gures, creang 170
lists of gures, customizing 170
logical formang 25
macros, creang 39
mathemacal typeseng 189
mathtools package 210
merits 10
numbered list 107
[ 308 ]
overview 9
packages 11
packages, for customizaon 171
page breaking 92
page, enlarging 95
paragraph width, liming 45
portability 11
protecon, for work 11
quotes, displaying 65
reference link 9
text formang 31
TOC, customizing 165
troubleshoong 277, 278
Usenet groups 282
warning messages, handling 272
web forums 281, 282
LaTeX base classes
arcle 83
beamer 83
book 83
leer 83
opons 83, 84
powerdot 83
report 83
slides 83
LaTeX commands 28
LaTeX-Community.org
about 282
URL 282
LaTeX distribuons
about 290
MacTeX 290
MiKTeX 290
proTeXt 290
TeX Live 12, 290
LaTeX document
creang, TeXworks used 21, 22
LaTeX editors
about 23
Cross-plaorm 291
Kile 23
Linux 291
Mac OS X 292
Texmaker 23
TeXShop 23
Windows 291
LaTeX environments 49
LaTeX fonts. See fonts, LaTeX
LaTeX macros 117
LaTeX packages
installing 255, 256
lisng 105, 106
LaTeX Picture FAQ
about 288
URL 288
LaTeX project
about 289
URL 289
latexsym package 202
LaTeX typeseng
errors 265
Lan Modern 218
layouts 117
le-to-right mode 190
length macros 117
leer-like symbols 205
leerspacing 90
ligatures
accents, seng 60
dash, selecng 57
dots, seng 57
exploring 55, 56
special characters, using in editor 61
understanding 57
line breaking, manually
line breaking opons, exploring 54
linebreaks, managing 55
linebreaks, prevenng 54
line breaks, using 53, 54
line spacing, document page layout
changing 79
increasing 80, 81
package source le, examining 81
lipsum package 241
list of diagrams
creang 170, 171
list of tables
creang 171
lists, customizaon
about 109
bullets and numbering format, selecng
111-115
compact lists, saving space with 109-111
enumitem, using 112, 113
[ 309 ]
lists, connuing 115
lists, suspending 115
local user groups
URLs 290
logical formang
about 25
document structure, exploring 27
document, lng 26
longtable package 138
ltablex package 138
ltxtable package 138
M
Mac OS X
LaTex, installing 20
macros 39
MacTeX
about 290
URL 290
MacTeX FAQ
about 287
URL 287
mailing lists
about 288
reference links 289
texhax 288
tex-live 288
texworks 289
main font
Computer Modern, comparing to Lan Modern
217, 218
font packages, loading 218
sans-serif fonts 221
selecng 217
serif fonts 219
typewriter fonts 223
margins, geometry package
seng 77
math accents 209
math expressions
embedding, within text 192
math formulas
displayed formulas, customizing 198
displaying 193
ellipsis, producing 196
equaons, numbering 193
ne-tuning 201
font, modifying 196
fracons, wring 194
general modes 190
Greek leers 195
in-line formulas, comparing to displayed formu-
las 196
math expressions, embedding within text 192
math symbols, exploring 202
operators, using 202
quadrac equaons and roots 190, 191
roots, extracng 194
Script leers 196
size, modifying 198
style, modifying 197
subscripts, adding 194
superscripts, adding 194
theorems and denions, wring 209
units 206
wring 190
math mode 190
mathpazo package 220
mathptmx package 219
math structures
arrays, creang 207
binomial coecients, wring 207
building 206
matrices, typeseng 207, 208
math styles
display 197
script 197
scriptscript 197
text 197
math symbols
about 202
arrows 204
binary operaon symbols 202
binary relaon symbols 203
delimiters 205
harpoons 204
inequality relaon symbols 203
leer-like symbols 205
miscellaneous symbols 206
subset and superset symbols 203
variable sized operators 204
mathtools package
about 210
[ 310 ]
features 210, 211
matrices
typeseng 207, 208
memoir class 232
meta-informaon opons, hyperref package
pdfauthor 249
pdfcreator 249
pdeywords 249
pdfproducer 249
pdfsubject 249
pditle 249
microtype package 52
MiKTeX
about 12, 290
URL 290
minipage environment
footnote, creang 49
using 48
miscellaneous symbols 206
monospaced font 34
mulcols package 83
mul-line equaons
aligning 200
mul-line formulas
typeseng 199, 200
mul-page tables
generang 138
N
natbib package 184
newcent package 221
New Century Schoolbook, serif fonts 221
numbered list
asparaenum 111
compactenum 111
creang 107
inparaenum 111
step-by-step tutorial, wring 108, 109
O
onehalfspace 81
onehalfspacing 80
operators 202
oponal arguments
marking 43
P
package documentaon
geometry package manual, searching 78
obtaining 78
packages, for customizaon
minitoc 172
multoc 172
tletoc 171
tocbibind 172
toclo 171
using 171
page breaking 92
page breaking opons
exploring 95
page breaks
inserng 92-95
page styles 90
Palano, serif fonts 220
pangram 217
paper size, geometry package
selecng 76
paragraph mode 190
paragraph mode, basic formulas 190
paragraph width, liming
common paragraph boxes 46
footnote, creang inside a minipage 49
minipage environment, using 48, 49
narrow text column, creaing 46
parameters, enumitem commands
align 114
font 114
label 114
noitemsep 114
nolistsep 114
resume 114
resume* 114
start 114
parskip package 68
pdam 237
PDF metadata
eding 248, 249
pdfpages package 237
pictures
inserng in tables 140, 142
opmal le type, selecng 143
pung, behind text 144
[ 311 ]
scaling 142
whole pages, including 144
placeins package 146
preamble 27
proTeXt
about 290
URL 290
ps2pdf 143
Q
quotaon environment 66
quote environment 66
quotes
longer text, quong 66
paragraphs, seperang by vercal space 67
scienst, quong 65
TeX benets, quong 66
R
raster graphics 143
rccol package 139
reputaon 286
Roman fonts 34
roots, math formulas
extracng 194
rotang package 139
row height, table
increasing 128
rows, in mul-line formulas
numbering 201
S
sans-serif fonts
about 34
Bera Sans 222
Computer Modern Bright 222
Helveca 222
Kurier 222
scope 37
scrbook class 232
Script leers, math formulas 196
semanc markup 33
serif fonts
about 219
Bookman 221
Charter 220
Concrete Roman 221
New Century Schoolbook 221
Palano 220
Times Roman 219
setspace package 80
singlespace 81
siunits 206
siunitx package 139, 206
size, math formulas
modifying 197, 198
smallmatrix environment 208
special characters
using 214
stabular package 138
Stack Exchange
about 283, 286
queson, asking online 284-286
standard bibliography environment
using 178, 179
style le 81
style, math formulas
modifying 197
subcapon package 150
subg package 150
subset and superset symbols 203
supertabular package 138
syntax errors 271
T
T1 font encoding 214
tabbing environment
using 122
tables
coloring 139
tables, typeseng
about 125
arguments, formang 126, 127
array package, using 132
capons, adding 134
capons, adding to font table 135, 136
capons, customizing 137
capons, placing above 136
cells, merging 131, 132
cells, merging using mulrow package 134
code, inserng column-wise 132
[ 312 ]
columns, aligning at decimal point 139
columns, auto-ng to table width 137
entries, spanning over mulple columns 131
entries, spanning over mulple rows 133
horizontal lines, adding with booktabs package
129, 130
landscape orientaon, using 139
lengths, adjusng 130, 131
lines, drawing 126
mul-page tables, generang 138
narrow columns, handling 139
row height, increasing 128, 129
table, building 125, 126
tables, coloring 139
tabular environment 125
tabularx package 137
tabulary package 138
templates
creang 237-240
enhancing 241
evaluang 241
working with 237
TeX Catalogue
vising online 252-254
TeX discussion board
comp.text.tex 282
TeX distribuons 11
texdoc 79
texhax
about 288
URL 288
TeX Live
about 11, 12, 288, 290
homepage 12
installing, net installer wizard used 14-18
installing, on other operang systems 20
oine installaon 20
URL 12, 288, 290
TeX Live 2010
DVIOUT DVI viewer 18
PS_VIEW 19
TeXdoc GUI 19
TeX Live documentaon 19
TeX Live Manager 19
TeXworks editor 19
Texmaker
about 23
URL 23
TeXnicCenter 143
TeX Q&A site 286
TeX.SE 286
TeXShop
about 23
URL 23
text
inserng, into formulas 201
text, aligning in columns
font commands, lining up 123, 124
informaon, lining up using tabbing
environment 122
text area, geometry package
specifying 76
text formang
command eect, deliming 36
declaraons, summarizing 36
font commands, summarizing 36
font family, selecng 33
font family, switching 35
font shape, tuning 32, 33
font sizes, adjusng using environments 38, 39
font sizes, exploring 37, 38
fonts, switching 34
grouping, exploring by braces 36, 37
monospaced font 34
Roman fonts 34
sans-serif font 34
sans-serif, switching to 33, 34
serifs fonts 34
typewriter font 34
typewriter fonts, switching to 33, 34
textpos package 144
TeX user group sites
about 289
LaTeX project 289
local user groups 290
TUG 289
UK TUG 290
TeX users group
about 289
URL 289
Texworks
about 11
URL 289
thebibliography environment 178
[ 313 ]
theorems and denions
wring 209
TikZ package 263
mes package 219
Times Roman, serif fonts 219
tle page, document
creang 235, 236
designing 235
tlepage environment 236
tlesec 256
tling package 237
TOC
creang 84, 85
customizing 165
depth, adjusng 168
entries, adding manually 169
entries, shortening 86, 87, 168
rening 166, 167
troubleshoong
about 277, 278
log les, examining 278, 279
TUG
URL 289
tutorial, lists
shrinking 109-111
two-column landscape document
creang 82, 83
txfonts package 219
typearea package 79
typewriter fonts
Bera Mono 223
Courier 223
Inconsolata 223
U
UK TeX FAQ
about 287
URL 287
UK TUG
about 290
URL 290
unicode 215
unicode encoding 214
units
about 206
wring 206
Usenet groups
about 282
comp.text.tex 282
German or French Usenet TeX group 282
user commands, hyperref package
\href 250
\hyperlink 250
\hyperref 250
\hypertarget 250
\nolinkurl 250
\url 250
V
variable sized operators 204
varioref commands
\vpageref 157, 159
\vpagerefrange 159
\vref 157
varioref package 157
combining with, cleveref 162
vector graphics format 143
verbam text 124
Visual LaTeX FAQ
about 287
URL 287
W
warning messages
document class, customizing 275
gures and tables, placing 274
fonts, selecng 274
handling 272
obsolete packages, avoiding 275, 276
referencing 274
sans-serif font, emphasizing 272
text, jusfying 273
web forums, LaTeX
about 282
LaTeX-Community.org 282, 283
Stack Exchange 283
wide accents 209
wrapg package 148
wrapgure environment 149
[ 314 ]
X
xcolor package 260, 263
xtab package 138
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