**LaTeX Tips, Tricks and Resources**



# Getting Started

-   [Learn LaTeX in 30
    Minutes](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Learn_LaTeX_in_30_minutes)
    Overleaf's guide to first steps
-   [Difference between TeX and
    LaTeX](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/49/what-is-the-difference-between-tex-and-latex/85)
    A term that people use interchangeably that has a technical
    difference

# LaTeX Resources

## Free Books on LaTeX

-   [The
    TeXBook](http://visualmatheditor.equatheque.net/doc/texbook.pdf)
    This is the original manual detailing TeX as a typesetting system
    and language
-   [The Not So Short Guide to
    LaTeX2e](https://tobi.oetiker.ch/lshort/lshort.pdf) Specific to
    LaTeX's features
-   [LaTeX Reference
    Manual](https://www.cs.ntua.gr/~sivann/books/LaTeX%20-%20User's%20Guide%20and%20Reference%20Manual-lamport94.pdf)
    The manual for LaTeX written by the LaTeX creator himself.

## General Online Resources

-   [Overleaf Documentation](https://www.overleaf.com/learn) Not all of
    this is for the Overleaf Editor! Has many in depth articles on a
    variety of TeX subjects.
-   [TeX StackExchange](https://tex.stackexchange.com/) A forum for
    asking questions (your future questions have already been asked
    here)
-   [LaTeX Project
    Documentation](https://www.latex-project.org/help/documentation/)
    The LaTeX Project's link page for documentation
-   [LaTeX2e Unofficial Reference Manual](https://latexref.xyz/) What it
    says on the tin

# Creating a Document

What to type to get a nice looking document. (LaTeX books are also
appropriate here)

## Layout

How the page gets laid out.

-   [Layout](https://latexref.xyz/Layout.html) How the page gets laid
    out (multiple columns, margins, etc.)
-   [Cross
    Referencing](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Cross_referencing_sections%2C_equations_and_floats)
    Overleaf guide on cross-references
-   [Indices](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Indices) on Overleaf.
    Making a index in your document

### Useful Packages

-   [geometry](http://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/geometry/geometry.pdf)
    Advanced page layout
-   [fancyhdr](http://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/fancyhdr/fancyhdr.pdf)
    Making a page header and footer
-   [microtype](http://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/microtype/microtype.pdf)
    Making your text layout look nice in paragraphs

## Scientific Typesetting

### Mathematics

-   Math Symbol Lists
    -   [List of Math
        Symbols](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/List_of_Greek_letters_and_math_symbols)
        from Overleaf
    -   [Symbols](https://www.caam.rice.edu/~heinken/latex/symbols.pdf)
        A pdf of symbols
    -   [LaTeX Math
        Symbols](https://www.math.uci.edu/~xiangwen/pdf/LaTeX-Math-Symbols.pdf)
        Another pdf
    -   [Amssymb
        Symbols](http://milde.users.sourceforge.net/LUCR/Math/mathpackages/amssymb-symbols.pdf)
        amssymb package symbols
-   [Spacing in math
    mode](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Spacing_in_math_mode) on
    Overleaf
-   [Detexify](https://detexify.kirelabs.org/classify.html) Draw a
    picture, get the math mode command
-   [AmsThm](http://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/required/amscls/doc/amsthdoc.pdf)
    A package for making the nice definition formatting, proof with a
    `\blacksquare` at the end, etc.
-   [Tikz-cd](https://ctan.math.washington.edu/tex-archive/graphics/pgf/contrib/tikz-cd/tikz-cd-doc.pdf)
    Making commutative diagrams
    -   [Quiver](https://q.uiver.app/) Web app for generating Tikz-cd
        code from an interface

### Other Sciences

-   [Feynman
    Diagrams](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Feynman_diagrams)
    from Overleaf
-   [Molecular Orbital
    Diagrams](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Molecular_orbital_diagrams)
    from Overleaf

## Bibliography

-   [Bibliography management with
    BibLaTeX](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Bibliography_management_with_biblatex)
    from Overleaf

Writing a bib file is hard to do by hand, but there are other ways to do
it! Most papers you can download or copy of a BibTeX entry. Also works
on Google Books. Also worth mentioning is
[Zotero](https://www.zotero.org/), a personal citation/library manager
that can export to BibTeX among many other features.

# Compilers and Technical

-   [The TeX family
    tree](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Articles/The_TeX_family_tree%3A_LaTeX%2C_pdfTeX%2C_XeTeX%2C_LuaTeX_and_ConTeXt)
    Why are there so many names for LaTeX? Aren't they all the same?
    No, they are not.

## [Xe(La)TeX](https://tug.org/xetex/)

XeTeX and XeLaTeX are compilers designed for Unicode and unusual
characters.

-   [XeTeX
    Reference](https://mirrors.rit.edu/CTAN/info/xetexref/xetex-reference.pdf)
    Getting started with the XeTeX engine
-   [Why
    XeTeX?](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/3393/what-is-xetex-exactly-and-why-should-i-use-it)
    A TeX Stackexchange answer
-   [What is XeLaTeX](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/XeLaTeX) from
    Overleaf

## [Lua(La)TeX](http://www.luatex.org/)

LuaTeX and LuaLaTeX are compilers where you can mix Lua code and TeX.

-   <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Articles/An_Introduction_to_LuaTeX_(Part_1)%3A_What_is_it%E2%80%94and_what_makes_it_so_different%3F">Introduction to LuaTeX</a>
    by Overleaf
-   [Introduction to
    LuaTeX](https://www.alanshawn.com/tech/2020/06/20/luatex-intro.html)
    A blog post explaining the basic idea with some illustrative
    examples
-   [Lorenz Attrator in Lua and
    Tikz](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/464045/how-to-use-lua-code-from-external-file-in-lualatex)
    An example of generating a plot in Tikz based on computations in Lua
    (a good example of how to use LuaTeX effectively)

## Core TeX

How raw TeX works at its core. (The TeXBook may be useful)

-   [How do TeX macros actually
    work?](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/A_six-part_series%3A_How_do_TeX_macros_actually_work%3F)
    From Overleaf. What happens under the hood when a document has
    `\command` in it?

## Making your TeX Writing More Efficient

-   [Defining a new
    command](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Commands#Defining_a_new_command)
    From Overleaf. Tired of writing that pesky `\mathbb{R}` over and
    over? Define your own macro!
-   [Writing your own
    class](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Writing_your_own_class)
    From Overleaf. Bundle some formatting options into a class.
-   [Writing your own
    class](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Writing_your_own_package)
    From Overleaf. Bundle some commands together in a package.

# Editors

## Overleaf

Web-based editor with premium features. Lots of documentation and
connections (e.g. to GitHub). Documentation and features can be found
[here](https://www.overleaf.com/learn).

## Emacs

### Reading

-   [LaTeX input for impatient
    scholars](https://karthinks.com/software/latex-input-for-impatient-scholars/)
    How to write TeX quickly in Emacs

### Emacs Packages

-   [AucTeX](https://www.gnu.org/software/auctex/) THE package for LaTeX
    Editing
-   [CDLaTeX](https://github.com/cdominik/cdlatex) Input math symbols
    and modify text with commands easily
-   [RefTeX](https://www.gnu.org/software/auctex/reftex.html) Input
    cross-references with ease
-   [Helm/Ivy - BibTeX](https://github.com/tmalsburg/helm-bibtex) Look
    up BibTeX Entries from a bib file with ease, and pull refs from the
    internet

### Other Tips

-   For big documents, don't use [Org Mode](https://orgmode.org) and
    export. For personal notes, go wild.
-   I highly recommend using the `orgtbl` minor mode for generating
    tables. It basically puts a spreadsheet in your document and then
    generates a LaTeX table from it.

## Vim

### Reading

-   [Gilles Castel](https://castel.dev/) A guide on efficient TeX in Vim

### Vim Packages

If you plan on loading many packages, you'll probably get better
support from [NeoVim](https://neovim.io/) than from vanilla Vim.

-   [VimTeX](https://github.com/lervag/vimtex) Package for compiling and
    syntax highlighting for LaTeX
-   [Conqueror of Completion](https://github.com/neoclide/coc.nvim)
    Package for syntax checking via LSP (WARNING: Uses node)
-   [UltiSnips](https://github.com/SirVer/ultisnips) Expand snippets
    into fully fledged lines of TeX

## Visual Studio Code

### Packages

-   [LaTeX
    Workshop](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=James-Yu.latex-workshop)
    Syntax Highlighting and some compile commands

## [LyX](https://www.lyx.org/)

I don't know much about LyX, but I have heard glowing testimonials. Not
exactly 'power-user' appealing, but is the perfect mixture of GUI and
interface and keyboard shortcuts.

## [TeXMacs](https://www.texmacs.org/tmweb/home/welcome.en.html)

This isn't actually LaTeX, but something like it. Only if you want to
be a weirdo. Just use something more standard.

# Extra Utilities

## [Pandoc](https://pandoc.org/)

- Pandoc is a document parser that can translate between many different document formats. Notably, it can turn [markdown](https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/) into LaTeX or directly into a pdf, making editing a breeze.

## Compiling

-   [LaTeXMk](https://mg.readthedocs.io/latexmk.html) a tool for doing
    all the compilation you would do manually all at once. Pretty much
    every IDE-like solution is using LaTeXMk under the hood to rerun the
    compiler, biber, etc.

## Version Control

-   [Git](https://git-scm.com/) THE distributed verison control system.
    Allows for making snapshots of files, doing rollbacks, finding
    errors, etc. Allows for easy uploads to GitHub
-   [LaTeXdiff](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Articles/Using_Latexdiff_For_Marking_Changes_To_Tex_Documents)
    Takes two `.tex` files and compares them. Produces a third file that
    you can compile and see the differences marked up in the generated
    PDF.

## Make

-   [Make](https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/make.html) A Unix
    tool for running programs, shell commands, etc. in an automated way.

My current `Makefile` for TeX looks something like

``` makefile
.PHONY: compile preview diff clean

TEXFILE = main.tex # Include your main file here!
OTHERFILES = main.bib # Include other necessary files here (.bib, .png, etc.)

compile: ${TEXFILE} ${OTHERFILES}
@echo Compiling...
latexmk -lualatex ${TEXFILE}

preview: ${TEXFILE} ${OTHERFILES}
latexmk -lualatex -pvc -view=none ${TEXFILE}

clean: ${TEXFILE} ${OTHERFILES}
@echo Cleaning up...
latexmk -c

.ONESHELL:
diff: ${TEXFILE} ${OTHERFILES}
@echo Since which commit?
@read COMMIT
@latexdiff-vc --git -r $${COMMIT} --exclude-safecmd=cite ${TEXFILE}
```

A couple of notes about this:

-   I use LuaTeX for Unicode support and Lua scripting (see Section [Lua(La)TeX])
-   I use `latexmk` for easing the compilation process
-   `latexdiff-vc` pulls a previous version from version control and
    runs `latexdiff` on the current vs old version. Very helpful for
    seeing past changes.






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