169
votes
9answers
16k views
How to look up a symbol or identify a math alphabet?
I know what my symbol or character looks like, but I don't know what the command is or which math alphabet it came from. How do I go about finding this out?
111
votes
2answers
12k views
How to influence the position of float environments like figure and table in LaTeX?
How to influence the position of float environments like figure and table in LaTeX?
This is a general question and should collect useful answers for all users. I hope we can use this as a reference
78
votes
7answers
29k views
Keeping tables/figures close to where they are mentioned
Is there any package or a method to force LaTeX to keep floating environments like table and figure closer to where they are declared?
144
votes
7answers
6k views
Why is \[ … \] preferable to $$ … $$?
I've heard that you should use \[ ... \] for displayed equations instead of $$ ... $$, but why is that?
I'd assumed that it's so that you can more easily tell which are starting and which are ending ...
250
votes
34answers
54k views
LaTeX Editors/IDEs
What editors/IDEs are available for easing the process of writing TeX/LaTeX documents?
Please state some useful features like code completion, spell checking, building final DVI or PDF files, etc.
...
59
votes
5answers
15k views
How to install “vanilla” TeXLive on Debian or Ubuntu?
Debian and Ubuntu have very good texlive packaging. But I'd like to use tlmgr to have a more fine-grained control about upgrades and which packages I want to be installed. So how do I install ...
153
votes
1answer
16k views
What do \makeatletter and \makeatother do?
Many TeX “hacks” begin with \makeatletter and end with \makeatother. What do these commands do?
130
votes
3answers
16k views
Drawing on an image with TikZ
Recently I have learned how to draw simple stuff with TikZ. I really like it. Now I wonder if it is possible to draw with TikZ on a image. Instead of pasting a image in Illustrator and adding some ...
54
votes
6answers
11k views
How do I update my TeX distribution?
I'm trying to compile a document that only works with an up-to-date distribution, so I'd like to know: how do I update my distribution? Please provide screenshots where appropriate.
List of answers
...
59
votes
2answers
73k views
How can I manually install a package on MiKTeX (Windows)
I'm new to LaTeX, investigating using it for some work projects. I'm using MiKTeX on Windows. My employer's locked-down network blocks the application's automatic installation function. I can take ...
100
votes
1answer
9k views
Should I use center or centering for figures and tables?
What is the correct way to center figures and tables (figure, table)?
\begin{center}
...
\end{center}
or
\begin{centering}
...
\end{centering}
88
votes
8answers
40k views
Where do I place my own .sty files, to make them available to all my .tex files?
I know how to define a package - but how do I make it available (to myself) at all times?
Say I have the package file commonstuff.sty, that I want to be able to include in any .tex file I create on ...
159
votes
1answer
21k views
Guidelines for customizing biblatex styles
Suppose I've just made the switch to biblatex. I have chosen one of the built-in styles (numeric, alphabetic, authoryear, authortitle, verbose) or of the custom styles available at CTAN, and I've ...
141
votes
20answers
11k views
What is the best book to start learning LaTeX?
Which book (free or otherwise) was the most useful to you when you started learning LaTeX?
I am frequently asked this question by friends who want to learn LaTeX, and I recommend the book which got ...
37
votes
5answers
14k views
Adding a large brace next to a body of text
I'm writing a short document listing some chronological events. I want to pick out a period with a big brace. Here's a quick mockup:
What's the best way to do this? Can I set the size declaratively ...
38
votes
4answers
19k views
eqnarray vs align
I want to include a list of related equations, say, for a proof, in my LaTeX document. As far as I know, I have two good options, eqnarray and align. What is the difference between them, and how do I ...
74
votes
9answers
4k views
Which packages should be loaded after hyperref instead of before?
The hyperref documentation says: "Make sure it comes last of your loaded packages". The reason is that it redefines many LaTeX commands. It's a rule of thumb that helps to avoid errors.
However, ...
81
votes
3answers
7k views
How do I use a particular font for a small section of text in my document?
The standard font packages make global changes to the fonts in my document. What if I want to use a particular font for just a portion of my text?
How do I find the right name of the font?
How do I ...
232
votes
4answers
72k views
When should I use \input vs. \include?
There are two different commands to incorporate another file into the source of some document, \input and \include. When should I use one or the other? What are the differences between them? Are there ...
137
votes
5answers
19k views
What to do to switch to biblatex?
Because of the great answers posted around in the site, I'm finally considering to do the switch and move to biblatex. So, the question is what do I have to do?
To give the question some focus, ...
263
votes
55answers
32k views
Showcase of beautiful typography done in TeX & friends
If you were asked to show examples of beautifully typeset documents in TeX & friends, what would you suggest? Preferably documents available online (I'm aware I could go to a bookstore and find ...
26
votes
4answers
18k views
Column padding in tables
How do you guys go about controlling column padding in tables?
UPDATE
To clarify, I'm looking for a way to control both vertical and horizontal padding. So, if I had a simple table like this
...
116
votes
13answers
18k views
Compiling documents online
I have heard rumors that you can compile documents online, and more specifically that Google has a free online compiler, but I have never been able to find any. Is there a way to compile documents ...
20
votes
1answer
10k views
Create a local texmf tree in MiKTeX
In TeX Live there are TEXMFLOCAL for admin and TEXMFHOME for user pre-defined, but in MiKTeX there’s by default no local texmf tree installed, therefore my question:
How do I create a local texmf ...
38
votes
1answer
3k views
How do I install an individual package on a Linux system?
I need to install a new TeX/LaTeX/ConTeXt package on my computer. I'm running Ubuntu/Fedora/Slackware/Some-Version-Of Linux. What are the possible ways to do this?
Note: We get a ...
50
votes
3answers
7k views
Does it matter if I use \textit or \it, \bfseries or \bf, etc
I typically use
\textit{Some italicized text}
while some of my colleagues use
{\it Some other text}
Should I bother changing one or the other, or does it matter?
43
votes
1answer
8k views
Continuous v. per-chapter/section numbering of figures, tables, and other document elements
Some document elements (e.g., figures in the book class) are numbered per chapter (figure 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, ...). How can I achieve continuous numbering (figure 1, 2, 3, ...)?
And vice versa: Some ...
25
votes
2answers
825 views
Why does an environment's label have to appear after the caption?
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{algorithm}
\begin{document}
\setcounter{section}{54}
\section{A section with no label}
\begin{algorithm}
\label{myalg}
\caption{An algorithm with the label ...
24
votes
2answers
3k views
How do I find out what fonts are used in a document/picture?
Is it possible to identify the font used in a specific document/picture?
Answers to this question should identify:
Possible methods to do this (perhaps one answer per method) and adequately ...
158
votes
5answers
24k views
Differences between LuaTeX, ConTeXt and XeTeX
I’m interested in the differences and commonalities between the “new” (La)TeX processors:
LuaTeX,
XeTeX, and
ConTeXt.
Personally, I’ve only used XeTeX so far and without having the time to try out ...
79
votes
3answers
9k views
Frequently loaded packages: Differences between pdfLaTeX and XeLaTeX
Until now, I have been compiling my LaTeX documents with pdfLaTeX. My standard document preamble includes the "usual suspects" for non-English speakers (inputenc, fontenc, babel) and a bunch of other ...
48
votes
3answers
2k views
How to change the name of document elements like “Figure”, “Contents”, “Bibliography” etc.?
I'd like to modify the names used to typeset some of my document elements. For example, the caption of figure floats should change from "Figure" to "Fig.", and my \tableofcontents sectioning heading ...
86
votes
4answers
3k views
What is the use of percent signs (%) at the end of lines?
I see that the code in many packages and examples contains percent signs % at the end of (many) lines. What are they used for? Do they affect the parsing of those lines?
43
votes
2answers
5k views
Should \tikzset or \tikzstyle be used to define TikZ styles?
The PGF/TikZ manual states in section 12.4 Using Graphic Options, page 120 (v2.10), that TikZ styles can be set using:
\tikzset{my style/.style={<tikz options>},...}
However, in several ...
122
votes
8answers
4k views
Are \( and \) preferable to dollar signs for math mode?
Along the lines of Why is \[ ... \] preferable to $$?, what reasons are there (if any) to favor \( ... \) over $ ... $?
34
votes
2answers
2k views
Importing a Single Symbol From a Different Font
Is there a general way to change the font of a particular symbol without switching packages?
For example, suppose I'm using Computer Modern for my entire document, but I want the "subset" operator to ...
39
votes
2answers
3k views
How do I ensure that figures appear in the section they're associated with?
Often floats may land quite a bit later in the document than the point they are created, sometimes after a section break.
Is there a way to force a new section to start on a new page, after any ...
76
votes
22answers
6k views
Tools for automating document compilation
A lot of people write makefiles that say something like
paper.pdf: paper.tex
pdflatex paper
bibtex paper
pdflatex paper
pdflatex paper
To handle re-running TeX to ...
233
votes
24answers
49k views
LaTeX template for resume/curriculum vitae
If you have a TeX'ed resume, did you use a template or make your own? Are there any useful packages? What looks the most professional? How about special considerations for different areas of work ...
94
votes
1answer
12k views
bibtex vs. biber and biblatex vs. natbib
I've heard of many different bibliography-related packages/platforms/?. What's the difference between the following, which is good for what tasks, advantages/disadvantages, which one is the most ...
28
votes
3answers
2k views
\subseteq + \circ as a single symbol (“open subset”)
I'm trying to create symbols \opn for "open subset" and \cls "closed subset". I want them to look like this:
My current solution is:
...
35
votes
2answers
6k views
Center figure that is wider than \textwidth
I have a figure that is wider than the \textwidth of my document. (I don't want to change the \textwidth.) As a result, the leftmost part of the figure is flush with the left margin, while the ...
51
votes
5answers
11k views
Latin Modern vs cm-super?
I've read various answers to questions on here that suggest the original Computer Modern fonts have been superceded. Sometimes it is suggested we use the cm-super package, sometimes that we instead ...
192
votes
52answers
17k views
What packages do people load by default in LaTeX?
I'm getting the impression from reading the answers written by some of the real experts here that there are quite a few little packages that just tweak LaTeX2e's default behaviour a little to make it ...
121
votes
7answers
25k views
Remove ugly borders around clickable cross-references and hyperlinks
I know that I can use hyperref to make cross-references and hyperlinks clickable. That makes the clickable areas outlined in fluorescent green, however. How can I make the green boxes go away?
59
votes
11answers
10k views
Workflow for converting LaTeX into Open Office / MS Word Format
I often have to write up reports based on the analysis of some data.
I use R to analyse the data and export tables, figures, and text.
This is then included into a LaTeX document either using input or ...
38
votes
3answers
10k views
subcaption vs. subfig: Best package for referencing a subfigure
On this question a comment by Martin H says, that one should forget about the subfigure and subfig packages and use subcaption. As subfig replaces subfigure, no argument there.
I am currently using ...
25
votes
6answers
7k views
Why are some pages in my PDF coming out bold?
When I run my LaTeX document through pdflatex, some of the pages (the ones where figures appear) have all the text bolded. Why, and what can I do to make it stop?
31
votes
2answers
1k views
Why should the minimal class be avoided?
In a comment to my answer to Drawing a rectangle along the border of a circle, Peter Grill said that he read that the minimal class should not be used for a Minimal Working Example. I wonder why, and ...
140
votes
3answers
30k views
Why should I use \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}?
As a native English speaker, I've mostly been allowed the luxury of pretending that ASCII is enough, and have been able to treat font encodings as not my problem. I've seen lots of advice that I ought ...
