Physics Help Forum Learning latex

 LateX Help LateX Help - Test your LaTex skills and get help with using LaTex

 May 20th 2009, 12:36 AM #1 Physics Team   Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 1,425 Learning latex How does one start learning Latex here?
 May 20th 2009, 12:59 PM #2 Senior Member     Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 815 I think there is a tutorial in MHF. Check out the first 2 threads : LaTex Help - Math Help Forum. __________________ Isaac If the problem is too hard just let the Universe solve it.
 May 23rd 2009, 04:18 PM #3 Member   Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 71 Hi, I don't know if this is much help but I am just learning as I go. I.e. whenever a question comes up in which I want to use a symbol, integral, sum etc.. I just type into Google Latex (then the name of the symbol/ operator I am trying to get) and I seem to remember it in future.
 May 23rd 2009, 05:38 PM #4 Senior Member     Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 815 Another tip : go in wikipedia and when you see a symbol you want to use in Latex, click on "edit" to edit the page. It will allow you to see the commands for the Latex images you are looking for. I learned a lot of Latex thanks to this. __________________ Isaac If the problem is too hard just let the Universe solve it.
 May 25th 2009, 03:43 AM #5 Physics Team   Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 1,425 $\displaystyle \frac{x^2+5}{3x+1}$ $\displaystyle \log_{5}25 = 2$ Last edited by physicsquest; Aug 8th 2009 at 12:19 AM.
 May 25th 2009, 03:45 AM #6 Physics Team   Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 1,425 how does one check whether the expression is correct before actually posting?
May 25th 2009, 08:28 AM   #7
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 Originally Posted by physicsquest how does one check whether the expression is correct before actually posting?
Instead of clicking on "Submit Reply", click on the button next to it : "Preview Post".
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May 26th 2009, 08:41 AM   #8
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 Originally Posted by arbolis Another tip : go in wikipedia and when you see a symbol you want to use in Latex, click on "edit" to edit the page. It will allow you to see the commands for the Latex images you are looking for. I learned a lot of Latex thanks to this.
That's a great suggestion, and it certainly works, but you don't have to actually view the source for the entire page. Each equation image in Wikipedia has LaTeX alt text, so if you're using Firefox, one way to view the LaTeX is to right-click the equation and choose Properties. The alt text will show in the pop-up window.

In any browser though, if you just copy an equation and paste it into Notepad, you'll get the LaTeX for that equation. Two things important here. One, don't just right-click and choose "Copy Image". That won't do it. Best way to get it is to select it (drag the mouse over it) and use the shortcut (Ctrl+C or Command+C). Two, don't paste it into anything that recognizes an image (FrontPage, Word, PowerPoint, PhotoShop, etc.), because an image is what you get when you paste. If you paste it into a simple text editor such as Notepad or TextEdit, you'll get the LaTeX.

That's a much easier method than clicking on Edit if the page you're looking at is long and has lots of equations. The copy/paste method lets you get right to the one you want without looking at a lot of text & markup that you don't want.

Last edited by afwings; May 26th 2009 at 08:43 AM. Reason: added clarifying text

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