Exploring Latex Using Overleaf

Joslenne Pena
Brief Intro
 Expectations
Exploration and basic introduction

Many folks with different backgrounds and disciplines

Different goals and aspirations

Stepping stone to move on; feel more comfortable

Joslenne Pena 2020; give credit when using

 What is Latex?
LaTeX is a document preparation system for high quality typesetting

Not a Word Processor - Allows authors to focus on content rather than appearance.

Frequently used in the preparation of scientific or technical documents, but can be used
to create letters, dissertations, music scores, calendars, presentations, etc., etc., etc.

Open source (lots of community support, free BUT there is a learning curve!

You can load packages for specific things similar to R - but for formatting or margins,
bibliography structure, other inputs

Joslenne Pena 2020; give credit when using

 What is latex? II
Typesetting articles, reports, books, presentations

Typesetting complex formulas

Control sectioning, cross-references, tables and figures

Automatic generation of bibliographies, indexes, and TOCs

Multi-platform (Win/Mac/Linux)

We create .tex files and .bib files!

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 Running Latex
https://www.latex-project.org/get/

Desktop Application VERSUS Overleaf (online editor)

Local or online

You must outweigh the risks and benefits of each

Online can crash easily; may take long to compile especially if lots of media

Desktop is reliable no online connection

Joslenne Pena 2020; give credit when using

What is Overleaf?
“process of writing, collaborating, and publishing scientific documents in LaTeX
quicker and easier by offering a Rich Text what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG)
overlay, a browser-based editor that allows direct code editing, and templates for
major journals (providing authors with the correct formatting for the paper and
references).”

- Free version or pay for more features and access

- Online editor
- Compiles documents
- Log system of history similar to Google Docs Version History
- Comments
- Share documents with others (limited)
- You can see a preview of the document
Unfortunately Penn State does NOT
have an Overleaf license many other
schools do
https://www.overleaf.com/for/univ
ersities
Overleaf Interface Overview
 Basic Document Structure
\documentclass{article}Required line in preamble Preamble:you can add
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}This is the encoding for the meta data and define
document, to allow characters beyond ASCII (e.g. à, ü, č ...) to be used in the
text. document type
\title{My First \LaTeX{}Document}
\author{Joslenne Pena}
\institute{Paterno Library}
\date{February 2020}
This declares an
environment or body,
\begin{document}
\maketitle This command will print the title, the author and the date in you begin and end the
the format document with
Hello world! commands; add contents
\end{document} in body
Joslenne Pena 2020; give credit when using
 Basic Document Structure II
\documentclass{article}Required line in preamble Preamble:you can add
\documentclass[options]{documenttype} meta data and define
\title{My First \LaTeX{}Document} document type
\author{Joslenne Pena}
\institute{Paterno Library}
Font Size (10pt,11pt,12pt)
\date{February 2020}
Paper Size (letterpaper),
and Orientation (landscape)
Page Format (twocolumn,
oneside)
\iffalse These are 2 ways to
\fi employ comments for
%write it testing

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Let’s Write a Brief Hello
World document!
 Most of the time, you are NOT starting
documents from scratch, you are choosing
and editing a template just like you would
on Wordpress with HTML

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 Discipline-specific Templates
Dissertation templates

Poster / Article / Manuscript Templates

CV / Resume

ACM: https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template

IEEE: https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html

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 Useful Commands
1.Adding a Hyperlink: \href{http://www.google.com}{Click for Search Engine}

2.Underline Text: \underline{add text you want underlined} produces add text you want
underlined

3.Color Text: \textcolor{red}{cute}produces cute.

4.Bold Text: \textbf{type your bold text here}type your bold text here

5.Italics: \textit{type your italic text here}type your italic text here

6. Quotes: ``add sentence you would like to produce quotes around’’ - pay attention to the
notations it recognizes
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Lists and Images
Itemize - produces a bulleted list \begin{figure}[h] [h] positions without moving

\begin{itemize} \includegraphics[scale=1.5]{lion-logo}
\item{apple}
\end{figure} Size Name of image file
\item{orange}
\item{banana}
\end{itemize}
Enumerate - produces a numbered list

\begin{enumerate}
\item{apple}
\item{orange}
\item{banana}
\end{enumerate}
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Special Characters and Formulas (Math Mode)
Examples:

\[ x^n + y^n = z^n \] xn + yn = zn

\alpha , \delta , \beta , \gamma ... etc. produce greek letters

\[

\binom{n}{k} = \frac{n!}{k!(n-k)!}

\]

https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/List_of_Greek_letters_and_math_symbols

Beware of packages that may be required!

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 Input Multiple Tex Files
\input{tex filename}
\input{tex filename}
\input{tex filename}

This is all part of 1 project which can contain many folders and files

Useful when you have a big document such as book or dissertation

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Bibliographies
FileName.bib

Google Scholar produces the BibTex code for Latex to use in your document

This would be called near the end of document

\printbibliography{name.bib} OR \bibliographystyle{ACM-Reference-Format}
\bibliography{acmart}

APA, MLA, and others - again it requires a package

Tip: adding a reference in the bib file does not automatically appear on document; you
must call specifically an inline citation \cite{name of reference}
https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Bibtex_bibliography_styles
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 Tables
https://www.tablesgenerator.com/

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Work through CV
template as a
class
https://www.overleaf.com/project/5e56c033b6e742000125d89e
Work through rest of
CV, manuscript, or
other template as as
small group
Resources and
Questions
Preliminary Resources
CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network):http://www.ctan.org

TUG (TeX Users Group): http://www.tug.org

http://tex.stackexchange.com - Stack Overflow for Latex

The LaTeX Companion (Mittelbach Goossens, 2004)

http://re5qy4sb7x.search.serialssolutions.com/?V=1.0&L=RE5QY4SB7X&S=JCs&C=TC00
00075831&T=marc

A Guide to LaTeX(Kopka and Daly, 1999) http://search.lib.virginia.edu/catalog/u350647

The Not So Short Intro to LaTeX (Oetiker, updated Feb 2018

http://ctan.math.washington.edu/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf
 Thank you!

**Credit to Ricky Patterson from UVA library for

content

Visit our website for resources:

sites.psu.edu/codeforher/latexworkshop/

Joslenne Pena 2020; give credit when using