Before you can get started you need to have a LaTeX editor and a compiler.
There are many tools out there, but I have chosen to only work with one of each tool. You can google all the other editors if you’re not satisfied with the one I’m using.
First we need to install a compiler. A compiler is a tool which converts your LaTeX code to a meaningful pdf file.
Compilers:
Windows: MiKTeX
Linux: TeXLive
Mac OS: MacTeX (contains compiler and editor)
Now to the editor:
Windows: TeXstudio
Linux: TeXstudio
Mac OS: TeXworks (included in the MacTeX package)
Okay now we’re ready to get started. When you’re using TeXstudio it’s doing some of the geeky stuff for you. The compiling and viewing is quite easy with TeXstudio. When you’ve written a document you can hit the F6-key to compile to .pdf and then the F7-key to view it. (I’ll describe this again when you’re going to make your first LaTeX document in the next lesson).
It’s a good thing to have some descent literature about LaTeX before you’re throwing yourself into it. My lessons will take you through the basics, but there might be some thing you’d like to read more about. This free book is the one I used when I started learning. It can also be downloaded as .pdf.
You’re ready, let’s get started!