# Difference between revisions of "LaTeX:About"

 LaTeX About - Getting Started - Diagrams - Symbols - Downloads - Basics - Math - Examples - Pictures - Layout - Commands - Packages - Help

Latex, or $\text{\LaTeX}$ (pronounced lah-TEK or lay-TEK), is a typesetting markup language that is useful to produce properly formatted mathematical and scientific expressions.

## Using LaTeX in the Community, the AoPSWiki, or the Classroom

If you're starting and looking to learn more about what $\text{\LaTeX}$ can do, see this non-technical introduction on $\text{\LaTeX}$. If you are just learning $\text{\LaTeX}$ for use on the AoPS site, then go to the LaTeX on AoPS page. If you would like to produce full documents of your own LaTeX, please follow the directions below.

## Getting Started with Writing Documents in LaTeX

1. The first step is to install the software to use LaTeX on your computer.
2. All of these packages are free. They are not developed or distributed by Art of Problem Solving.

(You will also need a PDF viewer such as the free Adobe Reader; however this program is already installed on most computers as well as in Google Chrome.)

3. Work through the "Basics" pages:
• The First Document page walks you through creating your first LaTeX document.
• The Math page shows you how to typeset mathematics in LaTeX.
• The Style section shows you how to control the basic appearance of your document.
4. The Pictures section shows you how to add images to your LaTeX documents.