Documents are generated by undergoing the following series of conversions:
LaTeX markup (.tex) -> Compiled binary (.dvi) -> Postcript (.ps) -> Archive (.pdf)
In most cases, an editor will facilitate the conversion directly from .tex to .pdf without manually stepping through these processes.
Though LaTeX editors exist which resemble popular desktop publishing suites, the use of such programs is highly discouraged. One of the primary principles behind LaTeX is that a document's code should remain readable, portable, and available for collaborative editing and revising. WYSIWYG editors, on the other hand, are known to introduce proprietary formatting and redundant code which can restrict the document's ability to be read and processed by others. If you plan to use LaTeX, plan to learn the language.
A LaTeX installation generally consists of the following:
- An editor
- The LaTeX engine
- Support applications
For an overview of the LaTeX markup language, visit http://www.latex-project.org
Comments or criticism should be posted here: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1625