Free online introduction to LaTeX (part 1)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Part 1: The Basics

Welcome to the first part of our free online course to help you learn $\mathrm\LaTeX$. If you have never used LaTeX before, or if it has been a while and you would like a refresher, this is the place to start. This course will get you writing LaTeX right away with interactive exercises that can be completed online, so you don't have to download and install LaTeX on your own computer.

In this part of the course, we'll take you through the basics of how LaTeX works, explain how to get started, and go through lots of examples. Core LaTeX concepts, such as commands, environments, and packages, are introduced as they arise. In particular, we'll cover:

• Setting up a LaTeX Document
• Typesetting Text
• Handling LaTeX Errors
• Typesetting Equations
• Using LaTeX Packages

In part two and part three, we'll build up to writing beautiful structured documents with figures, tables and automatic bibliographies, and then show you how to apply the same skills to make professional presentations with beamer and advanced drawings with TikZ. Let's get started!

These slides have also been translated into French (thanks to Yannis Haralambous) and several other languages.

You can download a PDF or browse the slides below:

We hope you enjoy learning LaTeX with our course. Ready to start writing? Sign up for Overleaf—it's the easiest way to write and collaborate on your new LaTeX projects!

Move on to Part 2

In part two and part three, we'll build up to writing beautiful structured documents with figures, tables and automatic bibliographies, and then show you how to apply the same skills to make professional presentations with beamer and advanced drawings with TikZ. Let's get started!

Looking for slides for your LaTeX course? These slides are open source and permissively licensed (MIT), so you're free to remix them for use in your own courses. Enjoy! :)