Writing Latex Documents under Windows

       "Latex" is more elegant and professional to use for writing paper than the MS Word. Usually we need to write latex paper under Linux (Unix). However, The GUI tools for Latex under Linux are too awkward to use. Also I'm always discouraged when I can't remember a mathematic or type symbol in Latex. Now I have found a way to use Windows to write Latex paper conveniently, as easy as to use MS Word. I feel very comfortable now to write Latex paper.  The software you need are:

1.  GNU Ghostscript and GSview. They are interpreter and viewer for the PostScript language and PS files. Both of them have Windows version. (Free)

2.  MikTex. You can think of it as the compiler for Latex. (Free)

3.  Winedt. Winedt is a powerful GUI that is very convenient to use for Latex document (Only $30 to $40 for education license). It will integrate the MikTex, Ghostscript and Acrobat Reader into its GUI menu and button. You can download its free trail version and try it for 30 days. 

4. GIMP. Originally, Gimp is for Linux that can edit pictures. Now it has Windows version. For Latex, Gimp is useful when you want to transfer some figures under Windows into EPS format. (First install a small GTK+ from the website then install the Gimp). For your convenience, I put an old yet stable version of GIMP installation file here  (you need to first install the gtk, then the gimp).

5. Acrobat. The acrobat distiller in the Acrobat 5 is useful for generating PDF file. However, Winedt can also generate PDF file so acrobat is an optional software.

       The MikTex is about 500MB after total installation (130MB to download). It has Latex reference, so you don't need to check manual books anymore. 

        Using GIMP to transform figures of MS format into EPS:

       In Latex, we use EPS (extended postscript) for all figures. However, figures on Web pages are all in .bmp .jpg or other Windows format, and the Microsoft Powerpoint can only draw beautiful figures under non-eps format. Drawing figures using Xfig under Linux is difficult and inconvenient when we use Windows. Now GIMP can solve this problem: you can draw figures using MS Powerpoint or MS Visio, then use GIMP to cut the correspondent part off and transfer it into EPS format. For Web figures, you can also use GIMP to cut it out and transfer into EPS format. Originally I used Photoshop to transfer the format, but it often generates error EPS files. 

       Using GIMP to transfer EPS figure will lose some resolutions of the figure. So you'd better first enlarge the figure into whole window as big as possible, then use the Gimp menu "File" => "Acquire" => "Screenshot" => "Grab a Window" to grab the window containing the figure. Then select the "Crop" button in GIMP to crop the figure out from the grabbed window. Then right click on the figure and select "save as" to save it into EPS format.

        If you have Visio,  Visio can directly save its drawing into EPS format. However, sometimes the Visio does not work. GIMP is very stable and I have used it for more than one year.

       Advantage of Winedt in writing Latex document:

   1. The Latex file is still in plain-text version. So you can still compile the file under Linux and exchange it with others who do not use Winedt.  

   2. You can change the font and its size to fit your eye. It has different color for different part of the Latex. You can change it to have, e.g., 120 characters per line in order to make the document short and easier to browse. It has the automatic line break similar to MS Word that you don't need to type <enter> again. All lines are in the same length and there will be no more awkward short line after editing: a paragraph looks more comfortable like one paragraph.

   3.  Spelling correction like MS Word: it can automatically check your word and give you red-underline on wrong words. Right click on a wrong word, a popup window will show you some similar correct words. I'm a Chinese and for me this is very helpful. Sometimes I can type a similar word when I forget the correct pronunciations and find the word I want from this function.

   4.  No need to remember complicated Latex symbols. The headache for using Latex at beginning is that you need to remember a large set of symbols. For example, math symbols like \alpha, \Delta, \frac{}{}, \sum; typeface symbols like \textit{}, \textbf{}, etc. Now the Winedt provides "Tex symbol GUI": all these symbols are provided by buttons that one click can give you the correspondent text in your document. 

   5.  Convenience on editing and generating document. All commands are integrated into buttons. One button click will let MikTex to compile your Latex file; another one click you can see the generated DVI. So it's very convenient to check the format effect of your Latex file, which is the primary advantage of MS Word. After editing, one button click will generate PS and another click can generate the screen readable PDF file. (See "Generating screen readable PDF and PS from Latex")

   6.  Popup window for citation and label. When you type \cite{} or \ref{} in your document, all previously defined \bibitem or \label will be shown in a popup window, then you can select the one you want. In this way, you can define your \label long and meaningful, at the same time you will not type wrong when you refer them in the documents.