Local LaTeX FAQ

This page contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for the local installation of LaTeX. This resource is provided to document many of the common problems or queries which have been identified by users; and to provide simple, concise answers to these. The user's attention is also drawn to the new TeX FAQ, compiled by the UK TeX Users Group.

Q: I like my paragraphs separated by blank lines and not indented. I used to use parskip in the options. How do I do it now?
A: parskip is just a package so include a \usepackage{parskip} in your preamble.

Q: What local document styles are available for LaTeX2e?
A: Click Here for a list of all departmental classes and packages.

Q: Is there a LaTeX2e document class for Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science?
A: Yes, the llncs package works under LaTeX2e's compatibility mode. Take a look at "texdoc llncs" for documentation.

Q: Is there a replacement for fullpage.sty?
A: No, that was a gruesome local hack. Use vmargin (vpage) to customise your page size. Refer to The LaTeX Companion for documentation.

Q: Is there an alternative package to Paul Taylor's prooftree for LaTeX2e.
A: Try the proof package instead.

Q: How can I use different typefaces in LaTeX?
A: \usepackage{times} for example. Other available typefaces include pandora, utopia, palatino, bookman, charter etc.

Q: How can I find a list of all supported fonts and what they look like?
A: Click Here for the local master font index.

Q: How do I use the Lucida font? \usepackage{lucidbrb} doesn't work.
A: Try using \usepackage[noexpert]{lucidbrb} instead.

Q: The font which I want to use gives me a dollar sign when I issue a \pounds command. Eh!?
A: Try using \usepackage{t1enc}.

Q: How do I use the AMS fonts on the Macs?
A: What AMS fonts that we have on the Macs are purchased Postscript fonts. To use them successfully, you need to specify a class option psamsfonts to the amsfonts package (you only need to do this on the Macs - we don't have postscript AMS fonts on UNIX): \usepackage[psamsfonts]{amsfonts}

Q: MakeTeXPK barfs saying it can't generate a certain font file. What can I do?
A: One likely reason for this is that the font file is zero length. MakeTeXPK creates temporary font information in /usr/local/lib/TeX/tmp/fonts. If a zero length file is created here then this will cause the above problem. You can simply delete the offending file from this directory tree and the font file will be regenerated next time it is referenced.

Q: Why do some accented symbols produce no result?
A: The installed version of LaTeX appears to be broken and some accented characters in Computer Modern produce no results. For example, the \aa and \AA symbols. These can be redefined to produce the correct results, e.g.

\def\aa{\accent'27a}
\def\AA{\accent'27A}

N.B. most fonts other than CM do not provide a complete character set and may not have certain accented symbols. This is a limitation of the particular font and not a fault with the local system.

Q: The LaTeX2e a4paper option gives rather large margins! How can I get A4 margins similar to my old LaTeX 2.09 documents?
A: Try \usepackage{a4wide}.

Q: How can you prevent LaTeX forcing a large array onto one page and then leaving a huge gap?
A: See "texdoc longtable", or break it manually.

Q: How can I produce a landscape document?
A: Try the portland package. This provides two commands: \portrait and \landscape. E.g. put \usepackage{portland} in your preamble, and \landscape directly after your begin{document}.

Q: What utilities do we have to support BibTeX databases (.bib files)?
A: See "texdoc bibtools" for a description of the local BibTeX tools.

Q: Why don't the PostScript images in my document appear when I print it?
A: This could be because your EPS file is too complicated for the printer, however it's more likely that the printing system cannot access the file. Here are two solutions:

1. Make sure that you refer to the EPS file by its full pathname and also that the file (and all enclosing directories) are world-readable.
2. Alternatively, you can force the conversion to PostScript to be performed immediately (rather than when your job reaches the top of the print queue) by using the -Fm option to lpr.

Q: Which, in your opinion, is the best book covering layout in LaTeX?
A: Lamport: LaTeX a Document Preparation System and Goossens et al.: The LaTeX Companion are the standard references, and fairly good.