Using LaTeX

Font Selection

Use of the standard fonts (Computer Modern) has been the single biggest problem area for LaTeX because these fonts are bit-mapped. We ask people to use LaTeX2e together with the times package. This solves most of the problems, although maths fonts are still set in Computer Modern, but this already produces a reasonable result and has the advantage that times is a narrower font and therefore one can get more into the paper. Since early 1997 it has been possible to obtain non bit mapped versions of Computer Modern fonts in the public domain which means that it is possible to obtain excellent results even for papers with a high percentage of maths in them (see below for more details).

Where LaTeX2e has not yet been installed we would recommend that laboratories install it, together with the appropriate packages which should include psnfss, psfonts etc.

It is possible to use slightly older versions of LaTeX/TeX but they must support the New Font Selection Scheme (which has been available since 1989) and Times fonts should be available.

Tables and Figures

Use relative pathnames when referring to external files, this makes the source more portable. e.g.
"../graphs/jp104-f1.eps" and not the complete path to the file.

Full page width tables and figures can be obtained by using the figure* and table* environments.

Graphics can be incorporated using the includegraphics command available in the graphics package of LaTeX2e . This package will allow re-sizing and rotation of the graphics, which should be in encapsulated postscript format.

Authors using older versions of LaTeX can use the epsfig or psfig styles.

Lists

New dense list environments Itemize, Enumerate and Description are available with the ICALEPCS.cls file. These allow a much more economical use of the space whilst the original versions itemize, enumerate and description remain available.

Making the Postscript

The version of dvips in use varies across the laboratories but in general one should use the switch which limits the output resolution to 600dpi (-D600) and watch out for the -K option which concerns the removal of document structuring comments from included graphics (these can sometimes confuse the printer and prevent printing).

For papers with a high mathematical content it is recommended to include type 1 Computer Modern fonts in the postscript file. One of the more common versions of these fonts which are available in the public domain was produced by Basil K. Malyshev of IHEP (Protvino, Russia) and is invoked by using the -Pbkm option with dvips.

The postscript file should be made with first-page first, not reverse order.

LaTeX Installation

Since the many of the problems for previous conferences seem to have come from LaTeX installations, authors  are encouraged to create suitable installations using the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN) or by purchasing the CD-ROM descibed below. CTAN consists of anonymous ftp servers which can deliver all of the TeX/LaTeX sources.

Information about how to make an installation with the appropriate facilities can be found in Appendix B of `The LaTeX Companion', by Goossens, Mittelbach and Samarin, published by Addison-Wesley, 1994. Alternatively, see the help available on the CTAN servers, for example ftp.shsu.edu (Sam Houston State University, Texas) or ftp.tex.ac.uk (Cambridge University, England).

In May, 1996, the TeX Users Group, the UK TeX Users Group and the French TeX Users Group (GUTenberg), in collaboration with members of other groups and helpful individuals, produced a plug-and-play CD-ROM of Thomas Esser's teTeX, based on Karl Berry's Web2c. A new (second) edition of TeX Live is now available. It contains the complete LaTeX December, 1996, patch level 1 release, all tools, and most of the contributed packages on CTAN; format files are provided with the appropriate hyphenation patterns for around 20 languages; other formats include amstex, blue, eplain, lollipop, physsx, psizzl, and text1. Complementary sets of miscellaneous macros are also included. Font families include CM (including the Blue Sky/Y&Y Type 1 versions of the fonts), EC, TC, AMS, Euler, Concrete, and the complete set of PostScript metrics from CTAN. Source material for all packages, fonts and programs is on the CD. Documentation is available in at least one (and sometimes all) of dvi, HTML and PDF. More information on the CD-ROM is available at TUG's TeX Live Page.


Photo by Ugo Borsatti, Archivio Storico "Foto Omnia"