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I am an undergraduate studying mathematics. I am currently in the process of writing my first paper for submission to an academic journal.

While learning about the process of submitting a paper it has become apparent to me that most journals require the paper to be formatted using LaTeX.

So... I am now trying to learn how to use it.

I do have a little experience with LaTeX because I have used Math Stack Exchange.

That being said, I just feel very overwhelmed.

So I am hoping you guys could give me a little direction and answer a few questions.

I downloaded the ProText distribution yesterday and installed Texstudio and MiKTeX, and then it also came with Sumatra.

So Textstudio is what you would call a LaTex editor right? Then what exactly is MiKTeX and Sumatra? I don't see an .exe file for MiKTeX, is it an application?

One of the journals I am thinking of submitting my paper to is the Fibonacci Quarterly. They provide a style file that gives you a template for how the paper should look. So I guess that should make it much easier for me. I should be able to just copy and paste the code right into TeXstudio correct? And then just insert my text and equations in the appropriate areas.

So is the ProText distribution a good distribution to be using along with TeXstudio, MiKTeX, and Sumatra? Am I on the right track?

Is there anything else I should know?

Thanks in advance for the help.

FofX
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    Welcome. TeXstudio is an editor. Right. MikTeX has a lot of program, we say, it is the compiler. You don't need ProText. Sumatra is a pdf viewer. – Sigur Dec 31 '14 at 18:34
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    Open TeXstudio, write only this: \documentclass{article} \begin{document} test foo \end{document} and save the file (for example, test.tex) and press F6. If everything is right, a pdf file will be created and you press F7 to view it. – Sigur Dec 31 '14 at 18:36
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    If the style file is a .sty, don't copy and paste anything. Just save a copy in your paper's directory and add \usepackage{nameofstylefile} to your document's preamble. See also LaTeX Wikibook: Basics. – Mike Renfro Dec 31 '14 at 18:41
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    To give you an overview of the system, see What TeX software to write technical papers with?. (This may be a suitable duplicate) – Alan Munn Dec 31 '14 at 18:44
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    @Sigur ProTeXt is (as I understand it) more or less just MikTeX + TeXStudio + maybe some other stuff. It is more common to call MikTeX a distribution, it contains all the necessary style files, class files, font files, binaries etc. to use (La)TeX. – Torbjørn T. Dec 31 '14 at 18:44
  • Thank you for the very helpful comments everyone. @Mike Renfro: What is the directory you were referring to? – FofX Dec 31 '14 at 18:52
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    the fibonacci "template" (actually a dummy article) is based on amsart, and i've noticed a few oddities in its preamble that i will discuss with the editor (or whoever he says created the file). i'll be back in touch. (to process the file in its present form -- it's formatted as an html file -- delete the <pre> and </pre> lines at the beginning and end. and then process it as explained in another comment. you will get a few warnings; i'm going to tell the editor how to get rid of those.) – barbara beeton Dec 31 '14 at 19:03
  • @TorbjørnT. It was first time I hear about ProTeXt since I don't use Windows. – Sigur Dec 31 '14 at 19:07
  • @MikeRenfro -- the "template" begins (after <pre> to make it behave as an html file) with \documentclass[11pt,reqno]{amsart}, so it isn't a .sty file but a standalone example. i've taken a reasonably close look, and it could use some help, but it does work (with a few warnings) as provided after removing the html wrapper. – barbara beeton Dec 31 '14 at 19:35
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    The directory is whichever one you have your document in. But that's not relevant anyway. Just copy the template to mypaper.tex, open in it TeXStudio and do as barbara beeton said. – cfr Jan 01 '15 at 01:00

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