Command Cheat Sheet

A quick index of the commands. Those marked (format) require \use{document}; the rest are engine primitives available in any document.

A quick index of the commands. Those marked (format) require \use{document}; the rest are engine primitives available in any document.

Document structure (format)

Command	Effect
`\title{…}` `\author{…}` `\date{…}`	set the title-block fields
`\maketitle`	typeset the centered title block
`\begin{abstract}…\end{abstract}`	a centered, indented summary
`\section{…}` `\subsection{…}`	auto-numbered headings
`\begin{itemize}` `\begin{enumerate}` `\item`	bulleted and numbered lists
`\begin{quote}` `\begin{quotation}`	indented quotation blocks
`\footnote{…}`	a numbered footnote
`\figure[htb]{…}` `\table[htb]{…}` `\caption{…}`	floats with numbered captions

Command	Effect
`\emph{…}` `\textit{…}` `\textbf{…}`	italic, italic, bold
`\texttt{…}`	monospaced (Latin Modern Mono)
`\color{name}` `\textcolor{name}{…}`	pen colour (CSS name or `#RRGGBB`)
`\href{url}{text}` `\url{url}`	clickable links (real PDF annotations)
`\TeX` `\LaTeX` `\TeXish`	the logos
…’’ `` `--` `---` `...` `~`	quotes, dashes, ellipsis, tie

Command	Effect
$…$ `$$…$$`	inline and display math
`^` `_`	super/subscript
`\frac{a}{b}` `a \over b`	fractions
`\sqrt{x}` `\sqrt[3]{x}`	roots
`\sum` `\int` `\prod` `\limits`	big operators
`\left( … \right)`	stretchy delimiters
`\hat` `\vec` `\widehat`	accents
`\text{…}` `\mathcal{…}`	upright / calligraphic
`\matrix` `\pmatrix` `\bmatrix` `\cases`	matrices
`\eqno(…)`	display equation number

Command	Effect
`\hbox` `\vbox` `\vtop`	explicit boxes
`\centerline` `\leftline` `\rightline` `\centering`	alignment
`\rlap` `\llap`	zero-width overlap boxes
`\kern` `\hskip` `\vskip`	rigid / glue spacing
`\smallskip` `\medskip` `\bigskip`	named vertical gaps
`\vfil` `\vfill` `\hfil` `\hss`	stretchable fill
`\lower` `\raise`	shift a box vertically
`\penalty` `\nobreak` `\eject`	page-break control

Command	Effect
`\includegraphics[width=,height=,scale=]{path}`	place a PNG or JPEG
`\picture width:… height:… {…}`	open a vector-graphics drawing

Command	Effect
`\def name args {body}`	define a macro (`[name:default]` optional args)
`\newenvironment name {begin}{end}`	define a `\begin`/`\end` environment
`\let` `\global` `\gdef`	aliasing and global definitions
`\if` `\ifx` `\else` `\fi`	conditionals
`\calc{…}` `\+ \- \* \/`	arithmetic
`\for … \done`	iteration
`\newcounter` `\stepcounter` `\value` `\arabic`/`\roman`/`\Roman`/`\alph`/`\Alph`	counters and number formatting
`\use{name}` `\include{path}`	load a format / include raw input

pt (the base unit, 1/72 in), in, cm, mm, em, ex.