# runTBTT.engine is an.engine file for TeXShop and should be stored in /Library/TeXShop/Engine - be sure to restart TeXShop.
- TeXShop is an excellent application - thank you very much. I haven't used LaTeX previously, and am sure this application has eased my baptism of fire. Unfortunately, I cannot get the latest update to work - the icon bounces in the dock, but nothing else happens.
- TeXShop Alternatives. The most popular alternative is TeXstudio, which is both free and Open Source.If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked 9 alternatives to TeXShop so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement.
MacTeX | Donate | FAQ | Help | TUG
faq.html gettinghelp.html-->| MacTeX-2021 was released on April 1, 2021. |
| The package is distributed by CTAN, which is connected to many mirror servers across the world. |
| The link on this page points to a multiplexer, which selects a mirror close to you at random. |
| The link points to 'MacTeX.pkg' on the server, which is a link to the actual install package. |
| But before the mirror is updated, this link points to the 2020 version of MacTeX. |
| It can take three or four days before all servers are updated. Consequently, if you jump the gun and try to |
| download on April 1 or 2, you may find that you have downloaded MacTeX-2020. We |
| recommend waiting three or four days. By April 4, most mirrors should have the 2021 version. |
| To obtain the distribution, click the link below. | |||
| All install packages are developer-signed and notarized by Apple. | |||
| While downloading, please skim read the rest of the page. | |||
| Users who run into trouble often write us without noticing that the solution is on this very page. | |||
| MacTeX-2021 requires macOS 10.14, 10.15, or 11 | |||
| Mojave, Catalina, or Big Sur | |||
| and runs natively on both Arm and Intel machines. MacTeX.pkg [ approximately 4.4G - 29 March 2021] The MD5 sum is 327168dcc3036603eccce226cb7fadf9 The SHA256 sum is e541257d70f911550341853709fc45d9fa9fcd4c93058382000ebb19b284833b The SHA512 sum is 05d6e46347feb07bd9fed8ff1bfa855059a8fcf2c452fd832e0db1e15b5c171a2f86b5b911c37166dd19cfaba4f6e7fa4ea9f46c322f87f02f2b411bd1c54852 Download with Safari strongly recommended | |||
Installing MacTeX All binaries in MacTeX-2021 are universal, with code for both Arm and Intel processors. The same source code is used to compile both types of code, so Apple's Arm and Intel machines are on exactly the same footing. After downloading, move the file MacTeX.pkg to the desktop or another convenient spot,and double click it to install. Follow the straightforward instructions. Installation on a recent Macintoshtakes about ten minutes. When installation is complete, go to /Applications/TeX and read the documentREAD ME FIRST installed there, which explains how to find and use LaTeX. A copy of this document is availablehere. The installer presents a Welcome page. Then it presents a ReadMe page with more information.It presents a Software License page, and then a Final Page; clicking the 'Install' button on this page will start the actual installation. The final page also has a 'Customize' button, which leads to a panel allowing users to decide which pieces to install: Ghostscript, the Ghostscript Library, the GUI applications, and TeX Live itself. Most users will take the standard installation and ignore 'Customize'. Users who use MacPorts or HomeBrew may prefer to use the Ghostscript provided by these projects; if so they should use 'Customize' to disable Ghostscript installation. At the end of installation, the installer will report 'Success.' But sometimes, the installer puts up a dialog saying 'Verifying...' and then the install hangs. In all cases known to us, rebooting the Macintosh fixes this problem. After the reboot, install again. If other problems are reported during installation, skip to the section 'Installation Errors' below. MacTeX writes a symbolic link /Library/TeX/texbin which indirectly points to the TeX Live binary directory. Configure your GUI programs to use this link. The GUI programs we supply should automatically configure themselves. On older systems, you may have seen the link /usr/texbinwhich did the same thing. When Apple produced El Capitan, they modified the system so users could no longer write directly to the /usr directory and this rule remains in effect today. Therefore we replaced /usr/texbin with /Library/TeX/texbin. MacTeX installs TeX Live, the actual TeX Distribution, in /usr/local/texlive/2021, a location often hidden in the Finder. Typical users access TeX using a 'front end', a program providing an editor to enter TeX source and a preview window to view the typeset output. MacTeX installs the front end TeXShop in /Applications/TeX and most people will access TeX using that front end or a similar one. MacTeX installs a file called READ-ME-FIRST in ``/Applications/TeX/Docs and Spell Utilities'. This file explains how to start TeXShop and enter and then typeset a short sample document. MacTeX does not overwrite the TeX Distribution from the previous year. Users who run into trouble can switch to the previous distribution until the new distribution is fixed. Long ago we installed a Preference Pane which could do this switching, but this functionality is now in TeX Live Utility, which should be in /Applications/TeX. To switch, use the Configure menu item 'Select Default TeX Live Version.' MacTeX completely configures TeX, so after installationit is ready to use. Go to '/Applications/TeX/Docs and Spell Utilities/READ ME FIRST.pdf' and read this short document to get started. The location '/Applications/TeX/Docs and Spell Utilities/Documents' also contains 'What is installed', which lists all the components of MacTeX and their installation locations. MacTeX installs TeX Live, which contains TeX, LaTeX, AMS-TeX, and virtually every TeX-related style file and font. TeX Live is maintained by TeX User Groups across the world.TeX Live is compiled from the same sources for all platforms: Macintosh, Windows, Linux, Unix. MacTeX also the GUI programsTeXShop, LaTeXiT, TeX Live Utility, and BibDesk. MacTeX installs Ghostscript, an open source version of Postscript. An optional package installs libgs, the dynamical library for Ghostscript. That library is used by only one program in TeX Live, dvisvgm. So it is not installed by default, but can be obtained using the ``custom install' option in MacTeX. X11 is an open source windowing system using by Linux machines. Most Macintosh users can ignore it.An open source version of X11 called XQuartz is available for the Macintosh. It can be found here. If you use X11, you should update to the latest version of XQuartz, 2.8.0. This is particularly important for users with Arm machines. If you installed MacTeX before upgrading XQuartz, just install the Ghostscript piece again. The TeX Live programs xdvi, pdfopen, and pdfclose require X11. In addition, the Ghostscript library libgs requires X11 (but notice that dvisvgm is the only TeX Live program using it). Ghostscript comes with two binaries, gs-X11 and gs-noX11, where gs-X11 has support for X11 and gs-noX11 does not. When Ghostscript is first installed, a symbolic link named gs is created in /usr/local/bin. If X11 is present, gs points to gs-X11; otherwise it points to gs-noX11. On Arm machines, gs points to gs-X11 only if XQuartz 2.8.0 or higher is present. | |||
In almost all cases, this error is caused by a faulty download. There is an easy way to check this. Go to /Applications/Utilities and run Terminal. Type
If you are having trouble downloading MacTeX, note that the download link points to a 'multiplexer' site which parcels out requests to various up-to-date CTAN mirrors. Occasionally users have trouble getting the package from this multiplexer. In that case, choose a specific mirror on this mirror page. If you are still unable to download MacTeX-2021 after trying several specific mirrors, and your md5 sum is always incorrect, there is almost nothing we can do to help. The TeX User Group does not run the distribution servers; they are maintained by an entirely separate organization called CTAN. Complaining to us that your download always fails is a waste of time. Updating Various Pieces After Installation Sometimes at the end of installation, the installer will report 'The installation failedThe Installer encountered an error that caused the installation to fail. Contact the software manufacturer for assistance.'and a space. Then drag the install package icon 'MacTeX.pkg' and drop it on the Terminal window.Push RETURN. Terminal will print a message and then a long item with letters and numbers.Compare this number to the MD5 sum at the top of this page just under the MacTeX.pkg link.If the two numbers are different, your download was defective and you download again.If you downloaded with a third party browser, we recommend trying Safari for the new download.TeX Live 2021 and the various GUI programs installed by MacTeX are up to date as of April, 2021. But various pieces may have been updated since then. Each of our GUI programs has a menu item called 'Check for Updates.' Select this item to update the program to the current version. The TeX Live command line files are updated daily. To install these updates, use TeX Live Utility in /Applications/TeX.
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LaTeX is a system for high-quality technical typesetting. Most mathematicians and many other people use LaTeX to typeset papers, exams, books, and more. The LaTeX Project Home Page has additional information.
Using LaTeX online
You can create an account on Overleaf (https://www.overleaf.com/) or ShareLaTeX (https://www.sharelatex.com/). Each allows you to write in LaTeX and access your files from any computer with an Internet connection.
Installing LaTeX on your personal computer
Many campus computers have PCTeX installed on them. PCTeX is a one-installation-does-it-all program, but it has a fee. There are free versions of LaTeX available online for both the PC and the Mac.
To get LaTeX for the PC: go to http://www.miktex.org and follow their download and installation instructions.
To get LaTeX for the Mac: go to the MacTeX distribution page and download the installer package MacTeX.mpkg.zip. Once you have opened the zip file and run the installer you can use TeXShop to create, edit, and typeset your documents. TeXShop is included in the MacTeX installer package so you don’t need to download it separately. In addition, the TeXShop documentation page includes links to free LaTeX guides to help you get started.
Pronouncing “LaTeX”: fun facts!
Texshop Tutorial
The pronunciation of “LaTeX” is more controversial than you might think. We found a whole web page of TeX Frequently Asked Questions. Their comments are:
Texshop Latex
- “Lamport [LaTeX’s creator] never recommended how one should pronounce LaTeX, but a lot of people pronounce it ‘Lay TeX’ or perhaps ‘Lah TeX’ (with TeX pronounced as the program itself; see the rules for TeX). It is definitely not to be pronounced in the same way as the rubber-tree gum.”
- (From The Rules for TeX): “The ‘X’ stands for the lower case Greek letter Chi (the upper-case Greek letter doesn’t look in the least like a letter “X”) and is pronounced by English-speakers either a bit like the ‘ch’ in the Scots word ‘loch’ ([x] in the IPA) or like ‘k’. It definitely is not pronounced ‘ks’.”