These are instructions for our GNU/Linux and Unix systems. For Mac users the standard way is to transfer the files to our GNU/Linux and Unix network and to use the methods described here.

From TeX/LaTeX files

To create a PDF file from a plain TeX file "foo.tex" use the shell command

pdftex foo.tex

Similarly, to create a PDF file from a LaTeX file "foo.tex" use the shell command

pdflatex foo.tex

The programs pdftex (resp. pdflatex) work like the standard programs tex (resp. latex). They just produce an output file foo.pdf instead of foo.dvi (besides all kinds of auxiliary files like foo.aux).

Note: This method produces usually much better results than the method with ps2pdf described below. It is therefore preferable.

From Postscript files

To create a PDF file from a Postscript file "foo.ps" use the shell command

ps2pdf foo.ps

From DVI files

To create a PDF file from a DVI file "foo.dvi" first create a Postscript file with the shell command

dvips foo.dvi

and then follow the instructions above for Postscript files.

Department of Mathematics