LaTeX Tutorial

\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}% this line has been changed
\usepackage{a4,indentfirst,palatino,overcite}  % this line has been added
% Note that from now on you need to use dvips to convert your output
% file to postscript, then ghostscript to preview your document.

% Now they want subsection headings to be in sans serif and centred.
% The command that controls this is called \subsection.
% We need to redefine this in our preamble. So
%  1) Find where \subsection is defined (remember, when latex runs it
%     shows you the files it loads in. On my system, \subsection is defined
%     in /usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/base/article.cls
%  2) Copy the definition into this file after the \usepackage
%     line but before \begin{document}
%  3) change the '\newcommand\subsection' to \renewcommand{\subsection}
%  4) Put \makeatletter before the redefinition and \makeatother
%     after, so that we can use the \@startsection command (commands
%     whose names start with '@' are special).
% This won't affect the appearance of the document, but it's
% enough for the moment.

\begin{document}
\tableofcontents
\listoffigures
\bibliographystyle{plain}
\nocite{pragmatic}
\section{Simple Text}

Words are separated by one or more spaces.  Paragraphs are separated by
one or more blank lines.  The output is not affected by adding extra
spaces or extra blank lines to the input file.
\begin{figure}[htbp]
\vspace{1cm}
\caption{1cm of space}
\end{figure}
Double quotes are typed like this: ``quoted text''.
Single quotes are typed like this: `single-quoted text'.

Long dashes are typed as three dash characters---like this.
\cite{ohp,cuedcbt}

\subsection{A Warning or Two}

If you get too much space after a mid-sentence period---abbreviations
like etc.\ are the common culprits)---then type a backslash followed by
a space after the period, as in this sentence.

\subsection{Another Warning}
Remember, don't type the 10 special characters (such as dollar sign and
backslash) except as directed!  The following seven are printed by
typing a backslash in front of them:  \$  \&  \#  \%  \_  \{  and  \}.  
The manual tells how to make other symbols.
\begin{figure}[htbp]
\vspace{1in}
\caption{1in of space}
\end{figure}
\bibliography{desktop}
\end{document}