How to write a thesis using LaTeX **full tutorial** 

My thank to www.overleaf.com for sponsoring today's video. I've used them for years prior to being sponsored and their cloud based LaTeX editor has so many useful free or premium features that just makes it easier to write a thesis.

Ulimate tip: Get the tex-file from somebody who recently published his thesis. Keep all the layout-config issues, try to successful run it on your tex system, just fill it with your content - in case you are not sure how to write a nice table, exotic equation, etc. there is a good chance your colleague already figured it out, otherwise it is 5min of google it.

Wrote my thesis two years ago...and it's funny how much similar my latex is built up. Few tips after reviewing my latex document, feel free to use them (I know some of them might be included in upcoming videos): - I recommend making a folder for each chapter and it this folder a figures/images/whatever folder together with the tex file of the chapter. This way it's easier to preview images for a certain chapter. Otherwise the list gets so long you can search for a long time searching for a particular file name. Also it allows to easily extract a single chapter if you want to include it into another document (e.g. if your start with your PhD afterwards and a chapter of your thesis will be a chapter of your PhD as well). -Make at least two versions of compilable documents, one for publishing online without empty pages (oneside), and one for printing (twoside, \cleardoublepage after each chapter to get the begin of the chapter always on an odd page). You can normally use the same "main" section and include it in both versions to keep them in sync with the latest version (\cleardoublepage will be ignored for oneside), and the beginning you make different (Documentclass parameters, extra white pages). With this technique of including the same main you can easily make more variations if wanted (e.g. a version with extened abstract and one without, make one for different page sizes, make a black and white variant for alpha versions, etc.) -Use \afterpage{\blankpage} if you want to add blank pages (For printed version handy at some places, you don't want to add blank pages manually and risking to forget this or mess it up or have to do this for each copy you print. Also always include 2 blank pages at once if you print twoside, as this is 1 blank page when printing. -You can use \pagenumbering{gobble} for everything before the main section, this wil be numbered then in Roman numbers. Reset to latin after the table of contents with \setcounter{page}{1}. It's imho nicer when your main book starts again at page 1. -Put your settings and usepackages and similar things in a separate file (it's quite basic in the video, it will get messier often in real life) (and use \include to include it in the mains). The mains will stay very clean this way. -If you get a template for a titlepage of your university in Word and there is not latex template (or you have difficulties with the latex template to be compatible with your latex document for some reason): you can still use it, just make the page, create a pdf of it and include the pdf. The one annoying thing about it is when you have to fill in a date of handing in, then you need to do this last minute...but 9/10 this is the due date you fill in there ;)

First year engineering student here. Getting in the habit of using TeX early and my lecturers seem to appreciate it. Sure, it takes a little more effort to finish a write up, but having consistent style throughout everything I do means that when I start revising, I can easily switch between documents and have the same layout. Also, writing equations feels so much more streamlined than say, Microsoft Word.

On my university LaTeX was mandatory for master thesis. Our facility even had its own template. At first it quite difficulty, but later on you start to appreciate it. To this day I still use LaTeX for my resume

Oooh Man, I turned a blind eye to Latex, after I watched some videos to other instructors.. Once I watched this video, I realized, that I have missed too much.. Thanks so much

Thank you for the video, I was really struggling with organizing the images of my thesis and I was starting to gave up. Until I ran into your video

HOW CAN I LIKE THIS VIDEO A MILLION TIMES! Thank you so much Dr. Trefor!

I should be done writing my thesis, but here I am three weeks before my defense date, writing and shifting what I have from word to LaTeX. I don't know how I could've completed two years of a master's in physics using just word, but I'm glad that I have this video to get by. Thank you so much, Trefor!

I love how much fun you have explaining it

Omg I am just starting to write my thesis and your video is a lifesaver! Thank you soooo much! :) I have really enjoyed your video and I have learned so much! :D

I've been using LaTeX for years and thought I knew it, but I hadn't used it for large documents before writing my master thesis. Then I ran into quite a few problems and this video thaught me a lot of different nuances that makes the experience a lot smoother.

Thank you so much for this video. I was literally looking for one just three nights ago that shows how to do a thesis from scratch, and not just using templates. This is GREAT!

I really love how you explain it all. Thank you for uploading such great content.

I'm so glad I subbed back in Analysis 2, this is a gold mine.

I'm definitely going to use this since I already work my assignments on obsidian md already and it's easy to just move my stuff there

Hello! Thank you so much for this video. I'm glad you're covering this topic at more length. I'm getting a mathematics degree, so I'm sure you can imagine how useful this is for me. Your first video regarding the subject and your great ability to convey meaning was the nail in the coffin for me to actually start learning Latex. Now I'm quite obsessed; I even wrote a presentation (for which, one traditionally uses slides) on Dedekind Cuts using Latex, and it looked more like a paper than a presentation. I have no regrets. On a side note, learning Latex made learning Python more comprehensible for me as I had no prior experience writing "codes" beforehand. My point is, thank you so much for your effort and wonderful teaching. It really did have an impact on someone's academic experience🌻

You are enjoying teaching. It's gene wired skills and This is your strength . Many love what you are doing. Thank you .

Yes!! The last video on Latex was sooo good. I can't wait to get stuck in to this one. Super channel. Thanks for all the awesome videos

Thank You, Dr.Bazett!!

Thank Sir Bazett! You're my ultimate overleaf reference.👏👏👏

I wrote my thesis using LaTeX in Texmaker as a mechanical engineer. Thank you for this tutorial video, i think it can help a lot of people.

Damn! Prof. Trefor is back with a bam!!

Amazing content, professor!.. looking forward to the video on packages!

Thank you so so much, I'm not into computer and coding but you make it really really easy for me to my write my thesis... yours teaching skills are great ..... may Allah bless you and grant you house in jannah... Ameen

finally, was waiting for 100 years for this!!

I enjoy your style of explaining things

I have a submission due tomorrow. Perfect timing.

you made it look very easy, it was really entertaining. Thank you

Very informative video, nicely done!

I just needed this vid thanks

Awesome video man :) I always had an ambivalent relationship with latex because many editors have really limited autocompletion abilities.

I did my undergraduate final project in LaTex and I loved it, no headaches with the bibliography or the table of contents or the formulas. I even got an honorable mention! Totally recommend it. (Btw my career is software engineering)

This is wonderful, Thanks a lot. Latex is awesome 🙂

I really hope to use your video very soon (as soon I can get results to write my PhD thesis). Thanks!!!

This is the video I've been needing

i love this, thank you very much

So Amazing Tutorial.

Nice one, thanks!

Wonderful tutorial

I got the template from my teacher 4 years ago and since then I always used the same. I even recently wrote my Bachelor’s thesis with the same template.

We have LaTex as an elective course in the Bachelor's programme of physics Major in my University. Initial learning curve is steep for me atleast. I am still struggling a lot but I am still enjoying it given the fact that LaTex gives us full freedom to customize documents and frees is from the limitations of word processors. Just a terminal along with a text editor and document viewer, and I am good to go

So glad we were taught how to use Latex as a first year in my physics undergrad course 👌🏻

Want to thank you so much for making this video. I tried writing the first 20 pages of my dissertation in Word but it was terrible; text boxes disappearing just to reappear out of thin air later when pictures were imported, page breaks happening where they shouldn't be, etc. It was driving me crazy. LaTeX is so much better and I thank you for making this initially daunting package easy to understand.

Finally. Thanks so much for this video.

Went thru university with this tool. used terminal and modem from home. no $$$ for 486 machine. made me learn unix and still used today.

Thank you very much professor I can't tell you how helpful your Latex tutorials are because if I go to search all these things by myself it would be very tough task to get all tricks that you're sharing with us.❤

Really helpful video, now I'm just waiting for your next video.

You saved my life. Thank you for this video

Super AMAZING!!

بارك الله فيكم وجزاكم الله خير جزاء المحسنين

Excellent. Really good video & addresses many queries

Thanks a lot for the explanation!!! That's awesome use latex!!

Thank you!!

Thank you so much :))

Back in 1981, my Masters was written using QED line editor and ROFF text formatter on a Honeywell mainframe. It was all about words!

Great job many thanks!

Just discovered your channel and I love your videos, subbed

You're the best!

Thanks Trever this is amazing! Just a tiny nit: You can do a little color correction in post production to make the green-screen video blend in more with the screen recording.

Heheh I had to do that as well for my group theory thesis (Sylow Theorems) .used overleaf! It was super easy and the best thing was to share it with my advisor! Great video! I think for Math/ Stat latex is a must and it looks so much professionally done vs word which is so yucky!!

Really a big thanku sir ...your video helped me and my classmate to make our master's thesis report 😀

This is very useful

You are great!

This video is a lifesaver 😎

Thank you , it was helpful for me

Nice video, I think for PhD thesis also is important to know how to do figures (histogram, graph ..etc.) in pure latex using pgfplots ..and Gnuplot LATEX.

Economics student here. I work a lot with statistical and econometric modelling in my term papers and research. Idek why I've never heard of LaTeX. It's much more convenient than MS Office or even Google Docs urggh. LaTeX makes a lot of sense. Writing many mathematical formulas on a MS Word file is such a hassle. Google Docs is even worse

Thanks alot sir for this!!!!!

I am watching this vid in Robert library thank you, Dr. Trefor.

It is really amazin!!!! Many thanks for this compelling video!!! Really usefull.

good, realy your explanation is very clear

Thank u so much sir

Thank you sir

It's great job, go ahead Dr this is one of very useful program for anyone study Mathematics.

thank you so much

This seems very useful for someone in electrical engineering

Overleaf for life

جزاك الله خيرا جزاء المحسنين

You can start by using Lyx as a bridge

thanks a lot sir, i got 1 credit from this video

thank you verry much man

Great tutorial! Now as a chemistry majored I'll go figure out how to draw chemical graphics :)

History, sharing and collaborating are free features.

I already know how to use latex but I'm just keeping this for a reference in the near future hahaha BY THE WAY you should do a tutorial with the command tabular, when I do a table with a lot of horizontal values, it looks well... Weird and I would like some tips to make it look better lol

Wrote my Physical Chemistry dissertation in Latex! Several papers as well!

Very useful videos

When i was a freshman, latex wasn’t relate for me. But now, this video really2 related since i’m in the final year

Thanks Prof

Very nice video

Thank u

HAHAHA, my thesis is due in 2 weeks for my undergraduate honours project and I was just going to procrastinate. But you remind me of that with the title. Thank you!

Love the videos! Just wanted to let you know that sometimes the audio gets distorted/crunchy (I think due to the sensitivity of the mic?)

You can hit control + s or cms + s for compilation

Wow! I can't believe how short it is. My meteorology PhD thesis was just over 300 pages long. I guess if you prove something mathematically, you don't need a lot of waffle! I wrote my thesis in Latex, and I thought it was fairly simple. Trying to get figures and captions and references to work in Microsoft Word is horrendous!

English is not my mother language. I must say, your english speaking is really clear enough to understand.

Awwww! What do you mean "Thesis left to the reader!" 😝 Just a little math joke since our books love leaving proofs for us to do! 😂

Jesus, does that still exist? How many decades of development effort and MSWord still cannot compete.

I have been taken shelter in Microsoft Word. Oh, it is really a mind-blowing video. I say bye to office.

This is the longest of asking somebody to like and subscribe that I've ever met in youtube :D