LaTeX Tutorial Series: Basic Settings

Basic document settings in LaTeX, including fonts, page layout, and commonly used packages.

In the previous article, Your First LaTeX Document, we created a document that compiles successfully and learned about the basic structure of a document class, preamble, and body. However, a document that “runs” is still quite far from one that “looks good” — the default LaTeX output has noticeable limitations in terms of fonts, Chinese support, and page margins.

In this article, you will learn how to use a few common packages and settings to make your document more practical:

• Setting the page layout (margins and paper size)
• Loading Chinese language support
• Adjusting fonts and line spacing
• Getting familiar with some essential packages
• Setting up headers and footers

The Tower of Babel in the TeX World

Like many programming languages, TeX was invented by people in the Western world, so it is not very friendly to users from East Asian countries by default — much like the Tower of Babel in the Bible, where each language group is separated from the others. As computers became more widely used, demand from non-English users grew, and engineers developed different compilation systems that support various languages.

Different TeX compilation systems

Compilation System	Advantages	Disadvantages
pdfLaTeX	Stable and widely supported, produces PDF directly	Poor support for non-Latin scripts and OpenType fonts
XeLaTeX	Supports Unicode and OpenType fonts, works with multiple languages	Compilation may be slower
LuaLaTeX	Supports Unicode and OpenType, with powerful Lua extensions	Compilation may be slower
LaTeX	Can produce DVI output, highly flexible	Requires extra steps to convert DVI to PS or PDF
TeX	Highly flexible and controllable	More complex syntax, less convenient than LaTeX
ConTeXt	Good for multilingual and complex typesetting, actively developed	Less compatible with LaTeX, requires learning new syntax
OpTeX	Simple and practical, modern syntax design	Smaller user community, fewer resources available
AMS-TeX	Excellent math typesetting, designed specifically for mathematicians	More limited in scope compared to LaTeX

If you have been following the examples in the previous articles, you may have noticed that they were all written in English. What if your document is in Chinese? If you have been thinking about this, you are ahead of many beginners — the first section of this article will explain how to set up Chinese fonts.

Packages

If you have played online role-playing games, you probably know that you need equipment to unlock certain skills or abilities. LaTeX works in a similar way — you need packages to access specific features, such as the Chinese support we are about to discuss. This section will show you how to install and use packages, and where to look for help when you are not sure how to configure one.

Installing and Using Packages

To use a LaTeX package, you use the \usepackage[options]{package-name} command in the preamble to tell the compiler which package you need.¹ If you are running LaTeX locally (with a compiler already installed), the compiler will usually ask whether you want to install a missing package before it can be used.² Make sure the package is actually installed before trying to compile.

At the end of the previous article, you may have noticed some unfamiliar non-English characters in the example. That text is the well-known Lorem ipsum (often called Lipsum) — a piece of placeholder text derived from a work by the ancient Roman writer Cicero. It is commonly used in design and typesetting to fill space and test layout appearance. The following examples use the lipsum and blindtext packages to demonstrate this.³

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lipsum}

\begin{document}
\lipsum[1-2]  % generates paragraphs 1 to 2 of Lorem ipsum
\end{document}

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{blindtext}

\begin{document}
\blinddocument  % generates a sample document with headings, paragraphs, lists, etc.
\end{document}

The Manual: CTAN

If you buy something but do not know how to use it, the item is not very useful to you. That is why manufacturers provide user manuals — to clearly explain how to operate the product and how to deal with common problems.

LaTeX packages each have their own documentation, and these are stored in a repository called CTAN.⁴ For example, to look up the documentation for the lipsum package, search for “CTAN lipsum” in your browser. The first result is usually the correct one. Clicking into it will show the package page on CTAN, where the documentation is typically listed under “Package documentation.”

Text Settings

This is the section most readers have been waiting for. Before we begin, I should mention that because this tutorial is connected to TeXLive.net, it is not possible to upload local font files or images to TeXLive. The examples below are therefore adapted from those available on the TeXLive.net website.

Font Size

In LaTeX, there are two main ways to change font size: using predefined size commands, or using the \selectfont command. The predefined commands are simpler and easier to use:

Command	Size (pt)	Command	Size (pt)
\tiny	5	\large	12
\scriptsize	7	\Large	14
\footnotesize	8	\LARGE	17
\small	9	\huge	20
\normalsize	10	\Huge	25

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}

This is \tiny tiny text.
This is \large large text.
This is \Huge the largest text.

\end{document}

The second approach is to use \fontsize{size}{baselineskip}\selectfont. Here, size is the font size and baselineskip is the line spacing. For example, to set the font to 25pt with a 14pt line spacing, you would write {\fontsize{25}{14}\selectfont text to resize}.

Notice the curly braces {} — they create a local scope, so the settings inside only affect the content within the braces and do not change anything outside.

Font Families

The table below shows how to set the three main font families in LaTeX: serif, sans serif, and typewriter (monospace). Each has a corresponding command and a shorthand alternative:

Font Family	Command	Alternative
serif (roman)	\textrm{Sample Text 0123}	\rmfamily
sans serif	\textsf{Sample Text 0123}	\sffamily
typewriter (monospace)	\texttt{Sample Text 0123}	\ttfamily

In Word, you select a block of text and choose a font from a dropdown menu. This is straightforward but inconvenient — if the font file is not installed on a particular computer, it will fall back to a default font. LaTeX handles this more cleanly with the fontspec package, which provides a reliable way to set and change fonts, especially when compiling with XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX.

To use it, load fontspec in the preamble, then use \setmainfont, \setsansfont, and \setmonofont to specify your fonts. In general, font files should be stored in a fonts subfolder with the path specified, so the compiler knows where to find them.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{Times New Roman}
\setsansfont{Arial}
\setmonofont{Courier New}

\begin{document}
This is Serif.
\textsf{This is Sans Serif.}
\texttt{This is Mono.}
\end{document}

Font Styles

In LaTeX, bold, italic, and bold italic each serve a different purpose. Bold is commonly used to emphasize important words, headings, or subheadings. Italic is typically used for book titles, article names, or foreign-language terms. Bold italic is used when even stronger visual emphasis is needed.

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
This is normal text.
This is \textbf{bold} text.
This is \textit{italic} text.
This is \textbf{\textit{bold italic}} text.
\end{document}

Setting Up Chinese

To use Chinese in LaTeX, you need a special package to handle font rendering and character encoding. The most common choice is xeCJK, which requires the XeLaTeX compiler.⁵ First, make sure XeLaTeX is installed on your system. Then load both xeCJK and fontspec in your preamble — xeCJK handles the Chinese characters, while fontspec manages the font settings. Here is a minimal example:

% !TeX xelatex
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{FandolSong}

\begin{document}
你好，這是一份測試文件。
\end{document}

For local setups where you want to use your own font files, create a fonts folder in the same directory as your .tex file and place your Chinese font files there (.ttf, .TTF, or .otf formats are all supported). The cwTeX fonts are a recommended option. Here is how to set them up:

% !TeX xelatex
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xeCJK}
\usepackage{fontspec}

% Set Chinese fonts
\setCJKmainfont[Path=./fonts/]{cwTeXQMing-Medium.ttf}
\setCJKfamilyfont{kai}[Path=./fonts/]{cwTeXQKai-Medium.ttf}
\newcommand{\kai}[1]{{\CJKfamily{kai}#1}}
\setCJKfamilyfont{hei}[Path=./fonts/]{cwTeXQHei-Bold.ttf}
\newcommand{\hei}[1]{{\CJKfamily{hei}#1}}

\begin{document}
你好，這是一份測試文件。
\end{document}

In this example, \setCJKmainfont sets the default Chinese font — the one that appears when no other font is specified. \setCJKfamilyfont registers a named font family, such as kai for the Kai (regular script) style. The Path=./fonts/ option tells the compiler where to look for the file, and the filename comes last.

Registering a font family is not enough on its own — you also need a command to invoke it. This is done with \newcommand. The syntax is \newcommand{command name}[number of arguments]{definition}.⁶ In the example above, \newcommand{\kai}[1]{{\CJKfamily{kai}#1}} creates a \kai command that wraps any text you pass to it in the Kai font. The same pattern applies to \hei and any other font families you register.

Page Settings

With the text configuration covered, we can now move on to other parts of the document. This section will show you how to adjust margins, section heading styles, and headers and footers.

Margin Settings

Just like in Word, LaTeX allows you to set the top, bottom, left, and right margins of a page. The geometry package makes this straightforward. After loading the package, use \geometry{} to configure the settings. Here is an example that sets top and bottom margins to 2 cm and left and right margins to 2.5 cm:

% !TeX xelatex
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{FandolSong}

\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a4paper, margin=2.5cm}

\title{My First \LaTeX\ Document}
\author{Author Name}
\date{\today}

\begin{document}
\maketitle
Hello, this is a test document.
\end{document}

To set all margins to the same value, use \geometry{margin=2cm}. To set only one side, use \geometry{left=3cm} — and similarly for top, right, and bottom.

The geometry package also supports other options such as paper size, page orientation, and binding offset. Use a4paper, letterpaper, and similar options for paper size, or add landscape to switch to horizontal orientation.⁷ If you need extra space on the binding side, use the bindingoffset parameter. For example, an A3 landscape document with 2.5 cm margins and a 1 cm binding offset would look like this:

\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a3paper, margin=2.5cm, landscape, bindingoffset=1cm}

Section Heading Format

In Word, formatting section headings requires selecting each heading and applying a style manually.⁸ This is inconvenient and can break easily when new sections are added.

In LaTeX, the titlesec package handles this. After loading it, use the \titleformat{heading}[shape]{format}{label}{sep}{before-code}[after-code] command to define the heading style. Each part of this command does the following:

1. heading: The heading command you want to style, such as \section or \subsection
2. shape: An optional parameter for the heading shape, such as block or display. Can be omitted if not needed
3. format: Sets the font, size, color, and other styling for the heading text
4. label: Defines how the heading number is displayed; use \thesection, \thesubsection, etc., or leave it empty {} for no numbering
5. sep: The horizontal space between the number and the heading text
6. before-code: Commands to run before the heading text, such as inserting a rule or icon
7. after-code: Optional commands to run after the heading text

Here is a working example:

% !TeX xelatex
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\usepackage{xeCJK, CJKnumb}
\setmainfont{FandolSong}

\usepackage{zhlipsum}

\usepackage{titlesec}
\titleformat{\section}
  {\normalfont\Large\bfseries}
  {\CJKnumber{\thesection}、}
  {1em}
  {}

\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a4paper, margin=2.5cm}

\title{My First \LaTeX\ Document}
\author{Author Name}
\date{\today}

\begin{document}
\maketitle
\section{Introduction}
\zhlipsum[1-3]
\end{document}

Two things worth noting in this example:

1. \usepackage{xeCJK, CJKnumb} loads two packages at once using a comma. If you do not need to pass any options, you can load multiple packages this way in a single line.
2. Just as lipsum generates English placeholder text, zhlipsum does the same for Chinese. The syntax is the same: \zhlipsum[start-end].

Header and Footer Settings

Headers and footers in Word can be complicated to configure — you need to handle odd and even pages, page numbers, header text, and more. LaTeX offers the fancyhdr package, which lets you define everything in the preamble so you do not need to adjust each page individually.

One thing to note in the example below: you will see both \fancyfoot and shorthand commands like \cfoot, \lfoot, and \rfoot. These are not the same thing. \fancyfoot is the full command with more configuration options; its position parameters include L (left), C (center), R (right), E (even pages), and O (odd pages). The shorthand commands \cfoot, \lfoot, and \rfoot are convenience aliases provided by fancyhdr for quickly setting the center, left, and right footer content.

% !TeX xelatex
\documentclass[twoside]{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\usepackage{xeCJK, CJKnumb}
\setmainfont{FandolSong}

\usepackage{zhlipsum}

\usepackage{titlesec}
\titleformat{\section}
  {\normalfont\Large\bfseries}
  {\CJKnumber{\thesection}、}
  {1em}
  {}

\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a4paper, margin=2.5cm}

% Header and footer settings
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\fancyhf{}
\lhead{\normalsize Top-left text \\ Bottom-left text}
\rhead{\normalsize Top-right text \\ Bottom-right text}

\fancyfoot[C]{}
\fancyfoot[LE,RO]{Page~\thepage}

\title{My First \LaTeX\ Document}
\author{Author Name}
\date{\today}

\begin{document}
\maketitle
\section{Introduction}
\zhlipsum[1-10]
\section{Methodology}
\zhlipsum[11-20]
\end{document}

Before using fancyhdr, it is recommended to call \fancyhf{} to clear any default header and footer settings. Then use \lhead and \rhead to set the left and right header content respectively. The \\ inside the braces creates a line break within the header cell.

For the footer, \fancyfoot[C]{} clears the center footer, and \fancyfoot[LE,RO]{Page~\thepage} places the page number on the left side of even pages and the right side of odd pages. The ~ character is a non-breaking space, and \thepage outputs the current page number.

Practice Exercises

Question 1

Which compiler supports both Unicode and OpenType fonts, making it suitable for Chinese documents?

• A. pdfLaTeX
• B. XeLaTeX
• C. TeX
• D. AMS-TeX

Answer: B — XeLaTeX

XeLaTeX natively supports Unicode and OpenType fonts and can directly use system fonts, making it the most common choice for Chinese documents. pdfLaTeX has poor support for non-Latin scripts, while TeX and AMS-TeX are not well-suited for this purpose.

Question 2

Which package is used to set page margins and paper size?

• A. fontspec
• B. fancyhdr
• C. geometry
• D. titlesec

Answer: C — geometry

The geometry package handles page layout settings, including margin, a4paper, landscape, and bindingoffset. The fontspec package manages fonts, fancyhdr sets headers and footers, and titlesec formats section headings.

Question 3

Which command sets the local font size to 20pt with a line spacing of 24pt?

• A. {\fontsize{20}{24}\selectfont text}
• B. \fontsize[20][24]{text}
• C. \setfontsize{20pt}{24pt}
• D. {\huge text}

Answer: A

\fontsize{size}{baselineskip}\selectfont is the correct syntax. It must be placed inside curly braces to create a local scope. While \huge increases font size, it cannot specify an exact value or control line spacing at the same time.

Question 4

Write a minimal XeLaTeX document that:

1. Loads the xeCJK and fontspec packages
2. Sets the main Chinese font to FandolSong
3. Outputs “你好，LaTeX！” in the document body

% !TeX xelatex
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xeCJK}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{FandolSong}

\begin{document}
你好，LaTeX！
\end{document}

% !TeX xelatex is a magic comment that tells the editor to compile using XeLaTeX. \usepackage{xeCJK} handles Chinese character rendering, and fontspec combined with \setmainfont sets the font.

Question 5

Add fancyhdr settings in the preamble so that the footer center of every page displays a page number in the format “Page N.”

\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\fancyhf{}
\cfoot{Page~\thepage}

\fancyhf{} clears all default content first. \cfoot is the shorthand command for setting the center footer. \thepage outputs the current page number, and ~ is a non-breaking space.

Chapter Summary

This article covered some of the most fundamental and important settings in LaTeX typesetting. We first looked at the characteristics of different compilers and confirmed that XeLaTeX is the main choice for Chinese documents. We then learned how to load packages using \usepackage and how to find documentation on CTAN. After that, we went through font size, font families, font styles, and Chinese font configuration. Finally, we used three packages — geometry, titlesec, and fancyhdr — to control margins, section heading formats, and headers and footers.

With these settings in place, you should now be able to produce a well-formatted and professional-looking LaTeX document in Chinese. The next article will move into mathematical typesetting, which is one of the most well-known strengths of LaTeX.

Footnotes

1. If you are not sure about the difference between [] and {}, please refer to the section on parameters in the introductory article.

2. The author only has experience with MiKTeX, so it is unclear whether other compilers behave the same way. One useful feature of MiKTeX is that it can be configured in MiKTeX Console to install missing packages automatically, without asking each time.

3. The main difference between lipsum and blindtext is that lipsum only generates Lorem ipsum text, while blindtext can produce test content in various formats, including headings and subheadings.

4. CTAN documentation is written in English, but with AI tools like ChatGPT now widely available, you can easily paste the content and have it translated.

5. Other options include CTEX, CJK, and CJKutf8, but xeCJK is the most widely used and easiest to set up. CJK stands for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

6. The definition of a new command describes what you want it to do. If the command accepts arguments, you reference them inside the definition using #1, #2, and so on, where #1 refers to the first argument.

7. Portrait orientation is the default, so you do not need to specify it explicitly.

8. See the Word documentation on heading styles for more detail.