LaTeX Tips and Tricks

1. Define Custom Commands with \newcommand

If you find yourself typing the same thing repeatedly, create a shorthand command. This is one of the highest-leverage LaTeX habits you can develop.

% In the preamble:

% Simple abbreviation
\newcommand{\eg}{e.g.,\xspace}
\newcommand{\ie}{i.e.,\xspace}

% Command with 1 argument
\newcommand{\term}[1]{\textit{#1}}

% Command with 2 arguments
\newcommand{\vect}[2]{\mathbf{#1}_{#2}}

% Renew an existing command (change \emph to use colour)
\renewcommand{\emph}[1]{\textcolor{blue}{#1}}

% In the document:
This is a \term{technical term}.
The vector $\vect{x}{i}$ represents the input.

Custom commands also let you change formatting globally. If you define \term and later decide terms should be bold instead of italic, you change it in one place rather than searching your whole document.

2. Use microtype for Better Typography

The microtype package enables character protrusion and font expansion — subtle adjustments that make your text look noticeably more professional and dramatically reduce overfull hbox warnings.

\usepackage{microtype}   % add this — it just works

% Optional: fine-grained control
\usepackage[
  protrusion=true,
  expansion=true,
  tracking=true
]{microtype}

3. Cross-References and Labels

Always use \label and \ref instead of typing numbers manually. The numbers update automatically when you add or remove sections, figures, or tables.

% Naming convention: type:name
\section{Introduction}   \label{sec:intro}
\begin{figure}...        \label{fig:architecture}
\begin{table}...         \label{tab:results}
\begin{equation}...      \label{eq:loss}

% Reference them:
As discussed in Section~\ref{sec:intro},
Figure~\ref{fig:architecture} shows the system,
and Table~\ref{tab:results} lists the results.
For numbered equations, use \eqref{eq:loss}.

The ~ (non-breaking space) before \ref prevents LaTeX from breaking the line between “Figure” and its number.

4. Useful Packages You Should Know

5. Version Control Your LaTeX Source

LaTeX source files are plain text — this makes them ideal for Git version control. You get a full history of every change, easy collaboration, and the ability to roll back to earlier versions.

# .gitignore for a LaTeX project
*.aux
*.log
*.out
*.toc
*.bbl
*.blg
*.fls
*.fdb_latexmk
*.synctex.gz
*.pdf        # optional: exclude compiled PDF from repo

# Keep in git:
# *.tex, *.bib, *.sty, figures/

Write one sentence per line in your .tex files. This makes git diff output readable at the sentence level instead of showing whole-paragraph diffs.

6. Typography Dos and Don'ts

7. Splitting Large Documents

For theses, books, or long reports, split the document into chapter files using \input or \include.

% main.tex
\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{amsmath}
% ...

\begin{document}
\frontmatter
\tableofcontents

\mainmatter
\include{chapters/introduction}   % chapters/introduction.tex
\include{chapters/methodology}
\include{chapters/results}
\include{chapters/conclusion}

\backmatter
\bibliographystyle{plain}
\bibliography{references}
\end{document}

% Tip: \include adds page breaks; \input does not
% Tip: use \includeonly{chapter1,chapter3} to compile
%      only specific chapters, keeping cross-reference
%      numbers correct