# Do I use the right math package with this font?

I am pretty new to Latex and wonder if my math packages suit the font I use. Moreover, feel free to give suggestions for a different font type. The one I use now, is kind of randomly chosen.

Background info for advising a different font type: I write a master thesis in Economics. I want to make it look like a ''professional'' paper. However, I have a strict page limit of 30 pages, so the font should not take too many space (relatively to other fonts).

This is my current preamble (only font and math showed):

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage{microtype}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{mathtools}
\usepackage{amssymb}

• By default, LaTeX uses computer modern for both text (am not completely sure) and math. Computer modern is more than professional, so you can stick with it. – Yorgos Oct 26 '16 at 21:47
• also you don't need to load amsmath since you have loaded mathtools – Yorgos Oct 26 '16 at 21:48
• Latin modern is the recommended default font for languages with accented letters. Needless to load amsmath: mathtools is an extension of amsmath and loads it. – Bernard Oct 26 '16 at 22:44
• Latin Modern is based on Computer Modern with some enhancements. Unless you need Cyrillic or something not redone by Gust, I'd use Latin Modern rather than Computer Modern even if you don't need accented letters. – cfr Oct 27 '16 at 0:46

If you experience difficulties making your paper satisfy the 30-page limit, you may want to consider using a font family that's more economical with space than Computer Modern or its clone, Latin Modern, are. E.g., with an 11pt main font size, 150 paragraphs of lipsum text occupy ca 29.5 pages if the newtxtext font package (a Times Roman clone) is used. In constrast, with either the lmodern or the newpxtext (a Palatino clone) font packages, the same 150 paragraphs end up occupying slightly more than 32 pages.

Times Roman was originally created for a newspaper (the Times of London, hence the name...), and space economy was, unsurprisingly, a major objective that had to be satisfied. Of course, space economy is only one among several factors that should affect the final font choice.

For more on fonts that might be suitable for a scientific paper, see the posting Suggest a “nice” font family for my basic LaTeX template (text and math).

A modified form of your preamble might thus look like this:

\documentclass[11pt,english]{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{babel}

%%\usepackage{lmodern} % Latin Modern: A Computer Modern clone
\usepackage{newtxtext} % Times Roman clone text font
\usepackage{newtxmath} % associated math font
\usepackage{microtype}

\usepackage{mathtools,amssymb}


I commonly use palatino font wich is elegant, serious, pretty good at visual and it has full math support. In http://www.tug.dk/FontCatalogue/mathfonts.html you will find the complete catalogue of \LaTeX fonts with math support, it's full of options to choose and it has a preview of each one, so choose what you like more!

In the other hand, your math packages seem good but they really will depend on what you want to do in your text. This would be my usual preamble:

\documentclass[11pt, a4paper, openright]{report}
\usepackage[spanish]{babel} %Spanish characters
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{mathpazo} %Modify default font type to **palatino**

%%%%  Mathtools  %%%%
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amsthm}
\usepackage{mathtools}
\usepackage{algorithm2e}
\begin{document}
...
...
\end{document}


Here is a sample of the look of palatino font I hope I've been helpful

• Please don't encourage people to add a bunch of packages to their preambles which have nothing to do with the issue you're discussing and which may or may not be at all useful. You have no idea if the OP needs those additions and your question suggests they are part of what you need to use the Palatino clone. The exceptions are geometry and color, which is not a good suggestion even if the OP needs colour. (xcolor would be better.) – cfr Oct 27 '16 at 0:49
• Also, hyperref should not be loaded that early, even if you do want it. geometry is a poor choice if the OP is using a non-standard class. amsmath is loaded by mathtools and algorithm2e has nothing to do with mathtools. Nor does mathfonts or amsthm. – cfr Oct 27 '16 at 0:52