LaTeX Font Packages: lmodern, Times, Palatino, and More

LaTeX Font Packages

Typography matters. Choose the right font for your LaTeX documents.

Default: Computer Modern

LaTeX's default font family, designed by Donald Knuth:

- Classic academic look - Perfect for mathematics - Can look thin at some sizes

Latin Modern (lmodern)

An enhanced version of Computer Modern:

\usepackage{lmodern}

Benefits: - Better scaling - More glyphs - Improved PDF quality - Drop-in replacement for CM

Recommendation: Always use lmodern unless you have a specific reason not to.

Times-like Fonts

times (Legacy)

\usepackage{times}

Outdated—use alternatives below.

mathptmx

\usepackage{mathptmx}

Times with matching math fonts.

newtx (Recommended)

\usepackage{newtxtext} \usepackage{newtxmath}

Modern Times implementation with excellent math support.

Palatino-like Fonts

palatino (Legacy)

\usepackage{palatino}

mathpazo

\usepackage{mathpazo}

Palatino with matching math.

newpx (Recommended)

\usepackage{newpxtext} \usepackage{newpxmath}

Modern Palatino with great math support.

Sans-Serif Fonts

Helvetica

\usepackage{helvet} \renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault}

Computer Modern Sans

\renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault}

Liberation Sans

\usepackage{libertinus}

Monospace Fonts

Courier

\usepackage{courier}

Inconsolata (Recommended)

\usepackage{inconsolata}

Better for code listings.

Fira Mono

\usepackage{FiraMono}

Modern Font Families

Libertinus

\usepackage{libertinus}

Beautiful modern font with full math support.

STIX Two

\usepackage{stix2}

Designed for scientific publishing.

EB Garamond

\usepackage{ebgaramond} \usepackage{ebgaramond-maths}

Elegant classical look.

Using System Fonts (XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX)

With XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX:

\usepackage{fontspec} \setmainfont{Arial} \setsansfont{Helvetica} \setmonofont{Menlo}

Font Sizing

\tiny \scriptsize \footnotesize \small \normalsize \large \Large \LARGE \huge \Huge

Or specific sizes:

\fontsize{14pt}{16pt}\selectfont

Font Combinations

Classic Academic

\usepackage{lmodern}

IEEE Style

\usepackage{newtxtext,newtxmath}

Modern Elegant

\usepackage{libertinus}

Book Publishing

\usepackage{newpxtext,newpxmath}

Math Font Considerations

Some fonts lack math support. Good math fonts:

- lmodern (Computer Modern style) - newtxmath (Times style) - newpxmath (Palatino style) - libertinust1math (Libertinus) - stix2 (STIX fonts)

Quick Reference Table

Typography with Octree

Octree helps with fonts:

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