Tutorial for writing lab reports in LaTeX and Overleaf

An introductory tutorial by Andrew Falkowski on using LaTeX and Overleaf to create beautiful documents and reports. This video covers everything you need to create a basic LaTeX documents with equations, figures, tables, and references from scratch. The video also includes some recommended settings for document elements to speed up the writing process.
Photos used in this video from @simonsarris on instagram: simonsarris...

[@XgamersXdimensions]

This was super amazing and helpful to learn from! My advanced physics lab in Uni is making me use LaTeX for our Lab Reports and I've never used it before so I was banging my head against the wall trying to figure stuff out.

[@satrickptar6265]

I learned everything within 1 hour, and already made a decent lab report using LaTex. They really should teach this in high school as an optional class for those who wanna pursue STEM.

[@TaylorSparks]

Right? I can't believe it took me so long to adopt it

[@jaguhari64]

i love when he tests it out for us

[@elifnurdayi9897]

Thank you so much this was very helpful and clear!

[@mc_v6237]

Realy helpful to get into latex in a walk-along fashion👍

[@jgarces2011]

Just FYI,...Not to be picky, but you mention to input a "Forward slash" in your tutorials, but it is actually a "BACKSLASH" (\) that is needed. This is on behalf of a friend who is legally blind and relies on what is said vs seen. Thanks. Great tutorial by the way and please keep it up. Thank you.

[@TaylorSparks]

Not nit picky at all! Thanks for the heads up!

[@jgarces2011]

@@TaylorSparks Thank you and once again,...I love to watch your videos and tutorials. I have learned a lot from them and use that knowledge all the time. I also send my colleagues and friends this link as well. Thanks once again.

[@MoutaaMadani]

Thank you so much am from north africa and you were so helpful :D Am actually writing my final study project report and I needed to know such things about latex and overleaf

[@nathanmartin1122]

Great tutorial, thanks!

[@manalelabidi3161]

this was straight up awesome

[@TaylorSparks]

Right!? Super useful

[@chandarumugam6395]

Thank you, this is indeed helpful

[@erfanosman1227]

I think the reason table captions are on top is that tables can be so long and can span several pages, you don't want to scroll all the way down to the bottom to see what the table is about

[@coolisfoolable]

loved the tutorial!

[@TaylorSparks]

Glad to help!

[@janmeyer6958]

TeXmacs is even cooler, don't get fooled by LaTeX!

[@russellpask6202]

Super helpful big thanks!

[@shade6750]

Very useful. Thank you

[@DetectiveIncognito]

Brilliant tutorial. What was the name of that excel to latex tool you mentioned? Thanks.

[@jahidtanvir]

Thank you so much

[@shivanikamble1501]

Thank you so much!

[@Lilobeetle]

Hi Taylor, this was a great introduction. I'm planning to use LaTex for writing my bachelor's thesis and this confirmed my plan, since it looks quite easy. I was wondering if there's any way I could access the document you created in this tutorial to build on that and maybe make notes. Thanks in advance! Greetings from Germany :)

[@TaylorSparks]

Unfortunately we didn't keep a copy! If you follow along you can get the final version though.

[@mdejong2328]

I recommend TeXmacs, the better way to type mathematics.

[@hassanhijazi4757]

Hi Taylor, Thank for the tutorial. I learned alot. I have an extra question concerning the table: 1- How to give a gray background for the top row with using rules. 2- How to let the table span multiple pages. Thanks in advance.

[@TaylorSparks]

How to color a table tex.stackexchange.com/questions/94799/how-do-i-color-table-columns Make table span multiple pages tex.stackexchange.com/questions/26462/make-a-table-span-multiple-pages If you google what you want it to do, you can almost always find a tutorial or solution out there ;)

[@alexandreb2000]

Hi Taylor, thanks again! I followed your tutorial but the bibliography does not show up at all. Do you know how to fix this?

[@darkeagle999]

@@alexandreb2000 Have you created the references.bib file?

[@Maniclout]

@@alexandreb2000 For the bibliography to show you need to keep in mind the following: 1) You must import the package and link to the bib file where you paste all your references. I am using biblatex so that would be \usepackage[backend=biber, style=alphabetic, sorting=nyt]{biblatex} \addbibresource{references.bib} 2) For biblatex you must add something like \printbibliography[heading=bibintoc, title={References}] somewhere in a tex file of the document 3) The bibliography shows up only when there is at least one reference cited in the document. References do no show up in the bibliography when they are not cited. For example: \cite[~p.1]{Einstein_Electro-dynamik} 4) You need to make sure that your references in the .bib file do not contain characters in inappropriate places that 'break' the bibliography and cause it to not show up. I've had this happen a couple times. So test if each reference works before adding the next reference. Also make sure each category of the reference is seperated by a comma. If you miss one comma, the whole bibliography breaks. For example: @article{einstein, author = "Albert Einstein", title = "{Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter K{\"o}rper}. ({German}) [{On} the electrodynamics of moving bodies]", journal = "Annalen der Physik", volume = "322", number = "10", pages = "891--921" year = "1905", DOI = "dx.doi.org/10.1002/andp.19053221004", keywords = "physics" } will break the document because there is a comma missing in the "pages" category. Once the comma is added, the bibliography works fine.

[@JwalinBhatt]

Very helpful video, thanks a lot. I am not getting a hyperlink on the citations, could someone please let me know how to fix it?

[@bitajamshidi3000]

thank`s . was really helpfull :)

[@jackshi7613]

keep going, so good video, I love it

[@TaylorSparks]

Thanks dude!!

[@rajkc4945]

Thank you

[@georgettewebb]

Awesome tutorial. well done!

[@TaylorSparks]

Glad to help

[@georgettewebb]

@@TaylorSparks do you have more advanced tutorials on the topic?

[@TaylorSparks]

@@georgettewebb nope. What are you looking for more specifically? I could always make another video

[@georgettewebb]

@@TaylorSparks I was just about to start looking at your python tutorials. I’ve just recently got into data science and started using colab and streamlit. I understand the basics of python and pandas. I’m struggling to do matplotlib and seaborn visualisation on streamlit. Like histograms, boxplot, scatterplots.

[@TaylorSparks]

@@georgettewebb I've got just what you're looking for. I put up a series of three videos on making beautiful plots with matplotlib. Here's a link to the first one. In the video description you will find the links to the second and third video kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIa5aYl8l7qclbc

[@carolinepottinger9884]

Hi, great tutorial! I have a question concerning \setlenght{\parindent}{0em} - it did not work and it said '0em' in the document. Thanks in advance!

[@arsalanhayat4468]

ThAnx alOt brO it has wOrked alOt fOr me 😘 reAlly appreciate yOur effOrt ❤

[@TaylorSparks]

Lololol. 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

[@ourradiyasmina4165]

Hi Taylor, Thanks for the amazing tutorial. I just started using LaTex and you made it so quick and easy. I have a question though if you don't mind me asking. I am writing my text then I add a figure under it, but when I add a new text block under the figure the order of the paragraphs is messed up and the figure is dividing the new text. Thanks for helping !

[@ivanchudyk6129]

Hello, try setting the parameter of your figure environment as 'h', which means here. For example, \begin{figure}[h] .... \end{figure}. This makes LaTeX to approximate the placement of the figure in the part of the document where you want it to be. I say approximate because sometimes it doesn't work. You can't use 'h!' to force it. Instead, you need to use the package float. This package provides the figure environment the H parameter, which actually forces LaTeX to move the figure in the document exactly where you place it on the source code, or in other words, where you want it to be.

[@rhiannbevan421]

Great Tutorial! Question: I need my document to be in 2 columns so I used the multicol package, which wont support the figures or tables. I tried the wrapfig package but the text goes all down the side. Do you have a way of making your document 2-column friendly?

[@thecrimsoncuber3070]

Just check a template in overleaf for code... Simple right 👍

[@shailjabharti4934]

ITS REALLY WORKED LOL THANK YOU DUDE

[@TaylorSparks]

Glad to help ya homie

[@luthier78]

The all is very interesting, I have one question though. The essays I have to produce has to be in word. Am not sure but exist the possibility to write the essay in LateX pass in pdf and then in word not altering nothing in the last passage ( or directly from lateX to word still not altering nothing ? ) otherwise I had to bow my head to the sad Word processor

[@user-nt5qr2ef5w]

I tried to do an abstract with the same ruler-style design, but my lines didn't center themselves even after I applied some text. Do you know how can I fix that maybe?

[@BrownPen_BluePen]

When you have a table with many figures, for example I have a 6x4 data table. How do I adjust the spacing between them so that everything fits nicely?

[@thecrimsoncuber3070]

Just use online table generator

[@blerman13]

I'm brand new to LaTeX, I would like to know how to make an email, with blue color and with hyperlink as MS Word is making it? Thanks

[@thebeatles9]

can you post the source / template?

[@luthier78]

Is very very nice all of these ! and how to add header with photo and text

[@vanduyenvimaru6835]

Thank you for your tutorial. Can I have a question? I am wondering about the data security when using Latex on Overleaf. Could you please give me any suggestions? Best regards.

[@TaylorSparks]

I haven't had any problems. It has a function where you can share the document with coworkers. It also has a possibility to share it with anybody who has a link. I guess if you shared it with anybody who has a link you might have security concerns, but if you just make sure you know who has the length or you use the login feature then I would not be worried about it.

[@_the_bomb]

Hi there! Is there anywhere where we can access the project file? There are quite a few lines (specifically the settings and such) that would be quite tedious to type by hand that I would love to copy and paste directly into my document.

[@TaylorSparks]

Unfortunately we didn't save a copy! I would love it if you could go through it and then send me the text. I would then make it available for other people who want to watch this video.

[@jawharlahmar6103]

how to fix a dictionary in overleaf, i'm writing French text and it shows all underline. like grammatical faults

[@aymensekhri2133]

Thank you very much for this amazing video. Could you share the project files with us?

[@TaylorSparks]

Unfortunately, we didn't save the file afterwards. If you want to follow along with the video you will be able to recreate it though! In fact, if you send me that file afterwards I will post it to a GitHub so other people can have access.

[@user-fq7qr4cu3s]

Please tell me how to use MS Mincho font.🙏

[@hichamcharifi9634]

Plz. Share it in box description

[@VikasRaj_Hyd]

Can I change font to times new roman ?

[@ShakeelAhmad-tf6lz]

Hello dear ant kind of book about Latex is available in pdf ?

[@MS_RITESHRANJAN]

sir it is really amazing video .one thing to know how to save this document in pdf formate

[@TaylorSparks]

On the right side, in green text compile then there is a download button next to it. This will give a pdf

[@bruces4515]

The problem is that to many people think that the fluid from plants is only about sex. Don't be scared, be proud of your X.

[@johirislam8174]

I got a problem for formating in overleaf of MDPI manuscript.When i paste my abstruct into the format they are not accept my abstruct because in my abstruct there is (%) sign involved. So how can i solve that.Please help me by giving the code

[@TaylorSparks]

\% works I think.

[@johirislam8174]

@@TaylorSparks It works thanks. But i got another problem.I want to format a table and in my table i have to add 𝜇 this sign .But it dosenot appear. So what should i do for its appearance.

[@ericwuluglayjr8446]

Thanks sir ...... But I am NOT seeing any link to this tutorial in the description❤

[@TaylorSparks]

Unfortunately he didn't keep a copy of this file. However, if you go through the tutorial then you'll have a copy yourself :)

[@ericwuluglayjr8446]

@@TaylorSparks, sure ....thanks so much 🙏🙏🙏🇱🇷

[@jobsmine]

HEY WHERE CAN I GET THE FORMATTING OF YOUR CODE FOR THE LATEX TUTORIAL? I WANT TO USE IT.

[@TaylorSparks]

We will make file available soon!

[@jobsmine]

@@TaylorSparks I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that would make me a big fan of yours. That’ll be the end of it. I will look for you, I will pursue you. and I will subscribe for you.lol

[@TaylorSparks]

@@jobsmine 🤣🤣🤣

[@julitopabriga9094]

It is blurred when displayed on a laptop. Would it be possible instead to provide a copy of the source code? In that way your followers could follow on what you are discussing. Regards.

[@TaylorSparks]

We didn't keep a copy! My student will release a guide soon

[@Dr_ks]

my question is " why we need latex when we have everything in MS word". I tried it and it was literally hard for each different document. for similar kind of documents, it can be good ( I don't know) or some math stuff .

[@TaylorSparks]

There is a learning curve for latex. At first it's harder than word. I resisted at first too. Eventually you'll notice all your peers doing the best work are using latex though.

[@Dr_ks]

@@TaylorSparks Well I spent sometime last year on latex/TeX , however I didn't convince myself, though python language is also in latex style, however, MS word provide the same mathematical latex expressions now. And it's actually pretty fast to work on MS word especially when handling figures from Google. Or from text books. Then I tried to download some books on latex and there were only few, means it's versatility is also limited. It makes even more complicated when we try to add 3D figures from. Abode packages.. its my opinion.

[@TaylorSparks]

@@Dr_ks fair enough. If word works for you, go for it :)

[@Dr_ks]

@@TaylorSparks would you share more videos on latex ? If there is any like how to link latex reports with python calculations? In that case, latex would be awesome. Discussion sometimes generates ideas..

[@Ihavetoreturnsomevideotapes]

can you please upload this to github of google drive

[@hugocontant]

Do you provide a template to the following lab experiment above?

[@TaylorSparks]

Unfortunately I do not. I didn't save the file. However, if you go through the exercise you will have it at the end 😁

[@danieldoherty5034]

TeX was completed in 1985, not the 70's. TeX is a program, not an "algorithm". The 'X' in TeX is meant to represent the Greek letter chi, which is pronounced like a gutteral 'k'.

[@dacramac3487]

It was first released by Donald Knuth in 1978.

[@ABhattacharya]

Is it for non-math students too?

[@TaylorSparks]

Yup.

[@ABhattacharya]

@@TaylorSparks Thanks!

[@Vyantri]

Latex is like 200 megs. That's a tiny file fize.

[@librealgerien]

Installing it on your computer doesn’t require any more updates than any other software.

[@TaylorSparks]

But it can be big and is harder to collaborate

[@nikhil_01a]

Just a correction that it is backward slash! all good otherwise

[@TaylorSparks]

Good catch

[@mdejong2328]

TeXmacs, the better way to type mathematics and lab reports.

[@Pablo-wg1lw]

Hi Taylor, could you make such a nice tutorial for TeXmacs? Please :-)

[@shivanikamble1501]

How do I add pictures on LaTeX?

[@TaylorSparks]

I think we cover this in the video

[@manupriyamp5568]

Can we get the code pls

[@shipbaiter]

LaTeX is gonna have it's way haha 6:54

[@pallabnandi9617]

Can you send me the overleaf link @Taylor Sparks?

[@TaylorSparks]

I actually didn't save it! you can follow along with the video and prepare it yourself though!

[@Ihavetoreturnsomevideotapes]

20:10

[@Ihavetoreturnsomevideotapes]

32:11

[@jacksonwalker2814]

12/30/21 11:00

[@keiraferrari7764]

\LaTeX

[@theguythatdoesmath9863]

latex 2.0 be like: lalatex

[@getowtofheyah3161]

“Lay-Tech” not “Luhtech”

[@TaylorSparks]

😂😂😂😂😂forgive🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@getowtofheyah3161]

@@TaylorSparks Haha forgiven. Thanks for the video!

[@ppal64]

Thiscan be done more efficiently in MS Word with Latex. It is totally unnecessary to use this on its own in 2022. Too many physicists and mathematicians are stuck with a system they can't move away from. Nature, for example, prefers submissions in Word, as the journal’s typesetting system requires this format, says Simon Gribbin, Nature’s managing production editor. Still, around one in ten accepted submissions are in LaTeX format; these are converted to Word before being passed to copy-editors, he says. But at Nature Physics, which covers disciplines in which LaTeX use is widespread, the editors are more flexible about document formatting. “LaTeX is just something that physicists ‘do’,” explains chief editor Andrea Taroni. “Trying to get them to do otherwise is like trying to herd cats.” Read more by searching "Craft beautiful equations in Word with LaTeX"

[@anidakaric9162]

Hi,can you help me?

[@TaylorSparks]

Maybe. What's up?

[@anidakaric9162]

@@TaylorSparks do you have Instagram to reach out to you?

[@TaylorSparks]

@@anidakaric9162 @t_sparks

[@trollmaster7048]

finaly a guy without indian accent

[@TaylorSparks]

👀

[@MrDzeta]

Does this have anything to do with the quality of the content proposed (or is it just reinforcing BS stereotypes)?

[@xjar215x]

@@MrDzeta it can be hard to understand if it’s a really thick accent

[@saurabh-sharma]

A nice compliment, thank you!

[@ponsianoodongkara2473]

👁️👁️

[@aberystwyth11]

Class act Taylor top tutorial

[@TaylorSparks]

😎😎😎

[@aberystwyth11]

@@TaylorSparks Could I get your email for contact - I'm working on an assingment (just started PhD) and using LaTeX for the first time and unfortunantely what I'm after isn't covered in the above tutorial. Thanks.

[@TaylorSparks]

@@aberystwyth11 sure. [e-mail]

[@dacramac3487]

This is a terrible video.

[@TaylorSparks]

🤷🏻‍♂️ can't please em all!