LaTeX is a software system for typesetting documents. It is especially good for technical documents that contain lots of mathematics. LaTeX can be used to print or make PDF files for letters, journal articles, proposals, reports, books, etc. LaTeX automatically takes care of margins, fonts, spacing, numbering, hyphenation, cross referencing, citing references, etc. so you can concentrate on the content, instead of the appearance, of your document.

LaTeX is free and is available for a very wide range of computers and operating systems.

The puthesis document class is used with LaTeX to do Purdue theses and dissertations. Thousands of students have graduated using it. See the puthesis home page for more information about LaTeX and puthesis.

Testimonials
• "I love the puthesis template and think that all Purdue students should be encouraged to use LaTeX for their theses and dissertations. I had a much easier time formatting my dissertation in LaTeX than I did formatting my thesis in Microsoft Word."

  -Timothy Johnson, Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Dec. 2006; M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Aug. 2002

• "The puthesis class file for LaTeX has helped hundreds of ECE graduate students meet the requirements for format approval. Using it allows them to focus on the content of their thesis without concern for the myriad of formatting details that it automatically handles. The Graduate School's Thesis/Dissertation Office also recommends the use of puthesis and LaTeX."

  -Andy Hughes, ECE Thesis Format Advisor

• "Many candidates have made favorable comments about puthesis when depositing their theses. We strongly recommend candidates consider learning puthesis prior to the writing process. Using puthesis cuts formatting discrepancies to almost zero, drastically reduces the possibility of revision requests, and helps ensure stress-free deposits!"

  -Mark D. Jaeger, Manager, Thesis/Dissertation Office