Overleaf

← Back to Research Lab

Summary. Overleaf is an online LaTeX editor with a live PDF preview and real-time collaboration. In the lab we use it to write papers, reports, and theses together — no local LaTeX installation needed, and everyone always edits the same up-to-date version.

Website: https://www.overleaf.com

Prerequisites

• A modern web browser.
• A free Overleaf account — sign up at https://www.overleaf.com/register.
• Basic LaTeX familiarity helps; if you’re new, start with the tutorial under References.
• (Optional) Check whether the lab or NTUT provides an institutional/group plan (more collaborators, track changes) before starting a big document.

Getting Started

1. Go to https://www.overleaf.com and sign in.
2. Click New Project and choose one:
   • Blank Project — start from scratch,
   • Example Project — a working template to learn from,
   • Upload Project — drop in an existing .zip of .tex files,
   • or a journal/conference template from the gallery (IEEE, ACM, Springer, etc.).
3. The main file is usually main.tex. Edit on the left; Overleaf compiles the PDF on the right (Recompile, or auto-compile).
4. Add figures by uploading images (Upload icon) and referencing them with \includegraphics{...}.
5. Manage citations with a .bib file and \cite{...} (BibTeX / biblatex).

Collaboration & Sharing

• Invite collaborators: click Share → invite by email, or turn on Link sharing (edit or view-only).
• Real-time editing: everyone sees changes live, with collaborator cursors.
• Comments & Track Changes: leave inline comments; Track Changes (available on paid/institutional plans) shows who changed what — useful for supervisor feedback.
• History: Menu → History lets you browse and restore earlier versions and see who edited.
• GitHub / Git: link a project to GitHub or use the Git bridge to sync with a repo (handy for version control alongside code).
• Download: Menu → Download → Source (.zip) or PDF to keep a local copy or submit.

Tips & Troubleshooting

• Use a template for the target venue (IEEE/ACM/Springer) instead of formatting by hand — search the template gallery.
• Compile errors: read the red error panel — it names the file and line. A missing } or a misspelled command is the usual cause.
• Bibliography not showing? Make sure you \cite{} entries, include \bibliography{yourfile} (or the biblatex equivalent), and recompile (sometimes twice).
• Compile timeout on long documents is a paid feature limit — split the document, or compile locally via the Git bridge.
• Images not appearing: confirm the file was uploaded and the name/extension in \includegraphics{} matches exactly (case-sensitive).

References

• Overleaf: https://www.overleaf.com
• Learn LaTeX / documentation: https://www.overleaf.com/learn
• Templates gallery: https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates