LaTeX Times New Roman
Three ways to set Times font in LaTeX, ranked by quality. Recommended: newtxtext + newtxmath for matching text and math.
The recommended setup (pdfLaTeX)
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
% Times-style fonts for both text AND math (this is the important part)
\usepackage{newtxtext}
\usepackage{newtxmath}
\begin{document}
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
$E = mc^2$ also renders in matching Times-style math.
\end{document}This is the modern, correct way. Works with the default pdflatex compiler. The text is Times-clone, and math fonts match — which is the part most tutorials skip.
The old way (avoid for new documents)
\usepackage{times} % only fixes text
% \usepackage{mathptmx} % alternative — also dated\usepackage{times} changes text but leaves math in Computer Modern. The mismatched fonts look wrong. mathptmx is a slight improvement but is outdated. Use newtx instead.
The XeLaTeX / LuaLaTeX way
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{Times New Roman}
% Optional: matching math font
% \usepackage{unicode-math}
% \setmathfont{TeX Gyre Termes Math}
\begin{document}
Now using the system-installed Times New Roman.
\end{document}Compile with xelatex main.tex or lualatex main.tex, not pdflatex. Use this approach if you specifically need the literal Microsoft Times New Roman TTF (e.g., a journal that requires byte-identical font embedding).
The classic 12pt + Times + double-spaced setup
For thesis or journal manuscript style:
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{newtxtext,newtxmath}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
\usepackage{setspace}
\doublespacing
\title{My Paper}
\author{Author Name}
\date{\today}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
% your content
\end{document}Common pitfalls
- Don't mix font packages. Loading
newtxtextandtimestogether causes conflicts. Pick one. - Order matters. Load
newtxmathafteramsmathif both are present. - Bold math. Times bold-italic math needs
\boldmathor thebmpackage. - Don't override journal templates. If your template loads its own font (IEEEtran, elsarticle, springer), don't add
newtxon top.
Typst handles fonts as a one-line set:
#set text(font: "Times New Roman", size: 12pt)
#set par(leading: 1em) // double-spaced
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
$ E = m c^2 $No package conflicts, no math-font mismatch, and Typst compiles 10x faster than LaTeX. TypeTeX gives you a free in-browser Typst editor — no install required.
Try TypeTeX freeFrequently Asked Questions
Add \usepackage{newtxtext,newtxmath} to your preamble. This gives you Times-style text and matching Times-style math fonts (the math is the part most other 'Times' packages get wrong). It works with pdfLaTeX, the default LaTeX compiler — no XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX needed.
\usepackage{times} is the old way — it uses Adobe Times for text but leaves math in the default Computer Modern font, which looks mismatched. newtxtext/newtxmath gives you matched Times-style fonts for both text and math. Always prefer newtx for new documents.
Use the fontspec package: \usepackage{fontspec} \setmainfont{Times New Roman}. This loads the system-installed Times New Roman font directly. Compile with xelatex or lualatex, not pdflatex.
Only if you load matching math fonts. \usepackage{newtxtext,newtxmath} handles this automatically. With \usepackage{times} alone, math stays in Computer Modern and looks inconsistent. With XeLaTeX/fontspec, also load \setmathfont{Latin Modern Math} or a Times-style math font.
Use \documentclass[12pt]{article}, then \usepackage{newtxtext,newtxmath} for the font, and \usepackage{setspace} \doublespacing for line spacing. That combination gives you the standard 'journal manuscript' look most editors expect.
LaTeX's newtx package uses a font called 'TX Math' which is a Times-clone designed to integrate with TeX's math typesetting. It's visually 99% identical to Times New Roman in body text but matches LaTeX's typographic conventions (kerning, ligatures, hyphenation) better than the literal Microsoft TTF. For most submissions this is preferable.
Set the base size with the document class option: \documentclass[12pt]{article}. Override per-block with \large, \Large, \small, etc. To use a non-standard size, load the extsizes package: \documentclass[14pt]{extarticle}.
Most do. IEEE templates use a Times-style font via the IEEEtran class. Elsevier elsarticle uses cmr but accepts Times. Springer LNCS uses Times-clone fonts. Always check the journal's author guide — overriding the template's font can cause desk-rejection at some journals.