To write beautiful papers and notes, use LaTeX. LaTeX is a document markup language that enables you to create professional-quality documents and that offers a plethora of features for displaying mathematical expressions and figures.
LaTeX Software
If you are new to LaTeX, consider starting with the open-source software LyX. LyX provides an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) that allows you to typeset in TeX without having to worry about the LaTeX coding language. LyX is quick to learn and easy to use. You can download LyX free of charge from the Download page of the LyX website:
In order to use LaTeX, you will first need to download and install LaTeX software appropriate to your operating system. The Getting LaTeX page on the LaTeX website provides several links to downloads, for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. A popular TeX software for Mac users is TeXShop, available at the following website:
http://pages.uoregon.edu/koch/texshop/
User Resources
The LaTeX website hosts a LaTeX documentation page featuring several fantastic resources; see especially the links provided a short scroll down the page under "Contributed documentation". The LaTeX Wikibook offers detailed explanations of many aspects of LaTeX, and can be accessed at the following URL:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX
A free download of the pdf of the LaTeX Wikibook is also available on the site.
The Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) has a nice explanation of many fundamental features of LaTeX:
http://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php?title=LaTeX
The LaTeX:Examples page of the AoPS site provides several compiled pdf files along with their tex source code. Downloading both the pdf and the tex files and matching the code with the output (and then trying it on your own!) is a fantastic way to learn to code in LaTeX. See especially the examples of within-document referencing, new environments, and bibliographies.
A five-part video introduction to LyX can be found on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4cEAVmLegg
The LyX Wiki hosts many helpful resources, including user manuals and LyX tutorials (see the left column, under "LyX Documentation"). There are also pages focused on LaTeX within LyX and BibTeX within LyX.
A few helpful LaTeX resources are listed below.
Beamer (Slide Presentations) in TeX
Almost anything you can do in Powerpoint, you can do in Beamer -- and you can do it beautifully. Here is a list of websites offering tutorials on basic Beamer:
The following websites offer galleries of the various Beamer slide themes:
Additional Packages
Your LaTeX editor likely comes with most major packages pre-installed. For step-by-step instructions how to install additional packages, read WikiBook's page Installing Extra Packges. The Comprehensive TeX Archive Network, or CTAN, is the best source for LaTeX packages. You can use the CTAN Search feature to find specific packages.
Graphics in TeX
Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor, available free of charge. You can use Inkscape to create png files and then import them into your LaTeX document (for example, by using the \includegraphics command, part of the graphicx package).
A slide presentation explaining shortcuts, graphics, and slide presentations can be found on the "Tutorials" page of the LyX Wiki; the presentation is directly accessible via the following link:
Attachments