LaTeX is a document preparation system for high-quality typesetting. It is most often used for medium-to-large technical or scientific documents, but it can be used for almost any form of publishing.

LaTeX is not a word processor! Instead, LaTeX encourages authors not to worry too much about the appearance of their documents, but to concentrate on getting the right content.

LaTeX is based on the idea that it is better to leave document design to document designers, and to let authors get on with writing documents.

LaTeX contains features for:

Typesetting journal articles, technical reports, books, and slide presentations.
Control over large documents containing sectioning, cross-references, tables and figures.
Typesetting of complex mathematical formulae.
Advanced typesetting of mathematics with AMS-LaTeX.
Automatic generation of bibliographies and indexes.
Multi-lingual typesetting.
Inclusion of artwork, and process or spot colour.
Using PostScript or Metafont fonts.