Hm. Font stuff I'm not surprised, fonts can be tricky especially in Latex, you're definitely right. Bit surprised images were difficult. I guess I haven't had to deal much with margin and header issues. fancyhdr can certainly be confusing. Did you try "lyx"? I guess for what it does help with, it might not actually make any of these particular issues easier..

Of course, it's all about using a good template. Usually I find there are tons of resources out there, but it does often involve finding someone with the same problem and asking the right question.