r/LaTeX

latex has hit my brain like crack hit impoverished black neighborhoods

i had used latex before. but back then i didn't know about tikz. and tikz has opened me to a whole new world

now most of my time is no longer spent writing out my notes. instead i waste my time adjusting each hspace, 1pt by 1pt, to make each character perfectly spaced

today i have a headache. a headache that normally would've made me unable to do anything but go to sleep. but now i am stuck to my computer, and all that i can think about is moving \alpha to the right by 0.5pt so that it doesn't look too close together

please do not save me. i am exactly where i want to be

If I use LaTex as an IDE extension I have to set up all of that again if I swith IDE. Why did you chose to just get a plugin for your IDE instead of having something dedicated like TexStudio?

So after the Template ive been using for years now runs out of compile time on overleaf regularly I want to switch to an editor that i run on my pc. Any recommendations for a previous Overleaf user who especially liked the way it let me preview my doc with a quick compile?

Every time I was just casually writing my documents in LaTeX, there will be a few people around me, and they are going to be like: "Oh, why are you on LaTeX? You should be using Typst, and it's so much better." Like, this is just so common, and it pisses me off so much. And even when I ask some questions online regarding LaTeX, there will always be one comment like, "Oh, you should use Typst."

I’ve been developing SomeScript, a web-based LaTeX environment with a built-in AI assistant focused on making the writing and troubleshooting process much smoother.
Rather than just a basic editor, it includes an assistant to help:

• Debug Compilation Errors: Translate cryptic TeX log errors into clear, actionable fixes.
• Draft & Format Syntax: Quickly generate complex tables, TikZ diagrams, or math environments.
• Edit & Refine Text: Polish academic writing and document structure directly inside the editor.

I'd really appreciate feedback from regular LaTeX users on:

1. AI Debug Accuracy: Does it actually solve tricky package conflicts and syntax bugs effectively?
2. Workflow Speed: Is the AI integration helpful, or does it get in the way of standard editing?
3. Editor Experience: How does the general compiler performance and UI feel?

Try it here: https://www.somescript.com/
Any constructive feedback, edge-case testing, or feature ideas would be hugely appreciated!

https://preview.redd.it/st5x0or089kh1.png?width=2940&format=png&auto=webp&s=a6af3dff09e6e1f39e255862da341daf3a2a0a20

https://preview.redd.it/kvusjv9989kh1.png?width=630&format=png&auto=webp&s=b3de838ebd74917fa9b051f4a42bf5d054931fd7

I am a beginner to LATEX and it might sound like a stupid question, but whenever I try to create something say a table or something else not just in one exemplar, I only get one table that is the first one that I've written a code for.

Here's my code:

https://preview.redd.it/4bun5qf8y4kh1.png?width=1896&format=png&auto=webp&s=ca78a08e8f32ec31c95153f988261372a7ac64e4

Alright, this sounds odd, but I have some pictograms which I line up in a text and use macros for them i.e. I have something like:

\newcommand{\penV}{\raisebox{-0.15\fontdimen6\font{\includeinkscape[height=1\fontdimen6\font]{Pentomino/V}}}

And I have gotten to a point where I need to place them into an image in Inkscape, i.e. I need to write a text in inkscape that include {\penV} macro, which, when I export it, should render within the image. I place the image in using \includeinkscape as well. However, if I try to compile the pdf, it returns an error:

! LaTeX Error: Command \fsize already defined.

I have no idea how to fix it. Can anybody help me? Thank you.

Over the last few weeks I've been sharing some updates on a c++ hobby TeX engine I've been working on (and thanks for the positive feedback so far!). Following up on the last post about the intersection between 1980s hardware constraints and how TeX's source code was written, I wanted to share a slightly deeper dive into a specific aspect of that: TeX's memory model.

The latest video explores how tex.web started with a monolithic array for memory, how LuaTeX simultaneously preserved a lot of the legacy ideas while radically altering the size of memory words and splitting the memory array into a variable-sized and a fixed-size domain, and how I've tried to use data-oriented design (inspired) ideas to move to a memory model that is simultaneously friendlier to modern hardware and (arguably) easier to read and work with.

I hope any LuaTeX people will excuse the extremely gentle ribbing in the video; as always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

https://preview.redd.it/6dacs25wtnjh1.png?width=911&format=png&auto=webp&s=b89c80ccabc9c26dc3e4bc51244f35d35d94a100

For context, I'm writing a textbook (or at least I'm trying), and I would like the command \chapter to spell out "Lesson n" instead of the default "Chapter n", where n is the number of the chapter. Maybe there are other ways to do so that don't involve modifying the \chapter command, but that's what I want to achieve.

Thanks in advance.

A while back there was a site bibtexbuddy that helped, which is now down.

Im half way through my thesis but I had to change universities and now I have changed professors too. My new professor asked me to send documents in .docx because she doesnt know how to use LaTeX. Any idea of tools or converters to .docx? Its a chemistry thesis so I use alot of mhchen.

modernclassnotes is a state-of-the-art, open-source LaTeX document class tailored for university professors, lecturers, researchers, and students. It produces clean, beautifully formatted, and modern class notes, lecture handouts, and assignment worksheets.

Designed with a zero-dependency native box engine, it works out of the box on standard TeX Live, MiKTeX, and Overleaf without requiring complex non-standard package installations.

Check CTAN - https://ctan.org/pkg/modernclassnotes

Check GitHub Repo - aurghya-0/Modern-Class-Notes-Latex: A latex package for creating class notes, handouts and worksheets.