Really great work. Typst continues to impress. The eventual goal of HTML and PDF both as first class output will be a such a great improvement for scientific publishing.
For everyone who is using LaTeX and hasn't tried yet, give it a try. It is actually surprisingly featurefull and surpasses LaTeX in usability by a huge margin.
I hear that the online editor is quite good, but personally I've only ever used the CLI.
I originally picked up Typst as yet another replacement for PowerPoint (replacing my use of Marp), but have since used it for a poster and some minor text documents. And I've been very happy the results. I know that a lot of people love using LaTeX for that kind of thing, and with good reasons, but I always forgot most of the details between my (occasional) use of LaTeX, while I've found Typst to be very easy to return to
> Meanwhile, in HTML and SVG export, PDFs are converted to an embedded SVG on-the-fly. And, finally, in PNG export and the web app preview, PDFs are rasterized. All of this PDF processing functionality lives right in the Typst compiler, with no system dependencies. This is only possible thanks to the amazing work of community member @LaurenzV, who created a new PDF processing library called hayro from scratch. The library is 100% written in the programming language Rust (which is also the language we use for the Typst compiler) and is thus highly portable.
The killer features of LaTeX that does not let me go with typst (Although I like my typst generated resume) as an academic are.
1. Beamer, I create multiple slide decks per week and the out of the box setup that beamer provides with different styles and fonts for different needs are unmatched. The efforts to generate some of this on typst is not there yet.
2. Generating figures using tikz and be able to modify it on the source file. Because I don't bear using GUI tools. And now life is easier that LLM can help you with complex tikz generation.
3. Not that it is actually a point but I am used now to overleaf and I have professional account as CERN member. It is also better on collaboration level and features than typst cloud.
I hope that one day typst will grow into this direction so that I can stop using LaTeX. Until then I have couple of overleaf templates generated for my use.
I'm super happy that Typst continues to chip away at LaTeX's dominance. Kudos to the team and contributors! <3
This looks like a great release. Lossless embedding of PDFs seems like it would be useful in many scenarios. I'm surprised with how much better the character-level justified text actually looks. And I wasn't even aware that it supported exporting HTML. Typst—both the tool and the language—are more robust and enjoyable to use IME than something like Markdown, Pandoc, Org mode, and other formats, so I'll definitely consider using it for my next web project.
My only concern is backwards compatibility. How committed is the team to supporting older syntax? What will happen in a year or two from now when I have to generate a PDF from a .typ file written with version 0.13? They mention deprecations in v0.14, so I assume that I should expect breaking issues. I suppose only time will tell how difficult upgrading will be in the future.
This was a big problem for me when using LaTeX, which is why I maintained a TeX Live Docker image with the exact version and dependencies I needed. Upgrading it was always a nerve-racking ordeal. Since Typst is a single binary, this should at least be easier to manage.
> To make sure you got everything right, you can enable the new PDF/UA-1 export. PDF/UA is an international standard that helps to create universally accessible PDF files. When it is enabled, Typst will run additional checks against your document to find accessibility issues and optimize for accessibility rather than compatibility. It will find issues such as missing document titles, wrong heading hierarchies, and missing alternative descriptions.
This sounds great! Are accessible PDFs possible with LaTeX? Last time I looked, it wasn't a standard feature and there didn't seem to be any easy workaround which is a real problem when there's a requirement to produce accessible PDFs.
We used GitHub/Azure markdown plus Mermaid plus MathJax for financial model documentation.
Beyond a certain complexity this really hurts.
Now we use typst, both playground (which does not call home, so no document exfiltration) or the compiler. The compiler is super easy to install, as we already have the Rust build chain installed.
Compared to Tex, the 40 odd years newer design of typst makes all the difference.
> alt: "Diagram with two rectangles. The first is labelled 'Tagged PDF'. An arrow points to the second, labelled 'Accessibility'"
Not trying to make any statement but I'd love to see how this level of alt text detail scales to a diagram that's more than a rectangle pointing to a rectangle
Wondering how this compares to Emacs org mode, which support exports to PDF slides with beamer or plain PDF document, also support to export to lots of other format. It also allows running the embedded code and export the results. Of course embedding PDF is easy.
I need to re-write my current project https://github.com/WillAdams/gcodepreview again --- maybe this would be a good fit? The unique feature I am taking advantage of is writing out code blocks in separate files, then concatenating them using .lua so there's no differentiation betwixt tangle/weave, both happen, and since it's Python, no need for a compile step either.
Here are some notes I wrote when I started out with typst when comparing with LaTeX and some recent additions:
1. It doesn't generate 5 bloody files when compiling.
2. Compiling is instant.
3. Diagnostics are way easier to understand (sort of like Rust compiler suggestion style).
4. List items can be either - item1 - item2, etc. or [item1], [item2]. The latter is way better because you can use anchoring to match on the braces (like "%" in vim), which means navigating long item entries is much easier.
5. In latex you have the \document{...} where you can't specify macros so they need to be at the top, in Typst you can specify the macros close to where you need them. [I've been informed this is actually incorrect and Latex does allow you to specify macros anywhere]
6. It's easier to version control and diff, especially if you use semantic line breaks.
7. Changing page layout, margins, spacing between things, etc., footers with page counters, etc. just seems way easier to do.
8. Compiling with Typst is always one pass.
9. I'm not sure how this would compare with Latex but I'm starting law school in a month and I need to cite using AGLC4 which has a CSL (citationstyles.org) template supported by Typst; I have confirmed the CSL XML is correct but doesn't render properly in Typst. The workaround I found was to hand typeset my own citation and bibliography which sucks.
10. Most of what you need is built in to Typst and I've yet to need to import a package or template; even for the most basic documents with Latex you find you'll need to use many packages (such as fancyhdr for customised headers and footers).
11. Latex distributions can be a monstrosity, gigabytes in size like TexLive, and I acknowledge you can get slimmed down on-demand version such as Miktex. There's just one distribution of Typst and its pretty lean, although it might be nice to have multiple implementations in the future.
As for Typst 0.14 - I'm really happy about Accessible PDF feature and HTML export, will give each a whirl.
I love typst and I tried to use it recently when shipping publications to EMNLP, AAAI, and NeurIPS. While there were a lot of upsides to it, things got very bad when the teams grew beyond just a few people. Typst is incredible for single-person or a trio of people, but the web experience is not there yet for collaboration. I’m really hoping for typst to continue and I plan to use it whenever I can for smaller projects or stuff that wont involve working with professors or students who are not interested in learning new things during publication time.
47 comments
[ 2.4 ms ] story [ 65.9 ms ] threadFor everyone who is using LaTeX and hasn't tried yet, give it a try. It is actually surprisingly featurefull and surpasses LaTeX in usability by a huge margin.
- The Typst online editor is proprietary: https://typst.app
- The Typst compiler/CLI is open source: https://github.com/typst/typst
I hear that the online editor is quite good, but personally I've only ever used the CLI.
I originally picked up Typst as yet another replacement for PowerPoint (replacing my use of Marp), but have since used it for a poster and some minor text documents. And I've been very happy the results. I know that a lot of people love using LaTeX for that kind of thing, and with good reasons, but I always forgot most of the details between my (occasional) use of LaTeX, while I've found Typst to be very easy to return to
I love, and hate, LaTeX and the idea of a LaTeX successor / alternative is incredibly appealing.
And the fact that they are aware that microtypography IS important and that they are working on it is a huge huge plus.
Wow! That must’ve been quite an effort.
Much less portable than the C ecosystem though.
1. Beamer, I create multiple slide decks per week and the out of the box setup that beamer provides with different styles and fonts for different needs are unmatched. The efforts to generate some of this on typst is not there yet.
2. Generating figures using tikz and be able to modify it on the source file. Because I don't bear using GUI tools. And now life is easier that LLM can help you with complex tikz generation.
3. Not that it is actually a point but I am used now to overleaf and I have professional account as CERN member. It is also better on collaboration level and features than typst cloud.
I hope that one day typst will grow into this direction so that I can stop using LaTeX. Until then I have couple of overleaf templates generated for my use.
This looks like a great release. Lossless embedding of PDFs seems like it would be useful in many scenarios. I'm surprised with how much better the character-level justified text actually looks. And I wasn't even aware that it supported exporting HTML. Typst—both the tool and the language—are more robust and enjoyable to use IME than something like Markdown, Pandoc, Org mode, and other formats, so I'll definitely consider using it for my next web project.
My only concern is backwards compatibility. How committed is the team to supporting older syntax? What will happen in a year or two from now when I have to generate a PDF from a .typ file written with version 0.13? They mention deprecations in v0.14, so I assume that I should expect breaking issues. I suppose only time will tell how difficult upgrading will be in the future.
This was a big problem for me when using LaTeX, which is why I maintained a TeX Live Docker image with the exact version and dependencies I needed. Upgrading it was always a nerve-racking ordeal. Since Typst is a single binary, this should at least be easier to manage.
This sounds great! Are accessible PDFs possible with LaTeX? Last time I looked, it wasn't a standard feature and there didn't seem to be any easy workaround which is a real problem when there's a requirement to produce accessible PDFs.
Now we use typst, both playground (which does not call home, so no document exfiltration) or the compiler. The compiler is super easy to install, as we already have the Rust build chain installed. Compared to Tex, the 40 odd years newer design of typst makes all the difference.
Since switching to typst my happiness with my writing tools improved dramatically.
Not trying to make any statement but I'd love to see how this level of alt text detail scales to a diagram that's more than a rectangle pointing to a rectangle
A quick search found:
https://github.com/litProgTypst/ (which I'm mystified by)
and
https://github.com/denkspuren/typst_programming (which hasn't been updated in two years)
Not seeing anything specific at: https://typst.app/docs/reference/scripting
I need to re-write my current project https://github.com/WillAdams/gcodepreview again --- maybe this would be a good fit? The unique feature I am taking advantage of is writing out code blocks in separate files, then concatenating them using .lua so there's no differentiation betwixt tangle/weave, both happen, and since it's Python, no need for a compile step either.
https://typst.app/universe/package/soviet-matrix
This is a classic Tetris game implemented using Typst!
https://typst.app/universe/search/?q=tufte
Here are some notes I wrote when I started out with typst when comparing with LaTeX and some recent additions:
1. It doesn't generate 5 bloody files when compiling.
2. Compiling is instant.
3. Diagnostics are way easier to understand (sort of like Rust compiler suggestion style).
4. List items can be either - item1 - item2, etc. or [item1], [item2]. The latter is way better because you can use anchoring to match on the braces (like "%" in vim), which means navigating long item entries is much easier.
5. In latex you have the \document{...} where you can't specify macros so they need to be at the top, in Typst you can specify the macros close to where you need them. [I've been informed this is actually incorrect and Latex does allow you to specify macros anywhere]
6. It's easier to version control and diff, especially if you use semantic line breaks.
7. Changing page layout, margins, spacing between things, etc., footers with page counters, etc. just seems way easier to do.
8. Compiling with Typst is always one pass.
9. I'm not sure how this would compare with Latex but I'm starting law school in a month and I need to cite using AGLC4 which has a CSL (citationstyles.org) template supported by Typst; I have confirmed the CSL XML is correct but doesn't render properly in Typst. The workaround I found was to hand typeset my own citation and bibliography which sucks.
10. Most of what you need is built in to Typst and I've yet to need to import a package or template; even for the most basic documents with Latex you find you'll need to use many packages (such as fancyhdr for customised headers and footers).
11. Latex distributions can be a monstrosity, gigabytes in size like TexLive, and I acknowledge you can get slimmed down on-demand version such as Miktex. There's just one distribution of Typst and its pretty lean, although it might be nice to have multiple implementations in the future.
As for Typst 0.14 - I'm really happy about Accessible PDF feature and HTML export, will give each a whirl.
I don't get this one, it's equally easier to diff if you use semantic line breaks.
I got started with typst because I wanted to put my resume in a got repository, for no reason other than to learn git.
One day I want to write a crosswords document using typst. I don't know how yet because I can't get my tables to be squares but one day... (:
How did collaborate in the past on LaTeX publications?