--- name: LaTeX Document slug: latex-document category: Writing description: LaTeX Document creates, compiles, and converts LaTeX documents to professional PDFs with PNG previews. Use it for resumes, reports, theses, slides, posters, cheat sheets, mail merge, PDF conversion, forms, and more. github: "https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills/tree/main/skills/08-ndpvt-web-latex-document-skill" language: Stata stars: 3419 forks: 445 install: "npx degit https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills/tree/main/skills/08-ndpvt-web-latex-document-skill ~/.claude/skills/08-ndpvt-web-latex-document-skill" installs_to: ~/.claude/skills/08-ndpvt-web-latex-document-skill source_path: skills/08-ndpvt-web-latex-document-skill/SKILL.md collection_size: 25 category_size: 1012 collection_url: "https://dirskills.com/collections/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills" added: 2026-08-16T07:02:47.235Z last_synced: 2026-08-16T07:02:47.235Z canonical_url: "https://dirskills.com/skills/latex-document" --- # LaTeX Document LaTeX Document creates, compiles, and converts LaTeX documents to professional PDFs with PNG previews. Use it for resumes, reports, theses, slides, posters, cheat sheets, mail merge, PDF conversion, forms, and more. **Install:** ```bash npx degit https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills/tree/main/skills/08-ndpvt-web-latex-document-skill ~/.claude/skills/08-ndpvt-web-latex-document-skill ``` ## README # LaTeX Document Skill Create any LaTeX document, compile to PDF, and generate PNG previews. Convert PDFs of any type to LaTeX. ## Workflow: Create Documents 1. Determine document type (resume, report, letter, invoice, article, thesis, academic CV, presentation, poster, exam, book, cheat sheet) 2. **If poster:** Run the poster sub-workflow (see [Poster Sub-Workflow](#poster-sub-workflow) below), then skip to step 5. 3. **If cheat sheet / reference card:** Run the cheat sheet sub-workflow (see [Cheat Sheet / Reference Card Sub-Workflow](#cheat-sheet--reference-card-sub-workflow) below), then skip to step 5. 4. **Ask the user which enrichment elements they want** (use AskUserQuestion tool with multiSelect). Offer relevant options based on document type: - **AI-generated images** -- custom illustrations, diagrams, photos (uses generate-image skill) - **Charts/graphs** -- bar, line, pie, scatter, heatmap (pgfplots or matplotlib) - **Flowcharts/diagrams** -- process flows, architecture, decision trees (TikZ or Mermaid) - **Citations/bibliography** -- academic references, footnotes, works cited (BibTeX/biblatex) - **Tables with data** -- comparison matrices, financial data, statistics (booktabs) - **Watermarks** -- DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, or company logo background - Skip this step for simple documents (cover letters, invoices) or when the user has already specified exactly what they want. 5. Copy the appropriate template from `assets/templates/` or write from scratch 6. Customize content based on user requirements 7. Generate external assets based on user's element choices: - AI images: `python3 /../generate-image/scripts/generate_image.py "prompt" --output ./outputs/figure.png` - matplotlib charts: `python3 /scripts/generate_chart.py --data '' --output chart.png` - Mermaid diagrams: `bash /scripts/mermaid_to_image.sh diagram.mmd output.png` 8. **For documents 5+ pages:** Review the [Long-Form Document Anti-Patterns](#long-form-document-anti-patterns-must-read-for-reports-theses-books) section and run the Content Generation Checklist before compiling. Key rules: prefer prose over bullets, include global list compaction, escape `<`/`>` in text mode, vary section formats, limit ` ewpage`, size images at 0.75-0.85 textwidth. 9. Compile with `scripts/compile_latex.sh` (auto-detects XeLaTeX for CJK/RTL, glossaries, bibliography) 10. Show PNG preview to user, deliver PDF ### Poster Sub-Workflow When the user requests a poster: read [references/poster-design-guide.md](references/poster-design-guide.md) for the complete workflow including conference size presets (NeurIPS/ICML/CVPR/ICLR dimensions), layout archetypes (Traditional/BetterPoster/Visual-Heavy), color schemes, and typography standards. Use `poster.tex` (portrait) or `poster-landscape.tex` (landscape). Ask the user for conference/orientation, layout style, and color scheme using AskUserQuestion, then proceed to step 5. ### Cheat Sheet / Reference Card Sub-Workflow When the user requests a cheat sheet, reference card, or formula sheet: 1. Read [references/cheatsheet-guide.md](references/cheatsheet-guide.md) for the complete workflow including template selection, content budgets, typography rules, and the PDF-to-cheatsheet pipeline. 2. Select template: `cheatsheet.tex` (general, 3-col landscape), `cheatsheet-exam.tex` (exam formula, 2-col portrait), or `cheatsheet-code.tex` (programming, 4-col landscape). 3. Follow the guide's workflow steps, then return to main workflow step 5. ## Workflow: Mail Merge (Batch Personalized Documents) Generate N personalized documents from a LaTeX template + CSV/JSON data source using `scripts/mail_merge.py`. Template syntax: `{{variable}}` for simple substitution, Jinja2 (`<< >>`, `<% %>`) for conditionals/loops. See `assets/templates/mail-merge-letter.tex` for an example. Full guide: [references/interactive-features.md](references/interactive-features.md). ## Workflow: Version Diffing (latexdiff) Generate highlighted change-tracked PDFs using `scripts/latex_diff.sh`. Supports file-to-file diff, git revision diff, multi-file flatten, and custom markup styles. Full guide: [references/interactive-features.md](references/interactive-features.md). ## Workflow: Convert Document Formats Convert between Markdown, DOCX, HTML, and LaTeX using `scripts/convert_document.sh`. Full guide: [references/format-conversion.md](references/format-conversion.md). ## Workflow: Convert PDF to LaTeX Convert existing PDFs (handwritten notes, printed reports, legal docs) to LaTeX. Full pipeline: [references/pdf-conversion.md](references/pdf-conversion.md). **Quick steps**: Split PDF into page images (`scripts/pdf_to_images.sh`), select a conversion profile, create shared preamble, apply scaling strategy, validate with `scripts/validate_latex.py`, concatenate, compile. **Scaling strategy**: 1-10 pages = single agent; 11-20 pages = split in half (2 agents); 21+ pages = batch-7 pipeline (ceil(N/7) agents with `run_in_background: true`). **Conversion profiles** (in `references/profiles/`): `math-notes.md` (equations, theorems -- has beautiful mode), `business-document.md` (reports, memos), `legal-document.md` (contracts, statutes), `general-notes.md` (handwritten, mixed content). ## Workflow: Fill PDF Forms Fill existing PDF forms -- both fillable (with form fields) and non-fillable (image-based). Full guide: [references/pdf-operations.md](references/pdf-operations.md). **Step 1: Check form type:** ```bash python3 /scripts/pdf_check_form.py form.pdf ``` **If fillable** (has form fields): ```bash # Extract field metadata python3 /scripts/pdf_extract_fields.py form.pdf field_info.json # Create field_values.json with values for each field, then fill python3 /scripts/pdf_fill_form.py form.pdf field_values.json output.pdf ``` **If non-fillable** (no form fields): ```bash # Convert to images for visual analysis bash /scripts/pdf_to_images.sh form.pdf ./tmp/pages # Visually identify fields, create fields.json with bounding boxes # Validate bounding boxes (+ optional validation image) python3 /scripts/pdf_validate_boxes.py fields.json --image page_1.png --output validation.png --page 1 # Fill with text annotations python3 /scripts/pdf_fill_annotations.py form.pdf fields.json output.pdf ``` ## Workflow: Advanced PDF Operations For text/table extraction (pdfplumber), OCR (pytesseract), programmatic PDF creation (reportlab), watermarking, page rotation/cropping, metadata extraction, JavaScript libraries (pdf-lib, pdfjs-dist), and batch processing, see [references/pdf-operations.md](references/pdf-operations.md). ## Compile Script ```bash # Basic compile (auto-detects engine) bash /scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex # Compile + generate PNG previews bash /scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --preview # Compile + PNG in specific directory bash /scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --preview --preview-dir ./outputs # Force a specific engine bash /scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --engine xelatex bash /scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --engine lualatex # Use latexmk for automatic multi-pass (recommended for complex documents) bash /scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --use-latexmk --preview # PDF/A output for thesis submissions and archival compliance bash /scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --pdfa # Verbose output for debugging compilation issues bash /scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --verbose # Quiet mode for batch/CI jobs (only errors shown) bash /scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --quiet # Clean auxiliary files only (no compilation) bash /scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex --clean ``` ### Compilation Flags | Flag | Description | |---|---| | `--preview` | Generate PNG previews of each page after compilation | | `--preview-dir DIR` | Directory for PNG output (default: same as .tex file) | | `--engine ENGINE` | Force engine: `pdflatex`, `xelatex`, or `lualatex` | | `--use-latexmk` | Use `latexmk` as compilation backend (auto multi-pass, bibliography, index) | | `--verbose` | Show full compilation output (all engine logs) | | `--quiet` | Suppress all non-error output | | `--clean` | Remove auxiliary files (.aux, .log, .bbl, .fdb_latexmk, etc.) and exit | | `--pdfa` | Produce PDF/A-2b compliant output (auto-injects `pdfx` package) | | `--auto-fix` | Auto-fix common compilation errors (float placement, encoding) | ### Compilation Backends **Manual multi-pass (default):** Runs the engine multiple times with bibliography/index/glossary passes as needed. This is the traditional approach and works without `latexmk` installed. **latexmk (`--use-latexmk`):** Uses `latexmk` for automatic dependency-driven compilation. Recommended for complex documents with bibliographies, indexes, glossaries, or cross-references -- latexmk determines the correct number of passes automatically. Requires `latexmk` (included with TeX Live). ### Log Filtering (texfot) When `texfot` is installed (included with TeX Live), compilation output is automatically filtered to show only relevant warnings and errors, suppressing noisy package loading messages. This applies in the default verbosity mode. Use `--verbose` to see unfiltered output, or `--quiet` to suppress all non-error output. **Engine auto-detection**: If the .tex file uses `fontspec`, `xeCJK`, or `polyglossia`, the script automatically uses `xelatex`. If it uses `luacode` or `luatextra`, it uses `lualatex`. Otherwise defaults to `pdflatex`. Override with `--engine`. The script auto-installs `texlive` (including `texlive-science`, `texlive-xetex`, `texlive-luatex`, `biber`) and `poppler-utils` if missing. It auto-detects `ibliography{}` (runs bibtex), `ddbibresource{}` (runs biber), `\makeindex` (runs makeindex), `\makeglossaries` (runs makeglossaries), runs the correct number of passes, generates PNG previews with `pdftoppm`, and cleans auxiliary files. ## Script & Tool Reference For PDF utilities (encrypt, merge, optimize, extract pages, pdf-to-images), LaTeX quality tools (lint, word count, analysis, package check, citations), compilation auto-fix, bibliography fetching, and diagram scripts (Mermaid, Graphviz, PlantUML), see [references/script-tools.md](references/script-tools.md). ## Templates Copy from `assets/templates/` and customize. ### Resume Templates (5 ATS-Compatible Options) Select based on experience level, industry, and ATS requirements. See [references/resume-ats-guide.md](references/resume-ats-guide.md) for full ATS guidance. | Template | Best For | Key Feature | ATS Score | |---|---|---|---| | **`resume-classic-ats.tex`** | Finance, law, government, any ATS portal | Zero graphics, plain text only, maximum parse safety | 10/10 | | **`resume-modern-professional.tex`** | Tech, corporate, general professional | Subtle color accents, clean design, good ATS + human appeal | 9/10 | | **`resume-executive.tex`** | VP, Director, C-suite (5-15+ years) | Two-page, executive summary, board roles, P&L focus | 9/10 | | **`resume-technical.tex`** | Software, data, engineering roles | Skills-first hybrid, projects section, tech stack emphasis | 9/10 | | **`resume-entry-level.tex`** | New graduates, career starters | Education-first, one page, coursework, activities | 9/10 | All 5 templates follow ATS rules: single-column, no graphics/images, no tables for layout, standard section headings, contact info in body (not header/footer). ### STEM Student Templates - **`homework.tex`** -- Homework/assignment submission template (`article` class, 11pt) with toggle-able solutions (`\showsolutionstrue`/`\showsolutionsfalse`), custom problem/solution environments, honor code section, `fancyhdr` headers, `amsmath`+`amssymb`+`amsthm` math, `listings` code highlighting (Python, Java, C++, Matlab styles), `enumitem` for (a), (b), (c) sub-parts, `hyperref`. Customization via `