Pdflatex

PDFLaTeX Compilation Skill

Quick Start

# Basic compilation
pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode document.tex

# With bibliography (biblatex + biber)
pdflatex document.tex && biber document && pdflatex document.tex && pdflatex document.tex

# Automated (recommended)
latexmk -pdf document.tex

Reference Documentation

| Topic | File | Use When | |-------|------|----------| | Package reference | [packages.md](references/packages.md) | Need specific package syntax | | Smart cross-refs | [cross-references.md](references/cross-references.md) | Using cleveref, labeling | | Publication tables | [tables-siunitx.md](references/tables-siunitx.md) | Professional tables with aligned numbers | | Build automation | [latexmk-config.md](references/latexmk-config.md) | Configuring latexmk | | Journal submission | [journal-submission.md](references/journal-submission.md) | ACM, IEEE, Springer, Elsevier requirements | | Version control | [version-control.md](references/version-control.md) | Git, latexdiff for revisions | | PDF/A archival | [pdfa-archival.md](references/pdfa-archival.md) | Thesis submission, long-term preservation | | Troubleshooting | [troubleshooting.md](references/troubleshooting.md) | Fixing compilation errors | | Font guide | [fonts.md](references/fonts.md) | Custom fonts, XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX font setup |

Compilation Workflows

Automated (Recommended)

latexmk -pdf document.tex           # pdflatex + auto-detect bibliography
latexmk -xelatex document.tex       # XeLaTeX for custom fonts
latexmk -lualatex document.tex      # LuaLaTeX for advanced scripting
latexmk -pdf -pvc document.tex      # Watch mode (recompile on save)
latexmk -c document.tex             # Clean auxiliary files

Manual Chains

# BibTeX (traditional)
pdflatex doc.tex && bibtex doc && pdflatex doc.tex && pdflatex doc.tex

# Biber (biblatex - modern)
pdflatex doc.tex && biber doc && pdflatex doc.tex && pdflatex doc.tex

# Shell escape (minted, tikz externalize)
# WARNING: -shell-escape allows .tex files to run arbitrary system commands.
# Only use with trusted files. Prefer -shell-restricted when possible.
pdflatex -shell-escape document.tex

# IMPORTANT: Never hallucinate BibTeX entries. Always use the user's .bib file
# or ask for DOIs. Never fabricate citation data from memory.

PDF Preview After Compilation

# macOS
open output.pdf

# Linux (uses xdg-open)
xdg-open output.pdf

# Or use the preview script
./scripts/preview_pdf.sh output.pdf

Essential Package Loading Order

\documentclass[11pt,a4paper]{article}

% Encoding
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}

% Math
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,amsthm}
\usepackage{mathtools}

% Graphics and layout
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
\usepackage{booktabs,siunitx}
\usepackage{microtype}

% Bibliography
\usepackage[backend=biber,style=numeric]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{references.bib}

% Cross-references (LOAD ORDER MATTERS)
\usepackage{hyperref}
\hypersetup{colorlinks=true,linkcolor=blue,citecolor=blue,urlcolor=cyan}
\usepackage{cleveref}  % MUST be after hyperref

Engine Selection Guide

| Engine | Use When | Key Feature | |--------|----------|-------------| | pdflatex | Default choice, most compatible | Widest package support | | xelatex | Custom/system fonts, Unicode-heavy docs | fontspec package | | lualatex | Advanced scripting, complex typography | Lua scripting in TeX | | latexmk | Always — wraps any engine | Auto-detects passes needed |

Project Structure

paper/
├── main.tex              # Main document
├── references.bib        # Bibliography
├── .latexmkrc            # Build config
├── sections/
│   ├── abstract.tex
│   ├── introduction.tex
│   ├── methods.tex
│   ├── results.tex
│   └── conclusion.tex
├── figures/
│   └── *.pdf, *.png
└── output/               # Compiled PDFs

Common Tasks

Smart References (cleveref)

\label{fig:results}              % After \caption
\cref{fig:results}               % → "Figure 1"
\Cref{fig:results}               % → "Figure 1" (sentence start)
\cref{fig:a,fig:b,fig:c}         % → "Figures 1 to 3"

Publication-Quality Tables

\begin{table}[htbp]
    \caption{Results comparison.}
    \label{tbl:results}
    \centering
    \begin{tabular}{l S[table-format=2.2] S[table-format=1.2]}
        \toprule
        Model & {Accuracy (\%)} & {F1} \\
        \midrule
        Baseline & 85.32 & 0.83 \\
        \textbf{Ours} & \bfseries 92.15 & \bfseries 0.91 \\
        \bottomrule
    \end{tabular}
\end{table}

Generate Revision Diff

# Compare current with submitted version
latexdiff-vc --git -r v1.0-submission main.tex
pdflatex main-diffv1.0-submission.tex

Quick Fixes

| Problem | Solution | |---------|----------| | ?? in PDF | Run pdflatex twice | | Citations missing | Run biber/bibtex + pdflatex x2 | | Undefined control | Add missing \usepackage{} | | Overfull hbox | Add \sloppy or adjust text | | Package conflict | Check load order (hyperref before cleveref) | | Font not found (XeLaTeX) | Check font name with fc-list, use fontspec | | Missing .sty file | sudo tlmgr install packagename |

Example Templates

Ready-to-use templates in examples/:

• research-paper.tex — Academic paper with biblatex, cleveref, siunitx (+ references.bib)
• invoice.tex — Professional invoice with line items and totals
• report.tex — Business report with TOC, sections, figures, tables
• demo-report.tex — Rich report with charts, tables, and scatter plots (pgfplots)
• letter.tex — Formal business letter
• cv.tex — Modern CV/resume
• .latexmkrc — Ready-to-use build configuration

Scripts

./scripts/compile_latex.sh document.tex [pdflatex|xelatex|lualatex] [--bib bibtex|biber] [--clean] [--shell-escape] [--output-dir DIR]
./scripts/clean_latex.sh [directory] [--all]
./scripts/preview_pdf.sh output.pdf

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: b1rd33
• Source: b1rd33/pdflatex-skill
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.