Compiling and the PDF
Compiling turns your blocks into a PDF. It runs on Texifine's servers with a real LaTeX engine; nothing has to be installed.
When the document compiles
| Trigger | When |
|---|---|
| Automatic | About three seconds after you stop typing. |
| Manual | The Compile button, or Ctrl+Enter (⌘+Enter on a Mac) from anywhere in the editor. |
| On opening | When you open a document whose PDF is missing or out of date. |
You can keep writing while a compilation runs. The preview keeps showing the last PDF until the new one is ready, so it never goes blank.
To compile only when you ask, open the gear next to the Compile button and switch Auto-compile off. The choice is remembered on this device.
Is my PDF up to date?
The status next to the save indicator answers that question:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Not compiled | No PDF yet. |
| Queued… / Compiling… | A PDF is being built. |
| PDF up to date | The preview matches the document. |
| PDF out of date | The document changed since the PDF was built. |
| LaTeX error | The document did not compile. Open the PDF tab for details. |
| Timed out | The compilation took more than 30 seconds. |
| Compile failed | The compiler could not be reached. Try again. |
"Saved" is about your work; "PDF up to date" is about the preview. They are two different things.
The PDF tab
- Scroll through the pages, or use the arrows and the page counter.
- Zoom from 50 % to 250 %, with the − and + buttons or with
Ctrl+ mouse wheel (a pinch on a trackpad works too). The page is redrawn at each level, so it stays sharp, and what is under the pointer stays under it. - Text can be selected and copied.
- Links work: a table-of-contents entry, a cross-reference or a citation jumps to its target.
The LaTeX tab
The LaTeX tab shows the complete source generated from your blocks, with line numbers. It is read-only: the blocks are the document. Use Copy to take the source elsewhere, and Refresh to regenerate it.
Images and code listings are referenced by file name in the source (images/…, listings/…); those files are not part of what you copy. To get the source together with its files, export the document — see below.
Downloading the PDF
Click the download button next to the tabs of the editor and choose Download PDF, or open the menu of a document in your dashboard.
- If the PDF is up to date, it downloads at once.
- If the document changed since the last compilation, you choose between Compile and download and Download previous version.
The file is named after the document.
Exporting a document
Export (.zip) — under the same download button, and in the menu of a document in your dashboard — downloads an archive named after the document. It holds:
| File | What it is |
|---|---|
name.tex | The LaTeX source, as the LaTeX tab shows it |
images/ | The images of the figures, which the source refers to |
listings/ | The code of the code blocks, which the source refers to |
name.pdf | The compiled document |
name.json | The document as Texifine stores it: its blocks, title page, abstract, bibliography and settings |
README.txt | What each file is, and whether the PDF matches the source |
images/ and listings/ are only there when the document has figures or code blocks.
The PDF follows the same rule as a download:
- if it is up to date, the archive downloads at once;
- if the document changed since the last compilation, you choose between Compile and export and Export with the previous PDF — the README then says that the PDF does not match the source;
- if the document was never compiled, or does not compile, Export without the PDF gives you everything else.
To compile the source yourself, run tectonic name.tex from the archive's folder: Tectonic is the engine Texifine uses. Other LaTeX engines have not been tested.
The archive cannot be imported back into Texifine yet.
When a compilation fails
The PDF tab shows the first error LaTeX reported, with a line number, and the full compiler output one click away. Line numbers refer to the generated source: open the LaTeX tab to find the line. The last PDF that compiled stays on screen.
Because text is never interpreted as LaTeX, errors almost always come from a formula. See Fixing compilation errors.
Limits
- Two documents at a time. You can have two documents compiling at once. A third waits until one finishes.
- 300 compilations per hour per account. A document that did not change is not recompiled and does not count.
- 30 seconds per compilation.
- 30 exports per hour per account.
When a limit is reached, the editor tells you how long to wait. See Limits.