LaTeX to Typst Translation Guide

A comprehensive reference for converting LaTeX article-class documents to Typst.

When to Use This Skill

• User asks to convert, port, or translate a .tex file to .typ
• User wants to know the Typst equivalent of a LaTeX command
• User is migrating an academic paper or report from LaTeX to Typst
• User needs help with specific LaTeX environments in Typst

Quick Navigation: Use What Reference

| Task | Reference File | |------|---------------| | Overall document structure, preamble → set rules | 01-document-structure.md | | Bold, italic, fonts, font sizes, colors | 02-text-formatting.md | | Margins, page size, columns, headers/footers | 03-page-layout.md | | \section, \subsection, numbering | 04-headings-sections.md | | itemize, enumerate, description | 05-lists.md | | Math mode, equations, aligned, matrices, operators | 06-math.md | | Symbol table: arrows, Greek, operators, sets, logic | 07-math-symbols.md | | \includegraphics, figure environment, subfigures | 08-figures.md | | tabular, booktabs, tabularx, multirow/multicolumn | 09-tables.md | | BibTeX, biblatex, natbib → bibliography, cite | 10-bibliography.md | | \label, \ref, \eqref, \autoref | 11-cross-references.md | | TikZ → CeTZ diagrams | 12-diagrams-cetz.md | | verbatim, lstlisting, minted; footnotes, links | 13-misc.md |

Key Conceptual Differences

Preamble → set and show Rules

LaTeX uses a \documentclass{article} preamble with \usepackage calls. Typst replaces this with set rules (for properties) and show rules (for transformations), placed at the top of the document.

tex
% LaTeX
\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
\usepackage{fontenc}
\setmainfont{Times New Roman}

typst
// Typst equivalent
#set page(paper: "a4", margin: 1in)
#set text(font: "Times New Roman", size: 12pt)

No \begin/\end Environments

Most LaTeX environments have direct Typst function equivalents. For example:

| LaTeX | Typst | |-------|-------| | \begin{equation}...\end{equation} | $ ... $ (block, with space) | | \begin{figure}...\end{figure} | #figure(...) | | \begin{tabular}...\end{tabular} | #table(...) | | \begin{itemize}...\end{itemize} | - item (markup) |

Content vs. Code Mode

In Typst, # switches from markup mode into code mode. Inside #{ } blocks or function arguments, you write code. Markup is the default.

Units

| LaTeX | Typst | Notes | |-------|-------|-------| | pt | pt | Same | | em | em | Same | | cm | cm | Same | | mm | mm | Same | | in | in | Same | | \textwidth | 100% (relative to container) | — | | 0.5\textwidth | 50% | — |

Minimal Article Template

tex
% LaTeX article
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\title{My Paper}
\author{Jane Doe}
\date{\today}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\begin{abstract}
This paper...
\end{abstract}
\section{Introduction}
Hello world.
\end{document}

typst
// Typst equivalent
#set page(margin: 1in)
#set text(size: 12pt)

#align(center)[
  = My Paper
  Jane Doe \
  #datetime.today().display()
]

#set par(justify: true)

*Abstract.* This paper...

= Introduction

Hello world.

For a more polished article template with abstract box, see 01-document-structure.md.

Workflow for Full Document Conversion

1. Convert preamble → #set page(), #set text(), #set par() (see 03-page-layout.md, 02-text-formatting.md)
2. Convert sectioning → =, ==, === (see 04-headings-sections.md)
3. Convert math → inline $...$, block $ ... $ (see 06-math.md, 07-math-symbols.md)
4. Convert figures → #figure(image(...), caption: [...]) (see 08-figures.md)
5. Convert tables → #table(...) or #figure(table(...), ...) (see 09-tables.md)
6. Convert bibliography → #bibliography("refs.bib") + @key citations (see 10-bibliography.md)
7. Convert TikZ → #canvas({...}) with CeTZ (see 12-diagrams-cetz.md)
8. Fix cross-references → <label> + @label (see 11-cross-references.md)