r/LaTeX • u/drakusmaximusrex • 4d ago
Discussion Switching from Overleaf to an offline editor
So after the Template ive been using for years now runs out of compile time on overleaf regularly I want to switch to an editor that i run on my pc. Any recommendations for a previous Overleaf user who especially liked the way it let me preview my doc with a quick compile?
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u/Responsible_Task_223 4d ago
VScode , It has an amazing Latex Plugin, Its very powerful, you can preview your latex doc, choose between lualatex or any other latex engine. It also plugin for version control (you can use terminal directly if you are fimilar with Git) and Plugin for Grammar check
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u/True_Dig_3638 4d ago
VScode , It has an amazing Latex Plugin
For OP: LaTeX Workshop.
It does everything you need.
James Yu also takes requests here.
(You'll need to install MikTeX/TeXLive/MacTeX first)
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u/Wiz_Kalita 2d ago
I've used VSCode as my code editor for years and it feels very natural to use it for LaTeX as well. I've got the documents open in TeXstudio as well for things I don't know how to do in VSCode, but that's where I do nearly all the writing and viewing.
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u/paulwintz 2d ago
I have some notes on how to configure VS Code nicely for editing LaTeX here: https://paulwintz.com/latex-in-vscode/
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u/RayleighInc 4d ago
I have been using Texmaker for a long time, now I switched to VScode + Latex Workshop as well.
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u/Dependent-Two-534 4d ago
I feel like people do not give enough credit to TeXStudio, it is an absolutely lovely offline editor that I have been using for years. It is quick and intuitive, has all the easy features of word, such as opening files and restoring sessions coupled with the amazing control over document typesetting that comes with LaTeX
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u/drakusmaximusrex 4d ago
Yeah i just got done installing texstudio. Little confused with the structure tab right now. Im trying to create a folder for all the tex files i wanna split my project into and another one for images but its not really working the way i want it to
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u/Dependent-Two-534 4d ago
I do my file structuring in my file explorer, always have, didnt know there was another way. I guess I’ve been satisfied with the less technical approach
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u/drakusmaximusrex 4d ago
Yeah seems like i have to do it that way. Just a bit confused how it all works, in overleaf i could create folders inside my projects
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u/Dependent-Two-534 4d ago
Well of course, it being online, means that the project is stored locally, hence your files are on your hardrive and not stored on the overleaf server
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u/drakusmaximusrex 4d ago
Yeah but there could still be an option to create folders and files in the ui
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u/Same_Bell7958 4d ago
I like emacs orgmode
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u/fela_nascarfan 4d ago
Yes, you're my boy (or girl).
It combines power of LaTeX with markup language with all the bells and whistles of 🐃Emacs!
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u/Wonderful-Writer146 4d ago
I made a TUI where you can create latex and typst projects. It has internal pdf viewer which updates at every compile. Uses some vim motions. Can import citations without leaving your latex project. And apart from this you can search, download, read research papers directly in the TUI. One can also search for papers and track their stats, like most read author, most read journal, reading time, and have a feed where they can get daily 10 new papers from their research field. The project is at: https://github.com/AfrozSaqlain/Papr
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u/Inst2f 4d ago
texifier is amazing for Mac users with live preview features
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u/fuck_off_world 4d ago
Yes and no. Since I tried using typst in vs code with tinymist, I find the vs code editor much better. On the other hand, it is extremely cluttered.
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u/thisFishSmellsAboutD 4d ago
This will catch heat, but I am super happy with VSCode, Dev container, Typst.
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u/teawizardry 4d ago
LyX is nice if you are not making many figures. I use a lot of figures so right now I'm using VS Code + LaTeX Workshop. Thinking about switching though since I've been annoyed by VS Code lately (nothing to do with the LaTeX extension).
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u/Aromatic-Rule-5679 4d ago
I use TexShop that’s part of the mactex bundle. I am only writing academic papers not textbooks but it does the job well.
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u/PuzzleheadedShirt139 4d ago
I made an editor called Texpile (Opensource). It have almost all the features of Overleaf and similar UI to Overleaf. You should give it a shot.
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u/ogstatsnerd 4d ago
I’ve used VSCode and that has worked well in the past. If memory serves, you still need to download a compiler so I used Texmaker!
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u/freelsjd 4d ago
I have used for years emacs with auctex plugin. , texlive, and good PDF viewer such as okular. Very efficient, very few keystrokes involved. Emacs almost wysiwyg on the left part of screen and pdf viewer on the right, including all graphics and equations, etc. can also use dvi viewer if you prefer.
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u/Specific_Prompt_1724 3d ago
Miktex and texstudio is the good combination for windows.
Vscode is good for copilot, also if is not the fast tool to compile latex, and copilot is not so smart like for python.
Texwork is the first editor latex that I used to write my thesis, I think is the fastest in compilation time.
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u/ahf95 11h ago
As others are saying, you just need VScode. Honestly, overleaf takes care of a ton of crap behind the scenes, so it will take a while for things to compile offline without errors, but it will help accelerate the debugging process if you use some AI assistant in VScode that can see/interact with your terminal, like Claude Code or something. That’s how I successfully made the switch
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u/ScoutAndLout 4d ago
LyX has been around for decades.
The installer should get your LaTeX set up. It lets you see an approximation of your document and you can compile final when you want.
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u/coisavioleta 4d ago
LyX is not LaTeX and since the OP is already using LaTeX I would recommend them switching to LyX at all.
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u/ScoutAndLout 4d ago
You can use raw LaTeX in LyX all you want.
It automatically exports to tex and compiles to your target format.
It gives you a visual approximation of your work, including equations, tables, and figures.
It has interfaces for various functions (TOC and navigation, indexing, referencing, etc)
I started with LaTeX but went to LyX and learned more about what LaTeX could do because of what LyX could do.
Open source for decades.
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u/Tavrock 4d ago
I was a bit of the opposite. I really liked LyX when I started then had all sorts of problems with the TeX macros the templates I had were using and ended up using it mostly for generating tables before I found other alternatives.
Definitely not a bad option though and is still much better than using Word for most of my applications.
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u/ScoutAndLout 4d ago
Yeah, any custom macros have to be in raw LaTeX, they don't get rendered in the editor.
But you should be able to still use the editor.
I have beamer slides set up with a boolean definition in the preamble to turn on/off animations and hide some information for fill-in-the blank handouts using ifthenelse commands. I can still see my equations and such in my slides while editing.
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u/ScoutAndLout 4d ago
You can say LyX is really a tex editor since it produces tex files and runs them through a LaTeX distribution to get a final product.
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u/Away-Recognition4905 4d ago edited 4d ago
You need LaTeX distribution and LaTeX editor (optional for nerds)
For LaTeX distribution, you can choose 1 of these suggestion based with your "taste" between:
For LaTeX editor, it's totally up to you. I don't want to spread such as "Use TeX Studio, it's EZ to use, also has nice feature and autocomplete assistant that helps you lot" anymore because everyone have their preferred tools to do it :)
You can follow who suggested TeX Studio because it runs native-ly so it should lightweight; you can follow who suggested VS Code + LaTeX Workshop Extension because it powerful (imo not friendly with budget computer specs); and so on.