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.

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

// 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

% 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 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)