TeXworks is free and open-source application software, available for
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...
,
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
and
macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...
. It is a
Qt-based
graphical user interface
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows User (computing), users to Human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through graphical icon (comp ...
to the
TeX typesetting system and its
LaTeX
Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well.
In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosper ...
,
ConTeXt, and
XeTeX extensions. TeXworks is targeted at direct generation of
PDF
Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...
output. It has a built-in PDF viewer using the
poppler library; the viewer has auto-refresh capability, and also features
SyncTeX support (which allows the user to synchronize the PDF viewer position with the source, and ''vice versa'' with a single click).
The developer of TeXworks is Jonathan Kew (who also developed
XeTeX), who deliberately modelled TeXworks on Richard Koch’s award-winning
TeXShop
TeXShop is a free LaTeX and TeX editor and previewer for macOS. It is licensed under the GNU GPL.
Details
TeXShop was developed by American mathematician Richard Koch. It was modeled on NeXTstep's bundled TeXview.app and developed for the then n ...
software for macOS to lower the entry barrier to the TeX world for those using desktop operating systems other than macOS. Kew argued against complex user interfaces like that of
TeXnicCenter or
Kile, which he described as intimidating for new users.
TeXworks requires a TeX installation:
TeX Live,
MiKTeX
MiKTeX is a free and open-source distribution of the TeX/LaTeX typesetting system for Microsoft Windows (and for Mac and certain Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora). It also contains a set of related programs. MiKTeX provid ...
, or
MacTeX
MacTeX is a free redistribution of TeX Live, a typesetting environment based on TeX. While TeX Live is designed to be cross-platform (running on Unix, macOS, and Windows), MacTeX includes Mac-specific utilities and front-ends (such as TeXShop a ...
. MiKTeX 2.8 (and 2.9) comes bundled with TeXworks, even in the base installation.
One limitation of TeXworks is, that it does not by itself support multi-stage typesetting, like, for example, PNG or SVG output via intermediate
DVI. This is a design choice, because such workflows are considered too advanced for the beginning user. The user has to write a shell or batch script to use such workflows with TeXworks.
Version history
* (Feb 2022) TeXworks 0.6.7 released
* (Mar 2021) TeXworks 0.6.6 released
* (Mar 2020) TeXworks 0.6.5 released
* (Mar 2020) TeXworks 0.6.4 released
* (Mar 2019) TeXworks 0.6.3 released
* (Apr 2017) TeXworks 0.6.2 released
* (May 2016) TeXworks 0.6.1 released
* (Apr 2016) TeXworks 0.6.0 released
* (Apr 2015) TeXworks 0.4.6 released
* (Apr 2013) TeXworks 0.4.5 released
* (Apr 2012) TeXworks 0.4.4 released
* (Jun 2011) TeXworks 0.4.3 released
* (Jun 2011) TeXworks 0.4.2 released
* (May 2011) TeXworks 0.4.1 released
* (Mar 2011) TeXworks 0.4.0 released
* (Oct 2009) TeXworks 0.2.3 released
* (Oct 2009) TeXworks 0.2.2 released
* (Oct 2009) TeXworks 0.2.1 released
* (Sep 2009) TeXworks 0.2.0 released
See also
*
Comparison of TeX editors
*
XeTeX
References
External links
TeXworks – lowering the entry barrier to the TeX worldTeX Users Group (Discuss the TeXworks front end)LaTeX-Community (Subforum for TeXworks)*
Search keyword ''"texworks"'' in all forums
{{TeX editors
Cross-platform free software
Free TeX editors
TeX editors
TeX editors that use Qt