LaTeX Previewer is a VS Code extension that generates a typeset document from your LaTeX source and renders it directly to the canvas of a VS Code webview.
Note: LaTeX Previewer works with LuaLaTeX compatible source files. If you are currently using another LaTeX engine you may need to modify your source code to make it LuaLaTeX compatible. A good starting point for those new to LuaLaTeX is A Guide to LuaLaTeX.
Features
Renders from a generated DVI file - no PDF output required.
Pages are rendered as needed for faster previewing.
Glyph bitmaps are cached to improve rendering speed.
Configurable screen DPI for better rendering accuracy.
Forward and reverse document synchronization.
Supports rendering of images in SVG format.
Re-rendering on save
Prerequisites
VS Code or VSCodium >= v1.75
A TeX distribution that includes LuaTeX
luaotfload package >= v3.23
OpenType or TrueType fonts for all fonts used in your documents
Getting Started
Search for LaTeX Previewer in VS Code Extensions or Open VSX and click Install
Go to the extension settings and set the LaTeX font diretory for your LaTeX distribution e.g. for MiKTeX on Windows C:\Users<username>\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\fonts or for TeXLive native on Linux /usr/share/texmf/fonts
The system font path will also be searched for font files
Open a LaTeX file and run LaTeX Preview: Show Preview from the Command Palette or click the Preview icon
Configuration Options
DPI: Display device resolution in pixels per inch. Default 96
Page Buffer Size: Number of pages to pre-render. Default 2
LaTeX Font Dir: Path to the font directory of your LaTeX distribution. Required
Page Gap: Render pages separated by this number of pixels. Default 0
Debug Mode: Print debug messages? Default false
Telemetry: Enable sending error and usage events to help improve the software. Default true
Commands
Show Preview (Ctrl+Shift+L): Opens the Preview window, compiles your document, and renders it
Set Page Size: Choose from a list of page sizes. Recompiles after selection
Set Magnification: Enter a new magnification percentage. Recompiles after entry
Magnification +10% (Ctrl+Shift+UpArrow): Increase magnification by 10% and recompile
Magnification -10% (Ctrl+Shift+DownArrow): Decrease magnification by 10% and recompile
Generate PDF File: Compiles your document to a PDF file
Export to JSON: Export the decoded DVI data as a JSON layout file. The schema for the layout file is here.
No preview showing?
Check the output log for error messages
Set Debug Mode for detailed logs
There may be fonts, images or LaTeX packages that were not found
If you are using a Linux distribution such as Ubuntu then your LaTeX distribution may have been installed by their repository system. In this case the latest loaotfload package may not be available. To get around this you can install a LaTeX native distribution side-by-side with the Ubuntu installation and point your LaTeX Font Directory to the native path.
Depending on your LaTeX distribution you may or may not be prompted to install packages
If you are using math packages ensure that you add the unicode-math package after all other math packages.
If you are using the amsart document class you may need to use the noamsfonts option
Check package documentation for compatibility with LuaLaTeX. You may need to choose alternative packages.
Install all required fonts and packages and try again
Possible future enhancements
Color text support
Printing
A NodeJS module for rendering JSON layout files to a browser canvas
