Applicable
When the user needs to:
- Apply journal/conference LaTeX templates (ACM/IEEE/NeurIPS, etc.)
- Fix compilation errors, citation errors, missing fonts, incompatible image formats
- Set up GitHub Actions to automatically compile PDFs / package submission zips
- Do formatting (latexindent) and linting (chktex)
Minimal workflow (from 0 to submittable)
1) Choose template and constraints
First record the target venue's official template or formatting requirements:
- Margins, two-column/single-column, anonymous/non-anonymous, appendix policy, page limits
2) Locally reproducible build
Recommended unified entry point (choose one):
latexmk -pdf -interaction=nonstopmode -halt-on-error- Or provide in the project
scripts/build.ps1/scripts/build.sh
3) Stable citations (BibTeX/Biber)
Meta-rules:
.bibis the source-of-truth- Do not mix manual citations and BibTeX in the same project (at least keep the main text unified)
4) Figure export and compatibility
The most stable combination for submission systems:
- Vector:
PDF(matplotlib export) - Raster:
TIFF 600dpi(microscopy/photos/heatmaps as appropriate)
5) Lint + Format (optional but strongly recommended)
- Lint：
chktex(common LaTeX pitfalls) - Format：
latexindent(reduce diff noise)
6) CI automatic compilation (GitHub Actions)
Template:templates/github-actions-latex.yml(reference xu-cheng/latex-action）
Common failure points (quick reference)
- Image formats: mixing EPS/PDF/PNG/TIFF causes compilation failures (prefer unifying to PDF)
- Fonts: submissions require embedded fonts (PDF check)
- Overfull box: a large number of warnings affects typesetting quality (needs fixing at key locations)
- Missing bibliography fields: missing DOI/year/journal name creates a poor impression for reviewers