Converting LaTeX to PDF in Python: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

If you’ve ever worked with LaTeX, you know it’s an excellent tool for creating professional-quality documents. However, automating the process of converting LaTeX source files to PDFs can sometimes be a bit tedious, especially if you’re managing multiple files or need to integrate this process into a larger Python workflow.

In this tutorial, we’ll explore how to easily convert LaTeX documents into PDF files using a dedicated Python library that wraps the pdflatex command.

Introduction
Prerequisites
Library Overview
Creating a PDF from a .tex File
Creating a PDF from a Binary String
Additional Options and Cleanup
Conclusion

Prerequisites

Before getting started, ensure that you have the necessary LaTeX packages installed on your system. If you encounter errors like “pdflatex not found”, run the following command (or its equivalent on your system):

Python

sudo apt-get install texlive-latex-base texlive-latex-extra texlive-fonts-extra

This will install the essential LaTeX packages required for pdflatex to function correctly.

Additionally, you’ll need Python installed along with the pdflatex library. If you haven’t installed the library yet, you can typically do so via pip:

Python

pip install pdflatex

Creating a PDF from a .tex File

Let’s start with the most straightforward use-case: generating a PDF from an existing .tex file.

Begin by importing the PDFLaTeX class:

Python

from pdflatex import PDFLaTeX

Instantiate from a .tex File using the helper method from_texfile to create a PDFLaTeX object:

Python

pdfl = PDFLaTeX.from_texfile('my_file.tex')

Call the create_pdf method. This method returns three things:

The PDF file as a binary string.The log file generated by pdflatex as text.A subprocess.CompletedProcess object with detailed execution results

Python

pdf, log, completed_process = pdfl.create_pdf(keep_pdf_file=True, keep_log_file=True)

The keep_pdf_file and keep_log_file parameters (both default to False) allow you to retain the files on your filesystem if needed. Otherwise, the module cleans up after itself, leaving no trace unless explicitly requested.

Creating a PDF from a Binary String

There may be scenarios where your LaTeX content isn’t stored in a file but is generated dynamically (for instance, from a web template or user input). In such cases, you can create a PDF directly from a binary string.

Python

import pdflatex

with open('my_file.tex', 'rb') as f:
    pdfl = pdflatex.PDFLaTeX.from_binarystring(f.read(), 'my_file')
    
pdf, log, cp = pdfl.create_pdf()