Template request: Reinforcement Learning Conference (RLC)

[AdrianOrenstein]

If possible, could a Typst template be generated for the RL conference format? https://rl-conference.cc/callforpapers.html

Their style file is here: https://www.overleaf.com/read/bycjnrddrxhq#f02c55.

[daskol]

Yes, it seems absolutely doable but it could take me a few days.

As far as I understand, RLC will take place in University of Alberta. I noticed that you recently joined University of Alberta. It seems that RLAI Group members are among the organizers. It would be great if Typst template could be backed by the conference committee. 😊

[AdrianOrenstein]

Yes that's correct. If you have time to get a template going before RLC, I'll put it in front of Marlos to be put alongside overleaf template.

Students doing coursework at UofA use these templates for reports, so the templates have been really helpful!

[daskol]

I am happy to hear that templates are being used.

Great! I will try to finish it by the end of the week.

[daskol]

@AdrianOrenstein Please check out the RLC/RLJ template prepared in #28. You can compare the resulting documents here: example-paper.latex.pdf vs example-paper.typst.pdf.

[AdrianOrenstein]

Thanks. It looks great. I do see some minor differences, but for the purposes of just writing before the deadline it is certainly good enough for me.

I reached out to one of the organisers and while they aren't yet familiar with Typst, they would like to focus on templates that are Latex based. This person was concerned that they wouldn't have a unified way to edit all of the publications, and some people submitting non-latex works would just add complications on their end. So that stands as a barrier to getting on the website.

I did some digging on how we might get Typst to output latex. There is a Mitex project, (Underleaf looks interesting as well) or people could use Pandoc. Pandoc, as of 3.1.2, have a Typst writer, but a typst reader is still in the works. Pandoc looks the most promising, but I think they're waiting for Typst to support HTML or produce additional metadata so that the conversion between formats remains lossless.

Anyway, the template looks good enough to get started on my end! I'd be happy to close the issue if you're happy.

[daskol]

Anyway, the template looks good enough to get started on my end! I'd be happy to close the issue if you're happy.

Glad to hear you like it. I will keep the issue open until #28 and typst/packages#1399 are merged. Feel free to reopen the issue.

Thanks. It looks great. I do see some minor differences, but for the purposes of just writing before the deadline it is certainly good enough for me.

Indeed, it is impossible at the moment to make a pixel perfect template for multiple reasons. Specifically, Typst exploits modern OpenType Fonts (OTF) while LaTeX relies on dated MetaFont (MF). But the main reason is that LaTeX implements spring layout manager which admits space shrinking and stretching whist Typst uses rigid layouting.

This person was concerned that they wouldn't have a unified way to edit all of the publications, and some people submitting non-latex works would just add complications on their end.

In my opinion, Pandoc is the most advance text document converter. However, I didn't quite understand the issue. AFAIK, publishers uses special tools like Adobe Illustrator for preparing journals, proceedings, and manuscripts for printing. And I have never heard of anyone adjusting line spacing or figure placement.