SILE (Simon’s Improved Layout Engine) is a modern typesetting system designed for producing high-quality printed documents. It takes textual markup as input and generates professionally formatted PDF output, offering a flexible alternative to traditional systems such as TeX.
Rather than being a derivative of TeX, SILE is built from the ground up with a focus on extensibility and programmability. It combines advanced layout capabilities with a programmable architecture using Lua, allowing users to customise behaviour and create complex document workflows.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Advanced typesetting engine for producing high-quality PDF documents.
- Flexible layout system with support for complex page designs using frames.
- Extensible architecture using the Lua programming language.
- Direct processing of structured input such as XML without requiring XSL transformations.
- Grid-based typesetting capabilities for consistent document structure.
- Cross-platform support with packages available for major Linux distributions.
- Modern implementation using Lua with a Rust-based command-line interface.
Website: github.com/sile-typesetter/sile
Support:
Developer: sile-typesetter
License: MIT License
SILE is written in Lua and C++. Learn Lua with our recommended free books and free tutorials. Learn C++ with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Typesetting Systems | |
|---|---|
| groff | Reimplementation and extension of the typesetter from AT&T Unix |
| Lout | Reads a high-level description of a document similar in style to LaTeX |
| SILE | Has features inspired by TeX and InDesign, but seeks to be more flexible |
| Texinfo | Typesetting syntax used for generating documentation |
| TeXmacs | Has an independent typesetting engine rather than using TeX |
| typst | Markup-based typesetting system for the sciences |
| We cover LaTeX separately. Here's our roundup of the best LaTex Tools | |
For other software read the software roundup.
| Document Processors | |
|---|---|
| LyX | Power and flexibility of TeX/LaTeX with an intuitive interface |
| TeXstudio | Fully featured open source LaTeX editor |
| TeXmacs | WYSIWYG mathematical text editor using TeX fonts |
| TeXmaker | Integrates many different tools |
| typst | Fast markup-based system for high-quality typesetting |
| TeXworks | Simple front-end modeled on TeXShop |
| Kile | KDE Integrated LaTeX Environment |
| SILE | Simon’s Improved Layout Engine |
| Enter TeX | Integrated LaTeX Environment for the GNOME desktop |
| AUCTeX | Edit LaTeX, ConTeXt, docTeX, Texinfo, and TeX files |
| Gummi | Simple LaTeX editor |
| Typewriter | Create documents with typst |
| Typesetter | Focused GTK writing environment with automatic previews |
| Katvan | Strong RTL support with live preview and editing tools |
| Open LaTeX Studio | LaTeX editor supporting remote collaboration between users |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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