How do I add custom packages to TexpadTeX
This article concerns the
macOS
app.
See other variants:
iOS
Windows

Texifier includes a repository of generic LaTeX packages that are managed by its Bundle Manager, which will allow users to install almost any standard LaTeX package. Instead of installing gigabytes of packages and fonts, you can select just what you will need from a list of bundles.

As is customary with TeX, TexpadTeX automatically opens and typesets the LaTeX packages (.sty and .cls files) that are placed in the current directory of a LaTeX document.

That said, some users will want to install their own packages, or otherwise make a single file available to multiple documents.

Custom search paths for TexpadTeX on macOS

With Texifier macOS you can specify a list of folders that you would like added to the typeset search paths. These paths will be passed to external typesetters through the environment variables (e.g. TEXINPUTS). These paths will also be passed to TexpadTeX.

To add a path to the custom search paths

  • Click on the Texifier menu at the top left of the screen
  • Click on the Preferences item
  • Click on the Typesetting pane
  • Click on the Shared Files subpane
  • Either enter the path manually, or click the + button to specify the path with dialogue box

Installing TeX packages

Often it is convenient to install extra tex packages. We strongly recommend you use tlmgr for this where possible. For example to install a package named somepackage you would type either

tlmgr install somepackage

or

sudo tlmgr install somepackage

into your Terminal window. This will download and install the package, rebuilding caches and altering config files where necessary.

Manual installation

If the package is not available via tlmgr then after emailing the package author to suggest they make it available that way you have two options

  • If you are using them on a one off basis you can install them in the same folder as the root tex file. TeX searches this location first, so it will be found
  • If you want to use it repeatedly, then the best option is to install it in the texmf folder and it will be available to all documents

texmf installation

Normally, there is a texmf/tex directory in your Library folder. This is hidden by default on macOS, so to ensure it exists and open it, please type the following into the

mkdir -p ~/Library/texmf/tex
open ~/Library/texmf/tex

finding all texmf directories

With some TeX distributions, the folder suggested above may not work. To find out the full list of paths searched by tex, you can type the following command in a Terminal window

kpsewhich --show-path tex

Installing bibliography files

To install bibliography files and bibliography style files replace tex with bibtex/bib and bibtex/bst in the above instructions. Type the following into Terminal

mkdir -p ~/Library/texmf/bibtex/bib
mkdir -p ~/Library/texmf/bibtex/bst
open ~/Library/texmf/bibtex

And to find bibliography search paths, type the following commands into a Terminal window

kpsewhich --show-path bib
kpsewhich --show-path bet