Understanding Org's LaTeX previews

The article discusses the development of a new preview system for LaTeX math in Org mode, a feature that has existed for decades but was previously considered "barely usable." The author, Tecosaur, and the writer of the article decided to rewrite the feature from the ground up, aiming to provide near-WYSIWYG feedback while retaining Emacs' text-first, extensible, and composable properties.

The new preview system is not much code, but it contains many moving pieces and interacts with various parts of Emacs. The author explains the goals and design of the library, as well as some relevant aspects of the Emacs API and tips for writing similar features. However, the article is not an exhaustive demo, user manual, or tutorial.

The article is intended for readers interested in understanding the technical details of the new LaTeX preview feature in Org mode. It covers the implementation of the code, relevant notes on Emacs' API, other Org features related to LaTeX preview generation, CLI commands associated with the process, and their output. The author also provides a 13-minute demo video for those who want a better idea of the new capabilities.

The article highlights the importance of real-time feedback when editing LaTeX snippets in Emacs, as it significantly improves the user's experience. The author notes that web LaTeX editors like Overleaf do not provide this feature out of the box, which is surprising given their target audience of novice LaTeX users. The author also mentions that org-latex-preview can technically work anywhere in Emacs and every major-mode, but it is not yet there for everyone.