Layout Guide

This guide walks you through producing documents with XTS: fonts, text, tables, images, the grid, and the page. Each chapter builds on the previous one, but feel free to skip ahead if you already know the basics.

For the language itself – the data/action model, variables, functions, templates, XPath, and control flow – see the Programming section.

Getting Started

Install XTS and create your first PDF.

Core Concepts

Understand how layout files, data files, the grid, and positioning work together.

Text & Styling

Load fonts, format text, use CSS and HTML.

Tables

Build tables from simple grids to multi-page data reports.

Images & Graphics

Include images, draw shapes, and generate barcodes.

Page Layout

Define master pages, use page hooks, and handle multi-page content.

Advanced Topics

PDF metadata, bookmarks, Lua preprocessing, slates, and colors.

Running XTS

Command line, configuration files, file organization, schema setup, and QA.