LaTeX-CV

This repository contains an alternative solution to GUI-based CV creation tools.

The user specifies the contents of the CV using a YAML file. This file gets read by a Python script to manipulate a LaTeX template and afterwards the template gets compiled.

Alternatively, if you cannot be bothered with Python and are somewhat familiar with LaTeX, the template ./src/CV_template.tex should be reasonably understable and can be used on its own.

Example CV

personal info:
    name: Shawn Stick
    photo path: pic.png
    address: |
        Main Street 5
        Place-to-be
    email: shawn.stick@emailprovider.com
    phone: 12345678
    linkedin: /in/sticksh
    github: ShawnTheStick
    about me: |
        People consider me flat but are still drawn to me

qualities:
    - Core Competencies:
        - Precision: .8
        - Communication: .9
    - Skills:
        - Juggling: .8
        - Air Guitar: .55
    - Languages:
        - English: .8
        - Chinese: .25

vita:
    - Experience:
        - Jobless:
            at: Home
            from: 2002
            to: today
        - Dog walker:
            at: Local Park
            from: 2000
            to: 2002
            doing:
                - Acquiring customers through word-of-mouth
                - Chasing loose dogs
    - Education:
        - PhD:
            at: School of Hard Knocks
            from: 1997
            to: 1999
            doing:
                - Eating pizza
        - Master's:
            at: Kindergarden
            from: 1995
            to: 1996

Overview of Repository

├── input                  # input folder containing the base example
│   ├── example.yaml         # YAML file for building an example CV
│   └── pic.png              # image needed for the example.yaml
├── src                    # folder containing source codes, LaTeX templates, etc
│   ├── icons                # folder of icons embedded into the template
│   ├── example.png          # image of the example output for README
│   ├── latex_cv.py          # Python module which transforms and compiles the template
│   └── CV_template.tex      # LaTeX template getting transformed
├── output               # default output folder
├── main.py              # entry point to the python program flow
├── CV_config.yaml       # configuration file for input and output folder
├── README.md            # read-me file
└── requirements.txt     # requirements for running and developing the code

Quickstart

Make sure the following is installed on your machine:

• LaTeX (incl. pdflatex and latexmk)
• Python (any version of Python 3 should suffice)

If the above programs are installed, follow these steps:

1. Clone this repository via

   git clone https://github.com/KainAber/latex-cv.git

2. Optional: Configure a virtual environment for this project
3. Navigate inside the repository and install the requirements

   cd latex-cv
   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Run ./main.py

This last step generates a .tex file and then calls subprocess.run to execute a latexmk command compiling that .tex file.

Both the .tex and the .pdf file are created inside ./output based on the .yaml file inside ./input which was updated last (example.yaml in this case).

To create your own CV, simply create a .yaml file inside ./input which mimics the contents of ./input/example.yaml and re-run main.py.

Customizations

In order to not have to work inside the repository folder, the file ./CV_config.yaml affords the capability to change the the input folder (which is used to select the CV contents .yaml file) and the output folder (used for exporting .tex and .pdf files).

If you additionally create an alias in your shell configuration for the execution of main.py, you can essentially use this repository from anywhere inside your system.

Detailed Config Guide

This section is going step through each part of the example.yaml file which the program uses to fill the CV template.

Personal Info

• personal info
  • Dictionary of personal information which is retrieved by name
  • None of the fields of this dictionary are retrieved by name
  • The fields are iterated over and placed in the CV template
  • Placements without effect are logged
  • name
    • Name appearing on top the right-hand side of the CV (can also be used as a title)
  • address
    • Address which is placed under the address.png icon on the left-hand side; can be omitted / left blank to exclude the icon
  • email
    • Analogous to address; will additionally be linked out
  • phone
    • Analogous to address
  • linkedin
    • Analogous to email; use the LinkedIn url slug for the link to work, e.g. /in/williamhgates
  • github
    • Analogous to linkedin
  • aboutme
    • Free text field which will be placed under the name field on the right-hand side of the CV

Qualities

• qualities
  • Dictionary of a list of quality sections which is retrieved by name
  • The quality sections themselves are not retrieved by name and can be set dynamically
  • They serve as headings on the left-hand side of the CV
  • - Core Competencies
    • Example name of a qualities section; will serve as a heading for its items
    • - Communication
      • Example of a quality under a quality section
      • The quality can be formatted as a key with a floating point number between 0 and 1 as a value; this floating point number describes the percentage of the degree of the quality
      • If a value is given, a progress bar will be placed next to the bulleted item
      • If the quality item is formatted as a list item or the value is omitted, the progress bar will be omitted as well

Vita

• vita
  • Dictionary of a list of vita sections which is retrieved by name
  • As with qualitiy, the sections themselves are not retrieved by name and can be set dynamically
  • They serve as headings on the right-hand side of the CV
  • - Experience
    • Example name of a vita section; will serve as a heading for its items
    • - Jobless
      • Example of a vita item under a vita section
      • For vita sections like Education, the name of a degree can be used
      • at
        • Institution or company which this vita item refers to
      • from
        • Starting time which this vita item refers to
        • Can be any string
      • to
        • Analogous t from
      • doing
        • Option to add a description to the vita item in the form of a bulleted list

Colors

• colors
  • Dictionary of colors which is retrieved by name
  • As with personal info, none of the fields of this dictionary are retrieved by name
  • The fields are iterated over and placed in the CV template
  • Placements without effect are logged
  • Colors codes have to be hexadecimal (hex) where the # can be omitted
  • left side fill
    • Fill color of the left-hand side of the CV
  • left side accent
    • Fill color of the photo border, the icons, the dividing line, and the progress bars on the left-hand side of the CV
  • left side text
    • Text color of the text on the left-hand side of the CV
  • right side fill
    • Fill color of the right-hand side of the CV
  • right side accent
    • Fill color of the name and vita section titles
  • right side text
    • Main text color of the left-hand side of the CV
  • right side text
    • Secondary text color of the left-hand side of the CV (used for from, to, at line of vita items)

Geometry

• geometry
  • Dictionary of geometry constants which is retrieved by name
  • As with personal info and colors, none of the fields of this dictionary are retrieved by name
  • The fields are iterated over and placed in the CV template
  • Placements without effect are logged
  • For most of these, the default value can be kept
  • The text paddings are adjusted most frequently as they depend on the length of the CV
  • left side ratio
    • Floating point number between 0 and 1 which sets the percentage of the page width taken up by the left-hand side of the CV
    • Default is .33
  • margins
    • Size of top/bottom/left/right margins inside both sides of the CV
    • Must be formatted with a unit accepted by LaTeX
    • Default is 1.5em
  • left side text padding
    • Size of vertical space between personal information and quality sections on the left-hand side of the CV
    • Must be formatted with a unit accepted by LaTeX
    • Default is 2em
  • right side text padding
    • Size of vertical space between vita sections on the right-hand side of the CV
    • Must be formatted with a unit accepted by LaTeX
    • Default is 2em
  • photo border
    • Size of outline around the photo
    • Must be formatted with a unit accepted by LaTeX
    • Default is 2pt

Language

• language
  • Name of the language used for hyphenation etc
  • Must be a valid argument of the LaTeX babel package
  • Default is english

Future Updates

• More socials (suggestions welcome)
• More controls (e.g. fonts)

Sources

• The icons are from flaticon.com:
  • address by Those Icons
  • email by Ilham Fitrotul Hayat
  • github by iconsimple
  • linkedin by riajulislam
  • phone by meaicon
• The example.yaml color scheme is from colorhunt.co