EN:Features

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Features Overview

luatex-cn provides a rich set of features for ancient Chinese book typesetting, ranging from core vertical engines to various decorative elements.

1. Core Typesetting Engine

A grid-based layout system built on LuaTeX for high-precision vertical text flows.

• RTT Direction: Native support for top-to-bottom, right-to-left direction.
• Grid Positioning: Characters are precisely aligned to a defined grid.
• Pagination & Column Flow: Handles complex page splitting and column transitions automatically.

2. Traditional Book Elements

Full support for visual elements required by traditional binding:

• Banxin & Yuwei: Support for single/double fishtails, black silk frames, etc.
• Split Page: Support for electronic reading and traditional "tube page" binding.
• Border System: Double borders, inner borders, and customizable thickness.

3. Annotation & Revision System

Multiple ways to add comments to the text:

• Interlinear Notes: Double-line small text within main body with auto-balancing.
• Side Notes: Vertical annotations between text columns.
• Annotations: Floating annotation boxes placed anywhere on the page.
• TOC Entries: Added \条目 (v0.2.5+) with hierarchical indentation for table of contents.

4. Layout Control & Commands

• Force Column: \列 (or \Column) forces content to start in a new column.
• Last Column: \末列 (or \LastColumn) places content in the last column of the current page.
• Page Breaks: Supports standard \newpage and \clearpage.

5. Decorations & Utilities

• Seals: Add collection or personal seals anywhere with opacity support.
• Judou: Traditional punctuation marks (circles and dots). Enhanced support for more Chinese punctuation since v0.2.1.
• Fonts: Auto-detection, font families, and fallback chains for rare characters. Supports simplified/traditional Chinese font names since v0.2.2.
• Textbox: Grid-based layout with auto-compression and filling.
• Correction & Decoration: Correction marks (\fix) and character decoration (\decorate).

5. Architecture & Debug Features (v0.2.0+)

• Style Registry: Phase 2 multi-attribute style storage (color, font_size, grid_height), supports cross-page style preservation.
• Metadata System: Centralized book metadata management (\title, \publisher, \ChapterMarker).
• Debug Mode: \LtcDebugOn displays page grid coordinates, \LtcShowGrid shows coordinate grid for layout debugging.
• Plugin Architecture: Standardized plugin API with unified initialize/layout/render three-phase interfaces.

6. Template System

Preset classical styles available out-of-the-box. See Templates for details.

• 四库全书 (Siku Quanshu): Qing Dynasty imperial style.
• 四库全书彩色: Colored version of Siku Quanshu style.
• 红楼梦甲戌本: Manuscript style with extensive annotations.

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👉 Next Steps: Check Templates | Debug Mode | Examples