Focus on Ideas, and Slides will Follow

This tool converts a mindmap into PDF slides (via LaTeX beamer). You can write complex yet fine-tuned slides with this tool.

Usage

Go to an empty directory and start editing it

cd /path/to/your/document/directory
python /path/to/freemindlatex.zip

It will bring up freemind for editing, evince for slides preview, and keep monitoring the file changes. While you edit the mindmap, slides content will refresh.

Why not just PowerPoint?

Tweaking fonts suck. But you do it all the time.

• During the first round.
• After you move slides.
• After you add content.
• After you indent a paragraph
• ...

With freemindlatex, we ask you to just focus on the logic.

• Work on the outline, with freemind.
• Auto formatting, with LaTeX beamer.
• Bonus: LaTex math equations for free.

Installation

The software is packaged into a zip file. It supports Mac and linux.

bash -c "$(curl -L -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xuehuichao/freemind-latex/master/install.sh)" -- /path/to/freemindlatex.zip

Prerequisites

By default, the tool opens a PDF viewer, and compiles LaTeX locally. We will need to install a PDF viewer as well as a LaTeX compiler.

For LaTeX compiler, we need the full texlive (https://www.tug.org/texlive).

1. On MacOS: https://tug.org/mactex/
2. On Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install texlive-full

For PDF viewer: we need evince, or skim:

1. Evince, for linux: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evince
2. Skim, for MacOS: http://skim-app.sourceforge.net/

Running LaTeX remotely

You may also use a remote server (e.g. sword.xuehuichao.com:8117) for LaTeX compilation. Then, instead of freemindlatex, please run freemindlatex client in your working directory.

For development

Testing

bazel test ...

Code style checking

find freemindlatex/ -name *.py |  xargs pylint --rcfile=.pylintrc