[vextea]

So unfortunate that justified text in browsers looks awful compared to documents generated with LaTeX (usually)....

[tdjsnelling]

I had a crack at a solution to this problem recently. It's pretty basic in terms of what it can do and not the most performant.

Code: https://github.com/tdjsnelling/microtype Demo: https://tdjsnelling.github.io/microtype/test/from-cdn/

Even better, there is the new CSS `hyphens: auto;`. Browser & language support is not yet 100% though.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/hyphens

[xigoi]

Try to make a LaTeX document that automatically reflows based on screen size and you’ll see why it’s difficult.

[WillAdams]

A good example of this is Bertrand Russell's _Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy_:

https://courses.umass.edu/klement/imp/

which is available in a number of sizes _and_ has the LaTeX source available showing how the various sizes are arrived at.

[jxy]

The HTML version is quite nice. Do you know how they did the LaTeX to html conversion?

[WillAdams]

No idea. Ask the folks who manage that page?

[xigoi]

It’s still just a few different sizes. A HTML website has to support every possible width.

[WillAdams]

The LaTeX source may be easily edited to impart any size/proportion desired --- not quite as straight-forward as re-sizing a browser window, but the same ultimate effect.

[fooker]

That is not what a latex document is for.

It's like talking about reflowing a physical page.

Instead, you change the document page size and render multiple versions and switch it out based on zoom level.

[xigoi]

That’s the point. HTML has to support arbitrary screen sizes whereas LaTeX doesn’t, so the layout algorithms have to be more accomodating.

[eddd-ddde]

But the width of a PDF is still arbitrary isn't it? Can you just, recalculate for bigger widths?

[MrVandemar]

Not really. It's fixed at "compile time". Eg "A4" or "Letter". I guess it "changes" according to zoom level, but that's just enlarging or shrinking - no reflow required.

[Bootvis]

You could apply the LaTeX algorithm to each rendering. The rendering might jump and it would be a change from before but it can be done.

[WillAdams]

For want of a "real" H&J algorithm, and having problematic lines identified as "overfull boxes" which need to be fixed.

[madphilosopher]

All the print books on my bookshelf use fully justified text. In contrast, my preference for ebooks are to render them as left-justified. So I think I intuitively arrived at a practice that matches your conclusion about justified text in browsers.