Input and compilation/Sample documents

This page collects examples of complete or substantial ConTeXt documents: letters, theses, presentations, books, reports, graphical documents, and other real-world layouts.

The collection spans more than twenty years of ConTeXt development. Some examples are suitable starting points for current work; others are valuable mainly for studying document design or earlier ConTeXt techniques.

A sample document should therefore be read along two independent axes:

document type                    technical status
     |                                |
     +-- thesis                       +-- LMTX-tested
     +-- presentation                 +-- current, untested
     +-- book                         +-- legacy, untested
     +-- report                       +-- known deprecated code
     +-- graphics

For the complete category listing, see all sample documents in this wiki.

1. Finding an example

There are three useful ways to navigate this collection:

If you are primarily interested in organizing a substantial multifile document, see first Project and file management.

For page design and document structure, see also:

• Document layout tutorials ;
• Document structure and headlines ;
• Graphical programming with MetaPost and MetaFun .

2. Chronological index

Where a creation or publication date is known, it is recorded here.

The date tells you when an example belongs in the history of ConTeXt; it does not by itself tell you whether the source still works.

Examples for which no reliable creation or publication date is currently known remain in the thematic sections below.

Created / published:   2004
Last tested with LMTX: 2026

3. Technical status

As pages are reviewed, their technical status should ideally be described independently of their age.

4. PRAGMA documents and official sources

The ConTeXt distribution itself contains manuals, demonstrations, and substantial source documents.

Useful starting points include:

• This Way and My Way magazines , whose source code is included in the documents;

• the official manuals ;

• the official ConTeXt distribution ;

• the ConTeXt source mirror .

These are particularly useful for studying how several ConTeXt mechanisms are combined in real documents.

4.1 Historical pdfTeX documentation

The following documents belong to an earlier stage of the ConTeXt/pdfTeX ecosystem and are retained primarily for historical and typographical interest:

• Source
• Screen
• A4
• A5 booklet
• Letter

5. Simple documents

These examples concentrate on relatively self-contained document types.

• Letter —

 German DIN Letter style by Holger Schöner.

• Building application —

 French Bauplan style.

• Research paper —

 MLA style.

• Academic work —

 Law Faculty University of Ljubljana style and citations for diploma theses and related work.

• Calendar —

 Calendar script.

• Curriculum vitæ —

 Curriculum vitæ.

• Invoice —

 Invoice using Wolfgang's letter module.

• Invoice, alternative example —

 Invoice 2 (2014).

• DIN long folder —

 DIN lang folder.

6. Theses and academic projects

Theses are particularly useful sample documents because they commonly combine document structure, frontmatter and backmatter, bibliographies, figures, cross-references, environments, and multiple source files.

6.1 Aditya Mahajan's thesis

• Source archive
• PDF

This is a complete thesis rather than a minimal template and is useful for studying how a large real document is assembled.

6.2 UTM thesis template

• Kian Meng Ang's UTM thesis template
• PDF preview

The repository includes separate document parts and project-level setup.

6.3 General thesis template

• Malte Harder's ConTeXt Thesis Template

Another example of a substantial multifile thesis.

6.4 Older thesis example

• PhD thesis style file using a KOMA-script-inspired layout.

Treat this as legacy source unless its current behaviour has been retested.

7. Labels, cards, and imposed material

These examples deal with several independent objects placed on one physical page.

• Business card — many identical cards on one page;

• File card — many different cards on one page;

• Creating self-adhesive labels — labels for jars and similar objects.

8. Presentations and screen documents

See also Presentations.

8.1 Step-by-step presentation construction

Aditya Mahajan's Creating a clean presentation style in 40 commits develops a presentation environment incrementally.

Its pedagogical value lies in showing individual design decisions rather than presenting one large unexplained style file.

8.2 More recent presentation styles

• ConTeXt for pres(id)ent(ation) — three presentation styles by Hraban , 2023.

8.3 Earlier presentation examples

• ConTeXt info style by Hraban , with help from Hans Hagen, 2004;

• Skdk style by Hraban , 2004;

• conference presentation by Brooks , 2005: source and PDF .

These are useful for studying presentation design, but their implementation should be checked before being used as the basis of a current LMTX style.

8.4 Interactive screen document

• Midgard character sheet — interactive form for the German RPG Midgard , by Hraban .

9. Books and periodicals

Books are useful for studying the interaction between page layout, headings, notes, illustrations, and project organization.

9.1 Step-by-step book layout

• Step-by-step book layout tutorial by Mikael Sundqvist, 2023.

9.2 Book examples in the Garden

• Ubuch style by Hraban , 2001 — contains deprecated code;

• Uno style by Hraban , 2004;

• Theory book style by Thomas ;

• Proceedings style by Hraban , 2008;

• Biochemistry textbook by Jorg ;

• Fairy style by Hraban , 2011;

• Sidenotes style by Andy ;

• Catalogue raisonné by Peter .

10. MetaPost and MetaFun documents

See Graphical programming with MetaPost and MetaFun.

Examples include:

• Cover pages by Hans Hagen and others;

• Colorful CD inlay by Hans Hagen;

• Animated construction of the euro symbol ;

• A full CD booklet for the Dresden choir Wild Roses Crew .

These illustrate how MetaFun can form part of the architecture and visual language of a complete document.

11. Reports

• Report style

The report example combines several mechanisms in one substantial design:

• page-aware headings;
• structural numbering;
• MetaFun graphics;
• highlighted text blocks;
• local notes;
• frontmatter, bodymatter, appendices, and backmatter;
• custom font setup.

It is useful for studying how separate ConTeXt mechanisms can be combined into a coherent document rather than treated as isolated commands.

12. Reviewing an old sample

When updating an old example for current LMTX, use a conservative workflow:

compile the original sample
          |
          +-- works
          |      |
          |      +--> record current behaviour
          |
          +-- fails
                 |
                 v
          locate the failing mechanism
                 |
                 v
             minimal test
                 |
                 v
          update only what is needed
                 |
                 v
          compile the complete sample again

This preserves working techniques and makes each modernization traceable.

13. Suggested metadata for sample pages

As individual pages are reviewed, they should ideally record:

Document type:
Created / published:
ConTeXt generation:
Last tested with LMTX:
Special requirements:
Source available:

For example:

Document type:         presentation
Created / published:   2004
ConTeXt generation:    MkII / early MkIV
Last tested with LMTX: not yet tested
Special requirements: unknown
Source available:      yes

Unknown information should remain explicitly unknown rather than being guessed.

14. Contributing or modernizing a sample

A useful sample page should explain:

• what kind of document it demonstrates;
• when it was created or published, if known;
• whether it has been tested with current LMTX;
• what techniques are worth studying;
• whether special fonts, modules, or external files are required;
• how the example should be compiled.

If an example no longer compiles, identify the obsolete mechanism when possible instead of simply declaring the whole document unusable.

15. Related pages

• Input and compilation
• Project and file management
• Document structure and headlines
• Document layout tutorials
• Presentations
• Graphical programming with MetaPost and MetaFun
• All sample documents