October 2025 - ntg-context

ZIM/Kiwix offline version of the ConTeXt Wiki?
by seyal.zavira＠gmail.com 18 Oct '25

18 Oct '25

Hello everyone, Sometimes the ConTeXt Garden Wiki returns an Internal Error message and becomes temporarily unavailable. I was wondering — has anyone already created a ZIM (Kiwix) version of the ConTeXt Wiki that works properly offline? If such a version exists, could you please share a link (maybe on GitHub or elsewhere)? And if it doesn’t exist yet, is anyone interested in building or maintaining one? It would be really helpful to have an offline copy, especially for those of us who sometimes work without Internet access. Best regards, Seyal

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Is there a way to place items in "horizontal" columns?
by Joel 18 Oct '25

18 Oct '25

Is there a way to place items in "horizontal" columns? I have placed some math problems in a column set, like this: \starttext \startcolumns[n=2] \startitem 1+1=\stopitem \startitem 1+2=\stopitem \startitem 4+1=\stopitem \startitem 1+4=\stopitem \startitem 3+1=\stopitem \startitem 1+5=\stopitem \startitem 2+1=\stopitem \stopcolumns \stoptext This confuses my readers though. They are typically used to seeing math problems presented more in "rows" than in columns, so for instance, stead of this arrangement... 1 5 9 2 6 10 3 7 11 4 8 12 (the above is made more confusing if columns are split after the first "row" across a page) ...they are used to solving problems in this arrangement... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9.. How can I arrange my items to appear more in rows or "horizontal"-like columns in this way?

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Setting up a ConTeXt book project in 2025
by Gerben Wierda 17 Oct '25

17 Oct '25

Hello ConTeXters, In 2015 I wrote a book (Chess and the Art of Enterprise Architecture) and edited it with then ConTeXt. I started with a (then) template (I think this came from Taco), that consists of a couple of subdirectories: chapters environments images mp products One advantage was that you could process a chapter at a time during writing. The idea was to use that same structure to create a print PDF, a screen PDF, and an ePub (which I did, and then converted it to Apple iBooks, which was still a bit of work and a one way thing that required additional editing of the output, not producing directly from the same source). I am looking at writing another book (probably next year) and I wonder if this setup has been updated/maintained/replaced-with-something new In case it matters, I am using the standalone context-osx-64 on macOS. Thanks in advance, Gerben

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Indexed image shows only white
by Thangalin 17 Oct '25

17 Oct '25

Hi, % SOT \starttext Happy face: \framed[frame=on]{\externalfigure[happy.png]} Happy face: \framed[frame=on]{\externalfigure[happy2.png]} \stoptext % EOT Run: magick happy.png -alpha extract -alpha shape -background "#00ccff" happy2.png Expected: Two happy faces appear. Actual: Top happy face appears, bottom happy face shows a white background. One workaround is to specify png:color-type 6: magick \ happy.png \ -alpha extract \ -background "#${COLOUR_AC}" \ -alpha shape \ -define png:color-type=6 \ happy2.png $ magick --version Version: ImageMagick 7.1.2-7 Q16-HDRI x86_64 e3e6b54ad:20251014 https://imagemagick.org $ context --version mtx-context | current version: 2025.09.25 18:46 Original happy face is also at: https://i.imgur.com/NLEeIkI.png

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TypoGraphyzer — Automated Font Specimen Generator with ConTeXt
by seyal.zavira＠gmail.com 16 Oct '25

16 Oct '25

Hello everyone, I’m thrilled to introduce TypoGraphyzer, an open-source tool that automates the creation of professional font specimens — saving time for type designers, typographers, and developers. GitHub: https://github.com/seyalco/TypoGraphyzer What it does TypoGraphyzer, built on the ConTeXt LMTX engine, scans your fonts and automatically generates print-ready specimen PDFs. It supports multilingual text, OpenType features, and both static and variable fonts — all with just a few simple commands. Key Features - Multilingual and real-world test texts (English, Arabic, Persian, emojis, etc.) - Full OpenType feature control (ss01, liga, dlig, etc.) - Automatic typescript (.mkxl) generation - Batch scanning of entire font folders - Print-quality PDF specimens How it works A set of Python scripts creates ConTeXt configurations, builds dynamic .tex files for each font, and compiles them into high-quality PDFs. TypoGraphyzer is ideal for anyone working with fonts — from type designers to developers. For now, I don’t have much time to review requests, but I plan to continue improving the project gradually. Feedbacks are still very welcome! Best, Seyal

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Creating catchy cover letters
by Thangalin 16 Oct '25

16 Oct '25

Hi all! Thank you so much for answering my barrage of questions lately. Here's a blog post that explores creating configurable cover letters using ConTeXt. The gist is the ability to run two commands (wget "logo" + build "colour1" "colour2" "colour3") to rebuild a cover letter tailored for a company's brand. https://keenwrite.com/blog/2025/10/15/creating-catchy-cover-letters/ It's so cool to see the cover letter output change in the blink of an eye, thanks to the power of ConTeXt. Lots of concepts bundled in the post: * Converting SVG to MetaPost * Passing variables into MetaPost * Controlling two-column layout width * Tweaking headers * Enabling font features * Using \bgroup and \egroup * Dynamic icon selection from hyperlink protocol * Styling Markdown classes for words and phrases Suggestions for improvements are welcome. Functionality overlaps between the post and Wolfgang's letter layout, but I don't know how much of the letter module would be transferable for what I had in mind. https://meeting.contextgarden.net/2010/talks/2010-09-15-wolfgang-letter/let… Cheers!

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Fwd: Lua: check if file exists
by Hans Hagen 14 Oct '25

14 Oct '25

-------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Re: [NTG-context] Lua: check if file exists Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2025 19:17:03 +0200 From: Hans Hagen <j.hagen(a)xs4all.nl> To: Henning Hraban Ramm <texml(a)fiee.net> On 10/14/2025 6:53 PM, Henning Hraban Ramm wrote: > Hi again, > Lua has no function to check if a file exists. > ATM I’m using this: > > function userdata.file_exists(name) > local f=io.open(name,"r") > if f~=nil then io.close(f) return true > else return false end > end > > Is there anything (better) in ConTeXt? to grep or not to grep ... io.exists(filename) lfs.isfile(filename) and some more, depending on needs Hans ----------------------------------------------------------------- Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands tel: 038 477 53 69 | www.pragma-ade.nl | www.pragma-pod.nl -----------------------------------------------------------------

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Lua: check if file exists
by Henning Hraban Ramm 14 Oct '25

14 Oct '25

Hi again, Lua has no function to check if a file exists. ATM I’m using this: function userdata.file_exists(name) local f=io.open(name,"r") if f~=nil then io.close(f) return true else return false end end Is there anything (better) in ConTeXt? Hraban

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ConTeXt meeting 2026
by Henning Hraban Ramm 14 Oct '25

14 Oct '25

Next year’s ConTeXt meeting now has a date, a place and even a subject: https://meeting.contextgarden.net/2026/ “focussing” October 24-29 Maibach, Germany (between Frankfurt/Main and Gießen) Save the date! I’m looking forward to meeting you there! Hraban

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header style when section title includes upper case
by jbf 14 Oct '25

14 Oct '25

I have the following for my headertext setup: \setupheadertexts [{\hfill\getmarking[section]\hfill}][] % recto [{\hfill\documentvariable{metadata:title}\hfill}][] % verso The section titles are in 'WORD', while 'Word' is needed for the TOC. e.g. \section[title={MY TITLE},list={My title}] But I want 'Word' in the section header (the title is fine since it is already 'Word') I wondered if it would be possible to adjust getmarking to pick things up from 'list' rather than from 'title', e.g. \getmarking[section:list] or something similar to that. I tried that but it does not work. Also tried \setupheader[style=\tfx\Word] but of course it is the title that is still being picked up, and that is WORD. How might I achieve the desired result? Julian

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