xelatex

XeLaTeX is a TeX-based typesetting system that combines the LaTeX macro package with the XeTeX engine. It emphasizes native Unicode input and direct access to system fonts, enabling high-quality typesetting with OpenType and TrueType fonts.

Developed as part of the XeTeX project, XeLaTeX allows LaTeX documents to be compiled with the XeTeX engine. It integrates with standard LaTeX packages and commands, providing the same document structure while improving support for modern fonts and multilingual typesetting. It is distributed with major TeX distributions such as TeX Live and MiKTeX, and is invoked by commands such as xelatex document.tex.

Font and script support are central to XeLaTeX. The core feature is font management via the fontspec package, which lets users load any installed OpenType or TrueType font and access advanced font features such as ligatures, small caps, and stylistic sets. XeLaTeX uses Unicode, enabling typesetting of a wide range of scripts, including non-Latin languages, with system fonts. For mathematical typesetting, the unicode-math package provides access to Unicode math fonts.

Languages and typography are supported through packages like Babel or Polyglossia for language-specific hyphenation and rules. XeTeX also includes built-in bidirectional text support for right-to-left scripts.

Workflow and limitations: Documents are compiled with xelatex, producing PDF output via the engine's native pathways. Some older TeX packages or workflows designed for pdfTeX may require adjustments; microtype support exists but is more limited compared with pdfLaTeX. XeLaTeX is commonly used alongside editors such as TeXShop, TeXworks, and Overleaf.