107 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
107 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
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---
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title: Generating presentation slides with Nix and rst2pdf
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date: 2025-04-07
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permalink: daily/2025/04/07/nix-rst2pdf
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tags:
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- software-development
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- linux
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- nix
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- rst2pdf
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cta: ~
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snippet: |
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I've recently combined two of my favourite tools - rst2pdf for generating PDF documents, such as presentation slide decks, and Nix.
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---
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Since switching to Nix and NixOS, I've been looking for opportunities to use Nix more in addition to managing my laptop and server configurations and creating development shells for projects.
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Nix is a build tool, so I've started to use it to build my slide decks which I create using rst2pdf.
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I write the rst (reStructuredText) file and compile it to a PDF file.
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I had a flake.nix file to add rst2pdf, pdfpc and other tools to my shell, but the compilation to a PDF file was done in a bash script which I've since removed.
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Here's how my flake.nix file looks now:
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```nix
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{
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inputs.nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
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outputs = { nixpkgs, ... }:
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let
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system = "x86_64-linux";
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pkgs = import nixpkgs { inherit system; };
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inherit (nixpkgs.lib) makeOverridable;
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inherit (pkgs.stdenvNoCC) mkDerivation;
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shared = mkDerivation {
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name = "talks-shared";
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src = ./src;
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installPhase = ''
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runHook preInstall
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mkdir $out
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cp -r fonts styles $out
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runHook postInstall
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'';
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};
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commonBuildInputs = with pkgs; [
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(python310.withPackages (p: with p; [ rst2pdf ]))
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];
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mkTalk = makeOverridable ({ src }: mkDerivation {
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inherit shared src;
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name = builtins.head (builtins.attrNames talks);
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buildInputs = commonBuildInputs;
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buildPhase = ''
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runHook preBuild
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mkdir $out
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rst2pdf slides.rst \
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--break-level 1 \
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--fit-background-mode scale \
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--font-path "${toString shared}/fonts" \
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--output "$out/slides.pdf" \
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--stylesheets bw,"${toString shared}/styles/opdavies-light"
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runHook postBuild
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'';
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});
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talks = {
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build-configs = mkTalk { src = ./src/building-build-configs; };
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sculpin = mkTalk { src = ./src/building-static-websites-sculpin; };
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tailwind-css = mkTalk { src = ./src/taking-flight-with-tailwind-css; };
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test-driven-drupal = mkTalk { src = ./src/test-driven-drupal; };
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};
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in
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{
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devShells.${system}.default = with pkgs; mkShell {
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packages = with pkgs; commonBuildInputs ++ [
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ghostscript
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just
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pdfpc
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texliveMedium # includes pdfjam
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];
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};
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packages.${system} = {
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inherit shared;
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} // talks;
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};
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}
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```
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Each talk is its own derivation, so I can run `nix run .#test-driven-drupal` and it will generate the appropriate PDF file for me to present or share.
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The source code is available at <https://code.oliverdavies.uk/opdavies/talks> if you want to see how I use rst2pdf to create my presentations and I've even [given a presentation about how I create presentations][0].
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[0]: {{site.url}}/presentations/building-presenting-slide-decks-rst2pdf
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