[Tex/LaTex] Moving from pdfLaTeX to XeTeX – what do I need to know

pdfpdftexxetex

I've used pdfLaTeX for some time, but have encountered problems wanting to use other fonts than the defaults. I've been recommended to use XeTeX instead, as this supports usage of system fonts directly without having to convert and fiddle with them to get them to work under pdfLaTeX.

I generated PDF documents directly using pdflatex, where all graphics are also PDF documents. Here's a list of the packages I used in my last TeX document:

\usepackage[sortcites=true]{biblatex}
\usepackage{babel}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage{url}
\usepackage{fullpage}
\usepackage{titlesec}
\usepackage{listings}
\usepackage[usenames, dvipsnames]{color}
\usepackage{subfig}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{tikz-timing}
\usepackage{lscape}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{threeparttable}

I've also used microtype and I've heard there's something iffy about that in XeTeX.

Under these circumstances, what do I need to know to successfully (and with as little pain as possible) transition from pdfLaTeX to XeTeX? Are there some packages I cannot use anymore? Or some features that doesn't work in XeTeX? Do I need to change some syntax in the document itself, or rewrite some stuff?

I still want to generated PDf documents as final output, of course, and use PDF documents as graphics. Will that be a problem? I should probably also mention that I run MiKTeX 2.8 on my Windows machine, and latest Ubuntu on my laptop. I write and generate documents on both machines.

Best Answer

Given your package list, I think it would work as-is, but you should replace the babel package by the more modern polyglossia package for XeTeX. For font selection use the fontspec package, and for microtypography you need the newest development version of the microtype package.

Just try to compile the document with XeTeX after making these changes, and if you notice that something is wrong, ask specific questions.

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