Programmatic paper writing with MkPaper

MkPaper creates a figure document in 3 + n lines of code, where n is the number of figures you have!

Have you ever wished a machine would write your paper for you?

Wish no more, the future is here!* I’ve created a Python package that will compile a LaTeX or word document of figures. Basically, you feed the package a path to a figure and a caption and then it will create either:

1. a PDFLaTeX document or a
2. Word Document

with those figures and captions inserted! I’ve tried to make it as simple and painless to install as possible (just clone the repo’); dependencies are kept to a minimum, specifically:

1. python 2.x
2. pdflatex (optional)
3. python-docx (optional)

Without pdflatex, the package still works (you can create the tex file and not compile). To create a Word document you need python-docx (installable with Anaconda).

To install the package:

git clone https://github.com/chrisb13/mkpaper.git

And then, suppose you want to create a word doc, usage looks like…

import mkpaper as mp

#get a list of your figures in PNG format...
import glob
ifiles=sorted(glob.glob(path_to_pngplots + '*.png' ))
assert(ifiles!=[]),"glob didn't find anything!"

#alternatively, we could be more explicit
#ifile[0]=path_to_doc+'penguin1.png'
#ifile[1]=path_to_doc+'penguin2.png'

#instantiate WordFigureDoc class:
#arguments are: path/to/put/figuredocs and name of figure doc..
figobj=mp.WordFigureDoc(path_to_doc,'penguinfigs')
figobj.add_figure(ifiles[0],'first penguin')
figobj.add_figure(ifiles[1],'second penguin')
#etc

#insert the tail of the doc
figobj.end_doc()

Want to get started? Head over to the GitHub project here.. Full working examples in here, so you should be up and running in no time!

Feedback and pull requests welcome!

*A touch of hyperbole here ;)