Create Professional PDFs with AI
Difficulty: ★★★☆☆ Intermediate · Estimated time: ~1.5 hours
Imagine creating a polished, professional cover letter — perfectly formatted, ready to send — just by describing what you want. Speak it out loud or type it in. No Word templates, no fighting with margins, no design skills needed.
Tutorial led by Chan Meng — Senior AI/ML Engineer, open-source contributor, and former ByteDance developer. Chan has built 30+ live applications and specialises in AI-powered solutions. She is also a panel speaker at this event and the developer behind this website.
What You Will Build
Tell AI what document you need — speak it or type it in plain language
Gemini CLI writes Typst code that defines your document
Compile to a pixel-perfect PDF you can send or print
How It Works
You describe what you want — by speaking with Wispr Flow or typing directly. Gemini CLI understands your request and writes Typst code. Typst compiles it into a beautiful PDF. Review, refine, and repeat until it's perfect.
You can either speak your prompts using Wispr Flow, or type/paste them into Gemini CLI. Both work exactly the same way. Wispr Flow is optional — it just makes the experience hands-free. Every prompt in this tutorial works whether you speak it or type it.
Why Typst?
| Feature | Word | LaTeX | Markdown | Typst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI-friendly | Poor — binary format | OK — verbose syntax | Good — simple | Excellent — clean, concise |
| Typography quality | Basic | Excellent | Basic | Excellent |
| Easy to learn | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Fast compile | N/A | Slow | Fast | Instant |
| Token-efficient | N/A | Poor | Good | Excellent |
Typst is ideal for AI-generated documents because its syntax is clean and concise — AI models produce fewer errors and use fewer tokens compared to LaTeX. Compile times are instant, and error messages are clear and actionable.
Unlike Word, Typst files are plain text — so AI can read, write, and modify them directly. Unlike LaTeX, Typst is easy to learn and compiles in milliseconds.
What You Will Learn
This tutorial focuses on communication skills with AI, not coding knowledge. You will learn how to:
- Describe a professional document clearly — by speaking or typing — so AI can build it
- Use Typst to compile documents into polished PDFs
- Iterate on design — adjust fonts, colours, layout, and content through conversation
- Adapt templates for different purposes (cover letters, invoices, reports)
- Work with the describe → build → compile → review loop
- Use voice input with Wispr Flow for a hands-free workflow
No coding required. Gemini CLI writes the Typst code — your job is to describe what you want. If you can explain what a document should look like, you can create professional PDFs.
Tools
Google's free AI assistant that runs in your terminal. It understands your natural language requests and translates them into actions.
Optional voice input tool — speak instead of type. Works in any application, including your terminal.
A free, open-source typesetting system that turns simple text files into beautiful PDFs. Instant compilation and clear error messages.
A free tool needed to install Gemini CLI. One-time setup.
The command-line app built into your computer. On macOS it is called Terminal; on Windows it is called PowerShell or Command Prompt.
Cost
| Tool | Cost |
|---|---|
| Gemini CLI | Free (1,000 requests/day) |
| Node.js | Free |
| Typst CLI | Free and open source |
| Wispr Flow (optional) | Free trial (invite link for a free month of Pro) |
| Total | $0 |
Prerequisites
Windows or macOS. No special hardware needed.
Take your time — there's no rush. You can pause and come back anytime.
No prior experience needed. Just a willingness to try something new.
Ready to get started? Head to Set up your tools to install everything you need.