`cktimg-latex` — SPICE → schematic, natively in LaTeX

Write SPICE, get a schematic drawn by pdflatex itself. The output is native TikZ — \draw commands, vector, no SVG, no raster, no external image converter anywhere in the pipeline.

Install the bridge binary

The only moving part is a small binary, cktimg-latex, that turns a SPICE file into a tikzpicture:

cargo install --path export/latex      # or: cargo install cktimg-latex

CI also publishes a prebuilt binary on every push (.github/workflows/latex.yaml) — grab it from the run’s Artifacts and put it on your PATH.

Inline SPICE (the magic path)

Copy export/latex/cktimg.sty next to your paper, then:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{cktimg}
\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
  \centering
  \begin{cktcircuit}
  R1 in out 1k
  C1 out 0 1u
  \end{cktcircuit}
  \caption{An RC low-pass, placed and routed by cktImg.}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

Compile with shell-escape so LaTeX can call the placer:

pdflatex -shell-escape paper.tex

That’s it — the SPICE in the environment is placed, routed, and drawn as TikZ inline. No SVG step, no Inkscape, no \includegraphics.

Why -shell-escape? LaTeX can’t do place-and-route, so the environment shells out to the cktimg-latex binary (which is the tool, not a third-party converter) and \inputs the TikZ it produces. The drawing itself is 100% TikZ.

\cktinput{circuit.spice} does the same for SPICE that already lives in its own file.

No shell-escape? Pre-generate (plain pdflatex)

Turn the netlist into a .tex once, commit it, and \input it — then your build needs nothing at LaTeX time:

cktimg-latex circuit.spice circuit.tex

\usepackage{tikz,xcolor}
...
\input{circuit}        % just a tikzpicture

Rust API

If you’d rather generate figures from a build.rs or your own tool:

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
let (path, report) = cktimg_latex::figure(spice, "figs/ota.tex")?; // writes TikZ
let (tikz, _)      = cktimg_latex::tikz(spice);                     // or in-memory
}

Notes

Rail nets (vdd/vcc, gnd/vss/0) get rail devices auto-inserted when the netlist names them but draws none.
Sizing: the picture is emitted at 1 schematic-unit = 1pt. Wrap in \resizebox{\linewidth}{!}{...} if you want it stretched to the column.
The colors/line weights match the SVG renderer, so figure and web view agree.
Parsing never panics; unplaceable lines are reported (printed to the LaTeX log in the inline path), not dropped silently.

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