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Merely adding two letters will take a few seconds for editors such as OVerleaf/Sharelatex to render a preview. How could this be the case? I just need a draft preview.

Are there any latex editors that run faster in previewing?

PS: high-end core i7

High GPA
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    What matters is the total document length - not how different that length is to its previous length. It has to recompile the lot. Your processor is irrelevant if you're using OverLeaf/ShareLaTeX as your machine isn't doing the compiling. So you can just as soon use a Pentium 486 if you can persuade it to run a sufficiently modern browser to support the web interface. It won't affect compilation time. – cfr Jul 02 '17 at 03:11
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    If you compile locally, it will be faster. OverLeaf is very slow. (Don't know about ShareLaTeX.) It doesn't matter which editor you use. The editor has nothing to do with the compilation time, either. – cfr Jul 02 '17 at 03:13
  • @cfr How may I compile locally, then? – High GPA Jul 02 '17 at 03:51
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    Install a TeX distribution. – cfr Jul 02 '17 at 04:12
  • Local compilation means you do everything on your PC. With editors such as WinEdt, TexMaker or Lyx. Lyx can provide a WYSIWYG look but it is not perfect. Kile v3 beta also can do it. But WYSIWYG requires compilation of whole document as @cfr suggested;, not local part of it. – berkus Jul 02 '17 at 05:31
  • If you are a Win 10 x64 user, I recommend MikTex as the TeX distribution. I also suggest to use LyX along with TexMaker or TexStudio. If your document is long , it is always going to take long times once you compile it. You should structure your code to compile sections, not the whole document. – berkus Jul 02 '17 at 05:40
  • It also depends on the LaTeX engine. For example LuaLaTex runs faster than PdfLaTex in general. – berkus Jul 02 '17 at 05:43
  • Also there is no such thing as "draft preview" in TeX/LaTeX. Usual process is to use a regular text editor with some color coding to write the LaTeX .tex extension file , then compile with LaTeX or pdfLaTeX, then preview dvi, ps or pdf files with Yap, GhostView (or PsView) or SumatraPDF (or Adobe Reader or PDFXchange). – berkus Jul 02 '17 at 05:48
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    @BarisErkus »LuaLaTex runs faster than PdfLaTex« That is absolutely not true! – Henri Menke Jul 02 '17 at 07:52
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    @BarisErkus MikTeX isn't the only thing to use on Windows, i prefer TeX Live. Also, using LyX is different from using normal LaTeX. Using dvi or ps for previewing isn't really a modern approach as well. – Johannes_B Jul 02 '17 at 08:21
  • @Johan You are right. In the world of LaTeX, there are many ways of doing the same thing. For beginners and for researchers who does not have many colleagues with tex-expertise, like myself, it is sometimes almost compulsory to pick a method that gives you the quickest results. MikTex was easier for me especially for Windows. You are also right about LyX, dvi and ps. I know direct pdf is the way to go nowadays and LuaTex is becoming more popular. On the otherhand, if you are a starter and read many tutorials available on the net, they will lead you to more traditional methods with dvi and ps – berkus Jul 02 '17 at 08:39
  • @BarisErkus Many resources now assume direct PDF compilation. Most editors use pdfTeX by default. MikTeX has certain issues which do not affect TeX Live. (The reverse may be true, too.) For example, installation of font packages seems to be more reliable, it is a better choice if you want to compile off line and so on. But it is true that MikTeX is designed for Windows in a way that TL is not. I definitely wouldn't recommend LyX, though. And pdfTeX is definitely faster than XeTeX or LuaTeX. (In general.) – cfr Jul 02 '17 at 14:52
  • @cfr: Why would you not recommend Lyx? Just because its high-level approach? Are you using regular text-editors? If so which one? – berkus Jul 02 '17 at 22:06
  • @berkus Actually, I should have said: I wouldn't recommend LyX to a beginner. It hides things away, including warnings and errors, and makes it more difficult to apply solutions from standard sources. Sooner or later --- usually sooner --- people need to use the lower level. If you have been using LyX, that's alien territory. Basically, it adds layers of complexity which I think it is easier to do without in the beginning. Worse, the layers of complexity are hidden by layers which make the complexity look simpler. It looks easier. But it isn't. – cfr Jul 02 '17 at 23:16
  • @cfr agreed. When I thought of the past, I remembet I was also using mostly text editors. For some reason, I am attracted by LyX. – berkus Jul 02 '17 at 23:23
  • @berkus I'm not attracted. But I can see the appeal and I think it is great people have this option, once they have a bit of experience and understand what to do when things go wrong etc. – cfr Jul 02 '17 at 23:52
  • @Henri I had the impression from some of my previous tests that LuaLaTeX runs faster. Maybe I am confused? Brief elaboration why its slow? A post may be? – berkus Jul 03 '17 at 07:51

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