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I downloaded latex2rtf from http://latex2rtf.sourceforge.net in order to convert LaTeX documents to RTF (rich text format) documents.

However, I have not been able to figure out where to install LaTeX packages on Windows 10 such that it can find them. I need packages in order to use statements such as: \usepackage{titlesec}

The README for titlesec only says, "Move the files to a place where LaTeX can find them and typeset titlesec.tex"

I've been running latex2rtf from the command prompt (cmd) with: latexrt -o test.rtf main.tex

I need the packages in order to more easily format section headers, set margins, etc.

Chris Jacobsen
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    Welcome to TeX.SE! Latex is usually installed with some package, I believe MikTeX is a popular choice on windows. On my TeXLive installation (on a Mac, though) latex2rtf is automatically included. That is, the perhaps easiest way to go may be to just add a LaTeX installation to your system. –  Sep 17 '18 at 02:36
  • Crosspost – Johannes_B Sep 17 '18 at 05:28
  • @marmot, see below, I just tried downloading Texlive (as well as miktex), and I don't seem to find latex2rtf as a listed package. Also, what editor / latex compiler do you use with Texlive? Does it hook up automatically with about any other tool? – Chris Jacobsen Sep 18 '18 at 03:34
  • On my machine, latex2rtf is not a package, but a command. I use various compilers, mostly pdflatex, but also lualatex and xelatex. However, I am not sure to which extent these compilers are relevant to your problem. Notice that I haven't really used windows in this millennium, so I hope some competent window user will see your question and provide you with a good answer. –  Sep 18 '18 at 04:00
  • You say you need titlesec, which formats section headers. But that formatting details will probably get lost when converting to rtf. – Johannes_B Sep 18 '18 at 05:32
  • Running latex2rt, it does not seem to recognize the existence of packages installed through Miktex or Tex Live. I guess I could try installing and running it all on Ubuntu Linux, which will be more similar to @marmot's Mac. I was trying to use titlesec to find a way to reformat \section's as something like, "Chapter 1". I tried \chapter, but this kept inserting new pages. I may have to try redefining \chapter as some people on various forums suggested. If anyone knows of a better way to get Latex documents into Word/LibreOffice, I'd be interested. Pandoc had limited functionality. – Chris Jacobsen Sep 18 '18 at 05:40
  • you may have a better luck with tex4ht, which supports full LaTeX and can export to ODF format, which is superior to RTF anyway. try to run make4ht -f odt titlesec.tex. – michal.h21 Sep 18 '18 at 07:26
  • @michal.h21 - from what I've read, tex4ht does not support page breaks (because this doesn't really make sense in HTML). I can of course insert these manually myself, but if I repeatedly use this over time for drafts, it is a limitation. – Chris Jacobsen Sep 23 '18 at 22:00
  • @ChrisJacobsen it supports them in the ODF output – michal.h21 Sep 24 '18 at 07:18
  • @michal.h21 - thanks - in that case I think I'll give it a try when I create my next draft. The other main thing I'd be concerned with for it is good indentation support for paragraphs. – Chris Jacobsen Sep 26 '18 at 05:53
  • @ChrisJacobsen for example \noindent should work. the advanced configuration of the appearance is a bit complicated, because it must be done by inserting XML instructions in the OpenDocument format, see https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/371639/2891 for an example. – michal.h21 Sep 26 '18 at 06:39

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From Sourceforge "latex2rtf is a translator program" so in theory IS a form of package, it was (is?) included as such in the W32TeX distro often used in the East. The source main.tex will be simple text and can be "edited" in any notepad etc. However from the nature of your question you don't like the results, it is highly likely that file is referencing other "packages" such as https://ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/titlesec. Now in order to make changes you need a "distro" with front end "editor" that can modify & cross compile the results of all the (La)TeX files for you. There are several distros and dozens of editors, each one geared towards users preferences. Most but not all of them are usually set to generate PDF rather than RTF because the RTF results are usually poor. Personally I use WordPad to generate my RTF files because that is what it was built for and is thus the best for compatible output.

Later in response to comment

Chris Ok you understand both MiKTeX & TexLive are two alternative TeX engines composed of not dis-similar packages that TeX(t)-process (compile) the input. Most editors allow you to configure the .tex input down different sets of packages until they reach the final output (in the past .dvi was norm) today PDF is the favourite so pdfLaTeX is a common route, so in order to adapt any editor to go down the tex2rtf route you need to ADD / replace a TeX package option with it. Perfectly feasible but not recommended as most are bitterly disappointed at lack of control / compatibility with other TeX packages. If your target is Word compatibility its not the way to go. I only write 100% word compatible .doc uments in Word97 Portable or for Docx I may use SoftMaker TextMaker then final import to Word for re-saving For the widest choice of in/out you already use the versatile Libre-office that will produce files your readership understands. If you are comfortable with LaTeX by all means generate PDF but don't think there is an alchemists stone to avoid double working the Word to PDF routes. You could look at Lyx as others have done and new kid on the block Madoko.net as a means to import .tex down different routes but again they have their own distinct final formats. For the best discussion on translating .tex to .docx see Workflow for converting LaTeX into Open Office / MS Word Format

  • I downloaded Miktex (MikTex Console) and Texlive (TexLive Manager 2018), but I do not see latex2rtf listed in the packages or any other RTF packages. My TexMaker and TexWorks installations do not have latex2rtf as a built in option, though they are a bit old of installations. My basic goal is to use LaTeX to write a novel because it works so well with version control, but publishers usually expect Word. Pandoc had too many limitations; I tried it. I figured rich text format might be a compromise, as LibreOffice (the Word processor I have now) and Word should be able to open it directly. – Chris Jacobsen Sep 18 '18 at 03:31
  • @ChrisJacobsen I expect that any tool that converts LaTeX to something will have serious limitations, because no tool maintainer can keep up with the thousands of packages on CTAN. – marczellm Sep 18 '18 at 07:37
  • @ChrisJacobsen I have updated my answer but an alternative converter to tex2rtf that is constantly updated i.e yesterday it is Panadoc 2.3 It can use LaTeX packages to convert basic .tex to .pdf and also has .docx output so any editor even Libre office could be used for rudimentary input just don't expect pdf and docx to be identical unless you use very basic structures as others have hinted at in my link above. –  Sep 18 '18 at 15:46
  • Having spent a while researching this more, I found that latex2rtf basically has a list of supported commands, which means not all packages are supported, as was suggested in this discussion. Pandoc also has things it does not support, but latex2rtf seemed to have more hits on what I wanted. I've already ended up writing a python script for some aspects of my conversions, so I'll probably just code anything else I need into the conversion process. – Chris Jacobsen Sep 22 '18 at 16:35
  • And to KJO's point, I fully expect to buy Word and do all final formatting there. This latex process, for now, is only for getting the main draft done. – Chris Jacobsen Sep 22 '18 at 16:38
  • One of the benefits of Rich TeXt route is you can easily see where a script can have influence {\rtf1\ul\b "Hello World"\b0\ul0\par}. Where as that's not easy with binary.doc or zipped.docxml –  Sep 22 '18 at 19:42