Automated Hebrew Sefer Typesetting in Typst
An end‐to‐end publishing pipeline that transforms structured JSON extraction of a Hebrew sefer (religious book) into a typeset PDF matching the 8‐zone layout of published editions:
1. Running header (folio letter in gematria, shaar/chapter label)
2. Chapter cartouche
3. Vowelised chapter title
4. Section subtitle (grey, letter‐spaced)
5. Main body (justified, RTL, inline call‐outs)
6. Two‐column note apparatus: footnotes (right) + endnotes (left)
7. Spillover zone (full‐width continuation of column overflow)
8. End‐of‐chapter ornament
Engineered a data‐driven Typst template that consumes structured JSON and automatically manages document composition. The system performs chapter detection, counter management, note placement, cartouche rendering, and page‐level layout calculations while balancing note columns dynamically to maximize space efficiency and maintain visual consistency.
The system replaced a labor‐intensive manual typesetting workflow with automated PDF generation while preserving the typographic conventions of the published edition. Complex page composition, note placement, chapter formatting, and RTL layout are handled automatically, reducing production effort and eliminating repetitive layout work.