Critic-markup Extension For Quarto

This extension provides a filter for processing CriticMarkup syntax when rendering to HTML, PDF (LaTeX), and DOCX. The HTML markup view includes a small in-page switcher to toggle views.

Supported views in all formats:

• Markup: changes highlighted (HTML adds ins/del/mark; PDF uses pdfcomment; DOCX uses Emphasis/Strikeout)
• Original: document before edits (additions removed, deletions kept)
• Edited: final document with changes applied

This extension was inspired by the critic markup processing for ScholarlyMarkdown available under MIT license as well ScholarlyMarkdown.git

Installing

quarto add mloubout/critic-markup

This will install the extension under the _extensions subdirectory. If you're using version control, you will want to check in this directory.

Using

To use this extension, simply add it to your header as a filter

---
title: Markup example
filters:
  - critic-markup
---

Selecting mode (HTML, PDF, DOCX)

Select which version of the document to render by setting the critic-mode metadata. The following values are supported in all formats (HTML, PDF, DOCX):

• markup (default) – show changes with highlights.
• original – show the document before edits (additions removed, deletions kept).
• edited – show the final document with changes applied.

Example (PDF shown here; works the same for HTML and DOCX):

---
title: Markup example
filters:
  - critic-markup
critic-mode: edited   # or original, markup
format: pdf
---

You can also render a specific version from the command line:

quarto render example.qmd --to pdf -M critic-mode=markup
quarto render example.qmd --to pdf -M critic-mode=original
quarto render example.qmd --to pdf -M critic-mode=edited

# HTML
quarto render example.qmd --to html -M critic-mode=edited

# DOCX
quarto render example.qmd --to docx -M critic-mode=markup

Note:

• For critic-mode: markup with PDF output, the LaTeX package pdfcomment is required. Install with TeX Live (tlmgr install pdfcomment) or your TeX distribution's package manager.
• For DOCX markup, deletions render as strikeout, insertions as emphasis, highlights as strong, and comments as inline bracketed notes (e.g. “[comment: …]”).
• For HTML original/edited, the output is static (no toggle UI). The toggle UI only appears in HTML markup mode.

Rendered Examples

Here is a minimal example showing the CriticMarkup syntax and its rendering: example.qmd.

• HTML:

  • Markup
  • Original
  • Edited

• PDF:

  • Markup
  • Original
  • Edited

• DOCX:

  • Markup
  • Original
  • Edited

A published HTML markup example is also available here: https://mloubout.github.io/critic-markup/