# Overleaf

### First steps

Open **Applications** in your working instance and add a new **Overleaf + TexLive** application. This application includes a useful selection of recent **TeX Live** packages.

{% hint style="info" %}
Overleaf applications on Nuvolos are shared applications. If one user starts the application, other users in the same instance connect to the same running Overleaf service.
{% endhint %}

The first time the application starts, Overleaf asks you to create an administrator account for that Overleaf service. The username can be any email address; it does not need to be a real mailbox, and Overleaf does not send email from this setup. This account is separate from your Nuvolos account and exists only inside this specific Overleaf application.

For collaboration, the recommended approach is to add collaborators as **Instance Editors** in the same Nuvolos working instance. They can then access the same running Overleaf application and its projects. Overleaf itself is not configured to send invitation emails.

After creating the administrator account, sign in with those Overleaf credentials. On future launches, the application opens directly to this Overleaf sign-in page.

### Create a project

Sign in with the Overleaf administrator account you created. After login, create your first project. In Overleaf, LaTeX source files and related assets such as images and bibliography files are organized into projects.

### Edit and compile LaTeX documents

If you create a blank project, Overleaf opens a simple `.tex` file with placeholder content. Edit the document in the source editor, then select Recompile in the preview pane to build and preview the PDF output.

{% hint style="info" %}
Overleaf stores `.tex` files in its internal database, so they do not appear in the Nuvolos Files view. If you distribute the Overleaf application, the Overleaf project data is distributed with it.
{% endhint %}


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