About T2T Files
txt2tags
txt2tags is a minimal markup language that can be converted to many output formats including HTML, LaTeX, DocBook, and plain text. Its syntax is intentionally simple, using only ASCII characters for all formatting directives.
Family
Documents & Text
Extension
.t2t
MIME Type
text/x-txt2tags
Can Use As
HOW T2T
CAME TO BE.
txt2tags — .t2t — was created in 2001 by Brazilian developer Aurelio Marinho Jargas as a one-shot "write once, publish anywhere" markup language. A single .t2t file can compile to HTML, LaTeX, PDF, man pages, Wiki markup, AsciiDoc, Markdown, and dozens of other targets. The syntax is deliberately simple: `**bold**`, `//italic//`, `==headings==`, bulleted lists with `-`, and a directive system for metadata.
txt2tags never reached mass adoption — Pandoc eventually did the same job with wider input and output support — but it survives as a niche authoring tool for Brazilian and Latin American open-source communities.
CURIOSITIES &
TRIVIA.
txt2tags compiles to 15+ different output formats from a single source file — HTML, LaTeX, man, MoinMoin, Wiki, and more.
Aurelio Marinho Jargas is also an active Brazilian shell-scripting educator who wrote the book "Expressões Regulares".
The syntax is deliberately memorable: `**bold**`, `//italic//`, `__underline__` — visual-intuitive.
Pandoc (2006) superseded txt2tags in most workflows but txt2tags persists in niche Latin American open-source.
The entire txt2tags engine is a single Python script under 5 000 lines.
STRENGTHS &
LIMITATIONS.
Strengths
- Plain-text source → multi-format output.
- Simple syntax.
- Tiny implementation.
Limitations
- Superseded by Pandoc.
- Tiny ecosystem.
- Limited modern tooling.
Typical Sizes & Weights
Short article source
2-20 KB
Technical Specifications
- MIME type
- text/x-txt2tags
- Extension
- .t2t
- Targets
- 15+ formats including HTML, LaTeX, man, Wiki
CONVERT FROM
T2T
Common Use Cases
Minimal document authoring, multi-format output, simple text conversion
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Frequently Asked Questions about T2T
Frequently Asked Questions
T2T (txt2tags) is a document format used to store paginated text, with optional formatting, tables, images, hyperlinks, headers and footers. It sits in the documents & text family and is typically associated with a specific office suite or publishing pipeline that defined the format and ships the canonical reader.
Modern office suites — Microsoft Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice Writer, Apple Pages — open most T2T files with reasonable fidelity. If your installed software does not support T2T, convert to DOCX or PDF first using KaijuConverter; both open in virtually every reader, including free online viewers.
Upload the T2T to KaijuConverter and pick DOCX, PDF, ODT, RTF, HTML, Markdown, or plain text. Our pipeline runs LibreOffice headlessly plus pandoc for text formats — the same engines behind professional document pipelines. Styles, tables, images, and hyperlinks survive the conversion intact.
Yes, to a high degree. Standard fonts, headings, lists, tables, images, hyperlinks and page structure transfer cleanly. Custom fonts substitute to the closest match if not embedded; obscure layout features unique to T2T (frames, legacy macros) may flatten to static content in the target format.