diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d76b07f..c53cb97 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 PROJDIR := src
 LEKTOR := lektor --project $(PROJDIR)
 BUILD_DIR := $$($(LEKTOR) project-info --output-path)
+RESOLVED_BUILD_DIR := $$( \
+	if [ $$(readlink 'src/content/recipes') == "../../data/distribution/" ]; \
+	then echo "$(PWD)/bin"; \
+	else echo "$(BUILD_DIR)"; fi)
 
 .PHONY: help
 help:
@@ -73,8 +77,10 @@ deploy:
 # technically this isnt needed anymore but it simplyfies latex development
 .PHONY: pdf
 pdf:
+	@echo
+	@echo 'Generating PDF from tex source ...'
 	@SECONDS=0; \
-	"$(PROJDIR)/_tex-to-pdf/build_manually.sh" \
+	"$(PROJDIR)/_tex-to-pdf/build_manually.sh" "$(RESOLVED_BUILD_DIR)" \
 	&& echo "done. finished after $${SECONDS}s."
 
 # Helper methods on all recipes
diff --git a/src/_tex-to-pdf/build_manually.sh b/src/_tex-to-pdf/build_manually.sh
index e4c3d14..9ff4691 100755
--- a/src/_tex-to-pdf/build_manually.sh
+++ b/src/_tex-to-pdf/build_manually.sh
@@ -1,15 +1,21 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
+BUILD_DIR=$1
+
+if [ $# != 1 ] || [ ! -d "$BUILD_DIR" ]; then
+	echo "Usage: ${0##*/} path/to/build-dir/"
+	exit 1
+fi
+
 cd "${0%/*}" || exit 1
 rm -rf out
 mkdir -p out
 
-build_dir=$(lektor project-info --output-path)
-echo "\\\\def\\\\buildDir{$build_dir}" > out/builddir.tex
+echo "\\\\def\\\\buildDir{$BUILD_DIR}" > out/builddir.tex
 
-find "$build_dir" -name "*.tex" | while read -r x; do
+find "$BUILD_DIR" -name "*.tex" | while read -r x; do
 	bname=$(basename "${x%.tex}") # remove extension and parent dir
-	shortname=${x#"$build_dir"}
+	shortname=${x#"$BUILD_DIR"}
 	for i in 1 2; do
 		echo lualatex "$shortname [$i/2]"
 		lualatex --halt-on-error --output-directory out "$x" > /dev/null || exit 13