[Debian] Generate TeX formulas as SVG or PNG images Wikipédia-like

Preparation

We will use this file named texfile.tex as the .tex to convert:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\pagenumbering{gobble}% Remove page numbers (and reset to 1)
\begin{document}
My first \TeX~document.
$s_n = (Ta)_n = \displaystyle\sum_{k=0}^\infty T_{nk} a_k$
\end{document}

\documentclass[12pt]{article}

\pagenumbering{gobble}% Remove page numbers (and reset to 1)

\begin{document}

My first \TeX~document.

$s_n = (Ta)_n = \displaystyle\sum_{k=0}^\infty T_{nk} a_k$

\end{document}

Result file

Generating PNG images

Packages you need:

texlive (or any other TeX program, I guess)
dvipng

Step by step

In the Terminal, go to the directory containing the .tex file.

Execute this:

$ latex texfile.tex

1	$ latex texfile.tex

Output:

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.15 (TeX Live 2015/dev/Debian) (preloaded format=latex)
 restricted \write18 enabled.
entering extended mode
(./texfile.tex
LaTeX2e <2014/05/01>
Babel <3.9l> and hyphenation patterns for 2 languages loaded.
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/article.cls
Document Class: article 2014/09/29 v1.4h Standard LaTeX document class
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/size12.clo)) (./texfile.aux
) [1] (./texfile.aux) )
Output written on texfile.dvi (1 page, 584 bytes).
Transcript written on texfile.log.

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.15 (TeX Live 2015/dev/Debian) (preloaded format=latex)

restricted \write18 enabled.

entering extended mode

(./texfile.tex

LaTeX2e <2014/05/01>

Babel <3.9l> and hyphenation patterns for 2 languages loaded.

(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/article.cls

Document Class: article 2014/09/29 v1.4h Standard LaTeX document class

(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/size12.clo)) (./texfile.aux

) [1] (./texfile.aux) )

Output written on texfile.dvi (1 page, 584 bytes).

Transcript written on texfile.log.

Convert to PNG at 150dpi (to get a larger image than default):

$ dvipng texfile.dvi -D 150 -o texfile.png

1

$ dvipng texfile.dvi -D 150 -o texfile.png
- Output:
  
  This is dvipng 1.14 Copyright 2002-2010 Jan-Ake Larsson [1]
  
  1
  2
  
  This is dvipng 1.14 Copyright 2002-2010 Jan-Ake Larsson
  [1]
Remove the border white spaces of the page and add some borders using imagemagick:

$ convert texfile.png -trim -bordercolor white -border 5x5 texfile_trimmed.png

1

$ convert texfile.png -trim -bordercolor white -border 5x5 texfile_trimmed.png
Your file is ready as texfile_trimmed.png.

Script

I have made a little script to automatize the conversion, with auto-remove of intermediary files:

if latex $1
then
	BASENAME=${1%%.*}
	echo Base name is: $BASENAME
	dvipng $BASENAME.dvi -D 150 -o $BASENAME.png
	OUTPUT_FILENAME="${BASENAME}_trimmed.png"
	echo Output file name is: $OUTPUT_FILENAME
	convert $BASENAME.png -trim -bordercolor white -border 5x5 $OUTPUT_FILENAME
	if test $# = 2
	then
		if test $2 != "-keeptempfiles"
		then
			rm ${BASENAME}.{aux,dvi,log,png}
		fi
	else
		rm ${BASENAME}.{aux,dvi,log,png}
	fi
fi
exit 0

if latex $1

then

BASENAME=${1%%.*}

echo Base name is: $BASENAME

dvipng $BASENAME.dvi -D 150 -o $BASENAME.png

OUTPUT_FILENAME="${BASENAME}_trimmed.png"

echo Output file name is: $OUTPUT_FILENAME

convert $BASENAME.png -trim -bordercolor white -border 5x5 $OUTPUT_FILENAME

if test $# = 2

then

if test $2 != "-keeptempfiles"

then

rm ${BASENAME}.{aux,dvi,log,png}

else

rm ${BASENAME}.{aux,dvi,log,png}

exit 0

Usage

Save the above script as tex2png, anywhere you want, usually near your .tex files for convenience.
Make it executable: $ chmod +x tex2png.
Syntax: tex2png filename [-keeptempfiles].
- Example: $ tex2png texfile.tex.
- Alternatively, you can omit the .tex extension: $ tex2png texfile but I would not recommend it.
- If you want to keep the intermediary files (dvi, log, etc.), add the -keeptempfiles argument at the end: $ tex2png texfile.tex -keeptempfiles.
The final image is named texfile_trimmed.png

Generating SVG images

Packages you need:

texlive

Step by step

In the Terminal, go to the directory containing the .tex file.

Execute this:

$ latex texfile.tex

1	$ latex texfile.tex

Output:

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.15 (TeX Live 2015/dev/Debian) (preloaded format=latex)
 restricted \write18 enabled.
entering extended mode
(./texfile.tex
LaTeX2e <2014/05/01>
Babel <3.9l> and hyphenation patterns for 2 languages loaded.
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/article.cls
Document Class: article 2014/09/29 v1.4h Standard LaTeX document class
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/size12.clo)) (./texfile.aux
) [1] (./texfile.aux) )
Output written on texfile.dvi (1 page, 584 bytes).
Transcript written on texfile.log.

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.15 (TeX Live 2015/dev/Debian) (preloaded format=latex)

restricted \write18 enabled.

entering extended mode

(./texfile.tex

LaTeX2e <2014/05/01>

Babel <3.9l> and hyphenation patterns for 2 languages loaded.

(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/article.cls

Document Class: article 2014/09/29 v1.4h Standard LaTeX document class

(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/size12.clo)) (./texfile.aux

) [1] (./texfile.aux) )

Output written on texfile.dvi (1 page, 584 bytes).

Transcript written on texfile.log.

Convert to a SVG image with a 1.5 scale factor:

$ dvisvgm texfile.dvi -TS1.5 --no-fonts

1

$ dvisvgm texfile.dvi -TS1.5 --no-fonts
Your file is ready as texfile.svg.

Remarks

There is no padding in the SVG method. I have not found yet a method to add a little padding around the figure.

Also, the --no-fonts is necessary to prevent rendering issues about SVG fonts, especially with Firefox and the default SVG viewer of Debian. So the generated formula will not be selectable as a text, but at least, it will render correctly on every device with SVG support.

Background

I needed to include some nice looking formulas on my new game design wiki. I am using MediaWiki but the math add-on was not working on my server (web hosting service, not mine). So I decided to create myself the images offline and upload them as regular image files, so that I don’t need to think too much about trying to set the add-on without having all the privileges I could have on a personal server.

Preparation

Result file

Generating PNG images

Packages you need:

Step by step

Script

Usage

Generating SVG images

Packages you need:

Step by step

Remarks

Background

Published by Dakwamine