Equation Editor

[SoX]

did a quick search for this and i dont think anyone has asked.

Durandal what program did you use for your equation in your sig and is it free?

or

Does anyone know of a free program to write equations and export them as a useful format png\gif\jpeg etc?

[phongn]

He uses LaTeX, which is implemented on many operating systems. The most common one for Windows is MikTex. Be warned that the learning curve is very steep.

[Durandal]

Durandal what program did you use for your equation in your sig and is it free?

I rendered it with LaTeX.

Does anyone know of a free program to write equations and export them as a useful format png\gif\jpeg etc?

First of all, use forward slashes.

And I'm afraid that there's no such beast. This was done with a method pioneered by me. I used pdflatex to make a PDF of the equation, then opened it in Adobe Reader 6 (Reader's anti-aliasing is a bit sharper than Quartz's built-in anti-aliasing at smaller sizes) and took a screenshot when I had it zoomed to the appropriate size. Then I cropped the screenshot so it was just the equation.

From there, I made a new Photoshop file of the proper dimensions and filled it white. Then I created an alpha channel on the 1 layer in the file and pasted the equation directly into the alpha channel. Then I inverted it and played with the levels until I got a sharp equation (I created a test layer underneath to see how it'd look against various backgrounds). Then just add a sharp, 2- or 3-pixel, black outer glow to add some contrast and you're set. Export as PNG-24.

[phongn]

Couldn't you have just opened the PDF in Photoshop?

[Durandal]

Couldn't you have just opened the PDF in Photoshop?

I dunno. Maybe.

[haas mark]

Couldn't you have just opened the PDF in Photoshop?

Dur? Make things easy on himself? Since when?