How to convert LaTeX equations to SVG?

At the moment, I'm using mimetex to automatically convert a bunch of equations into gif-images.

The program is fast, but the images look pretty bad:

How can I (quickly) convert a LaTeX equation into an SVG image on the command line?

4 Answers

pdf2svg works quite well.

Use \pagestyle{empty} to avoid page numbers and pdfcrop (package texlive-extra-utils) to remove empty space around the equations

A new option is to use mathjax-node from npm. Install a distribution of node, then use npm to install mathjax-node:

$ npm install --global mathjax-node

Edit: You now have to install mathjax-node-cli, however, mathjax-node-cli doesn't show up (yet), so I had to pass the github repo:

$ npm install --global 

Once installed, you will be able to use tex2svg:

$ /usr/local/lib/node_modules/mathjax-node-cli/bin/tex2svg \
'\sin^2{\theta} + \cos^2{\theta} = 1' > identity.svg

And the result:

The generated SVG file renders properly inside a browser but cannot be displayed using standard image tools.

Have you tried ekee? It's a clone of LatexIt for Mac, it's great! It's hosted on .

dvisvgm works quickly and nicely in my experience. It's in TeX Live 2010.