A typeset mathematical expression

A formula editor is a computer program that is used to typeset mathematical formulas and mathematical expressions.

Formula editors typically serve two purposes:

  • They allow word processing and publication of technical content either for print publication, or to generate raster images for web pages or screen presentations.
  • They provide a means for users to specify input to computational systems that is easier to read and check than plain text input and output from computational systems that is easy to understand or ready for publication.

Content for formula editors can be provided manually using a markup language,e.g. TeX or MathML, via a point-and-click GUI, or as computer generated results from symbolic computations such as Mathematica.

Typical features include the ability to nest fractions, radicals, superscripts, subscripts, overscripts and underscripts together with special characters such as mathematical symbols, arrows and scalable parentheses.

Some systems are capable of re-formatting formulae into simpler forms or to adjust line-breaking automatically, while preserving the mathematical meaning of a formula.

Available systems

Name Keyboard input GUI input Handwriting recognition TeX support MathML support Raster export Automatic expression layout Computation support Platform Notes Output formats Open source
Aibase Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No Windows Diagramming with formula editor for UnicodeMath MathML, SVG No
Alfred's Equation Editor (AlfredEq) Yes but limited Yes No No Yes Yes No No Flash Player An embedded app to edit mathematical expressions on CMS/LMS/Blog web pages. No
Atito Equation Editor Yes but limited Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Android Formula editor combined with embedded solver, graphs LaTeX,PDF,PNG No
AxMath Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows AxMath is an interactive WYSIWYG formula editor which has a scrollable symbol panel and supports semantic math input. PNG, JPG, GIF, TIFF, EMF, LaTeX No
Aurora Yes No No Yes No Yes No No Microsoft Office addon. Renders using TeX.
Install Archived 2018-02-02 at the Wayback Machine Yes No No Yes No Yes No No Actively updated Google Docs add-on. Renders using TeX. Install Archived 2018-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
Calcinator Math Editor Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes Web, iOS Web GUI generates pure HTML math and LaTeX HTML, LaTeX No
Cassiopeia Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Mac OS X Scientific Wordprocessing for Mac OS X
CodeCogs Equation Editor Yes Yes No Yes Beta Yes Yes No Web Produces HTML and graphics for inclusion of equations in any website. Can download graphics in various formats for use in reports and publications. Plugins for CK Editor, Tiny MCE, etc. PNG, JPG, SVG, SWF, EMF, MathML, LaTeX, URL
CodeCogs Excel Render Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No MS Excel Add-in to convert formulas into equations. Works offline and can also request 100% LaTaX from the online CodeCogs servers.
Collabora Office Math[1] Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes No Online and Windows, Linux, Mac Tool to create formulae that can be embedded inside other suite documents png, jpg, pdf, html, xml, OLE. EPUB math-objects are not included in EPUB yet. Yes
Daum Equation Editor Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Chrome browser, Mac Free Math equation editor for Chrome browser and Mac PNG, LaTeX No
EQ Editor Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No iOS iOS native app. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/eq-editor/id468981237] PDF, PNG, MathML, LaTeX No
DragMath Yes but limited Yes No Yes Yes No No No Java applet. Open source. supports AsciiMathML. Integrations with a VLE such as Moodle. MathML, LaTeX Yes
WebEQ Equation Editor Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No Web A Design Science product that has reached End of Life; replaced with MathFlow Software Development Kit No
Equation Maker for Mac Yes No No Yes No No No Mac Available on Mac App Store PDF, PNG No
Equation Notepad for Android Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No For the Android mobile operating system. Can export LaTeX.
EqualX Equation Editor Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Windows, Linux Easy to use for beginners and advanced users. Highly customisable interface. EPS, PS, PNG, JPG, PDF, SVG, TEX Yes
Firemath Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Addon for the Firefox web browser. Yes
Formula Sheet Equation Editor Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Online LaTeX equation editor with real-time .png, .pdf, and .tex output. Customizable resolution, font, and color. One click copy to MS Word 2007+ using MathML.
Formulator MathML Weaver Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No Dual-licensing (Open source and commercial). There is a special edition that works within a browser (using Silverlight plugin).
FxSolver Yes Yes No No Yes Yes (print as PDF) Yes No Web Free. Registration needed only to share worksheets. PDF No
IguanaTex No Yes No Yes Yes No No No Free PowerPoint plugin for inserting LaTeX equations
iMathEQ editor Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Web (Win, Mac, iOS, Android) iMathEQ editor is an online WYSIWYG formula editor which can be easily integrated with online systems, like learning management system PNG, MathML, SVG, LaTeX No
Jex No Yes Yes No No Designed to insert and edit equations in Openoffice
Ket Yes Yes No Partial only No Yes Yes Yes Cross-platform (Java) Ket provides commands to enable the user to solve back-of-the-envelope calculations. ket, txt, png (single or sequence), LaTeX, HTML Yes
KFormula Yes No No No No No
LaTeX4technics Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Web Interactive online WYSIWYG LaTeX editor. Over 400 math symbols. Various helper programs e.g. for matrix input or colouring. Autocompletion and syntax highlighting PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG, PDF, MathML, LaTeX
LaTeXiT Yes No No Yes No No No Mac OS X unofficial universal binary. Open source.
LibreOffice Math[2] Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes No Windows, Linux, Mac Tool to create formulae that can be embedded inside other suite documents png, jpg, pdf, html, xml, OLE. EPUB math-objects are not included in EPUB yet. Yes
LiveMath Yes Yes No No Yes Windows, Mac, Linux LiveMath Maker, LiveMath View, LiveMath Plugins available. No
LyX Yes Yes No Yes No No LyX has a WYSIWYM ("what you see is what you mean") approach. Open Source PDF, DVI, LaTeX, Text, Postscript Yes
Maple Yes Yes characters only export only export only Yes Yes Yes Windows, Linux, Mac LaTeX, MathML, PDF No
Mathcad Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Windows and Mac OS X (a 1998 version only) HTML + jpeg No
Mathcha Editor Mathcha Yes Yes Character only Yes Yes Yes (SVG, or print as PDF) Yes No Web Mathcha editor is an online WYSIWYG formula editor that provides very fast formula inputting, diagram(support drawing and insert math formula in diagram), saving documents and sharing materials (link,pdf,latex,png,SVG,...) PNG, PDF, LaTeX, SVG No
MathDox formula editor Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No JavaScript editor for creating OpenMath, Computations are now possible via external web services, but integration of these web services is under construction Yes
MathEditor Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Web MathEditor is an online WYSIWYG formula editor which supports formula semantic recognition and advanced accessibility. Integrated with Computer Algebra Systems and plotting libraries. json, LaTeX No
Connexions' MathML Editor (Beta) Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes No Javascript, WYSIWYG, Open Source, Content and Presentation MathML editor. Currently, the MathML editor is only supported in Mozilla Firefox. Yes
Math Editor Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No Windows Yes
Math I Can Do Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows, Mac, Linux, Web Math editor with a focus on long-form documents such as homework. Uses ISO 80000-2 notation. Available as a desktop app or Web API. Computation supported as an experimental feature, with the optional capability to export to third-party computation tools. LaTeX (standard and MathJax-friendly), MathML, SVG, PNG, JPEG, WEBP, PDF No
Mathematica Yes Yes, called "palettes" Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows, Unix/Linux, Mac CDF, PDF, EPS, LaTeX, HTML, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, JPEG200,OpenEXR, BMP, PICT, WMF, EMF, XBM, PCX, FITS, DICOM, NETCDF, SVG, DXF, AVI, FLV, Quicktime, SWF, RTF, ASCII No
MathQuill Yes Yes No Yes No Yes via MathJS Web WYSIWYG DHTML LaTeX math editor in the Web browser. Currently only supports IE8+ and other modern browsers. Yes
MathLive Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Web JavaScript-based editor LaTeX, MathML, CSS+HTML, speech Yes
MathType Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes via Wolfram Alpha Windows, Mac Works with Microsoft Office, Apple Pages (et al.), Maple, Mathematica, iBooks Author, Gmail and over 800+ other applications and websites. Compatibility database GIF, EPS, TeX, LaTeX, MathML, PICT & PDF (Mac), WMF (Windows) No
MathMagic Yes Yes Windows only Yes Yes Yes Yes via Wolfram Alpha Windows, macOS (32-bit, 64-bit), Android, iOS Also supports Microsoft Word equations, Wolfram Alpha to see the computation results and answers, MathJax, Google Docs equations, MathType equations, Wiki equations, AsciiMathML, and Text-To-Speech to read out math expressions. Personal Edition is for general purpose use. Pro Editions mainly used with Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress for desktop publishing. Comes with many math symbol fonts, Greek fonts, text body fonts in OpenType and TrueType format. System installed fonts are also supported. PDF, SVG, EPS, PNG, Transparent PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF, PICT, WMF, TIFF, Plain TeX, LaTeX, AMS LaTeX, MathML, ASCIIMath, Wolfram Alpha, Google Docs, Zoho, Text-To-Speech (Voice, Sentence) No
MathCast Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No Open source Yes
MathFlow Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Windows, Mac MathML No
Math-o-mir Yes Yes No No export only Yes Yes No Intended to be used as math notepad. Freeware. Yes
Math Expression Editor Light 1.2 (MEEL) Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes .NET Framework component Math Expression Editor Light No
Microsoft Equation Editor 3.0 Yes Yes No No No No Yes No Windows, Mac Deprecated editor included in Microsoft Office products, based on limited version of MathType. OLE
Microsoft Word Yes Yes (Only in Microsoft Word 2016 and later version) partially Yes Yes Yes No Windows, Mac A graphing-calculator plug-in is available for simple calculations and manipulations MathML
MiraiMath Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Java WYSIWYG Editor, Open Source. Can be used as alternative front end to GNU Octave Yes
MyTexPoint No Yes No Yes Yes No No No a small free program for inserting LaTeX equations into PowerPoint with a screen-shot tool
OpenOffice Math Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes No Windows, Linux, Mac Tool to create formulae that can be embedded inside other suite documents Yes
Publicon Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Mathematica-based technical document system No
Rapid-Pi Yes No No No No No No Windows Microsoft Word plugin
Scientific Word Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes No Windows WYSIWYM LaTeX editor
Scientific WorkPlace Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Windows WYSIWYM LaTeX editor with symbolic math and plotting No
Sentido Yes Yes No No Yes No No No JavaScript editor for creating OpenMath
ShareMath.com Yes but limited Yes No No Yes Yes No No Flash Player Create, share and remix equations on the web. Embeds AlfredEq No
Texify Yes No No Yes No Yes No No An online LaTeX equation writer. Based on open source mimeTeX library.
TeXmacs Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No, but can be integrated Windows, Linux, Mac Free and open-source scientific WYSIWYG text editor. It offers a user-friendly interface, extensive mathematical typesetting, rich text formatting, document structure organization, collaborative editing, and extensibility. It combines the convenience of a graphical editor with the typesetting capabilities of LaTeX. HTML, LaTeX, MathML, PDF, Postscript Yes
TexPoint No Yes No Yes Yes No No No PowerPoint plugin for inserting LaTeX equations
TeXPPT Yes No No Yes No No No No Windows Free PowerPoint 2010 plugin for inserting LaTeX equations, fully vector based, no rasters
TeXZilla Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes No Firefox Add-On MathML Yes
Tinkutara Equation Editor Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Android This is an Android only editor. PNG, Latex No
VisionObjects Equation Editor No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No A handwriting recognizer for LaTeX and MathML equations.
WIRIS editor Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Web WIRIS editor has been re-branded MathType in 2018 PNG, MathML, LaTeX, Flash No
Name Keyboard input GUI input Handwriting recognition TeX support MathML support Raster export Automatic expression layout Computation support Platform Notes Output formats Open source

See also

  • TeX, a typesetting system designed and mostly written by Donald Knuth
  • LaTeX, a document markup language and document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program
  • MathML, an application of XML for describing mathematical notations and capturing both its structure and content. It aims at integrating mathematical formulae into World Wide Web pages and other documents. It is a recommendation of the W3C math working group

References

  1. ↑ "Collabora Office Math Features". Collabora Office.
  2. ↑ "The neat equations and formulas editor". libreoffice.org.
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