texscrap is a Python utility from turning snippets of LaTeX--either files (via --file) or equations (via --equation)---into tightly bound stand-alone PDFs.
Optionally, you can also create PNGs, via the --png flag.
The resultant files are written the directory the script is called from.
The primary use case is creating image files for inclusion in a presentation or blog post. Even if you are using a Beamer class for presentations, it is often useful to include images of tables and equations rather than the actual TeX since the re-sizing options are more flexible.
To render an equation, we can run:
texscrap -e "e^{\pi i} + 1 = 0"
will generate a PDF file that looks like this:
if you want a PNG file as well, you can just add a --png flag i.e..,
texscrap --png -e "e^{\pi i} + 1 = 0"
git clone [email protected]:johnjosephhorton/texscrap.git
cd texscrap
sudo python setup.py install
In addition to jinja2, this script also requires pdflatex, ImageMagick and pdfcrop.
You can render a bunch of equations in batch. Suppose you have file multiline.txt with your equations:
cat multiline.txt
x^2 + 3x
\int x^2 dx
\log x
To create files for each, you can run:
<multiline.txt xargs -I % texscrap -e "%"
To build a collection of files (such as a directory of tables):
find . -name '*tex' -print0 | xargs -0 -I % texscrap -f %
You can also build from a file, like so:
texscrap -f <name of latex file.tex>
echo "hello world" | texscrap
which will produce a pdf file called stdin_file_<seconds from unix epoch>.pdf in the directory.
The actual LaTeX "wrapper" is in the directory ./templates and can be easily modified with the pacakges you need.
usage: texscrap.py [-h] [-f FILE] [-e EQUATION] [--png]
Runs pdflatex on a LaTeX file that lacks a header and returns a tightly
cropped PDF, and optionally, a PNG file. Can also run on a quoted LaTeX
equation
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-f FILE, --file FILE File to render
-e EQUATION, --equation EQUATION
Equation to render
--png Creat a companion PNG file.