LaTeX math whitespace

Question

when I try to display a math equation with LaTeX, there is always whitespace to the right and left of the math equation. I am trying it with code like this:

\documentclass{standalone}
\begin{document}
%Math equation here
\end{document}

This method works for regular text, it just doesn't seem to work for math. Is there a solution?

Answer 1

The construction \[...\] builds a whole paragraph, so that standalone is forced to leave space for it.

A formula written as

$\displaystyle <formula>$

will give the same result as \[<formula>\], but will not produce excess white space.

If you want two "centered" formulas one after the other, then

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
$\begin{gathered}
\int_1^a{\frac{dx}{x}} = \ln a \\
\int{x^n} = \frac{x^{n+1}}{n+1}
\end{gathered}$
\end{document}

is the way to go. For aligned equations you can use aligned.

Answer 2

Based on the code in the comments this seems to have been an issue with how the standalone package is begin used. With the latest version of standalone, the [varwidth] option is needed. The MWE below does not produce any space around the formulas:

Note:

• It is not normally a good idea to have to consecutive display mode equations without any text in between. See Uneven vertical spacing displaymath

Code:

\documentclass[varwidth]{standalone} 
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document} 
  \[ \int_1^a \frac{dx}{x} = \ln a \]
  \[ \int {x^n} = \frac{x^{n+1}}{n+1}\] 
\end{document}

Answer 3

try

\documentclass{article}
\pagestyle{empty}
\usepackage{auto-pst-pdf}
\PreviewEnvironment{displaymath}
\begin{document}
\begin{displaymath}y=f(x)\end{displaymath}
\end{document}

it creates a file <file>-pics.pdf which holds the equation as a cropped pdf

Run it with pdflatex -shell-escape <file> or alternetively with xelatex or lualatex