How to send an email with LaTeX

Question

Risking of this question being closed, I'm just wondering if any of your use ---or know--- of any email platform that supports writing in LaTeX.

I made a quick search around the site and found this question:

LaTeX on Gmail (GmailTex?)

So I'm guessing Gmail is not supporting it... or at least that seemed so as of 2012. Maybe this changed in the last year?

But what about other services? Do you know if Yahoo!, hotmail, or any other in particular is capable of handling it? How do you send e-mails with LaTeX?

PS: Using an editor and then attaching the pdf is not a valid answer :P

Answer 1

On some browsers you can install an extension called Markdown Here, which is capable of rendering markwdown syntax into HTML in some rich-editing boxes. In particular it works with the Google Mail composing message box.

Admittedly, markdown is not LaTeX, but you get anyway a simple and familiar syntax (it is the one used here at stackexchange) to format your messages. In addition, it supports TeX equations (you surround them with dollars), but the method is sub-optimal, since it calls google to render them (did you know that google can render TeX math into images? I didn't) and paste a link to the resulting image. This feature is disabled by default for privacy issues.

Here is a pair of screenshots of the compose box, first while I write the message:

Then after converting it (Ctrl-Alt-M or toolbar button):

Answer 2

Maybe it's too late to answer now, but what about Thunderbird? Thunderbird is open source software. You just have to install "LaTeX It" (it's an addon in Thunderbird). Hope it helped :-)

Some information about the Addon. But download it directly in Thunderbird addon center! That's easier than installing it by the link.

Answer 3

There is a Chrome extension called TeX for Gmail (available from the Chrome Web Store), which can typeset math expressions, equations, and theorems, among other things. I experimented with it and it has been working for me.

Answer 4

On Mac OS X, one can install the utility LaTeXiT: http://www.chachatelier.fr/latexit/ which will allow one to type LaTeX in any Mac OS X app which understands Services and will accept an image, and then Typeset the equations in place, replacing them w/ a .pdf in situ.

The recipient will receive a .pdf as an attachment (it will display in-line on mail programs which display .pdfs), and then may invoke LaTeXiT's ``linkback'' support to untypeset the equations, reverting them to their source form (the source is attached to the .pdf as an attachment).

Answer 5

As an old-school (and quite primitive) alternative I may suggest using ascii-art to render LaTeX. The only requirement is that both of you need to use monospaced font:

     +-+                              
 ,- \|x   2                              
 | e    /x    dx                              
-'           

Quite obviously it has a limited use.

There are scripts to make the formulas from latex, the above was generated with tex2mail. One can add some unicode to it to produce nicer output:

┬─┬oo ⎛   1  ⎞   ⎛ ┬─┬oo   1   ⎞-1           1            1     6 
│ │   ⎜ 1-── ⎟ = ⎜ │ │   ───── ⎟   = ───────────────── = ──── = ──  ≈ 61%
┴ ┴p  ⎜    2 ⎟   ⎜ ┴ ┴p     -2 ⎟         1    1          ζ(2)    2
      ⎝   p  ⎠   ⎝       1-p   ⎠     1 + ── + ── + ∙∙∙          π 
                                          2    2
                                         2    3 

But be careful, not all monospaced unicode is rendered as truly monospaced.

Also helpful https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/149303/software-to-render-formulas-to-ascii-art

Answer 6

Here is an obvious but super useful point, at least for me:

To insert LaTeX into an email composed in Outlook or some other mail client, first compose the message in Gmail using Alexeev's TeX for Gmail, then copy and paste it into your mail client's compose window! Of course, all mail client must be composing in HTML.

Answer 7

Recently I have found the following Chrome extension with the help of which it is possible to send email with MathJaX equations (however I am not sure whether to read the sent emails if the receiver also needs to add the extensions). The extensions is, Math Anywhere.

Answer 8

Just wanted to mention that KLatexFormula is extremely easy to use, lets you copy and paste images directly into email text fields (works on email clients that aren't in browser), and has a formula history that you can use in case you messed up and want to go back to a previous image without having to type out the whole formula again.

Answer 9

Go to https://www.codecogs.com/latex/eqneditor.php

Write LaTex in above textarea. Select svg in below and select font size as your wish. Now copy the image (svg) only now paste it in your Gmail.

That's it (•‿•)

Answer 10

I have just noticed that Thunderbird, without add-ons, now allows inserting Mathematics as LaTex code and will display it using MathML. In other mail clients you can more or less read the original LaTeX.

Answer 11

The Google Charts API service (https://developers.google.com/chart) includes typesetting LaTeX math snippets as images, which can then be included as an inline image in the email with Insert Photo -- Web Address (URL). For example,

In terms of the syntax, in the URL below replace the LaTeX math expression following "chl=" with your own LaTeX math expression. This is tedious and useful only for small snippets.

https://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=tx&chl=x=\frac{-b\pm\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}