pnglatex is a small script that turns LaTeX formulas into png images.

$ pnglatex -f "E=mc^2"

If the image was created using pnglatex you can also reverse the process.

$ pnglatex -r formula.png
E=mc^2

Download or clone the repository, then type

# chmod +x pnglatex
# cp pnglatex /usr/bin/pnglatex

pnglatex depends on dvipng, imagemagick, latex and optipng packages.

Piping is good.

$ cat formula.tex | pnglatex

Using xargs you can generate and open your image with a one-liner; for example:

$ pnglatex -f "E=mc^2" | xargs eog

Omitting -f option will start interactive mode.

$ pnglatex
Interactive mode (<Ctrl-D> to end):
E=mc^2

Logs can give you a good idea of what went wrong.

$ pnglatex -f "E=mc^2" -l out.log

• -b <color> Set the background color
• -B <color> Set the border color
• -d <dpi> Set the output resolution to the specified dpi
• -e <environment> Set the environment for the formula (i.e. displaymath or eqnarray)
• -f <formula> The LaTeX formula
• -F <color> Set the foreground color
• -h Print the help message
• -H <header> Input file in header
• -l <file> Log file
• -m <margin> Set the margin
• -M Strip meta information
• -o <file> Specify the output file name
• -O Optimize the image
• -p <packages> A colon separated list of LaTeX package names
• -P <padding> Set the padding
• -r <file> Read an image and print the LaTeX formula
• -s <size> Set the font size
• -S Don't print image file name
• -v Show version