Publishing Mathematics on the Web

Mathematics is normally written in TeX (PCTeX, OzTex, UNIX-TeX). To convert a TeX document to PDF on any personal computer, you can simply print its resulting dvi-file to PDF using PDFWriter. Alternatively, you can print to a PostScript file, then use Distiller to convert the PostScript file to PDF. dvips and Distiller is the method used on Unix systems. Mathematical symbols and other special characters are handled well by PDF. Also, special fonts can be embedded in a PDF document and compatibility is maintained across platforms.

PDF is recommended as the most convenient platform to present special symbols and formulas on the web. Other options available are:

• DVI viewer: TeX helper to the browser that launches when downloading a DVI file
  • pro: best results
  • con: not generally available on all client computers
• Converting the DVI file to GIF
  • pro: can be made easily by screen shots; can be displayed in browser
  • con: slow printing; resource hog; low quality
• Converting to PostScript and viewing using GhostScript
  • pro: Easy to do on most machines, especially UNIX workstations
  • con: PostScript files are huge and transfer slowly; GhostScript is not usually installed on user's computers; may have some font problems
• Using Word or WordPerfect for writing source instead of TeX
  • pro: commonly available and used
  • con: challenging to display math and other symbols as easily as in TeX; less powerful
• The tth conversion utility, using HTML tables and the Symbol font
  • pro: surprisingly powerful; trivially easy to use
  • con: too much whitespace; a few (~10) symbols cannot be displayed
• Conversion to pure HTML with small gifs where needed
  • pro: easy translator scripts, such as HTMX, LaTeX2HTML
  • con:low print quality, alignment problems, image font inconsistent with body text
• Mathematica and Maple
  • pro: allow easy publishing of colored graphs and worksheets
  • con: use GIF files with all associated problems
• MathML markup language (a new XML standard)
  • Infant technology, not yet supported properly by any browser (except Amaya)
• IBM Techexplorer Project
  • Crude and unusable at the moment.

Problems: Sometimes, you will notice that some symbols or graphics appear blurry or as splotches of gray when viewed on-screen, however the same pages print perfectly. This is due to the monitor's low resolution and the resulting incapability to display small fonts and line graphics when viewing the document full-page. The solution is to use Acrobat Reader's Zoom feature and take a closer look, which will show both text and graphics clearly.

There are some workarounds available. Consult the Readme file when you install Acrobat for known problems. From the Adobe Known Problems web site:

Text and Monochrome Images in PDF Files are Blurry

Reader 3.0 includes an option to smooth the edges (i.e., anti-alias) of text and monochrome images. The Smooth Text and Monochrome Images option in Reader uses anti-alias technology to enhance the display of PDF files. When a PDF contains thin or italic fonts, anti-aliasing may make text formatted with those fonts appear blurry. To disable Reader's anti-aliasing feature:

1. Choose File > Preferences > General.
2. In the General Preferences dialog box, deselect the Smooth Text and Monochrome Images option, then click OK.