1 · Build an equation
Click a symbol in the toolbox (or drag it onto the slate). Click a piece of the
expression to select it, then click-or-drop onto another piece to insert inside it.
The TEX tab lets you type TeX directly. Keyboard: type
letters, digits and + − * = ( ) [ ] < > , ; : ! ? | . ' straight into
the slate. TeX triggers work like in TeX — ^ and _ attach a
super/subscript to the preceding token (x^2 → x²,
a_b → aₓ), / turns it into a fraction
(a/b → stacked a/b), and \ opens an active TeX-command placeholder
(highlighted box, dashed cursor — e.g. \alpha): letters accumulate in monospace,
the cursor is locked inside (arrow keys don't navigate away) and any non-letter
— digit, symbol, Space, Enter, Esc — closes the box;
the command is compiled by the TeX tool into real math on the slate (argument commands like
\frac or \sqrt open as a live structure block with the first box
selected; unknown names stay literal text), and the closing key types after it.
Clicking a fill-box inside a structure — e.g. the empty denominator of a
fraction — keeps the caret in that slot: everything typed continues
inside it (\ opens the command box there, so \beta becomes part
of the denominator; ^ _ / wrap the token left of the
caret there, and Backspace deletes inside it). Arrow keys first walk the caret
between the slot's tokens — mid-slot 1^23 then ← then
^ hatches on the 2 (1^{2^{}3}) — the blinking
caret stays visible inside the slot, and stepping past an edge peels one level
out (\sqrt{b^2} then → keeps it inside the radical, so
-4ac continues there); Esc or clicking elsewhere lets it
out entirely.
A blinking caret marks the end of the expression whenever nothing is
selected — the next symbol or drop lands right before it — and typing with a
symbol selected replaces it. A script block keeps the cursor for
continuous input (a^23 → a^{23}): only →,
Space, Enter or Esc lets it out. The </>
buttons (and arrow keys) move the blinking caret between blocks — typing,
Backspace (deletes left of the caret) and Del (deletes right of
the caret) act at the caret. Single-character script arguments and single-character
bases output without braces (a^2, not {a}^{2}).
2 · Your document
Inserted math appears at the caret in the source below. You can also type your own text
there, with \(...\) for inline math and \[...\] for display math.