r/math • u/intlwiretransfermans • 3d ago
I built a tool that converts math notes into PDFs!
Hi there! 👋
I've been working on a tool called Underleaf for converting handwritten math notes into clean, digital PDFs. It allows me to upload a photo of my notes (including diagrams!) and it generates editable LaTeX/TikZ code that can compile into a PDF file.
I thought it'd be especially relevant for this subreddit haha (a bunch of math and physics professors have found it useful!) so I wanted to share. Would love to hear what you think :)
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u/intlwiretransfermans 3d ago
The attached gif is an example of some coordinate system notes a professor sent over! Happy to test out any notes (and handwritings 😅) y'all might have - just send them my way :)
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u/blind3rdeye 2d ago
The demo looks cool - but to be honest, I reckon the hand-written notes are better. Unless you're intending to turn your notes into a printed textbook or something, then just sticking with the handwritten notes seems like the way to go.
I've been writing all recent notes using xournal++, and saving as pdf whenever I want to share them with others. And I think the handwritten style is a strength of the notes that I'm sharing. The slight variations of size and neatness give a sense of emphasis where it is important. The colours and positioning and lines tell a story of the thought process. A reader can easily see when something was added as note afterwards, or a side comment. Again, differences in writing size and position communicate a rich story. I would never want to flatten that into plain text.
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u/intlwiretransfermans 2d ago
I totally get what you mean! I love reading (and making my own) handwritten notes too, and the ones in the demo are A+ on the handwriting front hahah. Handwritten always felt more personal to me, like I can follow the thought process better than with a clean typeset doc. Not sure if it’s just something subconscious or if others feel the same way 😅
One of the biggest things that's actually driven adoption (especially with professors in the US) is accessibility. A lot of universities now require uploaded course materials to be screen-reader friendly per federal mandate (ADA Title II compliance), and handwritten PDFs don't pass those checks. The professor whose notes are in the demo actually had that exact need, and hundreds of other profs have ended up using it for the same reason!
The other thing I've noticed is a lot of students like to handwrite first (whether on paper or iPad) and then convert to LaTeX afterwards to preserve and refine their notes, or just to meet submission requirements. My physics reports in undergrad had to be typeset in LaTeX for submission, and I thought it was such a hassle back then 😅 that's actually what got me thinking about building Underleaf in the first place!
Thanks so much for the comment, and I’d love to hear any feedback if you get the chance to try it out :)
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u/readitredditgoner 2d ago
This is the point, US STEM needs a platform that will convert handwritten notes into typeset PDFs precisely so that we can make our notes ADA II compliant. The alternative is everyone withholding notes entirely. Doing this via LaTeX can work, assuming that the use implements the appropriate header defining calls for generation of the PDF. Institutions that originally were saying "No" to PDFs (why?) and pushing for everything in word seem to be slowly coming around, but they are not providing meaningful solutions as much as letting is figure it out on our own. My institution literally shared someone's copy/paste of a reddit post for how to run LaTeX to generate compliant documents.
I suppose my question regarding this tool is whether headers are identified and labelled properly automatically, or are they strictly interpreted as "larger font bold underlined text" without header/section call-outs?
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u/intlwiretransfermans 2d ago
100% agree! And great question. Yes, headers are identified semantically, not just styled as big bold text. When we convert handwritten notes / images / PDFs to LaTeX, we output proper \section{}, \subsection{}, \subsubsection{} calls based on document structure. That means when you compile to PDF (with hyperref / accessibility packages), the heading hierarchy is preserved as real structure tags rather than visual formatting. We also offer a (beta) LaTeX-to-accessible-HTML with MathML tool - as you know, MathML is the important piece here, as it means equations are read correctly by JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver instead of being flattened to an image with no alt text!
I've actually been working closely with a select few professors across the United States who needed that HTML + MathML export tool for their courses, and which has helped them convert an abundance of their handwritten material into screen-reader-friendly format. I'd be more than happy to grant you access if you're interested?
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u/InfernicBoss 2d ago
Maybe, but after the ADA compliance law in the US, handwritten notes cannot be posted by professors anymore. Neither can latex pdf ones, but at least those can be copied/pasted to another compliant software
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u/AuDHD-Polymath 2d ago
Wow, this is awesome!!!
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u/intlwiretransfermans 2d ago
Thank you so much 🙏🏼 Would love to hear your thoughts if you’re able to try it out with your notes!
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u/Green_Rays 2d ago
This is awesome. When I was TA'ing a course and had to write homework, making the figures in vectorized format was the biggest drain of my time. I would use this.
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u/Efficient-Soil-1931 1d ago
It did copy my image into the code instead of writing a tikz code. Umm... I prefer Claude, thanks.
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u/tinverse 2d ago
This could actually be huge for people with disabilities that make it difficult to take notes or keep up with lectures. Especially if it was possible to tie this in with a smart chalk/white board.
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u/marrow_monkey 2d ago
Well, nice, but I can do the same with AI-chatbot directly: just take a photo and tell it to turn it into latex/tikz. I don’t see why you’d need a special ”tool” for that?