Wikibooks:Render as PNG

Pages marked with the template {{RenderPNG}} are specifically designated by the author as pages that benefit from being rendered as PNG. This is a preference only, and is certainly not required. Pages marked with this category often contain large numbers of mathematical formulae, or else several complicated (and difficult to render) formulae for which PNG formatting is beneficial. Note that PNG rendering takes more time to download, and can bog down slow internet connections.

Change Settings

Clicking on the Appearance tab in the Preferences page shows a Math section concerning the rendering of mathematical formulae. Here is a sample list of options:

• (choose one)
  • LaTeX source (for text browsers)
  • SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin)
  • MathML (experimental; no images)
• (yes/no)
  • Explain mathematical formulae on hover.

This template recommends that users select the middle option, "SVG", to force all equations into SVG format, and not be displayed in HTML format.

If the user selects the other modes ("LaTeX", "MathML"), this recommendation can probably be ignored (or should be ignored, in the case of a text-only browser).

Force PNG

According to meta:Help:Formula, the formula author can force a function to be rendered as PNG when the user is in mode "HTML if possible", or "HTML if very Simple" by adding the sequence " \,\! " (back-slash, comma, back-slash, exclamation point). This sequence is considered to be complex enough that the HTML renderer cannot display it, even though it doesn't do anything (a space followed by a negative space). This sequence can be added onto the end of any formula that the author wants to force as PNG.

Warning: Forcing people to see everything as PNG can be rude, especially to users on a low-speed connection, or on pages with large numbers of PNG images. This technique should be used sparingly, and the RenderPNG template should be used instead, as a suggestion.