Help & FAQ for Platen

When you export an equation, Platen embeds the formula (the code in your input box; not including the preamble) with it. This is done with a metadata tag (for SVG), XMP metadata field (for PNG/JPEG/WEBP), description field (for PDF), and invisible text (for Google Slides).

If you copy an exported SVG/PNG/JPEG/WEBP file (do the copy in a file manager such as Nautilus) and paste (Ctrl+V) the output in Platen's input box, Platen will recover the formula.

For extra convenience, if you use Platen for making slides, we integrate directly with three presentation software. If you

• exported SVG from Platen to LibreOffice Writer or Impress,
• exported SVG from Platen into OnlyOffice (docx, pptx, or xlsx),
• exported Google Slides (the experimental clipboard-only format) from Platen to Google Slides running in Firefox or Chrome,

Note that Platen does this by parsing the clipboard content of the three presentation softwares. Future updates to these softwares may change the clipboard format and break this convenience feature. Absolutely no warranty!

1. Try PNG, as it is the most widely supported format. Can you paste if you copy your equation as PNG?
2. Try a software that's known to work. Can you paste PNG from Platen into GIMP? Can you paste SVG from Platen into Inkscape?
3. Try the wl-paste -l command, which lists the content of the clipboard. Are the expected mimetypes (image/png for PNG, image/svg+xml for SVG, etc.) present?
4. Some application support pasting image files but not image data directly. Platen accommodates this by creating image files as well when you copy. These are stored in $HOME/.cache/platen-paste-files. When you copy, does a file of the expected type get created in this directory? If you're pasting into a Flatpak software, try giving it access to this directory (using Flatseal).
5. Are you using the "Google Slides" format and pasting into Google Slides? Make sure your Google Slides is running in either Firefox or Chromium (other Firefox-based or Chromium-based browsers should work but you should test with the real Firefox anyway). Sometimes, if your equation is complicated, Platen's conversion may be imperfect and Google Slides will silently reject the paste. Try with a simple equation (like 1 + 1 = 2 without any styling) first, does it work?

Platen can output in "Google Slides" format which you can paste into Google Slides. This format captures a subset of SVG. Basic equations should work, but if you start using complicated fonts, emojis, etc. it may not work.

The conversion from SVG to this "Google Slides" clipboard format is reversed engineered. There is no official documentation or guarantee from Google, so things may stop working at anytime.

Even equations you've already put into Google Slides may become messed up later! This has not happened for as long as I have reversed-engineered the clipboard format (mid 2025), but I offer no guarantee whatsoever. Please don't blame me if future updates from Google break your equations!

You can right click the image and click "Actual Size" in the context menu to restore it to the correct size.