Easier Math Equation Typing Functionality Desired

I’d like to request the option to use math typing shortcuts, such as those found in Word, which are similar to LaTeX, but allow you to both see the equations instantly on the screen (without any compiling steps) and later print them as vectors in PDF (not rasters).

If improved equation writing capability such as I described above already exists in Scrivener, please let me know. However, from what I can tell, our current options are to buy expensive add-ons, such as the $100 Math Type, or use more complicated options such as LaTeX, which seems to involve installing, setting up, learning even more software. On top of that, it’s not clear that either Math Type or LaTeX options will allow me to both (1) see the equation immediately in a Scrivener text file and (2) print it in vector PDF form (not raster). As far as I can tell, LaTeX won’t let me do the former (pre-compilation, that is), and Math Type won’t let me do the latter (correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t want to gamble another $100 on this last point).

If it’s any encouragement, making Scrivener more math-friendly would open up a large STEM market for Scrivener.

I just made the gamble of buying MathType for use with Scrivener on OS X. I can confirm that it does both (1) display the equation immediately in the Scrivener text file, and (2) produce scalable PDF output — I assume this is what you mean by “vector form”. The test that I did to establish (2) was to create a canonical “E = m c^2” equation in Scrivener using MathType, compile to PDF, open the PDF using OS X Preview, then zoom the displayed page to an enormous size. There was no pixellation visible, so I assume that the equation was scalable.

What I haven’t yet discovered is how to synchronise the font size of a compiled inline equation to its surrounding text. I hope that this can indeed be done, otherwise it will be very frustrating to produce differently formatted compiled versions of the original document. I’ll keep on looking …