I need a symbol that Math does not provide. What can I do?

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I need a symbol that Math does not provide. What can I do?


If you have a font containing the symbol, you can define an userdefined symbol.

Follow these steps:

  • Open the Symbols dialog (Tools → Catalog).
  • Click Edit.
  • Type a name for the new symbol in the combobox Symbol.
  • Type a new name or select an existing name in the combobox Symbol set. This is the symbol set you want your symbol to appear in.
  • Select the font in the listbox Font, for example the OpenSymbol (or StarSymbol) font.
  • Select the formatting (normal, bold, bold-italic or italic) in the listbox Typeface.
  • Click on the symbol in the table.
  • Click  Add  to add your symbol.

You can now use your symbol like any other symbol by selecting it in the Symbols dialog or entering the name of the symbol directly.

If you don't have the symbol try looking in the OpenSymbol (or StarSymbol) font first; it contains about 25 additional symbols.

Another source of symbols is the so-called AMS fonts of the American Mathematical society.

You can download these in Postscript type 1 format from www.ams.org/tex/amsfonts.html.

If you use Microsoft Windows you might prefer to download the unofficial BaKoMa Truetype versions from www.ctan.org/tex-archive/fonts/cm/ps-type1/bakoma/.

Refer to the documentation distributed with the fonts for conditions of use.

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