GhostTeXPDFs & handwriting, now in LaTeX.
Private∑On-device∑PreciseQuietly, like a ghost.
GhostTeX turns scientific papers, handwritten notes and any text you can point a camera at into clean, editable LaTeX, then compiles it to a finished PDF. All on your Mac. Nothing leaves your device.
Start free: 10 AI credits · then $9.99/year with a 3-day trial · macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon
Capture equations
from any app.
Reading a paper in Preview, a web page or a slide deck? Press Control-Command-E (⌃⌘E) anywhere on your Mac, drag a box around the equation, and GhostTeX writes its LaTeX. No saving or screenshotting first.
Every equation you capture is kept as an Equation Card: rendered, searchable and saved between launches. Click a card to copy its LaTeX, drag it into any editor, copy just the math, or copy it as an image.
macOS asks once for Screen Recording permission. GhostTeX only looks at the screen while you are selecting an equation, and the image is converted on your Mac.
Also new since 3.0
A Blue Hour look in light and dark, a welcome tour that shows where AI engines are saved, a Help menu covering every feature, and more reliable title, author and abstract detection on journal proofs.
Smaller model.
More Macs.
Qwen3.5 Light brings local PDF-to-LaTeX conversion to Apple Silicon Macs with 8 GB of memory. Its compact 2B model is approximately 2.7 GB to download, instead of downloading a larger engine.
Start with Light
Open AI Engine in the app and choose Qwen3.5 → Light. Download it once, then use the saved model on your Mac. Your documents stay on your device.
Light is best for clean, typed pages. The larger Fast and Precise engines remain available for more demanding documents; 16 GB of memory is recommended for those engines.
On an 8 GB Mac, start with one page, lower the image resolution if needed, and close other memory-heavy apps. Speed and accuracy depend on the document and your Mac.
From scan to compiled PDF.
Four steps, all on your Mac.
Drop your file
A scientific PDF, a scan, or a photo of handwritten notes (PNG/JPEG).
AI converts it
Choose Light, Fast or Precise. The downloaded model runs locally on your Mac, page by page.
Edit & fix
Tweak the source, or select an equation and ask the chat to split, fix or reformat it.
Build the PDF
One click compiles with the embedded Tectonic engine, or export .tex / .md.
A small ghost with sharp skills.
Everything between a blurry scan and a typeset paper, without the cloud.
Vision-based OCR
Local Qwen models read page images to transcribe text and equations into editable source. Review the result before using it.
32 languages
Turkish, German, French, Chinese, Japanese and more, even in low light, blur and tilt.
A model for your Mac
New Qwen3.5 Light for 8 GB Macs and clean, typed pages. Qwen3-VL Fast and Precise remain available for more demanding pages.
Built-in compiler
Bundled Tectonic builds your PDF in one click. No MacTeX, no terminal. Failed build? Let the AI fix it.
Handwriting to LaTeX
Photos of notes, derivations and lectures become valid LaTeX.
Chat with Qwen
Select an equation and ask. The chat sees your LaTeX and the original page image.
Equation capture & cards
Crop an equation in GhostTeX, or box one in any app with ⌃⌘E, and get its LaTeX in seconds. Each one is saved as a card, ready to copy.
Any text can become TeX.
Hold your iPhone or iPad up to a textbook page, a whiteboard, a slide or a scribbled derivation. GhostTeX captures it through Continuity Camera and converts it to LaTeX right on your Mac. No cables, no uploads, no retyping.
Works with any iPhone or iPad signed in to the same Apple Account as your Mac.
The real app, up close.
Tap any screen to enlarge. Keep an eye out for a curious ghost.
Why GhostTeX.
Unpublished research should stay on your machine.
The alternatives
- Mathpix: about $10/month, documents go to a server
- Nougat / olmOCR: Python setup, no GUI
- Adobe Acrobat: server-side, no LaTeX output
- Nothing else runs fully offline on a Mac with a clean UI
GhostTeX
- 100% on-device. Documents never leave your Mac
- Native macOS app, no Python, no setup
- Full pipeline, plus equation capture from any app
- Built-in Tectonic compiler, PDF in one click
- $9.99/year, free 3-day trial, managed by Apple
Your documents stay on your Mac.
GhostTeX runs the AI locally on Apple's Metal GPU through MLX. Not even a millisecond of your document leaves the device.
No account, no tracking. A pseudonymous App Store identifier and credit counts only enforce the 10-credit free allowance; document content is never sent. Editing, compiling, saving and exporting stay free.
What you need.
macOS 14+
16 GB for larger engines
photos & scans
Fast ~5.1 GB · Precise ~9.9 GB
→ Light for 8 GB Macs
8 GB is the recommended memory for Light; 16 GB is recommended for Fast and Precise. Allow extra free disk space for downloads, cached files and projects. Internet is needed for model downloads, missing TeX packages and purchase/credit checks. Intel Macs are not supported.
Native PDF to LaTeX on Mac.
Is there a native PDF to LaTeX app for Mac?
Yes. GhostTeX is a native Mac app that converts scientific PDFs and handwritten equations into editable LaTeX using on-device AI.
Does GhostTeX upload my documents to the cloud?
No. The model runs locally on Apple Silicon, so PDFs, scans and handwritten notes stay on your Mac.
Can I compile LaTeX to a PDF inside the app?
Yes. A built-in Tectonic engine builds your .tex into a PDF with an instant preview. No MacTeX or external install required.
Does GhostTeX 3 work on an 8 GB Mac?
Yes. On an Apple Silicon Mac, choose Qwen3.5 Light in AI Engine. This compact 2B model is approximately 2.7 GB to download and is recommended for Macs with 8 GB of memory. Start with clean, typed pages, a small page range and a lower image resolution if needed. More demanding pages may benefit from a larger engine and more memory.
Can I still use the larger models?
Yes. There are three downloadable on-device engines: Qwen3.5 Light (2B, ~2.7 GB), Qwen3-VL Fast (4B, ~5.1 GB) and Precise (8B, ~9.9 GB). Fast and Precise recommend 16 GB of memory; Precise is the option for handwriting, slides and mixed content. Choose the engine that suits your Mac and document in AI Engine.
Does it work with non-English documents?
Yes. Qwen3-VL supports OCR in 32 languages, including Turkish, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
Can GhostTeX convert any text to LaTeX?
Yes. Use Continuity Camera to point your iPhone or iPad at a textbook, whiteboard, slide or handwritten page, or drop in a PDF or photo. The on-device model reads it and writes LaTeX, equations included.
Can GhostTeX capture an equation from another app?
Yes. Since version 3.2, press Control-Command-E (⌃⌘E) anywhere on your Mac, or choose File › Capture Equation from Screen, then drag a box around an equation in a PDF viewer, a web page or a slide. GhostTeX converts it on your Mac and saves it as an Equation Card. macOS asks once for Screen Recording permission; the shortcut can be turned off in Settings.
Can I get Markdown instead of LaTeX?
Yes. GhostTeX can output .md with inline math, ready for Obsidian, Notion, Quarto or any Markdown workflow.
