# Is there a tool for drawing column and row vectors? [closed]

I'm looking for a tool for drawing vectors (without using Microsoft paint, Paint.net etc.) to paste into a Google docs document.

Can anyone suggest an easy solution? I need up to 2 column/row vectors.

Update: This is the format I'm after (not arrows, but just the items):

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## closed as off topic by Isaac, Akhil Mathew, Ben Alpert, Jamie Banks, BBischofAug 2 '10 at 14:27

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Do you mean like arrows or 1xn matrices? –  BBischof Jul 30 '10 at 20:43
Looks like there is at least one interesting answer for each. Why don't you edit this question to clarify what you meant, and then start a new question for the other one? –  MatrixFrog Jul 31 '10 at 6:21
I didn't want arrows, but square brackets but it looks like Latex doesn't support this is or it's not the standard format for a vector. –  Chris S Aug 2 '10 at 10:25

I'm assuming you want to typeset vectors or matrices in a Google Docs document, not actually draw the arrow. A simple solution is to use the online TeXify tool at http://www.texify.com/. You type some LaTeX code, and it gives you some code that you can paste into your Google Docs document.

For example, give it the following input:

\begin{pmatrix} x & y & z \\ 1 & 2 & 3 \end{pmatrix}


and click the big button. You'll see a 2 x 3 matrix. If you're not familiar with LaTeX notation, just google "pmatrix" and you'll find lots of documentation.

A word of caution: what you're pasting into your Google Docs document is actually a link to the Texify site. If it ever goes offline, your equations will disappear as well.

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I think bmatrix is the one I'm after, but thanks for pointing me in the right direction –  Chris S Aug 2 '10 at 11:22

Assuming you want arrows, you can try using Mathematica. In particular, you probably want to use the Arrow command.

For example,

Graphics[{Arrow[{{0, 0}, {1, 0}}], Arrow[{{0, 0}, {1, 2}}]}]

gives the two vectors (1, 0) and (1, 2).

Assuming you want 1xn matrices, try LaTeX.

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I don't have the software unfortunately, I'm being cheap and looking for a free tool –  Chris S Aug 2 '10 at 11:13

You can try with mathurl, which allows you to write in LaTeX and copy&paste everywhere.

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This was the specific code I needed:

\begin{bmatrix}
x_{1} & x_{4} & x_{7} \\
x_{2} & x_{5} & x_{8} \\
x_{3} & x_{6} & x_{9}
\end{bmatrix}


$\begin{bmatrix} x_{1} & x_{4} & x_{7} \ x_{2} & x_{5} & x_{8} \ x_{3} & x_{6} & x_{9} \end{bmatrix}$

(Looks like the library the site is using doesn't support bmatrix?)

Texify's version:

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