How do I transfer results to other programs?

There are numerous ways of exporting results, graphics and code from Mathematica to other programs. They range from simple copy and paste to generation of web animations to creating standalone C++ code.

Using Copy and Paste

On most computer platforms, Mathematica text, formulas, and graphics can be copied and pasted using the standard clipboard. The quality and format you end up with is sometimes limited by the underlying operating system, the target application, or the window manager. Information on some specific platforms and programs is provided below.

Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT

Mathematica for Microsoft Windows allows graphics and typeset expressions to be copied as bitmaps or in Metafile format. Text can be copied as plain or formatted text. In some cases, copying and pasting text will cause formatting information to show up in the target application. To get rid of this formatting code, copy the text again using Copy As->Plain Text. In some programs like Microsoft Word, some of the formatting and special characters are preserved, but keep in mind that not all typesetting in Mathematica is supported by other programs.

How can I export higher quality graphics to Word or PowerPoint?

Copy and paste on Windows pastes graphics at screen resolution. You can use Mathematica's Export command to create higher resolution Metafiles. For example, evaluating Export["file", expr, "WMF"] and importing the resulting file into a Word document creates a much higher quality Metafile documents than a simple-copy-and paste operation. Export also supports many other graphics formats like EPS, GIF, or JPEG. For a full list, see the Export documentation, especially the Additional Information section.

Using something like Display["graph.wmf", Plot[Cos[x], {x, 0, 2π}], "Metafile"]; to generate your graphic and importing graph.wmf into Word has the same effect.

How can I copy and paste numbers between Mathematica and Excel

Wolfram Research provides Mathematica Link for Excel, a general link between Mathematica and Excel. Part of its functionality is enabling users to copy and paste data between the two applications.

Alternatively, you can use Import and Export in combination with Excel's SaveAs and Open commands to read and write tab-delimited tables.

Using the Export command

Export and Import provide a general mechanism for getting data into and out of Mathematica 4. For more information on these functions, supported formats and options, please read the documentation for these Mathematica functions and sections 1.11.3, 2.9.20, 1.11.5, 2.9.19 and 2.11.7 of The Mathematica Book. In certain special cases, some other functions and standard packages like ReadList, Read, Write or BinaryFiles might also be helpful. For operations on binary files, take a look at the experimental binary packages described in appendix 15.1 of The Mathematica Book.

Generate C, C++ or Fortran Code

Simple translations

For simple algebraic expressions, the two functions CForm and FortranForm create the C or Fortran equivalent of the Mathematica expression. For example,

FortranForm[Expand[(x + Sqrt[y])^2]]

CForm[Expand[(x + Sqrt[y])^2]]

Generating code from Mathematica expressions, functions and programs

Wolfram Research, Inc. is distributing MathCode C++, an applicationpackage that can compile Mathematica expression and programs into C++. MathCodeC++ can also work with compilers to generate either standalone code or code modules that  can be linked back into Mathematica. For more information on MathCode C++.

Creating PDF files from Mathematica notebooks

Acrobat or Ghostscript

There are basically two ways of creating a PDF file from a Mathematica notebook. One way is to buy a copy of Adobe Acrobat, which provides a printer driver that can output any document as a PDF file. The free way is to use Ghostscript.

Using Ghostscript

Using Mathematica and Ghostscript to generate PDF files from Mathematica notebooks is very straightforward, but involves multiple steps. In the following, here is the process for Microsoft Windows and Aladdin GSView.

First, select any postscript printer driver in the Print dialog and check the Print to File option.

Save the file with the extension.ps.

Open the file in GSView, select Print and choose pdfwrite as driver, and set the appropiate options.

Click Ok and save the file with the extension .pdf.

Creating HTML, TEX or LATEX

Please see the appropriate How-To. add link