Detexify is a small OS X application that can help you find and place on your clipboard the LaTeX code for various mathematical symbols. The utility comes with a drawing panel, and the user gets to input the symbol by using the mouse or the trackpad.

To find the specific LaTeX code for a particular symbol, you must manually browse various resources which can prove to be considerably time-consuming. To bypass the issue you can choose to memorize the codes for the frequently used ones, but this is not a viable solution in all cases.

Detexify considerably simplifies the problem by offering to the user the possibility to find the code for any symbol almost instantly.

The tool comes with a drawing panel where one can trace the symbol by using the mouse or the trackpad. Note that, to use the trackpad, you must activate the tablet mode via the Detexify Preferences.

The Detexify utility will automatically scan the drawing and provide the possible matches. Just browse the results list and select the appropriate entry. The app will copy the code to your clipboard, and you can easily paste it into your LaTeX editor.

By default, the Detexify drawing panel can be accessed through the status bar menulet, yet you can also define a system wide hotkey for making the panel visible. To hide it without making a selection, just press the escape key.

On the other hand, if you have found the code you have been looking for just click your mouse on top of the entry, and Detexify will place the selection on your clipboard. The utility can also automatically paste the code into the LaTeX editor.

Bottom line, Detexify will considerably reduce the time spent looking for the correct expression to produce a certain mathematical symbol when working into a LaTeX editor.