How to make symbols (written by using $$), look like something in the pdf and different if you copy-paste it?

Question

Is there a way to make symbols, written by using the function $$, in LaTeX look like something in the pdf document, but different if you copy-paste it?

Here is an example of what I would like:
Something like this in my code: For water $\rho$ is 997 $kg/m^3$
In the pdf document: For water ρ is 997 kg/m³
When you copy-paste: For water the density is 997 kilograms per cubic meter

(I asked a similar question some days ago and got some good answers. I was told to use ‘accsupp’, however, I can’t get it to work when using $$)

(added after i first asked the question:) I have been asked for an example of my problem, here it comes. My code is:

\documentclass{article} \
\usepackage{accsupp}
\newcommand\km{\BeginAccSupp{ActualText={kilometers}}km \EndAccSupp{}} 

\newcommand\km{\BeginAccSupp{ActualText={density}} $\rho$ \EndAccSupp{}}
\begin{document} 

\km % when you make a PDF file, and copy-paste this part it will give you 'kilometers' and not 'km'
\ $\rho$ % a bad try to do the same for '$\rho$' as for 'km' 

\end{document}

Is this question about TeX, LaTeX, and friends, or is it about postscript and pdf programming? — Mico, Nov 20 '21 at 13:01
For me the accsupp answer you got on the other question works fine for your For water $\rho$ is 997 $kg/m^3$ example. If you can't get it to work, I think you should include a minimal example demonstrating your issue. — Marcel Krüger, Nov 20 '21 at 13:01
it is about Latex, when I say PDF files I mean PDF files made by using latex @Mico — Kevin, Nov 20 '21 at 13:30
When you compile your example code, you will get an error that you are defining \km twice. Please create an actually working example demonstrating your issue. — Marcel Krüger, Nov 20 '21 at 13:50
Does this answer your question? How to make text look different in PDF compared to copy-paste — Dan, Nov 20 '21 at 22:15

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 20 '21 at 14:00

I have solved it, and maybe I have just been stupid not to see what to do. Here is the answer:

\documentclass{article} \
\usepackage{accsupp}
\newcommand\km{\BeginAccSupp{ActualText={kilometers}}km \EndAccSupp{}} 

\newcommand\rhox{\BeginAccSupp{ActualText={density}} $\rho$ \EndAccSupp{}}
\begin{document} 

\km % when you make a PDF file, and copy-paste this part it will give you 'kilometers' and not 'km'
\rhox is ... % it works now
\end{document}

How to make symbols (written by using $$), look like something in the pdf and different if you copy-paste it?

1 Answers1