Making a cropped paragraph-sized document

Question

I see ways to make a standalone equation, like here, but I want to have a little bit more than that. I want to make something like

\begin{document}
    Blah blah blah.
    \begin{equation*}
    F(V, T) = E(V) + D(T)
    \end{equation*}
    Blah blah blah.
\end{document}

It seems like all the templates I have to work with default to having the size of a full sheet of paper, but I just want a little rectangle with that content inside.

The bot asked me to clarify but I'm not sure what wasn't understood. I just want to write a document that's about a paragraph in size, maybe with a few equations interlaced with text, maybe an align environment. The purpose is for something to copy-paste into a powerpoint. The standalone document class is often recommended but it doesn't allow for multiple lines, or changing environment types in it.

Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking. — Community, Dec 08 '21 at 16:16

mmr · Accepted Answer · 2021-12-08T16:38:49.750

Here is your solution. You can change the color of the rectangle as your wish in draw=black or draw=red.

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{varwidth}
% \pagecolor{black}
% \color{white}
\begin{document}
\begin{varwidth}{250pt}
  \begin{tikzpicture}
    \path node[draw=black,line width=1pt,inner sep=0.1cm,outer sep=0]
 {\begin{varwidth}{100pt}
    Blah blah blah.
    \begin{equation*}
    F(V, T) = E(V) + D(T)
    \end{equation*}
    Blah blah blah.
    \end{varwidth}};
  \end{tikzpicture}
\end{varwidth}
\end{document}

Update

If you want to deal with the border only. Use this:

\documentclass[
  border={20pt 20pt 20pt 20pt}, % left bottom right top
preview]{standalone} 
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
    Blah blah blah.
    \begin{equation*}
    F(V, T) = E(V) + D(T)
    \end{equation*}
    Blah blah blah.
\end{document}

That works! By rectangle I just meant the size of the document, but I got exactly what I wanted by using your snippet and removing draw=black. Thanks! — Frank Harris, Dec 08 '21 at 16:31
@FrankHarris Then you can do it more efficiently. I have added that in the answer. — mmr, Dec 08 '21 at 16:37

Making a cropped paragraph-sized document

1 Answers1

Update