Demonstration of the tkz-linknodes package, a package that makes it easy to link elements in an amsmath align or aligned environment.
Edit and compile if you like:
% Author: Alain Matthes (http://altermundus.com/) \documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{article} \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} \usepackage[upright]{fourier} \usepackage{amsmath,tkz-linknodes} \usepackage{tikz} \usepackage[active,tightpage]{preview} \PreviewEnvironment{tikzpicture} \setlength\PreviewBorder{5pt}% \begin{document} \parindent=0pt \begin{preview} \begin{center} \fbox{% \begin{minipage}{10cm} \begin{NodesList}[margin=2 cm] \begin{align} 3\left(x^2-\frac{2}{3}\right) &= 4 \AddNode\\ 3x^2-2 &= 4 \AddNode\\ 3x^2 &= 6 \AddNode\\ \intertext{\hfil isolate the term with the variable \hfil} x^2 &= 2 \AddNode\\ \sqrt{x^2} &= \sqrt{2} \AddNode\\ |x| &= \sqrt{2} \AddNode\\ x &= \pm\sqrt{2} \AddNode \end{align} \LinkNodes{expand}% \LinkNodes{$+2$}% \LinkNodes{$\div 3$} \LinkNodes{$\sqrt{\ldots}$} \LinkNodes{$\sqrt{x}=|x|$} \LinkNodes{so that} \end{NodesList} \end{minipage}} \end{center} This example is from MathMode.pdf of Herbert Vo\ss \begin{NodesList}[margin=1cm] \begin{displaymath}\displaywidth=.2\linewidth \begin{aligned} y &= 2x^2 -3x +5 \AddNode\\ & \hphantom{= \ 2\left(x^2-\frac{3}{2}\,x\right. }% \textcolor{blue}{% \overbrace{\hphantom{+\left(\frac{3}{4}\right)^2- % \left(\frac{3}{4}\right)^2}}^{=0}} \\ &= 2\left(\textcolor{red}{% \underbrace{% x^2-\frac{3}{2}\,x + \left(\frac{3}{4}\right)^2}% }% \underbrace{% - \left(\frac{3}{4}\right)^2 + \frac{5}{2}}% \right) \AddNode\\ &= 2\left(\qquad\textcolor{red}{\left(x-\frac{3}{4}\right)^2} \qquad + \ \frac{31}{16}\qquad\right) \AddNode\\ y &= 2\left(x\textcolor{cyan}{-\frac{3}{4}}\right)^2\textcolor{blue}{+\frac{31}{8}}\AddNode \end{aligned} \end{displaymath} {% \tikzset{LabelStyle/.append style = {left,text=red}} \LinkNodes{% \begin{minipage}{5cm} $2x^2 -3x$ is the beginning of an algebraic identity % (binomial formula) \end{minipage}} \LinkNodes{$(a-b)^2=a^2-2ab+b^2$} \LinkNodes{after simplication, the result is}% } \end{NodesList} \end{preview} \end{document}
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