Including graphics in LaTeX documents |
One of the advantages of using LaTeX for preparing documents is that LaTeX is highly portable: it is easy to transfer LaTeX files to another computer system, and the files will produce just about the same printed output on different machines. Unfortunately, there is no standard format for graphics, and so LaTeX files that contain embedded graphics may not be completely portable.
LaTeX has a built-in picture environment that is
machine-independent, but this environment is suitable only for
simple pictures made of lines, circles, and spline curves. For
more sophisticated graphics, you need to use the add-on
graphics
package by putting the command
\usepackage{graphics}
in the preamble of your LaTeX
document. (There is an alternative package graphicx
that
has the same functionality but a different syntax.)
The effects you can achieve with the graphics package depend on
your printer. The following discussion assumes that you are
using a PostScript printer. You should then invoke the
graphics package with the dvips
option, like this:
\usepackage[dvips]{graphics}
.
Including graphics in LaTeX documents |