igbuend/graphicx

graphicx — Image Inclusion & Manipulation

CTAN: https://ctan.org/pkg/graphicx
Manual: texdoc graphicx

Setup

\usepackage{graphicx}

% Set default search paths for images
\graphicspath{{images/}{figures/}{./}}

\includegraphics Options

\includegraphics[options]{filename}

| Option | Example | Description | |--------|---------|-------------| | width | width=0.8\textwidth | Scale to width | | height | height=5cm | Scale to height | | scale | scale=0.5 | Scale factor | | angle | angle=90 | Rotate (counterclockwise, degrees) | | trim | trim=1cm 2cm 1cm 0cm | Crop: left bottom right top | | clip | clip | Must accompany trim to actually crop | | page | page=3 | Page of multi-page PDF | | keepaspectratio | keepaspectratio | Maintain ratio when both width+height set | | draft | draft | Show filename box instead of image | | bb | bb=0 0 100 100 | Bounding box (EPS) | | viewport | viewport=50 50 200 200 | View sub-region (with clip) | | resolution | resolution=300 | DPI for bitmap without natural size |

% Common patterns
\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{photo}
\includegraphics[width=0.48\textwidth]{fig1}
\includegraphics[height=4cm, keepaspectratio]{diagram}
\includegraphics[angle=90, width=0.5\textwidth]{landscape}
\includegraphics[trim=10mm 5mm 10mm 5mm, clip, width=\linewidth]{screenshot}
\includegraphics[page=2, width=\textwidth]{multipage.pdf}

Supported Formats by Engine

| Engine | Vector | Raster | |--------|--------|--------| | pdfLaTeX | PDF, EPS (auto-converted) | PNG, JPG | | XeLaTeX | PDF, EPS | PNG, JPG, BMP | | LuaLaTeX | PDF, EPS | PNG, JPG | | LaTeX→DVI | EPS | (none natively) |

Best practice: Use PDF for vector graphics, PNG for screenshots/diagrams with transparency, JPG for photos.

Scaling & Rotating Commands

% Scale content (text or images)
\scalebox{2}{Doubled}
\scalebox{0.5}[1.5]{Stretched}  % [horizontal]{vertical}

% Resize to exact dimensions
\resizebox{3cm}{!}{Content}     % ! = keep aspect ratio
\resizebox{!}{2cm}{Content}
\resizebox{3cm}{2cm}{Content}   % exact (may distort)

% Rotate
\rotatebox{45}{Rotated text}
\rotatebox[origin=c]{90}{Centered rotation}
% origin: l, r, c, t, b, lt, rb, etc.

Figure Environment

\begin{figure}[htbp]   % placement: here, top, bottom, page
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth]{plot.pdf}
  \caption{Experimental results showing growth over time.}
  \label{fig:results}
\end{figure}

% Reference: See Figure~\ref{fig:results}.

Placement Specifiers

| Spec | Meaning | |------|---------| | h | Here (approximately) | | t | Top of page | | b | Bottom of page | | p | Separate float page | | ! | Override internal limits | | H | Exactly here (requires float package) |

Tip: Use [htbp] as default. Avoid [H] unless necessary.

Subfigures

\usepackage{subcaption}  % preferred over subfig/subfigure

\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.48\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{fig_a.pdf}
    \caption{First result}
    \label{fig:sub_a}
  \end{subfigure}
  \hfill
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.48\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{fig_b.pdf}
    \caption{Second result}
    \label{fig:sub_b}
  \end{subfigure}
  \caption{Comparison of results. (a) shows X, (b) shows Y.}
  \label{fig:comparison}
\end{figure}

Three Subfigures in a Row

\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.32\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{a}
    \caption{A}
  \end{subfigure}
  \hfill
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.32\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{b}
    \caption{B}
  \end{subfigure}
  \hfill
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.32\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{c}
    \caption{C}
  \end{subfigure}
  \caption{Three results side by side.}
\end{figure}

Overlays with overpic

\usepackage{overpic}

\begin{overpic}[width=0.8\textwidth, grid, tics=10]{photo.jpg}
  % Coordinates are percentages (0-100)
  \put(20,80){\color{red}\Large\textbf{Label A}}
  \put(70,30){\vector(-1,1){15}}
\end{overpic}

Remove grid, tics=10 after positioning. Coordinates are percentage-based.

Wrapfigure (Text Wrapping)

\usepackage{wrapfig}

\begin{wrapfigure}{r}{0.4\textwidth}  % r=right, l=left
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.38\textwidth]{small_fig}
  \caption{Side figure.}
\end{wrapfigure}
Text flows around the figure here...

Common Pitfalls

| Problem | Cause | Fix | |---------|-------|-----| | "File not found" | Wrong path or extension | Check \graphicspath, omit extension | | "Unknown graphics extension .eps" | pdfLaTeX can't use raw EPS | Use epstopdf package (auto-converts) or switch to PDF | | Blurry images | Low resolution raster | Use ≥300 DPI or vector format | | Figure floats away | LaTeX float algorithm | Use [htbp!], add \FloatBarrier (placeins pkg) | | Overfull hbox with subfigures | Widths sum > \textwidth | Ensure widths + gaps < 1.0\textwidth | | trim not cropping | Missing clip | Always pair trim with clip | | Image upside down | Camera EXIF rotation | Pre-rotate or use angle=180 | | Subfigure numbering wrong | Using deprecated subfigure pkg | Switch to subcaption |

Tips

• Omit file extensions — LaTeX picks the best format automatically
• Use \linewidth inside minipages/columns, \textwidth at top level
• For publication: vector (PDF/EPS) for plots, high-DPI PNG/JPG for photos
• \DeclareGraphicsExtensions{.pdf,.png,.jpg} to set search priority
• draft option on \documentclass replaces all images with boxes (faster compilation)