Figures and Images

Placing an image

\includegraphics places a raster image — PNG or JPEG — at its natural size, or sized by an optional key=value list:

\includegraphics{frog.jpg}
\includegraphics[width=200pt]{frog.jpg}
\includegraphics[width=0.4\linewidth]{diagram.png}
\includegraphics[scale=0.5]{photo.jpg}
\includegraphics[width=120pt,height=80pt]{logo.png}

• width and height are lengths — a dimension like 200pt, 5cm, 0.5in, or a factor times \linewidth / \textwidth (the current line width).
• Giving only one of width or height scales the other to preserve the aspect ratio.
• scale multiplies the natural size; with no options the image keeps its pixel size.

A relative path is resolved against the directory of the document being rendered, so frog.jpg finds the image beside the source file.

Centering

\centerline centers a single line — the simplest way to center an image:

\centerline{\includegraphics[width=0.4\linewidth]{frog.jpg}}

\centering switches the rest of the current group to centered lines (so a wrapped paragraph or a multi-line block centers); use it inside a group or a figure body so it reverts at the close. \leftline and \rightline are the flush-left and flush-right counterparts of \centerline.

Figures and tables with captions

\figure and \table detach their body to a page edge and number it on its own counter; a \caption written inside reads “Figure 1: …” or “Table 1: …”.

\figure[h]{
  \centerline{\includegraphics[width=0.35\linewidth]{frog.jpg}}
  \vskip 6pt
  \centerline{\caption{A frog, scaled to a third of the text width.}}
}

An optional placement specifier — [h] here, [t] top, [b] bottom — follows the command. [h] keeps the float in place if it fits; the default is top.

Tabular material

\tabular sets a table from a column spec (l/c/r for alignment, | for a vertical rule); rows are separated by \\ and a horizontal rule by \hline:

\tabular{|l|c|r|}{
  \hline
  Item & Qty & Price \\
  \hline
  Widget & 3 & 1.50 \\
  Gadget & 1 & 9.99 \\
  \hline
}