Inserting Images

You can insert an image given in an external file with the @image command:

     @image{filename, [width], [height], [alttext], [extension]}
     

The filename argument is mandatory, and must not have an extension, because the different processors support different formats:

• TeX reads the file filename.eps (Encapsulated PostScript format).
• PDFTeX reads filename.pdf (Adobe's Portable Document Format).
• makeinfo uses filename.txt verbatim for Info output (more or less as if it was an @example).
• makeinfo uses the optional fifth argument to @image for the extension if you supply it. For example:

            @image{foo,,,,xpm}
            

  will cause makeinfo --html to try foo.xpm.

  If you do not supply the optional fifth argument, makeinfo ---html first tries filename.png; if that does not exist, it tries filename.jpg. If that does not exist either, it complains. (We cannot support GIF format directly due to software patents.)

The optional width and height arguments specify the size to scale the image to (they are ignored for Info output). If neither is specified, the image is presented in its natural size (given in the file); if only one is specified, the other is scaled proportionately; and if both are specified, both are respected, thus possibly distorting the original image by changing its aspect ratio.

The width and height may be specified using any valid TeX dimension, namely:

pt

point (72.27pt = 1in)

pc

pica (1pc = 12pt)

bp

big point (72bp = 1in)

in

inch

cm

centimeter (2.54cm = 1in)

mm

millimeter (10mm = 1cm)

dd

didôt point (1157dd = 1238pt)

cc

cicero (1cc = 12dd)

sp

scaled point (65536sp = 1pt)

For example, the following will scale a file ridt.eps to one inch vertically, with the width scaled proportionately:

     @image{ridt,,1in}
     

For @image to work with TeX, the file epsf.tex must be installed somewhere that TeX can find it. (The standard location is texmf/tex/generic/dvips/epsf.tex, where texmf is a root of your TeX directory tree.) This file is included in the Texinfo distribution and is also available from ftp://tug.org/tex/epsf.tex, among other places.

@image can be used within a line as well as for displayed figures. Therefore, if you intend it to be displayed, be sure to leave a blank line before the command, or the output will run into the preceding text.

When producing html, makeinfo sets the alt attribute for inline images to the optional fourth argument to @image, if supplied. If not supplied, makeinfo uses the full file name of the image being displayed.