 
LaTeX and Xfig
 How to Import Xfig Figures in Your LaTeX Files How to Import Xfig Figures in Your LaTeX Files
 Changing the Size of Pictures Changing the Size of Pictures
 Xfig and Metapost
   by Josselin Mouette (jmouette@ens-lyon.fr) Xfig and Metapost
   by Josselin Mouette (jmouette@ens-lyon.fr)
How to Import Xfig Figures in Your LaTeX Files
Xfig can generate output to many different formats which TeX or LaTeX can
read.
Most importantly, in order that TeX/LaTeX interprets text in the figure,
the text flag TeX Flag
must be set on the text.
The final document is produced by one of the following methods:
- The file generated from xfig is directly included or embedded into your
TeX/LaTeX file. Usually, it will be necessary to load a macro package to
enable TeX or LaTeX to process the file. The latex, tikz,
pict2e, pstricks, epic and eepic output
languages fall into this category.
    - latex
- Include the generated file with, e.g., \input{fig1.latex}
	into your document, or simply embed it. No packages are required, but
	the capabilities of the latex output language are quite
	limited.
- tikz
- \input{fig1.tikz} or embed the contents of the generated
	tikz file into the TeX-document. In the preamble of a LaTeX document,
	use
 \usepackage{tikz, graphics} % graphics, if the figure contains
		embedded images
 \usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta, %
	if the figure contains arrow-tips
 bending,     %
	arrow tips on arcs are "bent," i.e., deformed a bit
 patterns     %
	if the figure contains pattern fills
 }
 
- pict2e
- Embed or \input the generated file into your LaTeX
	document. In the preamble include
 \usepackage{pict2e,
 color,     % if the figure contains color
 graphics   % if the figure contains embedded images
 }
- pstricks
- \usepackage{pstricks}
- epic
- \usepackage{epic}
- eepic
- \usepackage{epic,eepic} % order matters!
 
- Export the figure from xfig to eps or pdf (or both) and import the
file with \includegraphics into your document. For instance, write
\usepackage{graphics} into the preamble and use
\includegraphics{fig1.eps} or
\includegraphics{fig1}.  
- Export the figure to two files, partially to eps or pdf or both,
partially to a latex file, and include the latex file. The latex file
contains the text and includes the eps or pdf file which contains the
graphics. For example, try \input{fig1.pstex_t} for latex + eps,
\input{fig1.pdf_t} for latex + pdf, or
\input{fig1.pspdftex} for a latex file that includes an eps or a
pdf file. The latter can be processed by any LaTeX engine.
For methods A and C, the Text flag TeX Text must be set for
text that should be typeset using TeX. For instance, to render the text
$\beta$ in the xfig-drawing as β. Otherwise, characters
special to TeX are quoted and $\beta$ prints as $\beta$. The choice
of the font, namely, latex of postscript fonts, is irrelevant to the
interpretation of text strings.
The most powerful method, in terms of capabilities and output quality, is to
export the figure to tikz. The file can be processed using TeX or LaTeX, TeX
and Postscript fonts can be freely used and even mixed in the same figure,
and the typesetting capabilities of TeX can be used. If xelatex is used, eps
and pdf graphics can be imported into the same drawing. The tikz-file can be
embedded into the TeX-document, hence a single document can contain all text
and graphics.
The postscript and pdf output languages support all capabilities of xfig,
except that only postscript fonts can be used and text is not interpreted by
TeX. With method C, all text which has the Text flag "TeX Text" set is
exported to the LaTeX file and a TeX-font is used. Text without the "TeX
Text" flag is printed using a Postscript-font. A variant of method B is to
use the psfrag package and replace strings in the eps file from within
LaTeX.
To set the Text flag TeX Text and use LaTeX-fonts for all text,
use the commandline
xfig -specialtext -latexfonts -startlatexFont default
To start all drawings with LaTeX fonts and with TeX Text set, put the
following in your X-resources file, probably .Xresources in your home directory,
Fig.latexfonts: true
Fig.specialtext: true
With method A, other notable export formats are the pict2e and the pstricks
output. The pict2e output language does not allow pattern fills and can not
generate a background grid, but the macro package is much smaller and the
document compiles faster than with the tikz macro package. The pstricks
output language also generates graphics output which is on a par with the
tikz or the postscript output.
Changing the Size of Pictures
If possible, try to not scale drawings at all. Different line thicknesses
should be a avoided, similarly to avoiding differently sized letters in
text. The rulers at the top and at the side, and the magnification setting
in the lower left corner of the xfig window may aid at producing the
graphics at the right size.
If scaling cannot be avoided, the commands \scalebox and
\resizebox from the graphics package can be used,
\scalebox{1.5}{\input{fig1.pstex_t}}	% \scalebox{factor}{object}
\resizebox{10cm}{!}{\input{fig1.latex}}	% \resizebox{width}{height}{object}
An exclamation mark in place of one of the dimensions retains the aspect
ratio of the object.
To set the width of tikz-drawings produced by xfig, you can use
\newlength\XFigwidth\XFigwidth84mm
\newlength\XFigheight\XFigheight56mm
before input'ing your figure.
This will scale the coordinates of the drawing, but not line widths or
text. If only one of the two dimensions is given, the
figure retains its aspect ratio. To render subsequent figures in their
original size, both dimensions must be undefined or set to zero,
\XFigwidth0pt \XFigheight0pt
Xfig and Metapost
written by Josselin Mouette (jmouette@ens-lyon.fr)
- METAPOST
   
 There is nothing special to do in xfig to use MetaPost. All the
   text you type will be treated as plain TeX code - note, this will
   be not compiled within your document, so you don't have acess to
   packages like AMS-TeX, neither have you to your macros.
   In xfig, export your file with the MetaPost filter, it creates
   foo.mp.  Then, type mpost foo.mp, it will generate foo.0
   (or foo.1, sometimes).
   In your document, put this in the preamble:
    \input supp-pdf.tex
    \usepackage[pdftex]{graphicx}
    And to include your figure :
    \convertMPtoPDF{foo.0}{1}{1}
    That's it. Quite simple, and you can put a bit TeX inside.
 Pros: Can be easily included in a dual-output (pdf/dvi) file: for
	 including it as PS, just put a \includegraphics{foo.0} in the
	 document.
 Cons: Not adapted to big formulas, as AMS-LaTeX is not
	 accessible. Long phrases may look bad as well, if your
	 document is not in English (babel cannot be used).
 
- MULTI-METAPOST
   
 This method is designed to be used in PDF presentations. Using the
   \pause command, it will display step by step the layers of your
   figure as you click on the button, which can look very nice (and
   can even be useful sometimes).  All that have been told about
   MetaPost inclusions is true, but there are a few extra things to
   know:
    
   - 
   When creating your figure, be careful with the depth of your
   objects. When exporting your figure in the MultiMetaPost format,
   transfig will treat the consecutive depth levels where is an object
   as a single layer, for example:
   
   Circle at depth 51 \__first displayed layer
   Text at depth 50   /
   *** Nothing at depth 49
   Square at depth 48 \
   Text at depth 48    > Second displayed layer
   Curve at depth 47  /
   ... and so on.
    
- 
   After exporting, mpost foo.mmp will create a set of files named
   foo.0, foo.1...
   To include them in the document, you will need the mpmulti.sty
   provided with the latest version of PPower4 (still in Beta stage at
   the time of writing).
   The preamble of your document should look like this:
    
    \input supp-pdf.tex
    \usepackage[pdftex]{graphicx}
    \usepackage{pause,mpmulti}
    And to include your animation, just put:
    \multiinclude{foo}
    You can adjust it to a defined size by using:
    \multiinclude[graphics={width=5cm}]{foo}
    Compile your document, then ppower4 it. Nifty, isn't it?
 Pros: The only way to insert automatically animations. Benefit of
	 the existing xfig's depth system.
 Cons: Are there any?
 
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