# Drawing with TeX

There are many packages to do pictures in (La)TeX itself (rather than importing graphics created externally), ranging from simple use of LaTeX `picture` environment, through enhancements like `eepic`, to sophisticated (but slow) drawing with PicTeX. Depending on your type of drawing, and setup, here are a few systems you may consider:

- The `picture` environment provides rather primitive

```  drawing capabilities (anything requiring more than linear
calculations is excluded, unless a font can come to your help).  The
environment's tedious insistence on its own ''\unitlength'', as the
basic measurement in a diagram, may be avoided by use of the
[[ctanpkg>picture|picture]] package, which detects whether a length is quoted
as a number or as a length, and acts accordingly.```

- epic was designed to make use of the LaTeX

```  ''picture'' environment somewhat less agonising;
[[ctanpkg>eepic|eepic]] extends it, and is capable of using ''tpic''
''\special'' commands to improve printing performance.  (If the
''\special''s aren't available, the [[ctanpkg>eepic|eepicemu]] will do the

- pict2e; this was advertised in

```  [[FAQ-latex-books|the LaTeX manual]], but didn't appear for nearly
ten years after publication of the book!  It removes all the petty
restrictions that surround the use of the ''picture''
environment.  It therefore suffers //only// from the rather
eccentric drawing language of the environment, and is a far more
useful tool than the original environment has ever been.  (Note that
[[ctanpkg>pict2e|pict2e]] supersedes David Carlisle's stop-gap
[[ctanpkg>pspicture|pspicture]].)```

- PicTeX is a venerable, and very powerful, system, that draws

```  by placing dots on the page to give the effect of a line or curve.  While
this has the potential of great power, it is (of course) much slower
than any of the other established packages.  What's more, there
are problems with its [[FAQ-docpictex|documentation]].```

```  PostScript via a set of TeX macros, which talk to PostScript using
[[FAQ-specials|''\special'' commands]].  Since PostScript is itself a
pretty powerful programming language, many astounding things can in
principle be achieved using [[ctanpkg>PSTricks|PSTricks]] (a wide range of
contributed packages, ranging from world mapping to lens design
diagrams, is available).
[[ctanpkg>Pstricks|Pstricks]]' ''\special''s are
by default specific to ''dvips'', but there is
a [[ctanpkg>Pstricks|Pstricks]] "driver" that allow [[ctanpkg>Pstricks|Pstricks]] to
operate under XeTeX.  pdfTeX users may use [[ctanpkg>pst-pdf|pst-pdf]],
which (like [[ctanpkg>epstopdf|epstopdf]] --- see
[[FAQ-pdftexgraphics|pdfLaTeX graphics]]) generates
PDF files using an auxiliary program, from [[ctanpkg>PSTricks|PSTricks]]
commands ([[ctanpkg>pst-pdf|pst-pdf]] also requires a recent installation of
the [[ctanpkg>preview|preview]] package).```
```  There is a [[ctanpkg>PSTricks|PSTricks]] mailing list
(<a href="mailto:pstricks@tug.org">pstricks@tug.org</a>) which you may
[[https://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/pstricks|join]], or you may
just browse the
[[https://tug.org/pipermail/pstricks/|list archives]].```

- pgf: while pstricks is very powerful and

```  convenient from "traditional" TeX, using it with pdfLaTeX is
pretty tiresome: if you
simply want the graphical capabilities, [[ctanpkg>pgf|pgf]], together with
its "user-oriented" interface [[ctanpkg>tikz|tikz]], may be a good
bet for you.  While PDF has (in essence) the same graphical
capabilities as PostScript, it isn't programmable; [[ctanpkg>pgf|pgf]] provides
LaTeX commands that will utilise the graphical capabilities of
both PostScript and PDF equally.  [[ctanpkg>Pgf|Pgf]] has extensive
mathematical support, which allows it to rival [[ctanpkg>PSTricks|PSTricks]]'
use of the computation engine within PostScript.
The [[ctanpkg>pgf|pgf]] manual is enormous, but a simple introduction which
allows the user to get a feel for the capabilities of the system, is
available at <http://cremeronline.com/LaTeX/minimaltikz.pdf>```

- MetaPost; you liked MetaFont, but never got to grips with font files?

```  Try [[FAQ-MP|MetaPost]] ---
all the power of MetaFont, but it generates PostScript figures; MetaPost
is nowadays part of most serious (La)TeX distributions.  Knuth
uses it for all his work...```
```  Note that you can
[[FAQ-inlgrphapp|"embed" MetaPost source in your document]] (i.e.,
keep it in-line with your LaTeX code).```

- You liked MetaFont (or MetaPost), but find the language difficult?

```  ''Mfpic'' makes up MetaFont or MetaPost code for you using
familiar-looking (La)TeX macros.  Not //quite// the full power
of MetaFont or MetaPost, but a friendlier interface, and with MetaPost output
the results can be used equally well in either LaTeX or pdfLaTeX.```

- You liked PicTeX but don't have enough memory or time? Look

```  at the late Eitan Gurari's [[ctanpkg>dratex|dratex]]: it is just as powerful,
but is an entirely new implementation which is not as hard on
In addition, there are several means of generating code for your graphics application (`asymptote`, `gnuplot` and MetaPost, at least) in-line in your document, and then have them processed in a command spawned from your (La)TeX run. For details, see question.