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)