Stephen Haptonstahl wrote:
> For those who want to "just draw" LaTeX source, jPicEdt
> (http://jpicedt.sourceforge.net/) makes this easy.  It doesn't require
> pstricks, but if you also use that package by just adding
> \usepackage{pst-all} to the header then you can use some really cool
> features in jPicEdt like shading hand-drawn regions.  I highly recommend
> this combo.  Source and the resulting PDF for a simple example are
> available on my Crash Course in LaTeX
> (http://www.haptonstahl.org/latex/work_drawingpictures.php).
>
> Best,
> Steve
>
> --
> Stephen R. Haptonstahl
>
>
Generally, I have quit using pstricks because pdflatex can't manage
documents with pstricks.

But I just tested this out.  In Fedora Core Linux 5 with Sun jdk-1.5.0,
I have mixed results with jPicEdt.  The official release version of
jPicEdt does not run (hangs at "loading preferences") and the latest
pre-release does run, but exhibits some peculiar behaviors on my
systems.  The Bezier curves don't allow editing (can't drag nodes), and
the Bezier curves that are generated cause latex to crash because of
illegal multiplication.  I can confirm that after deleting the Bezier
curves, then laTeX can make a nice looking document with a jPicEdt
output drawing.  It is nice that you can just write LaTeX math into the
text of jPicEdt and it renders well in the LaTeX document.

In R, I have had good luck drawing illustrations and the png output has
transparent background by default.  For detailed line drawings, xfig has
served me very well.  If you use the special text feature, you can write
LaTeX math into text and then a program like LyX can directly import an
xfig file, without any pre-posting.

pj

--
Paul E. Johnson                       email: [log in to unmask]
Professor, Political Science          http://pj.freefaculty.org
1541 Lilac Lane, Rm 504
University of Kansas                  Office: (785) 864-9086
Lawrence, Kansas 66044-3177           FAX: (785) 864-5700

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