\begin{picture}(width,height)(x offset,y offset)
.
picture commands
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\end{picture}
The picture environment allows you to create just about any kind of
picture you want containing text, lines, arrows and circles. You
tell LaTeX where to put things in the picture by specifying their
coordinates. A coordinate is a number that may have a decimal point
and a minus sign - a number like 5, 2.3 or -3.1416. A coordinate
specifies a length in multiples of the unit length \unitlength, so if
\unitlength has been set to 1cm, then the coordinate 2.54 specifies a
length of 2.54 centimeters. You can change the value of \unitlength
anywhere you want, using the \setlength command, but strange things
will happen if you try changing it inside the picture environment.
A positionis a pair of coordinates, such as (2.4,-5), which specifies
the point with x-coordinate 2.4 and y-coordinate -5. Coordinates are
specified in the usual way with respect to an origin, which is
normally at the lower-left corner of the picture. Note that when a
position appears as an argument, it is not enclosed in braces; the
parentheses serve to delimit the argument.
The picture environment has one mandatory argument, which is a
position. It specifies the size of the picture. The environment
produces a rectangular box with width and height determined by this
argument's x- and y-coordinates.
The picture environment also has an optional position argument,
following the size argument, that can change the origin. (Unlike
ordinary optional arguments, this argument is not contained in square
brackets.) The optional argument gives the coordinates of the point
at the lower-left corner of the picture (thereby determining the
origin). For example, if \unitlength has been set to 1mm, the
command
\begin{picture}(100,200)(10,20)
produces a picture of width 100 millimeters and height 200
millimeters, whose lower-left corner is the point (10,20) and whose
upper-right corner is therefore the point (110,220). When you first
draw a picture, you will omit the optional argument, leaving the
origin at the lower-left corner. If you then want to modify your
picture by shifting everything, you just add the appropriate optional
argument.
The environment's mandatory argument determines the nominal size of
the picture. This need bear no relation to how large the picture
really is; LaTeX will happily allow you to put things outside the
picture, or even off the page. The picture's nominal size is used by
TeX in determining how much room to leave for it.
Everything that appears in a picture is drawn by the \put command.
The command
\put (11.3,-.3){ ... }
puts the object specified by "..." in the picture, with its reference
point at coordinates (11.3,-.3). The reference points for various
objects will be described below.
The \put command creates an LR box. You can put anything in the text
argument of the \put command that you'd put into the argument of an
\mbox and related commands. When you do this, the reference point
will be the lower left corner of the box.
1 – \circle
\circle[*]{diameter}
The \circle command produces a circle of the specified diameter. If
the *-form of the command is used, LaTeX draws a solid circle.
2 – \dashbox
\dashbox{dash length}(width,height){ ... }
The \dashbox has an extra argument which specifies the width of each
dash. A dashed box looks best when the width and height are
multiples of the dash length.
3 – \frame
\frame{ ... }
The \frame command puts a rectangular frame around the object
specified in the argument. The reference point is the bottom left
corner of the frame. No extra space is put between the frame and the
object.
4 – \framebox
\framebox(width,height)[position]{ ... }
The \framebox command is analogous to the \makebox command.
5 – \line
\line(x slope,y slope){length}
The \line command draws a line of the specified length and slope.
6 – \linethickness
\linethickness{dimension}
Declares the thickness of horizontal and vertical lines in a picture
environment to be dimension, which must be a positive length. It
does not affect the thickness of slanted lines and circles, or the
quarter circles drawn by \oval to form the corners of an oval.
7 – \makebox
\makebox(width,height)[position]{ ... }
The \makebox command for the picture environment is similar to the
normal \makebox command except that you must specify a width and
height in multiples of \unitlength.
The optional argument, [position], specifies the quadrant that your
text appears in. You may select up to two of the following:
- t: Moves the item to the top of the rectangle
- b: Moves the item to the bottom
- l: Moves the item to the left
- r: Moves the item to the right
8 – \multiput
\multiput(x coord,y coord)(delta x,delta y){number of copies}{object}
The \multiput command can be used when you are putting the same
object in a regular pattern across a picture.
9 – \oval
\oval(width,height)[portion] The \oval command produces a rectangle with rounded corners. The optional argument, [portion], allows you to select part of the oval. - t: Selects the top portion - b: Selects the bottom portion - r: Selects the right portion - l: Selects the left portion
10 – \put
\put(x coord,y coord){ ... }
The \put command places the item specified by the mandatory argument
at the given coordinates.
11 – \shortstack
\shortstack[position]{... \\ ... \\ ...}
The \shortstack command produces a stack of objects. The valid
positions are:
- r: Moves the objects to the right of the stack
- l: Moves the objects to the left of the stack
- c: Moves the objects to the center of the stack (default)
12 – \vector
\vector(x slope,y slope){length}
The \vector command draws a line with an arrow of the specified
length and slope. The x and y values must lie between -4 and +4,
inclusive.