How to modify the paper dimensions in plain TeX? - tex

I mean the whole paper, not only the text zone in it.
I want the dvi output to look 1 centimetre x 10 metres in the viewer if
I set these dimensions in the tex file.
And I don't want to go through LaTeX for it.

Add \special{papersize=1cm,1000cm} in the first page of the document. This is really a dvips extension, but many dvi viewers understand it. (And of course set \hsize, \vsize etc. to control the positioning of text.)

A couple of useful links:
The size of printed output and
Getting the right paper geometry from (La)TeX.
Of course, googling is much more efficient once I get the answer.

Related

print full page in windows

fist off, if there is an exchange place more suitable for the question, please address me.
I'm designing some labels in gimp.
I created a A4 300dpi document and created the artwork, arranged them to use all the page. To measure the labels I create a rectangle with the "rectangle selection tool" and there one can inspect the size in cm:
I printed straight from gimp and to my surprise, the printed labels where smaller than designed. I assumed somehow someone along the line added margins to my already A4 document..
I tried saving to PDF and then printing the PDF, very similar results.
I'd say the difference is around 5%
What would be the appropriated method for printing exactly at the size I created the document ignoring any margins ??
I'm using Windows 10, HP ENVY 5010 and Gimp 2.10

dealing with large figures in Latex

I have a large figure that appears at the end of my document rather than in the section that I want to be in. Even \begin{figure}[h] doesn't help. Without scaling it down, how can I put it at the end of the section I want it in?
Using the afterpage package can be a good solution. However, using the option here you are trying to tell LaTeX where you want to put the image. Instead, you need to tell LaTeX where the image is good to be put:
use \begin{figure}[tb] for figures that fit well in a page with text (say, half of the text height for the figure and the other half for the text)
use \begin{figure}[p] for floats large enough to require a dedicated page.
Setting a proper option increase your chances to have the image almost where you want, having at the same time a good page layout.
If the figure is still too far from the page where it should be placed, you can set some "barriers" for floats positioning with the packages placeins or afterpage (already mentioned).
Here is a small tutorial for float placement. The thing you want to do is put an \afterpage{\clearpage} command at the end of the section. This will create an additional page after the current one and place the floats that are left in the queque there. If the float still doesn't get placed, you have to resize it. If you really don't want to resize it and it should fit on the page, then you could try changing the margins and text area temporarily (i.e. just for that one page) and see if that lets the float get placed.
i forget if it's the float or array package that provides this, but,
\begin{figure}[H]
...
\end{figure}
The upper case H will put the figure exactly where it is in your code.

The way to find out whole picture width in PGF (Latex)

I've got a latex macro that draws a picture using PGF and Tikz according to given parameters. The width of picture drawn depends on these parameters.
PGF automatically calculates the resulting width of any picture drawn so the user does not have to set it explicitly(like for example when using latex build in picture environment).
However I need to know the width of picture that will be drawn. Of cause I could calculate it as the PGF does but this is going to be quite some work(a lot of if statements...). Is there a way to ask PGF what is the width of picture that is to be drawn (some command I expect)? Either inside tikzpicture environment or just after it?
Thanks for help.
What I would probably do is put the tikzpicture environment in a box, and then find the width of the box:
\setbox0=\vbox{\hbox{%
\begin{tikzpicture}
% ...
\end{tizpicture}%
}}
The width of the following picture is {\the\wd0}.
\box0
Note that after you run \box0, the box will be inserted into the document and its contents will be destroyed; you thus need to query the width of the box before you do that. If you want to save the width, you can store it in a dimension register with \dimen0=\wd0; alternatively, you can use \copybox0, which inserts the box but doesn't destroy it (although this might leak memory).
Also, having played with some of this before, I found that using just a \vbox caused the box to always be the full width of the page (which, if you think about it, makes sense); however, using just an \hbox caused the unboxing to fail for some reason (it seemed to be a known pug). Using both like this works, however—I'm using something very much like this to render TikZ pictures to PDF files of precisely the right size.

Linked minipages / boxes in LaTeX

I'm looking for a way of linking box-like environments (e.g. minipages) in LaTeX, so that text that does not fit into the first box spills into subsequent boxes. E.g:
/begin{box-like-environment}
Text, too much to fit in this box...
/end{box-like-environment}
% some LaTeX here, possibly covering several pages...
/begin{box-like-environment}
% Text which doesn't fit in the first box should appear in this box
/end{box-like-environment}
The effect is something like the 'linked text boxes' of MS Publisher. Any ideas as to if and how this could be achieved?
The idea being, I guess, that the program figures out where to split the text between the two boxes, say so that you can have the text filled between two floats that face each other on opposite pages.
I have no idea how this might be done in Latex; Latex lacks sensitivity to page layout, so I'd guess it can't be done. Context is more sophisticated with regards to layout: it uses METAPOST to handle page layout, not primitive Tex, and there was discussion of something similar on the NTG mailing list: cf. Hans Hagen's post.
Maybe this is an option? There is some software for automatic translation of Latex to Context.
I have been alerted to the flowfram package, which does this.

Is there a way to get LaTeX to place figures in the same page as a reference to that figure?

I am using LaTeX and the figure environment.
I am well familiar with the parameters to that environment: [htbp], and I am also generally familiar with the strategies that LaTeX takes, by default, to decide where to put each figure. For example, by placing figures at the top or bottom of the page.
What I am wondering is whether there is a package, macro, or some commands that I can give so that if I have a single-column document and I mostly have a single in-text reference to a figure, that the figure would be more likely to be placed in the same page of the reference?
For example, imagine that I have a long paragraph which in the middle has a \ref{FIG:X}. When rendered, some of the paragraph appears before the page break, and some appears after the page break. I can also place the figure command somewhere before and after the whole paragraph. Is there a way to get it to actually be placed in the same page as the actual reference?
I don't want to sound too negative, but there are occasions when what you want is almost impossible without a lot of "artificial" tuning of page breaks.
If the callout falls naturally near the bottom of a page, and the figure falls on the following page, moving the figure back one page will probably displace the callout forward.
I would recommend (as far as possible, and depending on the exact size of the figures):
Place the figures with [t] (or [h] if you must)
Place the figures as near as possible to the "right" place (differs for [t] and [h])
Include the figures from separate files with \input, which will make them much easier to move around when you're doing the final tuning
In my experience, this is a big eater-up of non-available time (:-)
In reply to Jon's comment, I think this is an inherently difficult problem, because the LaTeX guys are no slouches. You may like to read Frank Mittelbach's paper.
Yes, include float package into the top of your document and H (capital H) as a figure specifier:
\usepackage{float}
\begin{figure}[H]
.
.
.
\end{figure}
You can always add the "!" into your float-options. This way, latex tries really hard to place the figure where you want it (I mostly use [h!tb]), stretching the normal rules of type-setting.
I have found another solution:
Use the float-package. This way you can place the figures where you want them to be.
I solve this problem by always using the [h] option on floats (such as figures) so that they (mostly) go where I place them. Then when I look at the final draft, I adjust the location of the float by moving it in the LaTeX source. Usually that means moving it around the paragraph where it is referenced. Sometimes I need to add a page break at an appropriate spot.
I've found that the default placement of floats is reasonable in LaTeX, but manual adjustments are almost always needed to get things like this just right. (And sometimes it isn't possible for everything to be perfect when there are lots of floats and footnotes.)
The manual for the memoir class has some good information about how LaTeX places floats and some advice for manipulating the algorithm.
If you want force this behaviour on all of your figures try
...
\usepackage{float}
\floatplacement{figure}{H}
...
Maybe this will help you?
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[scale=0.5]{picture_name}
\end{center}
I think is better to use the graphics command when your figures run away.
I have some useful comments. Because I had similar problem with location of figures.
I used package "wrapfig" that allows to make figures wrapped by text.
Something like
...
\usepackage{wrapfig}
\usepackage{graphicx}
...
\begin{wrapfigure}{r}{53pt}
\includegraphics[width=53pt]{cone.pdf}
\end{wrapfigure}
In options {r} means to put figure from right side. {l} can be use for left side.
\setcounter{topnumber}{2}
\setcounter{bottomnumber}{2}
\setcounter{totalnumber}{4}
\renewcommand{\topfraction}{0.85}
\renewcommand{\bottomfraction}{0.85}
\renewcommand{\textfraction}{0.15}
\renewcommand{\floatpagefraction}{0.7}
http://robjhyndman.com/researchtips/latex-floats/
One way I found that helps with this is to use \include{file_with_tex_figure_commands}
(not input)

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