The programs pdftex and pdflatex can use graphic files produced in pdf, jpg, png, or mps format. The native graphics format of Mac OS X is pdf (portable document format) and such files print well at any size. It is likely that most future Mac graphics programs will output pdf.

To use graphics, include the line below in the preamble section of your source file:

  `\usepackage{graphicx}`

When you wish to insert a graphic file, say "f1.pdf ", use the command

  `\includegraphics[width=2in]{f1}`

By changing the indicated width in this command, the graphic can be resized during typesetting. Experiment to find the desired size.

If you used TeX in the past, your illustrations may be in eps format. These files must be converted to pdf format before being typeset with pdftex and pdflatex. In TeX Live starting with 2011, this is done automatically, provided the source file includes the graphicx package.

It is possible to convert isolated eps files to pdf format by opening the file in TeXShop. This step automatically converts the eps to pdf, writing the pdf file to disk and leaving the eps file in place. Then it opens the pdf file.

The authors of pdflatex and the authors of the graphics package graphicx have made it easy to include graphic files in a LaTeX document typeset with pdflatex, even if the document will later be typeset by standard latex and converted to a dvi file for distribution to other people. This might happen if you share source files with a colleague who uses ordinary LaTeX and requires eps illustrations rather than pdf illustrations. When you want to include an illustration, say "f1.pdf ", use the command below, omitting the ".pdf" or ".eps" extension:

  `\includegraphics[width=2in]{f1}`

This command will cause tex to input the graphic file "f1.pdf" when the text is typeset with pdflatex, but input the file "f1.eps" when the text is typeset with latex.

You can also use tif and tiff illustrations. For these cases, TeXShop has a menu command "Convert tiff" which converts the files to png files which pdftex and pdflatex understand. The menu command will be active when the source window is active. When the menu is selected, an open dialog will appear listing all files in the folder containing the source. Only tif and tiff files will be active; all others will be grayed out. Select one file or multiple files and push "Convert." All selected files will be converted to png files, leaving the tiff files undisturbed.

If you have a few old files with eps illustrations, or if you use the pstricks postscript package in TeX, you can typeset with "TeX and DVI" instead of pdflatex. See the TeXShop Help section "Alternate Typesetting Mode" for details. In this mode, conversion of eps files to pdf format is not necessary. However, it is not a good idea to use this mode for new projects involving a large number of eps files, because the eps illustrations must be implicitly converted to pdf form every time the file is typeset, slowing typesetting down enormously when the eps illustrations are complicated. That is because convertion from postscript to pdf takes place at the very end of typesetting in "TeX and DVI" mode, after the illustrations have been embedded in the complete final document.

Basic Help
Including Graphics