Images enhance your documents by providing visual information, breaking up text, and illustrating concepts. This guide covers everything you need to know about working with images in LaTeX.

Package required: You must include \usepackage{graphicx} in your preamble to work with images.

Related topics: Figure positioning | Table creation | Package management

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Basic Image Insertion

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Simple Image Include

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\begin{document}

% Basic image insertion
\includegraphics{example-image}

% With file extension
\includegraphics{photo.jpg}

% From subfolder
\includegraphics{images/diagram.png}

% With full path (use forward slashes)
\includegraphics{/Users/name/pictures/graph.pdf}

\end{document}

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Supported Image Formats

CompilerFormats Supported
pdfLaTeXPDF, PNG, JPG/JPEG
XeLaTeXPDF, PNG, JPG/JPEG, EPS*
LuaLaTeXPDF, PNG, JPG/JPEG, EPS*
LaTeX (DVI)EPS, PS

*EPS requires additional configuration

Best practices for formats:

  • PDF: Vector graphics, diagrams, plots
  • PNG: Screenshots, images with transparency
  • JPG: Photographs, images without transparency

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Scaling Images

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Width and Height Control

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\begin{document}

% Scale by width
\includegraphics[width=5cm]{image}
\includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth]{image}
\includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{image}

% Scale by height
\includegraphics[height=3cm]{image}
\includegraphics[height=0.25\textheight]{image}

% Scale by both (may distort)
\includegraphics[width=5cm,height=3cm]{image}

% Keep aspect ratio with one dimension
\includegraphics[width=5cm,keepaspectratio]{image}

% Scale factor
\includegraphics[scale=0.5]{image}  % 50% of original
\includegraphics[scale=1.2]{image}  % 120% of original

\end{document}

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Common Width References

% Page dimensions
\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{image}      % Full text width
\includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{image}    % Column width
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{image}      % Current line width
\includegraphics[width=\paperwidth]{image}     % Full paper width

% Relative sizes
\includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{image}   % Half text width
\includegraphics[width=0.33\columnwidth]{image} % Third of column

% Using calc package
\usepackage{calc}
\includegraphics[width=\textwidth-2cm]{image}  % Text width minus 2cm

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Figure Environment

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Basic Figure

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\begin{document}

\begin{figure}[h]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.6\textwidth]{example-image}
  \caption{A sample figure with caption}
  \label{fig:sample}
\end{figure}

As shown in Figure \ref{fig:sample}, the image demonstrates...

% Alternative with short caption for list of figures
\begin{figure}[h]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{graph}
  \caption[Short caption]{Long descriptive caption that appears below the figure}
  \label{fig:graph}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

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Figure Placement Options

OptionMeaningPriority
hHere (approximately)Low
tTop of pageMedium
bBottom of pageMedium
pPage of floatsLow
HHERE (exactly)*Forced
!Override LaTeX’s rulesModifier

*Requires \usepackage{float}

% Preferred placement order
\begin{figure}[htbp]  % Try here, then top, bottom, finally float page

% Force placement
\usepackage{float}
\begin{figure}[H]  % Place exactly here

% Override LaTeX's aesthetic rules
\begin{figure}[!h]  % Try harder to place here

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Multiple Images

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Side by Side Images

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\begin{document}

% Method 1: Simple side by side
\begin{figure}[h]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.45\textwidth]{image1}
  \hfill
  \includegraphics[width=0.45\textwidth]{image2}
  \caption{Two images side by side}
\end{figure}

% Method 2: With individual captions (subcaption package)
\usepackage{subcaption}
\begin{figure}[h]
  \centering
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.45\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{image1}
    \caption{First subcaption}
    \label{fig:sub1}
  \end{subfigure}
  \hfill
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.45\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{image2}
    \caption{Second subcaption}
    \label{fig:sub2}
  \end{subfigure}
  \caption{Main figure caption}
  \label{fig:main}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

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Grid of Images

\usepackage{subcaption}

\begin{figure}[h]
  \centering
  % First row
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.3\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{img1}
    \caption{Image 1}
  \end{subfigure}
  \hfill
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.3\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{img2}
    \caption{Image 2}
  \end{subfigure}
  \hfill
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.3\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{img3}
    \caption{Image 3}
  \end{subfigure}
  
  % Second row
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.3\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{img4}
    \caption{Image 4}
  \end{subfigure}
  \hfill
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.3\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{img5}
    \caption{Image 5}
  \end{subfigure}
  \hfill
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.3\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{img6}
    \caption{Image 6}
  \end{subfigure}
  
  \caption{Grid of six images}
\end{figure}

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Image Transformations

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Rotation and Flipping

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\begin{document}

% Rotate image
\includegraphics[angle=90]{image}              % 90 degrees
\includegraphics[angle=-45]{image}             % -45 degrees
\includegraphics[angle=180]{image}             % Upside down

% Rotate and scale
\includegraphics[angle=45,width=5cm]{image}

% Origin of rotation
\includegraphics[angle=90,origin=c]{image}     % Center (default)
\includegraphics[angle=90,origin=tl]{image}    % Top left
\includegraphics[angle=90,origin=br]{image}    % Bottom right

% Reflection (negative scaling)
\includegraphics[width=5cm]{image}             % Normal
\includegraphics[width=-5cm]{image}            % Horizontal flip
\includegraphics[width=5cm,height=-3cm]{image} % Vertical flip

\end{document}

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Clipping and Trimming

% Trim: left bottom right top
\includegraphics[trim=1cm 2cm 1cm 2cm,clip]{image}

% Trim and scale
\includegraphics[trim=1cm 1cm 1cm 1cm,clip,width=5cm]{image}

% Viewport (absolute coordinates)
\includegraphics[viewport=20 20 200 200,clip]{image}

% Show only part of image
\includegraphics[trim=0 0 0 50mm,clip,width=\textwidth]{panorama}

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Advanced Techniques

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Wrapping Text Around Images

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{wrapfig}
\begin{document}

\begin{wrapfigure}{r}{0.4\textwidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.38\textwidth]{image}
  \caption{A wrapped figure}
\end{wrapfigure}

This text wraps around the figure. The figure is positioned on the 
right side of the page, and the text flows around it naturally. 
This is useful for smaller images that don't need the full width 
of the page. Continue with more text to see the wrapping effect...

% Options: r (right), l (left), i (inner), o (outer)
\begin{wrapfigure}{l}{0.3\textwidth}
  \vspace{-20pt}  % Adjust vertical position
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.28\textwidth]{small-image}
  \vspace{-20pt}
  \caption{Left aligned}
  \vspace{-10pt}
\end{wrapfigure}

\end{document}

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Image Paths

% Set graphics path
\graphicspath{{images/}{figures/}{../pics/}}

% Now you can use just the filename
\includegraphics{photo}  % Searches in all specified paths

% Multiple paths with subdirectories
\graphicspath{
  {./images/}
  {./figures/photos/}
  {./figures/diagrams/}
  {../common/images/}
}

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Draft Mode

% Show boxes instead of images (faster compilation)
\usepackage[draft]{graphicx}

% Or document-wide
\documentclass[draft]{article}

% Override draft mode for specific image
\includegraphics[draft=false,width=5cm]{important-image}

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Image Formats and Conversion

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Working with Different Formats

% Let LaTeX determine format
\DeclareGraphicsExtensions{.pdf,.png,.jpg,.jpeg}
\includegraphics{image}  % Finds image.pdf, image.png, etc.

% Force specific format
\includegraphics[ext=.png]{image}

% EPS to PDF conversion (pdfLaTeX)
\usepackage{epstopdf}
\includegraphics{diagram.eps}  % Automatically converted

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Best Practices

Image guidelines:

  1. Resolution: Use 300 DPI for print, 96-150 DPI for screen
  2. File size: Optimize images before including them
  3. Formats: Use vector (PDF) for diagrams, raster (PNG/JPG) for photos
  4. Naming: Avoid spaces and special characters in filenames
  5. Organization: Keep images in a dedicated folder
  6. Captions: Always include descriptive captions
  7. References: Label all figures for cross-referencing

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Troubleshooting

Common image problems:

  1. Image not found: Check path and filename (case-sensitive)
  2. Wrong format: Ensure format is supported by your compiler
  3. Distorted image: Use only width OR height, not both
  4. Image too large: Scale relative to \textwidth
  5. Bad placement: Use [htbp] for flexible positioning
  6. Missing package: Add \usepackage{graphicx}

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Quick Reference

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Essential Commands

CommandPurposeExample
\includegraphics{}Insert image\includegraphics{pic}
width=Set widthwidth=5cm
height=Set heightheight=3cm
scale=Scale factorscale=0.5
angle=Rotateangle=90
\caption{}Add caption\caption{Description}
\label{}Add reference\label{fig:name}

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Figure Template

\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth]{filename}
  \caption{Descriptive caption}
  \label{fig:reference-name}
\end{figure}

Next: Master Figure positioning to control exactly where your images appear, or learn about Creating tables for structured data presentation.