Hi Ralph,

On Wed, 2005-10-05 at 00:13 -0400, Ralph Boland wrote:

[snip]

I am wondering how well inkscape works with Lyx or Latex. In particular I would like to know if mathematical expressions can be added to a figure using latex notation and have latex ensure the proper display of the equation.

In my time reading this list this question has come up at least once before. You may wish to search the archives.

I made the same transition to Inkscape from Xfig, where I was using first PSFrag and then another solution to embed mathematics into diagrams.

I had to abandon PSFrag, because some of the working matter of the transformation started to appear in some PDF viewers. Furthermore, an Xfig bug, concerning grid positioning in Xfig, drives me nuts.

At a minimum, Inkscape gives you far greater control over curves than is possible in Xfig. Of course, it is also an efficient contemporary interface, and I can recommend it.

Using Inkscape 0.40, I had the following results.

I found no method of embedding LaTeX source.

I typeset the math by hand using the available LaTeX fonts. This was a PITA , because 0.40 lacks a representation of the character baselines. I believe this is fixed now.

I converted text to graphics at export to EPS or PDF This was necessary, because the LaTeX fonts are made available to Inkscape as TrueType. The rendering system does not know about the equiavlent PS fonts.

I made a template document reflecting the printed dimensions of the page, and used this as a guide. Scaling of the finished diagram will effect the fonts. Also, there is a reasonable amount of work to recover the LaTeX math symbols from their Unicode positions using a character map.

Having the actual equation in the diagram leads to better layout, because edges can be routed with greater precision.

While I am here, is there any documentation describing the pros and cons of inkscape compared to Xfig?

See above ;-)

Andrew