[texhax] Q: graphicx, pdflatex ; size scale, position re-adjust?

[Robin Fairbairns]

> (1) I've set my screen size and slide sizes very close to USLetter
> landscape (8.5 in high, 11 in wide). But my xfig drawings are limited to
> about 3 in high and no more than about 5 in wide. They get magnified
> when going through xfig's "Export LaTeX/PDF" and re-imported in
> pdflatex! Why? Is seminar or pdflatex redefining my unit of length?

i would guess the problem is in the latex produced in your export command.
it sounds as if its \includegraphics command is limiting the width of
the image to half the width, as in

  \includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{pdf-file-name}

why export this way?  why not just as pdf, and then write your own
\includegraphics command?

> (2) Are there graphicx options or TeX commands to fiddle with the
> position after the special graphics object has been inserted?
> Preferably, something portable to both pdflatex and latex would be nice.
> (Sometimes after inserting a figure I'd prefer to "backup" to the left,
> upward, etc.) Is something like \hspace*{-0.5in} and \vspace*{-0.5in}
> workable or considered gauche?

the simple commands are probably workable, but terribly unsatisfactory,
since they involve you in visual placing.  far better to place things on
the "slide" on a designed basis, perhaps using a picture-like
environment.

what slide class are you using?  doesn't it provide placement
facilities?  (the one i use, beamer, does most of the placement
remarkably well, automatically.)