| mkpic [options] [picfile] | |
| -c,--clean | remove all but the input file and die | 
| -p,--pdfsample | create pdf file with sample images | 
| -f,--font=<font command> | set default font for labels | 
| --[no]box | produce framed boxes | 
| -V,--version | report version number and die | 
| -h,--help | display help info and die | 
| --[no]debug | display debugging information | 
| -l,--log=<logfile> | file for warning messages | 
Without an input file, the DATA section is used.
| begin | name xl yl xmin ymin xmax ymax xlabel ylabel | 
| end | |
| stop | |
| var=value | |
| # | comment | 
| arccst | xcenter ycenter xstart ystart theta | 
| arcset | xstart ystart xend yend theta | 
| arccrtt | xcenter ycenter radius theta1 theta2 | 
| arc3 | x1 y1 x2 y2 x3 y3 | 
| xmark | [label1] x1 [label2] x2 ... | 
| Xmark | [label1] x1 [label2] x2 ... | 
| ymark | [label1] y1 [label2] y2 ... | 
| Ymark | [label1] y1 [label2] y2 ... | 
| xdrop | x y | 
| ydrop | x y | 
| xydrop | x y | 
| arrow | x1 y1 x2 y2 label | 
| label | YX x y label | 
| xlabels | YX x y dx label ... | 
| ylabels | YX x y dy label ... | 
| point | x1 y1 x2 y2 ... | 
| dpoint | x1 y1 dx1 dy1 ... | 
| lines | x1 y1 x2 y2 ... | 
| dlines | x1 y1 dx1 dy1 ... | 
| curve | x1 y1 x2 y2 ... | 
| dcurve | x1 y1 dx1 dy1 ... | 
| rect | x1 y1 x2 y2 | 
| drect | x y dx dy | 
| dcrect | x y dx dy | 
| crect | x1 y1 x2 y2 | 
| arect | xc yc width height theta | 
| bar | x xdev height | 
| func | xmin xmax step expression-in-x | 
| grid | dx dy xgap ygap | 
| hatch | |
| bhat | |
| ehat | |
mkpicdoc.tex and mkpicdoc.pdf, which are part of the distribution. 
mkpic produces two files. Assuming an input file named picfile defaulting to mkpic these are: 
| picfile.mac | |
| a macro file which will contain TeXcommands for every picture | |
| picfile.sty | |
| a style file for latex, defining the same TeXcommands for every picture. | |
With the --pdfsample option, two other files are produced: 
| picfile.pdf | |
| a PDF file containing all pictures. This lets you easily check the results of your designs. | |
| picfile.tex | |
| the TeXsource used for creating this PDF file. | |
In LaTeX, you have to include \usepackage{picfile} and to include commands like \Figname in your source, where name is the name you gave one of your pictures in an mkpic begin command. 
In TeX and ConTeXt, you have to \input␣picfile.mac and to include commands like \Figname in your source, where name is the name you gave one of your pictures in an mkpic begin command. 
In TeX, you must use the \bye command (not \end to finish your TeX source  
See the RUNNING section for how to run mkpic and TeX, LaTeX, or ConTeXt.
| begin, end | |
| Every picture begins with the begincommand and ends with theendcommand.  Thebegincommand defines a name for the picture and defines a tex command with that name, prefixed with 'Fig'. The resulting command is written to a.macfile. Thus the command | |
| begin aa ... | |
| starts writing \def\Figaa{...}to the.macfile, and the picture can be reproduced in aTeXdocument by importing the.macfile and using the\Figaacommand. | |
| xl and yl are the lengths of the x- and y-axes. xlabel and ylabel are the label that are placed at the ends of those axes. Use a space to suppress labeling, or "-" to suppress drawing the axes at all. | |
| stop | |
| stops further reading of the input. Useful if you have many pictures, but want to see only the first few for testing purposes. | |
| var=value | |
| sets the variable var to value. This variable, or an expression containing it, can be used instead of any numerical parameter. Variable names may contain lower and uppercase letters, digits or underscores, with the restriction that they must start with a letter and may not end in an underscore. | |
| # | |
| denotes a comment | |
| xmark, ymark, Xmark, Ymark | |
| These commands place one or more labels along the x- or y-axes, either below ( xmarkandymark) or above (XmarkandYmark) the axis. | |
| For the [xXyY]markcommands a parameter containing any character other than [-.0-9] is interpreted as the label (this implies that you cannot use expressions here!) to be placed and its position is expected in the next parameter. If a parameter is just a number, it is placed at that x-position. If you want a number to be interpreted as a label, put it in braces:{1950}. | |
| arccst | |
| (Mnemonic: centerstarttheta.) Draws an arc with its center inxcenter,ycenter, starting inxstart,ystartand with an arc length ofthetadegrees. | |
| arcset | |
| (Mnemonic: startendtheta.) Draws an arc starting inxstart,ystartend ending inxend,yendand with an arc length ofthetadegrees. | |
| arccrtt | |
| (Mnemonic: centerradiustheta1theta2.) Draws an arc with its center inxcenter,ycenter, a radiusradiusstarting attheta1degrees and ending attheta2degrees. | |
| arc3 | |
| (Mnemonic: 3points.) Draws an arc starting at(x1,y1), through(x2,y2)and ending in(x3,y3). | |
| xdrop, ydrop, xydrop | |
| These commands draw dotted arrows perpendicularly to the x-axis, the y-axis and both axes, respectively, ending on the axes with the arrow head. | |
| arrow | |
| draws an arrow from (x1,y1)to(x2,y2)labeled on its tail withlabel | |
| label | |
| draws a label at (x,y).YXtells how it will be adjusted: for Y=t,b,c(x,y)will be, in the y-direction, on top, bottom or center of the label respectively, for X=l,r,c it will be, in the x-direction, left, right or center adjusted on(x,y). Thus | |
| label tl 0 0 Hello World! | |
| will draw the string "Hello World" with its lower left corner at (0,0) | |
| xlabels | |
| draws many labels, starting at (x,y), and incrementingxwithdxafter every label.YX: seelabel. Labels may not contain spaces; if you need spaces, use - instead. | |
| ylabels | |
| Same as xlabels, but incrementingywithdyinstead. | |
| point | |
| draws points (dots) at (x1,y1),(x2,y2)et cetera. | |
| dpoint | |
| draws points (dots) starting at (x1,y1)and then moving by(dx1,dy1),(dx2,dy2)et cetera. | |
| lines | |
| draws line segments from (x1,y1)to(x2,y2),(x3,y3)et cetera. | |
| dlines | |
| draws line segments starting at (x1,y1)and then moving by(dx1,dy1),(dx2,dy2)et cetera. | |
| curve | |
| draws a bezier curve from (x1,y1)to(x2,y2),(x3,y3)et cetera. | |
| dcurve | |
| draws a bezier curve starting at (x1,y1)and then moving by(dx1,dy1),(dx2,dy2)et cetera. | |
| rect | |
| draws a rectangle with diagonal points at (x1,y1)and(x2,y2). | |
| drect | |
| draws a rectangle with diagonal points at (x,y)and(x+dx,y+dy). | |
| crect | |
| clears a rectangle with diagonal points at (x1,y1)and(x2,y2). | |
| dcrect | |
| clears a rectangle with diagonal points at (x,y)and(x+dx,y+dy). | |
| arect | |
| draws a rectangle with a widdh widthand a heightheight; the middle of the bottom is at(xc,yc)and the centerline through(xc,yc)makes an anglethetawith the x-axis. | |
| bar | |
| draws a equivalent with rect␣x-xdev␣0␣x+xdev␣height | |
| func | |
| draws the function given by expression-in-xbetweenxminandxmax, stepping withstepunits in the x-direction. Note that theexpression-in-xwill be evaluated byMetafont, so  you will have to use metafont syntax. | |
| grid | |
| draw dotted grid lines at distances dx and dy in the x- and y directions; the gaps between the dots are set to xgapanygaprespectively. For an esthetic appearance, be sure to use integerdx/xgapanddy/ygapratios. | |
| hatch | |
| hatch the closed curve that follows. | |
| bhat | |
| starts a path that will eventually be closed, and then hatched. | |
| ehat | |
| ends a path started with bhat, closes it and then hatches it. | |
| anything else | |
| will be inserted as is in the macro file, and therefore should be a valid mfpicstatement. You use this when you need such a statement only once, or a few times and therefore see no need to define a proper command for it. | |
mkpic picfileis the creation of
picfile.mac, which you can \input into a TeX or ConTeXt source, and picfile.sty which can be input into a LaTeX source using the \usepackage command. 
After running TeX (or LaTeX or ConTeXt), you will find a file picfile.mf and you will have to run Metafont on it, which (assuming you configured TeX for 600 dpi) produces picfile.600gf. This file will have to be converted to a pk file with gftopk. Finally, you need to run TeX, normally at least twice, again. So for pdfLaTeX the sequence is: 
mkpic picfile pdflatex file.tex mf picfile gftopk picfile.600gf pdflatex file pdflatex file