xfig(1)

📦 version 3.2.9a, in opensuse-leap 16.0

🌸 xfig(1) — General Commands Manual 🌸

💖 NAME 💖

xfig — Facility for Interactive Generation of figures under X11. Version 3.2.9a. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

xfig [options] [file]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay bestie, so xfig is a menu-driven tool that lets you draw and manipulate objects interactively under the X Window System. If file is given, it specifies the name of a file to be edited. Main character energy, honestly. 🎀

The bulk of the documentation for xfig lives in an HTML-based reference guide. Check the Help menu in xfig or point your browser at /usr/share/doc/packages/xfig/html/index.html. There are both English and Japanese versions. 🌈

When using a two-button mouse instead of a three-button mouse, use the Meta key and the right button at the same time to effect the action of the middle button. No cap, that's the trick. 🖱️✨

Xfig is available from https://sourceforge.net/projects/mcj/. 🫶

The Fig2dev package is used when printing or exporting the output from xfig. The fig2dev program is automatically called by xfig as a back-end processor to produce various types of output:

LaTeX, Metafont, PDF, PostScript or Encapsulated PostScript, CGM and EMF (mostyl used under Windows), tk (tcl/tk tool command language/tool kit package), SVG, GIF, JPEG, PCX, PNG, PPM, TIFF, XBM, XPM, Gerber, AutoCAD Slide, IBM-GL (HP/GL), Pic and PiCTeX. For use with TeX/LaTeX: box, epic, eepic, eepicemu, pict2e, pstricks, tikz. 💖

See man fig2dev for all options.

The Fig2dev package is available from https://sourceforge.net/projects/mcj/. 🌟

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

okay bestie, here's the full menu of flags. Every single one is below — no skipping, no summarizing, we are eating this whole list. 💅🍓

  • -help — Print all command-line options for xfig and quit. Like a little menu of possibilities, slay. ✨
  • -a[llownegcoords] — Allow panning into the negative region of the canvas. This is the default.
  • -au[torefresh] — Make xfig look at the timestamp on the .fig file and automatically load it and display it every time it changes. Obsessed with a self-refreshing bestie. 🔥
  • -bal[loon_delay] msec — Cause popup information balloons to be delayed by msec milliseconds. The default is 500 milliseconds.
  • -butt[on] font — Cause the font used for most buttons to be font (default = 6x13).
  • -but_[per_row] number — Specify the number of buttons wide the mode panel should be. This is useful in conjunction with the -pheight parameter to reduce the canvas height for small screens.
  • -cbg color — Use color as the background color for the canvas. If you want to set the background of everything in xfig (e.g. menus, etc.) use the general -bg option.
  • -center — Set the print option to print the figure centered on the page. This is the default.
  • -centim[ers] — Make centimeters the unit of choice. See also -metric.
  • -cfg color — Use color as the default color for objects. If you want to set the foreground of everything in xfig (e.g. menus, etc.) use the general -fg option.
  • -correct_font_size — Normally, fig2dev uses 1/80 inch for font size increments (for historical reasons), instead of the more proper points (1/72 inch) that xfig uses. This option makes xfig call fig2dev with the -F option to make it use points (1/72 inch). History said "what if not points," and this flag says "actually, points." 😭💅
  • -deb[ug] — Turn on debugging mode. Prints various debugging messages like font names etc.
  • -dep[th] — Choose depth of visual desired. Your server must support the desired visual and depth chosen. Use xdpyinfo to see what visuals and depths are supported. See also the -visual option.
  • -donta[llownegcoords] — Don't allow panning into the negative region of the canvas. The default is to allow panning in the negative region.
  • -dontshowb[alloons] — Prevents xfig from popping up the information balloons. See also -showballoons.
  • -dontshowl[engths] — Don't show lengths of lines as they are being drawn. This is the default.
  • -dontshowz[erolines] — Don't show axis zero lines on the canvas. The default is to show them.
  • -dontsw[itchcmap] — Prevents xfig from switching to a private colormap if there aren't enough colors available in the default colormap. See also -max_image_colors.
  • -exportL[anguage] language — Specifies the default language to be used for when exporting a fig file. Choices are:

Vector formats:

  • ps — PostScript
  • eps — Encapsulated PostScript
  • pdf — PDF (Portable Document Format)
  • box — LaTeX box (figure boundary)
  • latex — LaTeX picture
  • pict2e — LaTeX picture + pict2e macros
  • tikz — LaTeX picture + tikz macros
  • epic — LaTeX picture + epic macros
  • eepic — LaTeX picture + eepic macros
  • eepicemu — LaTeX picture + eepicemu macros
  • pstex — Combined PS/LaTeX (both PS and LaTeX parts)
  • pdftex — Combined PDF/LaTeX (both PDF and LaTeX parts)
  • pspdftex — Combined PS/PDF/LaTeX (three parts)
  • pictex — PiCTeX macros
  • cgm — Computer Graphcis Meta file
  • emf — Enhanced Meta file
  • dxf — Drawing Interchange format
  • gbx — Gerber (RS-247-X)
  • ibmgl — HPGL/2 or IBMGL
  • textyl — Textyl special commands
  • tpic — TPIC
  • pic — PIC
  • mf — MF (MetaFont)
  • mp — MP (MetaPost)
  • tk — Tk (Tcl/Tk toolkit)
  • ptk — Perl/Tk
  • shape — LaTeX shape paragraph definition
  • svg — SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)

Bitmap formats:

  • gif — GIF
  • jpeg — JPEG (JFIF)
  • pcx — PCX
  • png — PNG
  • ppm — PPM (portable pixmap package)
  • sld — (AutoCad slide)
  • tiff — TIFF
  • xbm — X11 Bitmap
  • xpm — X11 Pixmap
  • -export_m[argin] width — Set the size of the border margin around the figure for exporting to bitmap, PostScript, Encapsulated PostScript, or HTML MAP formats. This is in units of points (1/72th inch). The default is 0.
  • -fli[pvisualhints] — Flip left/right mouse indicator messages for mice whose buttons have been switched. The default is to NOT flip the messages.
  • -flu[shleft] — Set the print option to print the figure flush left. The default is to center the figure on the page.
  • -free[hand_resolution] resolution — Set the resolution of the freehand drawing mode to resolution pixels. This is the number of pixels the mouse must move before xfig adds another point to the object being drawn.
  • -geom[etry] [WxH][+X+Y] — You may use the -geometry option or resource to size and/or position the xfig window, or you may use -pwidth and/or -pheight to specify the canvas size in inches or centimeters. If you use the -geom option to make the xfig window smaller than the default, you may have to use the -but_per_row option to tell xfig to put 3 or 4 buttons per row on the left mode panel.
  • -gh[ostscript] ghostscript executable — Specify the name or path to the ghostscript executable. The default is gs. This version of xfig links into the ghostscript library. The ghostscript executable is not needed, it is only called as a fallback-solution.
  • -grid_c[olor] color — Draw the grid on the canvas in this color (default: red).
  • -grid_u[nit] unit — Only used when in inches mode to choose between showing fractions or decimal inches in the rulers and grid. Any of the following may be used to force decimal inches: "ten", "tenth", "10, "1/10" — yes, that's the raw list, bestie, I'm not fixing it. If any other value is used for this option, the rulers will show 1/16 inch divisions. 🫠
  • -hidd[entext] — Start xfig with the hidden text mode for text objects. The Hidden attribute is used for figures that will be used with LaTeX and is applicable only to the display of the document in xfig. It means that the text itself is not shown onscreen, but only the string `<text>`. This is to keep long sequences of LaTeX formatting commands from making the screen messy and hard to read. The default for the Hidden flag is off.
  • -dontshowd[epthmanager] — Hide the depth manager panel. The default is to show the panel.
  • -icon_[view] — Show the library objects as icons. This is the default. The other mode is -list_view.
  • -iconG[eometry] +X+Y — Specifies the position for the icon.
  • -ima[ge_editor] editor — Specify bitmap editor to use when Edit Image button is pressed in Picture Object panel.
  • -inc[hes] (or -imp[erial]) — Make inches the unit of choice. This is the default.
  • -ins[tallowncmap] — Install own colormap. Normally, xfig uses the current colormap.
  • -internalBW width — Use lines of width width between all buttons and panels (default 1).
  • -jpeg[_quality] quality — Set the quality factor for exporting to the jpeg format. The default is 75.
  • -k[eyFile] compose-key-file — Use compose-key-file instead of CompKeyDB for compose (meta) key database. If there are no /s in the name, the file must reside in the xfig library directory, $XFIGLIBDIR, usually /usr/local/lib/X11/xfig. If there are any /s in the name it is taken as is (not relative to $XFIGLIBDIR). If there is a leading ~/ in the string then the ~ is expanded to the user's home directory.
  • -lan[dscape] — Make xfig come up in landscape mode (10.5" x 8"). This is the default; however as the orientation is stored with Fig files, when you load a Fig file the orientation will change as required. This is only true for files of version 3.0 or higher. See also -portrait.
  • -lat[exfonts] — Start xfig with LaTeX font selection. Normally, the PostScript fonts are available as the default. This flag selects the LaTeX fonts to start.
  • -le[ft] — Change the position of the side panel window to the left of the canvas window. This is the default.
  • -library_d[ir] [directory | file] — okay so this one lets you specify the directory or file containing directory names where Fig object libraries live. There may be sub-directories there and sub-sub-directories, etc. 🗂️
  • -library_i[con_size] size — Sets the size of the icons shown for library objects. The default is 60 pixels, with the minimum being 40 and the maximum being 120. ✨
  • -lis[t_view] — Shows the library objects as a list of names. The default mode is -icon_view. 📝
  • -mag[nification] mag — Sets export and print magnification in %. 🔍
  • -max[_image_colors] numcols — Limits the number of colors used for imported images to numcols (default 64). 🌈
  • -me[tric] — Makes centimeters the unit of choice. The option -centimeters may also be used. Fig files saved in metric mode are, due to rounding issues, scaled down by about 5% when saved, and scaled up when read in. Using -inches or -imperial avoids the scaling. After xfig is started you may change the units from metric to imperial or vice versa from a popup menu available by pressing mouse button 3 in the units box where the two rulers meet. 📏
  • -mo[nochrome] — Uses black and white only. 🖤🤍
  • -mu[ltiple] — Sets multiple page mode for print or export. See also -single. 📄📄
  • -nointernational — Switches off international support. This can be done if text objects only contain ASCII characters. (Characters beyond ASCII are interpreted as Latin 1.) If there are error messages when starting xfig regarding missing charsets in string to fontset conversion, setting this option avoids the error. 🌐
  • -noo[verlap] — When exporting in multiple page mode, causes no overlap from page to page. This is the default. See also -overlap. 🚫
  • -nor[mal] font — Causes the font used for the message window to be font. This font is also used on the canvas when the global settings Show line lengths or Show vertex numbers are true (default = 6x13). 🔤
  • -nosp[lash] — Doesn't show the startup splash screen. The default is to show it (-splash). 🎬
  • -not[rack] — Turns off cursor (mouse) tracking arrows. 🖱️
  • -nowrite_bak — When saving a drawing into an existing .fig file xfig will first rename that file by appending .bak to the name. This option disables this feature. 💾
  • -ov[erlap] — When exporting in multiple page mode, causes overlap from page to page of about 10%. See also -nooverlap. 📚
  • -pag[eborder] color — Draws the page border on the canvas in this color (default light blue). The page border is turned on by the -showpageborder option (resource Fig.showpageborder), and shows the edges of the current export paper size. 🖼️
  • -pap[er_size] size — Sets the initial paper size for Export and Print. Choices are:
Option     Paper      Size
---------------------------------
letter     Letter     8.5in x 11in
legal      Legal      8.5in x 14in
tabloid    Tabloid    17in x 11in
a          ANSI A     8.5in x 11in
b          ANSI B     11in x 17in
c          ANSI C     17in x 22in
d          ANSI D     22in x 34in
e          ANSI E     34in x 44in
a9         ISO A9     37mm x 52mm
a8         ISO A8     52mm x 74mm
a7         ISO A7     74mm x 105mm
a6         ISO A6     105mm x 148mm
a5         ISO A5     148mm x 210mm
a4         ISO A4     210mm x 297mm
a3         ISO A3     297mm x 420mm
a2         ISO A2     420mm x 594mm
a1         ISO A1     594mm x 840mm
a0         ISO A0     840mm x 1189mm
b10        JIS B10    32mm x 45mm
b9         JIS B9     45mm x 64mm
b8         JIS B8     64mm x 91mm
b7         JIS B7     91mm x 128mm
b6         JIS B6     128mm x 182mm
b5         JIS B5     182mm x 257mm
b4         JIS B4     257mm x 364mm
b3         JIS B3     364mm x 515mm
b2         JIS B2     515mm x 728mm
b1         JIS B1     728mm x 1030mm
b0         JIS B0     1030mm x 1456mm
---------------------------------

Note that this doesn't affect the size of the drawing canvas. Use the -pheight and -pwidth options for that.

  • -ph[eight] height — Makes the xfig canvas height high (where height is either cm or in, depending on the -metric setting). 📐
  • -po[rtrait] — Makes xfig come up in portrait mode (8.5" x 9"). See note about landscape mode. 🖼️
  • -pw[idth] width — Makes the xfig canvas width wide (where width is either cm or in, depending on the -metric setting). 📏
  • -righ[t] — Changes the position of the side panel window to the right of the canvas window (default: left). 👉
  • -rigi[d] — Starts xfig with the rigid text mode for text objects. The Rigid attribute forces text to remain the same size even if inside a compound object that is scaled up or down. The default is off. 🔒
  • -ru[lerthick] — Sets the height(width) of the top(side) rulers in pixels. The default (and minimum) is 24. 📏
  • -scale_factor scale — Scales every figure read in by this value. This is useful in conjunction with the -update option to do batch scaling of figures. 🔄
  • -showa[llbuttons] — Shows all the xfig indicator buttons instead of only those relevant to the current drawing mode. Normally, the buttons line width, area-fill, grid mode, text size, etc. are only visible when they are relevant to the current drawing mode. The -showallbuttons option makes all of the indicator buttons visible at all times. This takes up more screen real estate, but allows the user to see all settable parameters. 👀
  • -showb[alloons] — Forces xfig to pop up the information balloons when the mouse passws over a button. This is the default. See also -dontshowballoons. 💬
  • -showd[epthmanager] — Shows the depth manager panel. This panel lets one show or hide objects at various depths. This is the default. 🧊
  • -showl[engths] — Makes xfig show the lengths of lines being drawn, in red text near the line itself. Also, when points are moved or added. In addition, imagine a triangle formed with the line segment as the hypotenuse, and a vertical and horizontal line forming the other two sides. These lines and their lengths are also drawn in red as the point is moved or added. This mode is ignored when drawing in freehand mode. This flag may be toggled by pressing <Meta>i (default). 🔴
  • -shown[ums] — With this option, xfig will draw all objects with a red number next to each vertex. This is generally only useful for debugging. 🔢
  • -showp[ageborder] — Makes xfig show the border of the current paper size in the color specified by the -pageborder option (default: light blue). 🖼️
  • -showz[erolines] — Shows axis zero lines on the canvas. This is the default. ➕
  • -si[ngle] — Sets single page mode for print or export. This is the default. See also -multiple. 📄
  • -sm[ooth_factor] factor — Enables smoothing when exporting to the bitmap formats (e.g. GIF, PNG, etc.). The allowed values are 0 (no smoothing), 2 or 4 (most smoothing). This parameter is passed to ghostscript in the -dTextAlphaBits -dGraphicsAlphaBits options to smooth the figure. ✨
  • -spec[ialtext] — Starts xfig with the TeX text mode for text objects. This means that characters that have a special meaning to TeX/LaTeX, e.g., '$' or '\', are not quoted but left untouched in the text string. This is most useful for writing LaTeX equations. If this flag is not set, then the backslash character '\' is changed to the \backslash command, a brace '{' is turned into a brace command \{, etc. 🧮
  • -spel[lcheckcommand] command — Uses command for the external spell checking program when using the spell check/search/replace popup. The string command should include the string %s which is replaced by a temporary filename. Default is spell %s. 🔤
  • -spinner_d[elay] msec — The delay (in milliseconds) before the spinner will automatically count up or down when the button is pressed. Spinners are the (numeric) text widgets with an up- and down-arrow, which when clicked, cause the value to be incremented/decremented. The default is 500 milliseconds. ⏱️
  • -spinner_r[rate] msec — The rate (in milliseconds) at which the spinner will count when the up- or down-arrow is pressed. ⏲️
  • -startfi[llstyle] stylenumber — Sets the starting fill style for area fill (-1 to 21). 🎨
  • -startfo[ntsize] pointsize — Sets the default font size for text objects (default = 12pt). 🔠
  • -startg[ridmode] modenumber — Sets the starting grid mode (0 to 3). Mode 0 is no grid. In imperial (inches) mode, grid mode 1 is 1/4 inch, mode 2 is 1/2 inch and mode 3 is 1 inch. In metric mode, grid mode 1 is 2mm, mode 2 is 5mm and mode 3 is 1cm. 📐
  • -startla[texFont] font — Sets the starting font name for LaTeX fonts. 🧮
  • -startli[newidth] width — Sets the starting line width. ✏️
  • -startpo[snmode] modenumber — Sets the starting point positioning mode (0 to 4). In imperial (inches) mode, positioning mode 0 is any, mode 1 is 1/16 inch, mode 2 is 1/4 inch, mode 3 is 1/2 inch and mode 4 is 1 inch. In metric mode, mode 0 is any, mode 1 is 1mm, mode 2 is 5mm, mode 3 is 10mm and mode 4 is 20mm. 📍
  • -startp[sFont] font — Sets the starting font name for PostScript fonts. 🖨️
  • -startt[extstep] stepsize — Sets the starting text step. 🔤
  • -ta[blet] — Specifies that xfig should use the input tablet instead of the mouse for drawing. You must have the XInputExtension in your X server and an input tablet for this to work. ✍️
  • -track — Turns on cursor (mouse) tracking arrows (default). 🖱️
  • -tran[sparent_color] color_number — Makes the transparent color for GIF export color_number. This number is the color number according to the xfig color panel, starting at 0 (black) and ending at 31 (gold), or may be a user-defined color number, which is 32 or higher. 🎨💅
  • -update file [ file ... ] — runs xfig in "update" mode, where it reads each Fig file you named on the command line and writes it right back out to the original file, in the current file format for whichever version of xfig you're running. No cap, it keeps the original Fig file too, preserved with the suffix .bak stuck onto the name. In this mode xfig dips out as soon as it's finished and no window is opened. ✨
  • -users[cale] scale — sets the multiplier for displayed line lengths etc. This factor gets multiplied by the actual length, radius or diameter of the object you're currently drawing on the canvas. It's giving scale-drawing main character energy, where e.g. 1 inch = 1 foot (userscale = 12.0) or 1cm = 1m (userscale = 100.0). 🔥
  • -useru[nit] units — the units string is printed with the length information when you're drawing objects. So like, for example: if userscale = 1.0 and the userunit = ft, then a line which is 3 inches long on the canvas would be displayed as ``length = 3 ft'' while it's being drawn. 💅

After xfig is started you may change the userscale and the userunit from a popup menu available by pressing mouse button 3 in the units box where the two rulers meet.

  • -visual visualname — use visualname as the visual for xfig. The names are TrueColor (case is not important, slay), StaticColor, DirectColor, StaticGray, GrayScale and PseudoColor. xfig uses the default visual unless this is specified. Your server must support the desired visual — use xdpyinfo to see what visuals and depths are supported. See also the -depth option. 👀
  • -write_bak — when saving a drawing into an existing .fig file xfig will first rename that file by appending
  • -zoom zoomscale — set the starting zoom scale. 🔍

✨ X RESOURCES and DEFAULTS ✨

The overall widget name(Class) is xfig(Fig). These resources correspond to the command line arguments, bestie — same energy, just in your X resources instead of your shell:

  • allownegcoords — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -allownegcoords (true), -dontallownegcoords (false)
  • autorefresh — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -autorefresh
  • axislines — type string, default pink, command-line equivalent -axislines
  • balloon_delay — type integer, default 500 (ms), command-line equivalent -balloon_delay
  • but_per_row — type integer, default 2, command-line equivalent -but_per_row
  • buttonFont — type string, default 6x13, command-line equivalent -button
  • canvasbackground — type string, default white, command-line equivalent -cbg
  • canvasforeground — type string, default black, command-line equivalent -cfg
  • correctfontsize — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -correctfontsize
  • debug — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -debug
  • depth — type integer, default *, command-line equivalent -depth
  • dontswitchcmap — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -dontswitchcmap
  • exportLanguage — type string, default eps, command-line equivalent -exportLanguage
  • export_margin — type integer, default 0, command-line equivalent -export_margin
  • flipvisualhints — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -flipvisualhints
  • flushleft — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -flushleft (true), -center (false)
  • freehand_resolution — type integer, default 25, command-line equivalent -freehand_resolution
  • grid_color — type string, default black, command-line equivalent -grid_color
  • grid_unit — type string, default 1/16 (inch) or 0.1 (metric), command-line equivalent -grid_unit
  • hiddentext — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -hiddentext
  • icon_view — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -icon_view (true), -list_view (false)
  • image_editor — type string, default xv, command-line equivalent -image_editor
  • inches — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -inches (true), -imperial (true), -centimeters (false), -metric (false)
  • installowncmap — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -installowncmap
  • internalborderwidth — type integer, default 1, command-line equivalent -internalBW
  • international — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -international (true), -nointernational (false)
  • jpeg_quality — type integer, default 75, command-line equivalent -jpeg_quality
  • justify — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -left (false), -right (true)
  • keyFile — type string, default CompKeyDB, command-line equivalent -keyFile
  • landscape — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -Landscape (true), -landscape (true), -Portrait (false), -portrait (false)
  • latexfonts — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -latexfonts
  • library_dir — type string, default ~/xfiglib, command-line equivalent -library_dir
  • magnification — type float, default 100, command-line equivalent -magnification
  • max_image_colors — type integer, default 64, command-line equivalent -max_image_colors
  • monochrome — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -monochrome
  • multiple — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -multiple
  • normalFont — type string, default 6x13, command-line equivalent -normal
  • overlap — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -overlap (true), -nooverlap (false)
  • pageborder — type string, default lightblue, command-line equivalent -pageborder
  • paper_size — type string, default Letter (inch) or A4 (metric), command-line equivalent -paper_size
  • pheight — type float, default 8.5 (landscape) or 9.5 (portrait), command-line equivalent -pheight
  • pwidth — type float, default 11 (landscape) or 8.5 (portrait), command-line equivalent -pwidth
  • rigidtext — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -rigid (true)
  • rulerthick — type integer, default 24, command-line equivalent -rulerthick
  • scale_factor — type float, default 1.0, command-line equivalent -scale_factor
  • showallbuttons — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -showallbuttons
  • showaxislines — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -showaxislines (true), -dontshowaxislines (false)
  • showballoons — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -showballoons (true), -dontshowballoons (false)
  • showdepthmanager — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -showdepthmanager (true), -dontshowdepthmanager (false)
  • showlengths — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -showlengths (true), -dontshowlengths (false)
  • shownums — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -shownums (true), -dontshownums (false)
  • showpageborder — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -showpageborder (true), -dontshowpageborder (false)
  • single — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -single
  • smooth_factor — type integer, default 0, command-line equivalent -smooth_factor
  • specialtext — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -specialtext
  • splash — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -splash (true), -nosplash (false)
  • spellcheckcommand — type string, default spell %s, command-line equivalent -spellcheckcommand
  • spinner_delay — type integer, default 500 (ms), command-line equivalent -spinner_delay
  • spinner_rate — type integer, default 100 (ms), command-line equivalent -spinner_rate
  • startfillstyle — type integer, default 0, command-line equivalent -startfillstyle
  • startfontsize — type float, default 12, command-line equivalent -startfontsize
  • startgridmode — type integer, default 0, command-line equivalent -startgridmode
  • startlatexFont — type string, default Default, command-line equivalent -startlatexFont
  • startlinewidth — type integer, default 1, command-line equivalent -startlinewidth
  • startposnmode — type integer, default 1, command-line equivalent -startposnmode
  • startpsFont — type string, default Times-Roman, command-line equivalent -startpsFont
  • starttextstep — type float, default 1.2, command-line equivalent -starttextstep
  • tablet — type boolean, default false, command-line equivalent -track,
  • trackCursor — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -track (true), -notrack (false)
  • transparent_color — type integer, default -2 (none), command-line equivalent -transparent_color
  • userscale — type float, default 1.0, command-line equivalent -userscale
  • userunit — type string, default in (inches) or cm (metric), command-line equivalent -userunit
  • visual — type string, default *, command-line equivalent -visual
  • write_bak — type boolean, default true, command-line equivalent -write_bak
  • zoom — type float, default 1.0, command-line equivalent -zoom
💀 Heads up bestie: * means the default visual and depth depend on the X server. Use xdpyinfo to see what visuals and depths are supported.

🐛 BUGS and RESTRICTIONS 🐛

Please send bug reports, fixes, new features etc. to: thomas.loimer@tuwien.ac.at

Because of the difference of the fonts shown on the canvas and the PostScript fonts on printers, text alignment can be problematic. 😭 (it's giving "why are my fonts gaslighting me".)

Not all operations employ smart redrawing of objects which are altered as a by product of the operation. You may need to use Redraw in these cases.

If the image is panned or the xfig window iconified and de-iconified during the middle of an operation (e.g. while drawing a line), the picture will be distorted. This can be corrected using Redraw after the operation is complete. 🙈

When zoomed very large, the length of dashes in dashed lines will top out at 255 pixels long. This is due to a restriction in X that the dash list is defined by char (255 pixels maximum for a dash). The figure will print correctly, however. 💅

When you do a copy/rotate with multiple copies, only the creation of the last object can be undone with the Undo button.

Modifications to text using the popup search/update/replace/spell check panel cannot be undone. ⚠️

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

🫶 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 🫶

(From the original author, Supoj Sutanthavibul): Many thanks goes to Professor Donald E. Fussell who inspired the creation of this tool. 🌸

(From Brian Smith): Thanks to all the users who have contributed to xfig, especially Paul King who, besides adding many features, revamped the look and feel which became version 2.1. 👑

Okay bestie, lawyer-core time, but I promise it's quick 💅 The rights sit with these people:

  • Original Copyright (c) 1985 by Supoj Sutanthavibul
  • Parts Copyright (c) 1989-2015 by Brian V. Smith
  • Parts Copyright (c) 1991 by Paul King
  • Parts Copyright (c) 2016-2024 by Thomas Loimer
  • Other Copyrights may be found in various files

And here's the actual permission text, copied exactly because you do not freestyle legal writing 🙈:

Any party obtaining a copy of these files is granted, free of charge, a full and unrestricted irrevocable, world-wide, paid up, royalty-free, nonexclusive right and license to deal in this software and documentation files (the "Software"), including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish and/or distribute copies of the Software, and to permit persons who receive copies from any such party to do so, with the only requirement being that this copyright notice remain intact.

Then the big scary all-caps bit, which is basically the software saying "no promises, bestie":

THE AUTHORS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

✨ Trademark moment: PostScript is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.

Parts Copyright (C) 1989 by Jef Poskanzer. And the copyright notice for the pbmplus code, verbatim because again, legal:

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. This software is provided ``as is'' without express or implied warranty.

📁 FILES 📁

Here's where everything lives on your system, bestie — bookmark these fr fr:

  • /usr/share/xfig/CompKeyDB — the data base of compose (meta) key sequences for 8-bit characters. You can point at a different file with the command line option -keyFile or the X toolkit resource keyFile. iykyk 🎀
  • /usr/share/doc/packages/xfig/html — this directory contains the html documentation.
  • /usr/share/doc/packages/xfig/FORMAT3.2 — description of Fig file format.
  • /usr/share/xfig/Libraries — this directory contains libraries of Fig objects such as electrical symbols, logic symbols, etc. lowkey my fave, the electrical ones ate 💅
  • /usr/share/X11/app-defaults/Fig — application defaults file.
  • /usr/share/applications/org.xfig.xfig.desktop — desktop entry file.
  • /usr/share/metainfo/org.xfig.xfig.metainfo.xml — appstream metadata.
  • /usr/share/pixmaps/xfig.png — desktop icon. (the little guy 🥺)

👑 AUTHORS 👑

Not to be dramatic but this list is literally a group project that has been running since 1985 and everyone showed up 🌈 Many people have contributed to xfig. Here is a list of the people who have contributed the most (in chronological order):

🌸 Version 1

  • Original author: Supoj Sutanthavibul, University of Texas at Austin
  • The LaTeX line drawing modes were contributed by: Frank Schmuck, Cornell University
  • Original X11 port by: Ken Yap, Rochester
  • Variable window sizes, cleanup of X11 port, right hand side panel: Dana Chee, Bellcore
  • Cleanup of color port to X11 by: John T. Kohl, MIT

🦋 Version 2.0

  • Area fill, multiple line thicknesses, multiple fonts and font sizes, bottom panel, line style/thickness, (and anything else that wasn't written by the others) by: Brian Smith — (standard disclaimer applies) — (bvsmith@lbl.gov)
  • Popup change-object menu by: Jon Tombs, Frank Schmuck
  • Zooming and panning functions, shift key select mechanism by: Dieter Pellkofer, Henning Spruth
  • Depth feature by: Mike Lutz
  • Cut/Paste by: Tom Tkacik

🎀 Version 2.1

  • Indicator panel, file menu popup, print menu popup, panning with rulers, mouse function window, regular polygon, rubberbanding of circles/ellipses, filled splines on canvas, dashed/dotted splines on canvas, update button, arbitrary angle rotation of objects, alignment in compound, object scaling, constrained copy/move, corner markers for compound, context sensitive corner markers, smarter redraw, undo for compound and point move for boxes, cancel object creation, point positioning to three resolutions, TransFig scalable text, hidden text, special text, save of figure on crash by: Paul King (king@cs.uq.oz.au) — with help from: Brian Smith and Micah Beck (beck@cs.utk.edu)
  • Encapsulated PostScript importing by: Brian Boyter
  • Pan/zoom with ctrl key/mouse by: Henning Spruth
  • International characters by: Herve Soulard
  • Directory Browser based on XDir by: Win Treese, Digital Equipment Corporation
  • Rotated ellipses by: James Tough, Dept. of Computer Science, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland
  • Rotated text from the xvertext package by: Alan Richardson, Space Science Centre, School of MAPS, University of Sussex
  • Popup scale menu and dynamic switching between inches and cm by: Paul King (king@cs.uq.oz.au)
  • Extensive man page formatting revisions by: David W. Sanderson
  • Display Postscript code for IBM RS/6000 by: Dave Hale (dhale@green.mines.colorado.edu)

💜 Version 3.0

  • New arrowhead types, separate pen/fill colors, new file protocol, more colors with extended color popup panel, new arc style, new fill patterns (bricks, etc), new line join and cap styles, export offset and file load offset, XPM import, XBM import and export (and anything else that wasn't written by the others) by: Brian Smith
    • (Note: the color popup panel was based on xcoloredit by Richard Hesketh)
  • GIF header reading code by: David Koblas from the giftoppm part of the pbmplus package
  • XPM export code (using XPM3 libraries) by: Karel van Houten (K.H.C.vanHouten@research.ptt.nl)
  • Higher figure resolution (1200dpi) by: Ross Martin (martin@trcsun3.eas.asu.edu)
  • Color quantization using neural network by: Anthony Dekker (dekker@ACM.org)
    • [NEUQUANT Neural-Net quantization algorithm by Anthony Dekker, 1994. See Kohonen neural networks for optimal colour quantization'' in Network: Computation in Neural Systems'' Vol. 5 (1994) pp 351-367. for a discussion of the algorithm.]
  • Floyd-Steinberg algorithm for dithering color images on monochrome displays lifted from the Pbmplus package by Jef Poskanser.
  • rotate/flip objects around/about selected anchor point and multiple copies of objects by: Uwe Bonnes (bon@lte.e-technik.uni-erlangen.de)
  • Input tablet extension by: Greg LaCoste (greg@seismo.do.usbr.gov)

⭐ Version 3.1

The only difference between protocol version 3.0 and version 3.1 is that the position of the ``magnet'' has been shifted by 14 fig units. In the 2.1 and older versions of xfig the grid was in multiples of 5 fig units, but they were on intervals 4, 9, 14, 19, etc. When version 3.0 was created, coordinates were simply multiplied by the ratio of the resolutions (1200/80 = 15) so values like 4 became 60 instead of 74 (((4+1)*15 - 1)). No cap, that's the whole diff 😭

  • The JPEG import/export code uses the Independent JPEG Group software (see jpeg/README for details)
  • Image browser, editor and screen capture features by: Jim Daley (jdaley@cix.compulink.co.uk)

🔥 Version 3.2

The changes to the version 3.2 file protocol are the addition of the paper size, print/export magnification, single/multiple page indicator and a transparent color name used for GIF export to the header of the file.

The other difference in the version 3.2 protocol is the mathematical model used for splines. The new version uses X-splines which allows the user to mix interpolation and approximation points in a same curve. More precisely, it means that an X-spline curve is neither an interpolated spline nor an approximated one, it is BOTH (the behaviour of each point is controlled by one single parameter called ``shape factor''). For additional information about X-splines, see:

"X-Splines: A Spline Model Designed for the End User"
by C. Blanc and C. Schlick, Proceedings of SIGGRAPH'95
http://dept-info.labri.u-bordeaux.fr/~schlick/DOC/sig1.html
Caveat, and listen bestie, this one matters: because previous spline models (quadratic B-splines and Bezier with hidden points) are no longer supported, curves that are present in version 3.1 and older files are automatically converted to X-splines. This translation is only an approximation process. It means that the converted curves are not exactly the same as the original ones. Though they are usually very close, some hand-fitting may be needed in some pathological cases. 💀
  • Inclusion of X-splines by: Carole Blanc (blanc@labri.u-bordeaux.fr), Christophe Schlick (schlick@labri.u-bordeaux.fr)
    • Note: the initial implementation was done by C. Feuille, S. Grosbois, L. Maziere and L. Minihot as a student practice (Universite Bordeaux, France).
  • Open/close compound feature written by Bill Taylor (bill@mainstream.com)
  • Library feature written by Stephane Mancini (mancini@elecsrv.enst.fr) (object preview by Brian V. Smith)
  • The library objects in the Electrical and Logic libraries were done by Peter Hiscocks (phiscock@ee.ryerson.ca)
  • The library objects in the Computer, Networks, and Hospital-Equipment libraries were extracted from the clipart example files by Bill Chimiak (chim@bgsm.edu)

🧚 Version 3.2.3 and newer

Please see the CHANGES file for credits for newer releases. (the lore continues 📖)

📝 NOTES 📝

  • Many bug fixes/cleanups etc. by a host of faithful users. 🫶
  • See the CHANGES file for all the credits.
  • The Fig2dev package was written by Micah Beck and is maintained by Thomas Loimer.

And that's a wrap, bestie! 🎉 This page is Xfig 3.2.9a, dated Dec 2024, section xfig(1) — go forth and draw something iconic 👑💖

📦 where this page comes from