Guide to LaTeX (4th Edition) (Tools and Techniques

13.1. The picture environment 301
This example may not seem very practical, since the \savebox and
\usebox commands could have been replaced by a \framebox together
with \multiput to achieve the same result with even less effort. However,
the main advantage of these two commands is not for multiple setting of
text, but rather for more complex sub pic compositions.
It should be pointed out that a \savebox command may be given
outside of the picture environment, and even within the preamble. Such
a sub-picture is then available in all picture environments throughout
the document. However, if a \savebox is defined within an environment,
it keeps its contents only until that environment comes to an end.
The picture elements inside a \savebox will be sized according to the
value of \unitlength in effect at the time that the box is constructed. It
will not be rescaled by a later change in \unitlength.
13.1.5 Making graph paper
Package:
graphpap
The package graphpap adds a new command for drawing gridded paper:
\graphpaper[num](x,y)(lx,ly)
which places a grid with its lower left corner at (x,y), which is lx units
wide and ly units high. Grid lines are drawn for every num units, with
every fifth one thicker and labeled. If num is not specified, it is assumed
to be 10. All arguments must be integers, not decimal fractions. For
example, \graphpaper(50,50)(200,100) produces
150
100
(50,50)
❅
50❅❘
50 100 150 200 250
UL=0.3 mm
Exercise 13.7: Produce a sheet of graph paper 10 cm by 15 cm with 2 mm
separation between the lines. This sheet may be used to determine the positioning
of picture elements when planning a new diagram.
13.1.6 Shifting a picture environment
The generalized syntax of the picture environment contains a further
coordinate pair as an optional argument