# Running the installer

You need a JDK >= 1.3, which you can download from either Java.SUN (Windows, Unix), IBM's developerworks (especially suited for Linux), or Blackdown (direct Linux port of SUN's implementation). MacOS users may refer to Apple website for instruction about installing Java on MacOS.

Then simply type :
`java -jar jpicedt-install.jar`
in a Unix-console or a DOS-commando, or double-click the JAR file (Windows's

# Getting the latest release

Just visit jPicEdt's official website at www.jpicedt.org.

# What is jPicEdt ?

jPicEdt is a software aimed at alleviating the burden of using PsTricks, eepic or LaTeX's picture environment macros in a LaTeX file. It allows the user to draw graphical objects using graphic primitives (e.g. splines, arcs, polygons,...), position them easily with the mouse, and add text using LaTeX/PsTricks box commands (e.g. dashbox, psframebox,...). Yet this is not a 100% WYSIWYG software, and arguments of box commands are displayed as is (jpicedt doesn't include any TeX compiler !).

As of release 1.3.2, pictures can be saved to one of the three following formats :

- LaTeX's standard picture environment, including emulated objects, e.g. lines of any slope
(which LaTeX doesn't support natively), circles of any size, ellipses, arcs and polygons.
- epic/eepic, including dashed lines, shading, filled arcs,...
- PsTricks macro packages : almost every macro in the pstricks.sty package are supported, yet support for add-ons (i.e. pst-node.sty, pst-coil.sty and gradient.sty) is still underway.

jPicEdt can also parse files that include macros in one of these three formats. This allows in particular to load files generated by GnuPlot with a "gset term eepic" or "gset term pstricks" command.

jPicEdt is written in Java, and is therefore 100% multiplatform. Older releases (1.2 and older) are JDK1.1.x compliant ; current release works with any JDK 1.3 or 1.4. Latest JDK1.1-compliant releases can be downloaded at http://www.jpicedt.org/.

jPicEdt is free software, and is licensed under GNU Public License. It has i18n support for the english, french, portuguese and spanish languages.