Inserting images and figures

Add image files to your project and reference them from a Word document, LaTeX, Typst, or Markdown file.

Add an image to your project, then reference it from whichever file you're writing in. In Word documents, you can resize, rotate, flip, reposition, and caption an image directly in Papers AI (see the Word tab below). Papers AI doesn't crop images, in Word or any other format; edit the image in another tool and re-import it with the same filename to refresh every reference automatically.

Add an image

1. Drag the image file into the file explorer, ideally into a folder like figures/.

2. Use a stable, descriptive filename before you reference it anywhere. Renaming later means updating every reference by hand.

Reference it in your document

Word

Use the image tool in the DOCX toolbar to insert it, then drag to resize or reposition. Right-click the image for more controls: rotate or flip it, set how text wraps around it (inline, square, behind text, or in front of text), and add a caption. Captions number themselves automatically as "Figure N."

LaTeX

Use \includegraphics, wrapped in a figure environment for a caption and a label you can cross-reference:

main.tex

\begin{figure}[h]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.6\textwidth]{figures/overview.png}
\caption{The workspace shell.}
\label{fig:overview}
\end{figure}

Typst

Reference the image with Typst's own figure syntax, pointing at the same project-relative path.

Markdown

Use standard Markdown image syntax:

![alt text](figures/overview.png)

Compile or preview afterward to confirm the image renders. For LaTeX, check the path matches exactly, since paths are case-sensitive.

If you're not sure how to write the figure or caption syntax for your format, ask the AI. Tell it the filename and caption, and it can draft the block for you. See Using AI.

Troubleshooting

The image doesn't appear in preview

Check the file path and reference syntax, then recompile.

You moved the file and now references are broken

Update the path in every document that referenced it.

The rendered output has broken image links

Search for the old filename and replace it with the current path.

Next steps

• Working with Word documents

• Compiling and fixing errors