PSTricks and LaTeX vs. pdfLaTeX

Question

I'm trying to convert my thesis to pdfLaTeX, as latex + dvips behaves ugly when it comes to break (really long) URLs... I'm using up-to-date TeXLive 2012 on Linux.

The only problem is (so far), that I heavily used pstricks and the related packages and I am not able to get them working nicely on pdfLaTeX (see my pictures) when interacting between different pspicture-environments (also using this sometime to have text directly related to pictures underneath):

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latex + dvips + ps2pdf (gs)

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pdflatex (arrow is missing)

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Code for the example above:

\documentclass[12pt]{scrbook}   
\PassOptionsToPackage{pdf}{pstricks} %used for pdflatex
\usepackage{pstricks,pst-plot,pst-node,pst-func}

\begin{document}

\begin{pspicture}(-1.5,0)(1.5,4)
    \psTextFrame[ref=c,linestyle=none](-1.5,3)(1.5,4){First Plot}
    \psplot[fillcolor=blue!30,fillstyle=solid,opacity=0.5]{-1.5}{1.5}{x 0 0.3 GAUSS}
    \psaxes[labels=none,ticks=none]{->}(-1.5,0)(1.5,3)
    \pnode(1.5,0.5){A}
\end{pspicture}
\vspace{5mm}
\begin{pspicture}(-1.5,0)(1.5,4)
    \psTextFrame[ref=c,linestyle=none](-1.5,3)(1.5,4){Second Plot}
    \psplot[fillcolor=blue!30,fillstyle=solid,opacity=0.5]{-1.5}{1.5}{x 0 0.6 GAUSS}
    \psaxes[labels=none,ticks=none]{->}(-1.5,0)(1.5,3)
    \pnode(1.5,0.5){B}
    \nccurve{->}{A}{B}
\end{pspicture}

\end{document}

Answer 1

Several pspictureenvironments as paragraphs can be encapsulated by the postscript environment:

\documentclass[12pt]{scrbook}   
\PassOptionsToPackage{pdf}{pstricks} %used for pdflatex
\usepackage{pstricks,pst-plot,pst-node,pst-func}

\begin{document}

\begin{postscript}%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\begin{pspicture}(-1.5,0)(1.5,4)
    \psTextFrame[ref=c,linestyle=none](-1.5,3)(1.5,4){First Plot}
    \psplot[fillcolor=blue!30,fillstyle=solid,opacity=0.5]{-1.5}{1.5}{x 0 0.3 GAUSS}
    \psaxes[labels=none,ticks=none]{->}(-1.5,0)(1.5,3)
    \pnode(1.5,0.5){A}
\end{pspicture}

\begin{pspicture}(-1.5,0)(1.5,4)
    \psTextFrame[ref=c,linestyle=none](-1.5,3)(1.5,4){Second Plot}
    \psplot[fillcolor=blue!30,fillstyle=solid,opacity=0.5]{-1.5}{1.5}{x 0 0.6 GAUSS}
    \psaxes[labels=none,ticks=none]{->}(-1.5,0)(1.5,3)
    \pnode(1.5,0.5){B}
    \nccurve{->}{A}{B}
\end{pspicture}
\end{postscript}%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

\end{document}

that will be handled as a single image. My pdflatex output:

Inside the postscript environment can be anything, except a pagebreak. It will always be handled as a graphic which is saved in <file>-pics.pdf, one page per image (if you have more environments).

Answer 2

Method 1 (if you insist on using pdflatex)

When we use pdflatex to compile PSTricks code, the nodes must be in the same physical page of the auxiliary PDF file produced behind the scene.

Your original code makes the first figure and the second one get separated in different physical pages. Namely, the first one is on page x and the other one is on page y where x=/=y.

To make them on the same physical page, we can put both in another pspicture as the container. See my code below for the details.

\documentclass[12pt]{scrbook}   
\PassOptionsToPackage{pdf}{pstricks} %used for pdflatex
\usepackage{pstricks,pst-plot,pst-node,pst-func}

\begin{document}

\begin{pspicture}(-1.5,-4.25)(1.5,4.25)
\rput[b](0,0.25){%
\begin{pspicture}(-1.5,0)(1.5,4)
    \psTextFrame[ref=c,linestyle=none](-1.5,3)(1.5,4){First Plot}
    \psplot[fillcolor=blue!30,fillstyle=solid,opacity=0.5]{-1.5}{1.5}{x 0 0.3 GAUSS}
    \psaxes[labels=none,ticks=none]{->}(-1.5,0)(1.5,3)
    \pnode(1.5,0.5){A}
\end{pspicture}}
%
\rput[t](0,-0.25){%
\begin{pspicture}(-1.5,0)(1.5,4)
    \psTextFrame[ref=c,linestyle=none](-1.5,3)(1.5,4){Second Plot}
    \psplot[fillcolor=blue!30,fillstyle=solid,opacity=0.5]{-1.5}{1.5}{x 0 0.6 GAUSS}
    \psaxes[labels=none,ticks=none]{->}(-1.5,0)(1.5,3)
    \pnode(1.5,0.5){B}
    \nccurve{->}{A}{B}
\end{pspicture}}
\end{pspicture}
\end{document}

Method 2 (if you are happy to use xelatex)

Without modification in your original code, just compile it with xelatex. Done!