How to Produce This Chapter Ornament Using PDFLATEX

Question

I would like to know how (if possible) to produce the following ornament using PDFLatex.

I obtained the image from a book that was published over one hundred years ago and would like to make use of it at the end of some of the chapters of a book I am currently typesetting.

Does LaTeX already have something similar to this? or can it be produced from scratch?

Thank you.

Answer 1

One option is to redraw the ornament. Alternatively you can convert the png to pnm, and then use potrace to convert it to the svg format. For the example below I used

potrace -z black -b svg --tight myornament1.pnm

This will give you some svg paths that can be included e.g. via pgf.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgf}
\usepgflibrary{svg.path}
\begin{document}
\begin{pgfpicture}
  \pgftransformscale{0.3}
  \pgfpathsvg{M600 600 c0 -29 -1 -30 -22 -16 -24 15 -118 33 -118 22 0 -3 20 -25
44 -49 78 -75 81 -140 10 -277 -18 -36 -37 -83 -42 -105 l-9 -40 76 -1 c78 -1
57 12 -24 15 -24 1 -35 5 -30 10 15 14 47 15 78 3 33 -14 96 -15 116 -3 7 5
23 6 35 3 17 -5 12 -8 -24 -18 l-45 -12 48 -1 c46 -1 47 -1 47 31 0 19 -9 41
-22 55 -20 21 -20 24 -5 41 10 10 17 23 17 28 -1 5 -11 -3 -23 -17 -15 -18
-36 -28 -64 -33 -24 -3 -43 -4 -43 -1 0 2 23 16 50 30 28 14 56 37 62 50 6 14
18 25 26 25 11 0 12 3 2 15 -6 8 -9 19 -5 25 7 12 -3 50 -14 50 -4 0 -13 -11
-19 -25 -15 -32 -101 -125 -115 -125 -6 0 9 21 34 48 70 72 98 122 68 122 -5
0 -8 -4 -5 -9 4 -5 3 -17 -1 -28 -6 -15 -9 -13 -14 12 l-8 30 2 -30 c1 -16 -5
-39 -13 -49 -39 -50 -74 -81 -91 -82 -10 -1 -19 -1 -19 0 0 0 9 25 20 54 33
88 21 161 -37 218 l-28 26 29 -7 c34 -7 86 -42 86 -56 0 -5 6 -9 13 -9 8 0 22
-9 32 -20 10 -11 23 -20 30 -20 7 0 17 -10 22 -22 11 -22 11 -22 18 -3 3 11
11 28 17 39 7 14 6 21 -4 27 -10 6 -15 -1 -19 -29 -5 -29 -6 -31 -8 -10 -1 31
-21 78 -32 78 -4 0 -1 -14 8 -31 8 -16 13 -33 10 -35 -11 -11 -60 31 -73 63
-20 46 -18 54 11 48 14 -3 35 -7 48 -10 12 -2 30 -18 41 -35 21 -36 32 -35 16
1 -18 40 -100 88 -100 59 0 -7 -6 -7 -20 0 -18 10 -20 8 -20 -20z m104 -266
c-13 -26 -36 -48 -73 -70 -57 -33 -82 -71 -34 -53 38 14 95 11 115 -8 22 -20
24 -35 3 -26 -9 3 -35 0 -59 -7 -35 -10 -52 -10 -81 0 -21 7 -33 15 -29 19 5
3 10 13 12 21 1 9 -5 6 -18 -8 -11 -13 -25 -22 -31 -20 -7 2 24 35 67 74 44
38 91 83 105 101 31 41 47 26 23 -23z m-148 -68 c12 4 5 -8 -20 -34 -22 -23
-42 -39 -45 -37 -2 3 6 16 19 30 13 14 18 25 12 25 -6 0 -9 7 -5 16 4 10 8 12
13 4 4 -6 15 -8 26 -4z}
  \pgfpathsvg{M187 600 c-36 -28 -40 -48 -22 -115 13 -51 13 -60 0 -78 -8 -12 -15
-28 -15 -37 1 -8 7 -1 14 15 l13 30 0 -43 c0 -54 23 -86 91 -131 29 -19 51
-36 49 -38 -8 -7 -112 45 -130 65 -10 11 -22 33 -28 48 -9 28 -9 27 -4 -5 3
-19 13 -43 22 -53 16 -17 15 -20 -5 -34 -16 -11 -22 -25 -22 -52 l0 -38 61 -2
c33 -2 64 -3 67 -3 28 -4 112 3 112 9 0 4 -49 7 -109 7 -102 0 -134 6 -118 22
4 3 31 0 60 -7 37 -8 67 -10 98 -3 57 11 92 6 85 -13 -3 -9 1 -14 14 -14 16 0
20 6 19 33 -1 25 -3 27 -6 8 -4 -19 -14 -5 -48 70 -25 52 -44 102 -45 111 0 9
-4 19 -9 23 -12 7 6 -60 26 -98 20 -40 10 -44 -17 -7 -53 75 -75 202 -45 260
18 36 66 62 103 58 l27 -3 -30 -18 c-50 -30 -75 -76 -74 -133 l1 -49 8 55 c7
48 14 60 58 101 28 26 54 44 58 41 4 -4 5 0 2 8 -11 35 -97 23 -135 -18 l-25
-27 7 36 7 36 -45 1 c-31 2 -52 -4 -70 -18z m69 -7 c-6 -15 -4 -15 14 2 24 21
26 8 6 -40 -13 -29 -41 -55 -61 -55 -4 0 -4 12 -1 26 5 17 3 23 -4 19 -15 -9
-13 -65 3 -65 7 0 23 7 35 16 22 15 22 15 22 -35 0 -28 7 -71 16 -97 8 -25 13
-48 11 -50 -11 -11 -56 67 -59 101 -2 27 -8 39 -20 41 -12 1 -18 -5 -19 -19 0
-21 -1 -21 -8 -2 -5 11 -11 38 -15 60 -5 31 -4 36 4 25 10 -13 11 -13 7 0 -2
8 -10 14 -16 13 -15 -4 -14 9 5 35 26 37 92 58 80 25z m-26 -175 c0 -19 -2
-20 -10 -8 -13 19 -13 30 0 30 6 0 10 -10 10 -22z m64 -143 c38 -38 62 -61 53
-49 -23 29 -21 41 3 19 11 -10 20 -14 21 -9 0 5 4 -1 9 -14 13 -31 2 -56 -17
-40 -10 8 -17 8 -21 1 -13 -19 -72 -23 -117 -7 -25 8 -50 12 -55 9 -14 -9 -12
9 2 23 17 17 73 15 109 -3 33 -18 57 -11 39 10 -6 8 -33 28 -59 44 -51 33 -71
65 -70 109 l0 27 17 -25 c9 -14 48 -56 86 -95z m-44 73 c0 -6 -7 -5 -15 2 -8
7 -15 17 -15 22 0 6 7 5 15 -2 8 -7 15 -17 15 -22z m75 -86 c-7 -7 -45 29 -45
41 0 6 11 0 25 -13 14 -13 23 -26 20 -28z} 
  \pgfpathsvg{M429 543 c-5 -16 -15 -41 -22 -58 -17 -41 -12 -190 7 -245 l16 -45
-6 45 c-4 25 -10 65 -14 90 -8 48 0 116 24 193 16 50 12 66 -5 20z}
  \pgfpathsvg{M475 540 c24 -113 25 -135 11 -225 -4 -27 -4 -34 3 -20 26 59 20 205
-10 255 -7 11 -8 8 -4 -10z}
  \pgfpathsvg{M622 488 c2 -16 6 -24 11 -19 5 5 5 17 -2 28 -9 16 -10 15 -9 -9z}
  \pgfpathsvg{M621 439 c-1 -10 -15 -43 -32 -75 -24 -46 -26 -54 -10 -40 24 22 55
99 48 118 -4 9 -6 8 -6 -3z}
  \pgfusepath{stroke,fill}
\end{pgfpicture}
\end{document}

Of course, using different parameters in the potrace conversion yield different results, and you can also use potrace to produce some vector graphics that you include via \includegraphics etc. Another option is to use inkscape.