Many thanks--I eventually figured this out. It is possible to do the working directory route as well, but you can't do both--have relative path names in directories below the one where the document is stored and the working directory set in Preferences.
Thanks again for your helpful response. Tom On Jul 26, 2012, at 12:48 AM, Stephan Witt wrote: Am 25.07.2012 um 23:04 schrieb Hobbs,Tom: Hello- I am using lyx 2.0 under Mac Lion and I have a problem with the working directory and pathnames to files. As I understand it, if you set the working directory to a folder named, say, /Users/Tom/My_folder, then you can omit the full pathnames when you insert graphics, etc. This is really needed because otherwise, it becomes terribly hard to share lyx documents and associated graphics files among different users. When I give the full pathname to graphics files in the Insert Graphics screen, all is fine. But when I set the path to the working directory in preferences and the file name in the graphic setting, lyx can't find the file. The working directory is the directory LyX changes to on startup. The best thing one can do is to place all graphics files in the same directory or a sub directory of the referring document. All references should be made relative to your document. Then it's easy to share documents with associated graphics with other users. Regards, Stephan N. Thompson Hobbs Professor, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, and Graduate Degree Program in Ecology Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80524 970-491-5738 http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/nrel/apps/directory/people.php?Main_ID=204 For group mailings: Use of this mail list is intended exclusively for internal communication at Colorado State University. Any unauthorized use is prohibited.