diff --git a/collects/scribble/html-render.ss b/collects/scribble/html-render.ss
index 7cc500a2..d140e03e 100644
--- a/collects/scribble/html-render.ss
+++ b/collects/scribble/html-render.ss
@@ -110,6 +110,11 @@
            (with-attributes-assoc raw-style))
       null))
 
+(define (pdf-to-png p)
+  (if (equal? (filename-extension p) #"pdf")
+      (path-replace-suffix p #".png")
+      p))
+
 #; ; no need for these index-local searches
 #reader scribble/reader (begin ; easier to format
 
@@ -1002,7 +1007,7 @@
                              `([width ,(to-num (read-bytes 4 in))]
                                [height ,(to-num (read-bytes 4 in))])
                              null))))])
-             `((img ([src ,(let ([p (install-file src)])
+             `((img ([src ,(let ([p (install-file (pdf-to-png src))])
                              (if (path? p)
                                (url->string (path->url (path->complete-path p)))
                                p))]
diff --git a/collects/scribble/scribble.tex b/collects/scribble/scribble.tex
index deffa722..54d304a7 100644
--- a/collects/scribble/scribble.tex
+++ b/collects/scribble/scribble.tex
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-% This is the default prefix for Scribble-generated HTML
+% This is the default prefix for Scribble-generated Latex
 
 \documentclass{article}
  
diff --git a/collects/scribblings/scribble/struct.scrbl b/collects/scribblings/scribble/struct.scrbl
index 63ce1757..f5d65564 100644
--- a/collects/scribblings/scribble/struct.scrbl
+++ b/collects/scribblings/scribble/struct.scrbl
@@ -669,7 +669,11 @@ Used as a style for an @scheme[element] to inline an image. The
 @scheme[path->main-collects-relative].
 
 For Latex output, a @filepath{.gif} suffix on @scheme[path] is
-replaced with a @filepath{.png} suffix.}
+replaced with a @filepath{.png} suffix (because animated GIFs can be
+useful in HTML output, but Latex does not support GIFs). For HTML
+output, a @filepath{.pdf} suffix on @scheme[path] is replaced with a
+@filepath{.png} suffix (because PDF line drawings can be more
+appropriate for Latex output, but HTML output needs bitmaps).}
 
 
 @defproc[(block? [v any/c]) boolean?]{