Graphics

Defining the Problem The default Cartesian coordinate system used in TikZ 3d plots has limitations in terms of flexibility for specifying arbitrary orientations of the x, y, and z axes. In some cases, aligning the axes to key features or geometry constraints in a 3d model or mathematical construct requires a customized coordinate system. TikZ…

Defining the Core Problem A persisting complication in LaTeX typesetting is the difficulty in producing tailored three-dimensional coordinate grids for showcasing mathematical spaces or data visualizations. The powerful PSTricks graphics suite offers default constructs for basic Cartesian grids, but customizing the grid appearance and dimensionality requires calculated manipulation of low-level drawing functions. This poses a…

Defining Custom 3D Coordinate Systems Setting up a customized 3D coordinate system from scratch in TikZ involves explicitly defining the x, y and z axes to establish an alternative to the default Cartesian coordinate system. This is accomplished through TikZ’s \pgfsetxvec, \pgfsetyvec and \pgfsetzvec commands which orient the axes to the specified mathematical vector definitions….

Specifying Exact Positions LaTeX offers some flexibility in positioning figures and tables through the use of floats. However floats may sometimes be placed in undesirable locations. Fortunately, there are methods to precisely position figures and tables. Using \begin{figure}[h] to place figures precisely where they are defined The “[h]” placement specifier forces the figure to be…

The Float Placement Problem LaTeX by default uses an algorithm to determine the placement of figures and tables, known as floats, in the compilation output. This algorithm aims to place floats in optimal positions that balance good page breaking and filling while keeping floats as close to their initial code location as possible. However, the…

What TikZ’s Scanning Offers TikZ’s built-in coordinate scanning functionality provides some powerful advantages for specifying precise coordinate positions when drawing graphs, diagrams, and other images: Automatic parsing of mathematical expressions – Coordinates can contain mathematical formulas and expressions that are automatically evaluated, allowing programmatic positioning. Flexible coordinate systems with units – TikZ supports multiple coordinate…

The Problem of Coordinate Scaling One common issue when working with the TikZ graphics package in LaTeX is that the specified coordinates do not always match the actual coordinates of the rendered graphic. This mismatch occurs due to internal scaling factors that are applied in TikZ. For example, consider the following minimal TikZ code: \documentclass{article}…

Finding Intersection Coordinates in TikZ Drawings TikZ is a powerful graphics language in LaTeX that allows users to create precise technical illustrations programmatically. A key feature of TikZ is the ability to calculate the coordinates of intersection points between graphical elements like lines, curves, shapes, and polygons. Printing out the calculated coordinates of these intersection…

The TikZ graphics language allows users to specify point coordinates literally for placing graphic elements. However, programmatically extracting the numeric values from such literal coordinates poses challenges. This article presents a Latex macro for parsing TikZ coordinates to enable easier computational processing. The Problem of Literal Coordinates TikZ offers rich capabilities for specifying coordinates in…

RevTeX is a popular LaTeX class designed for preparing manuscripts for submission to academic journals, particularly in the physical sciences. By default, placing subfigures and subtables within a RevTeX document can be challenging, as the class does not natively support the subcaption package for generating subfigures with separate labels and captions. Fortunately, RevTeX can be…