PGF/TikZ
| Original author(s) | Till Tantau |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Till Tantau, Christian Feuersaenger |
| Stable release | 3.0.1 / August 7, 2015 |
| Operating system | Multiplatform (TeX) |
| Type | Vector graphics languages |
| License | Dual License: GNU General Public License or LaTeX Project Public License |
| Website | pgf/tikz at sourceforge.net |
PGF/TikZ is a tandem of languages for producing vector graphics from a geometric/algebraic description. PGF is a lower-level language, while TikZ is a set of higher-level macros that use PGF. The top-level PGF and TikZ commands are invoked as TeX macros, but in contrast with PSTricks, the PGF/TikZ graphics themselves are described in a language that resembles MetaPost. Till Tantau is the designer of these languages, and he is also the main developer of the only known interpreter for PGF and TikZ, which is written in TeX. PGF is an acronym for "Portable Graphics Format". TikZ was introduced in version 1.10 of PGF, and it is a recursive acronym for "TikZ ist kein Zeichnenprogramm" (German for "TikZ is not a drawing program").
The PGF/TikZ interpreter can be used from the popular LaTeX and ConTeXt macro packages, and also directly from the original TeX. Since TeX itself is not concerned with graphics, the interpreter supports multiple TeX output backends: dvips, dvipdfm/dvipdfmx/xdvipdfmx, TeX4ht, and pdftex's internal PDF output driver. Unlike PStricks, PGF can thus directly produce either PostScript or PDF output, but it cannot use some of the more advanced PostScript programming features that PStricks can use due to the "least common denominator" effect.[1] PGF/TikZ comes with extensive documentation. The version 3.0.0 manual has 1165 pages.
The standard LaTeX picture environment can also be used as a front end for PGF merely by using the pgfpict2e package.
Several graphical editors can produce output for PGF/TikZ like the KDE program Cirkuit,[2] and the math drawing program GeoGebra. Export to TikZ is also available as extensions for Inkscape,[3] Blender,[4] MATLAB,[5] matplotlib,[6] Gnuplot[7] and R.[8]
The project has been under constant development since 2005. Most of the development is done by Till Tantau.[9] Version 3.0.0 was released on 2013-12-20.[10] One of the major new features is graph drawing using the graphdrawing package, which however requires LuaTeX.[11] This version also added a new data visualization method and support for direct SVG output via the new dvisvgm driver.[12]
See also
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- Asymptote (vector graphics language)
- PSTricks
- MetaPost
- GeoGebra, free dynamic mathematics program with PGF/TikZ export
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.fauskes.net/code/blend2tikz/
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; see also the older GD 2012 presentation
- ↑ https://sourceforge.net/projects/pgf/files/pgf/version%203.0.0/
Further reading
- Andrew Mertz and William Slough, Graphics with PGF and TikZ, PracTeX Journal, 2007 (1), abstract, full text. Conference talk video (version archived by archive.org ; the previous site is unavailable) based on an earlier version of that paper.
- Claudio Beccari, Graphics in LaTeX (Comparison of several graphics systems in LaTeX), PracTeX Journal, 2007 (1)
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. According to a review of the book in TUGboat: "It contains a detailed introduction to the TikZ suite—probably one of the best existing descriptions of this highly useful package."
External links
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The Wikibook LaTeX has a page on the topic of: PGF/TikZ |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to TikZ diagrams. |
- PGF/TikZ on CTAN
- PGF on SourceForge.net
- PGF/TikZ manual
- PGF/TikZ gallery at TeXample.net
- LaTeXPiX. A freeware graphical editor generating (amongst others) PGF code, written for Microsoft Windows. Last updated 2009-12-28.
- TikzEdt. Combined wysiwyg/text editor designed for editing Tikz code, open source, written for Microsoft Windows and .NET 4.0. Runs also on Linux using Mono. Beta version 0.2.3 released in June 2013.
- TpX. Graphical editor that can generate PGF code and convert graphics in other formats into pgf. Freeware, written for Microsoft Windows. Version 1.5 released on 2008-12-07.
- KtikZ. Tikz code editor with instantaneous preview. Open source, written for Microsoft Windows, Ubuntu and Debian. Last updated on 2010-08-26.
- GraTeX Free visual graph creator for LaTeX (PGF & TikZ) written in Java for MS Windows, Linux, MacOS. Uploaded on 2012-06-10.
