Tutorials

Fundamentals

• 

  Getting started

  This first tutorial covers the absolute basics:

• 

  Styling

  This tutorial explores the visual styling options available in tikzfigure: - node shapes - colors and color mixing - line styles and widths - arrow types - node anchors

• 

  Saving and exporting

  tikzfigure can export figures in multiple formats and lets you inspect the generated LaTeX code at every level.

• 

  Pyplot-style API

  For a quick sketch you can skip the TikzFigure object. The functions of the tikzfigure module draw on an implicit current figure, created the first time one is called, much like matplotlib.pyplot.…

Drawing

• 

  Paths and shapes

  Beyond simple node-to-node connections, tikzfigure lets you draw arbitrary paths from lists of (x, y) coordinates.

• 

  TikZ primitives

  tikzfigure wraps common TikZ drawing primitives so you don't need raw LaTeX for standard geometric shapes.

• 

  Layers

  By default TikZ draws objects in the order they appear in the source, so later objects appear on top of earlier ones. tikzfigure exposes a layer system (backed by pgfonlayer) that lets you control…

• 

  Loops

  Repetitive structures — grids, chains, matrices of nodes — can be created in two ways: with Python loops that call node / draw many times, or with native TikZ \foreach loops via fig.loop(), which…

• 

  Coordinates and midpoints

  tikzfigure can compute new node positions geometrically from existing ones. fig.midpoint(nodea, nodeb) places a new node exactly halfway between two existing nodes. For a lighter alternative with no…

Plots

• 

  3D Figures

  tikzfigure supports 3-D plots via fig.plot3d(xvec, yvec, zvec). Pass ndim=3 when creating the figure to switch to pgfplots' \beginaxis environment with a default perspective of view=2030.

• 

  2D plot basics

  tikzfigure provides a high-level API for creating publication-quality 2D plots using pgfplots. This tutorial covers the fundamentals:

• 

  2D plot styling

  Customize plot appearance with colors, markers, line styles, and custom ticks.

• 

  2D plot functions

  pgfplots can evaluate mathematical functions directly, and Python's math module gives you full flexibility for data generation.

• 

  Subfigures and grids

  Arrange multiple plots side-by-side or in grid layouts using subfigureaxis() and subfigure().

• 

  Mixed subfigures

  Create sophisticated figures that combine axis-based plots with custom TikZ diagrams (nodes, paths, shapes). Mix them freely in grid layouts.

• 

  Images and legends

  This tutorial covers what a pgfplots axis holds besides lines:

Advanced

• 

  Raw TikZ

  tikzfigure covers the most common TikZ operations through its Python API, but TikZ is a vast language. fig.raw(string) injects an arbitrary LaTeX/TikZ snippet directly into the generated code -…

• 

  Math expressions

  Instead of hardcoding coordinates like (1.5, 2.0), you can write (sin(60), cos(60)) or (Var("radius") 2, Var("angle")) — all as Python code, with full composability and operator support.

• 

  Figure configuration

  TikzFigure accepts several constructor parameters that control how the figure is set up in LaTeX. This tutorial covers:

• 

  Shading and patterns

  TikZ supports rich fill styles beyond solid colors: smooth color gradients (shadings) and repeating geometric fill patterns. This tutorial covers:

• 

  Opacity

  tikzfigure provides fine-grained control over transparency at every level: whole nodes, just the fill, just the stroke, paths, and the final PNG background. This tutorial covers:

• 

  Decorations

  TikZ decorations transform the appearance of paths: a straight line can become a zigzag, a snake wave, a coil spring, or a brace bracket. This tutorial covers the decorations available through…

• 

  Advanced styling

  This tutorial covers advanced visual styling options that go beyond basic colors and line widths:

• 

  Spy library

  This tutorial introduces the dedicated spy API for inset zoom views and magnified regions.

• 

  Tokamak X-point

  This tutorial builds on Mathematical Expressions and focuses on the plain TikZ plotting API by building up to a stylized tokamak X-point / separatrix drawing in a poloidal cross-section.

• 

  Gantt charts

  Gantt charts are useful for showing a project plan, a publication timeline, or any other schedule organized along a numeric time axis. tikzfigure provides a small structured wrapper around LaTeX's…

• 

  Parsing TikZ

  Most tutorials start from Python and produce TikZ. This one goes the other way: TikzFigure.fromtikzcode reads existing TikZ source and rebuilds it as tikzfigure objects, so you can edit a figure you…

• 

  TikZ tokens

  Arrow tips, fill patterns, plot marks, node shapes, path decorations and styles are short TikZ strings such as -stealth or crosshatch. tikzfigure gives each kind a small type, all built on TikzToken:…

Integrations

• 

  Jupyter magic

  tikzfigure ships an IPython extension that lets you write raw TikZ code directly in a notebook cell with the %%tikz magic - no Python API required. This is useful for quick sketches or for pasting…

Showcases

• 

  Calendar

  This showcase tutorial builds a full A3-style 2026 calendar combining:

• 

  Karl's students

  This tutorial recreates the classic "A picture for Karl's students" example from the TikZ/PGF manual using the current tikzfigure Python API.