Skip to content
tikzfigure

Saving and Exporting

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

from tikzfigure import TikzFigure, units

Saving to disk

Section titled “Saving to disk”

savefig() compiles the figure and writes it to disk. The format is determined by the file extension:

fig = TikzFigure()
ax = fig.axis2d(xlabel="X", ylabel="Y")
ax.add_plot([0, 1, 2, 3], [0, 1, 4, 9])


# Save as PDF (vector, best for publications)
fig.savefig("plot.pdf")


# Save as PNG (raster, good for web/presentations)
fig.savefig("plot.png")


# Save as JPG
fig.savefig("plot.jpg")

Inspecting the TikZ code

Section titled “Inspecting the TikZ code”

Use print(fig) or fig.generate_tikz() to see the generated pgfplots LaTeX:

fig = TikzFigure()
ax = fig.axis2d(
    xlabel="X",
    ylabel="Y",
    xlim=(0, 5),
    ylim=(0, 5),
)
ax.add_plot(
    [0, 1, 2, 3, 4],
    [0, 1, 2, 3, 4],
    label="linear",
    color="blue",
)
ax.set_legend(position="north west")


print(fig)
% --------------------------------------------- %
% Tikzfigure generated by tikzfigure v0.3.1     %
% https://github.com/max-models/tikzfigure      %
% --------------------------------------------- %
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \begin{axis}[xlabel=X, ylabel=Y, xmin=0, xmax=5, ymin=0, ymax=5, grid=major, legend pos=north west]
        \addplot[color=blue] coordinates {(0,0) (1,1) (2,2) (3,3) (4,4)};
        \legend{linear}
    \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

This is useful for debugging or pasting into a .tex file.

Normalizing output units

Section titled “Normalizing output units”

If you build figures with tikzfigure.units, you can keep dimension values typed in Python and choose a normalized output unit at render time.

fig = TikzFigure()
fig.node(
    (0, 0),
    content="Box",
    shape="rectangle",
    fill="blue!15",
    minimum_width=1.2 * units.cm,
    minimum_height=8 * units.mm,
    rounded_corners=4 * units.pt,
)


print(fig.generate_tikz(output_unit="pt"))
% --------------------------------------------- %
% Tikzfigure generated by tikzfigure v0.3.1     %
% https://github.com/max-models/tikzfigure      %
% --------------------------------------------- %
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \node[shape=rectangle, fill=blue!15, minimum width=34.14324pt, minimum height=22.76216pt, rounded corners=4pt] (node0) at ({0}, {0}) {Box};
\end{tikzpicture}

This converts TikzDimension values during rendering, which is handy when you want consistent exported TikZ code without manually rewriting every dimension.

Full standalone document

Section titled “Full standalone document”

generate_standalone() returns a complete compilable LaTeX document including the preamble, packages, and all library imports:

fig = TikzFigure()
fig.add_package("amsmath")
fig.node(
    (0, 0),
    content=r"$\sum_{k=1}^{n} k$",
    shape="circle",
    fill="blue!20",
)


print(fig.generate_standalone())
\documentclass[border=10pt]{standalone}
\PassOptionsToPackage{dvipsnames,svgnames,x11names}{xcolor}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=newest}
\usepgfplotslibrary{groupplots}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
% --------------------------------------------- %
% Tikzfigure generated by tikzfigure v0.3.1     %
% https://github.com/max-models/tikzfigure      %
% --------------------------------------------- %
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \node[shape=circle, fill=blue!20] (node0) at ({0}, {0}) {$\sum_{k=1}^{n} k$};
\end{tikzpicture}


\end{document}
Show Tikz code 
print(fig)
% --------------------------------------------- %
% Tikzfigure generated by tikzfigure v0.3.1     %
% https://github.com/max-models/tikzfigure      %
% --------------------------------------------- %
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \node[shape=circle, fill=blue!20] (node0) at ({0}, {0}) {$\sum_{k=1}^{n} k$};
\end{tikzpicture}

Compiling to PDF

Section titled “Compiling to PDF”

compile_pdf() compiles the figure and returns the path to the generated PDF:

fig = TikzFigure()
fig.node(
    (0, 0),
    content="Hello",
    shape="circle",
    fill="cyan!30",
)


pdf_path = fig.compile_pdf()
print(f"PDF saved to: {pdf_path}")

Web compilation

Section titled “Web compilation”

If you don’t have pdflatex installed locally, use web-based compilation:

fig = TikzFigure()
fig.node(
    (0, 0),
    content="Hello",
    shape="circle",
    fill="cyan!30",
)


# Use the latex-on-http API
fig.show(use_web_compilation=True)


# Or save with web compilation
fig.savefig(
    "output.png",
    use_web_compilation=True,
    output_unit="pt",
)

This sends the LaTeX to a remote API for compilation, no local TeX installation needed.

Display size in Jupyter

Section titled “Display size in Jupyter”

The figsize parameter controls how large the figure appears in Jupyter notebooks. It does not affect the LaTeX output or saved files:

# Small display
fig = TikzFigure(figsize=(4, 2))
fig.node(
    (0, 0),
    shape="circle",
    fill="red!40",
    content="Small",
)
fig.show()

# Large display (same LaTeX, bigger rendering)
fig = TikzFigure(figsize=(8, 4))
fig.node(
    (0, 0),
    shape="circle",
    fill="blue!40",
    content="Large",
)
fig.show()

Show Tikz code 
print(fig)
% --------------------------------------------- %
% Tikzfigure generated by tikzfigure v0.3.1     %
% https://github.com/max-models/tikzfigure      %
% --------------------------------------------- %
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \node[shape=circle, fill=blue!40] (node0) at ({0}, {0}) {Large};
\end{tikzpicture}