TikZ and PGF Resources
A growing collection of links to various TikZ and PGF resources.
Mailing lists and online forums
Where to ask questions and look for answers
- Beamer forums on SF
PGF/TikZ related issues are occasionally discussed on these forums
- comp.text.tex
The largest and most active TeX related news group.
- LaTeX-Community.org
A relatively new but growing LaTeX forum/community. Have some friendly and active members that can answer most TeX-related questions.
- PGF and TikZ forums on Sourceforge
Low activity. There is a higher probability of getting an answer if you post to the pgf-users mailing list.
- The latex-beamer-users mailing list on SF
Beamer and PGF is written by the same author. You'll find some discussion about PGF/TikZ on this list as well.
- The pgf-users mailing list on Sourceforge
A friendly and relatively active mailing list. Subscribing to this list is highly recommended.
Packages
Various packages that extends or are built on top of TikZ and PGF.
- bclogo
A package for creating of colorful boxes with a title and logo. It may use either TikZ or PSTricks as graphics engine.
- Beamer
A LaTeX class for creating presentations. Written by the same author as PGF/TikZ.
- Bodegraph
A package for drawing Bode, Nichols-Black and Nyquist diagrams.
- CircuiTikz for drawing electrical networks
A set of LaTeX macros designed to make it easy to draw electrical networks in scientific publications. The circuits library available in the development version of PGF is inspired by this library.
- Pgfplots
Provides a friendly and well documented interface for creating plots with normal or logarithmic scaling.
- prerex
A package for producing charts of course nodes linked by arrows representing pre- and co-requisites, and prerex, an interactive program for creating and editing chart descriptions. Built on PGF.
- Schéma-blocs avec PGF/TIKZ
A set of macros for drawing block diagrams. (French documentation)
- sparklines
A simple package for drawing sparklines
- tikz-timing
A package for creating timing diagrams.
- tkz-berge
A set of macros for drawing various classic graphs from graph theory.
- tkz-graph
A macro package for drawing graphs.
- tkz-linknodes
Provides facilities for linking elements of an amsmath align or aligned environment.
- tkz-tab
A package that provides macros for creating tables showing signs and variations of functions.
Tools for working with TikZ code
- extractpgf
A Perl script that extracts each tikzpicture environment to its own PDF file.
- ktikz
A small KDE application for easing the creation of TikZ diagrams.
- TikZ2PDF
A little Python script for previewing TikZ drawings kept in external files. Detects changes and recompiles automatically.
- Webgen::Tag::TikZ
Webgen is a tool for generating static web sites. The
TikZtag provides support for automatically generating graphics using TikZ.
Tools that generate PGF/TikZ code
- Blend2TikZ
A script for exporting Blender curves as TikZ paths. Useful when you need to create and manipulate complicated paths.
- Convert Your VYM Mindmap to PGF/TikZ
A small C program that creates a PGF/TikZ LaTeX file out of a VYM (View Your Mind) XML export.
- Dia
Dia is a GTK+ based general-purpose diagram creation program for Linux, Unix and Windows. Python scriptable! Can save diagrams as PGF code.
- Dot2TeX
A Graphviz to LaTeX converter
- dpic
A PIC-like interpreter. Can output PGF/TikZ code as well as many other formats. Use it with circuit-macros, a powerful set of m4 macros for drawing electric circuit diagrams.
- ePIX
A collection of command line utilities for *nix. Creates mathematically accurate line figures, plots, and movies. Supports TikZ, PSTricks and EEPIC as output formats. Check out the impressive gallery.
- Eps2pgf
Eps2pgf is a PostScript interpreter that converts EPS figures to PGF/TikZ for inclusion in LaTeX documents. The advantage is that all texts are typeset by LaTeX, giving you all the powerful typesetting features and a uniform look of the final document.
- fig2tikz
A neat little conversion tool that transforms your XFig files into TikZ latex commands
- GCLC Geometry Constructions->LaTeX converter
A tool for visualizing and teaching geometry, and for producing mathematical illustrations.
- GeoGebra
GeoGebra is a dynamic mathematics software for schools that joins geometry, algebra and calculus. An excellent TikZ exporter is available in the current pre-release version.
- Gnuplot TikZ terminal
A Gnuplot terminal written in Lua. Generates PGF and TikZ code. This gives you full control of the plots appearance, and you can use TikZ to add overlays and do other manipulations.
- Inkscape TikZ exporter
An Inkscape extension for exporting SVG paths as TikZ code. Still in development.
- JpgfDraw
A vector graphics application written in Java. Can export illustrations as PGF commands, PNG, and SVG. An interesting feature is the possibility of creating frames and shapes for use with the flowfram and shapepar packages.
- LaTeXPiX
A GUI for creating drawings. Outputs EEPIC and PGF code. WIN only.
- Matfig2PGF
A Matlab script for converting figures to PGF code.
- matlab2tikz
A MATLAB script for converting MATLAB plots into TikZ figures for easy and consistent inclusion into LaTeX. Originally based on the Matfig2PGF script. Leverages the Pgfplots package.
- pgfSweave
An R package for use with Sweave that allows for the speedy compilation of high quality graphics by using TeX package PGF and the utility eps2pgf.
- Sketch - A 3D Scene Description Translator
A small, simple system for producing line drawings of two- or three-dimensional solid objects and scenes. Sketch generates PSTricks or PGF/TikZ code, allowing three dimensional drawings to be annotated using LaTeX.
- TpX drawing tool
A lightweight, graphical editor for vector graphics. Windows only.
Tutorials and articles
- Commutative Diagrams using TikZ
An excellent tutorial that shows you how to use TikZ for drawing commutative diagrams. Typeset in the same style as the PGF manual.
- Graphics in LaTeX
An overview of packages for producing line art graphics. Contains a favorable review of PGF and TikZ
- Graphics with PGF and TikZ
An article from the PracTeX journal, written as a collection of graduated examples. The examples presented here cover a wide spectrum of use and provide a starting point for exploration.
- Including TikZ pictures
A description of how to include TikZ pictures by placing them in external files.
- LaTeX Figures with PGF and TikZ
An excellent review of the pros and cons of using PGF and TikZ for creating graphics. Published on the High Energy PhDs weblog.
- Presentation: Graphics with PGF and TikZ
Video from the PracTeX 2006 conference.
- Statistiker-wg.de tutorials
An impressive collection of tutorials that covers a wide variety of TikZ topics. Beautifully presented. In German.
- Trace Diagram Codes & Examples
Displays diagrams and the code used to create trace diagrams.
Websites
- Altermundus.com
An impressive collection of various TikZ-related packages and examples.
- Graph Theory in LaTeX
A gallery of (combinatorial) graphs produced by using LaTeX