tikzfigure

Python interface to generate (readable) Tikz figures.

Install

Create and activate python environment, then install tikzfigure with

pip install tikzfigure

Examples

Generate tikz-figures with Python API

Generate a simple TikZ figure with nodes and arrows, see Figure 1.

from tikzfigure import TikzFigure

fig = TikzFigure()

n1 = fig.node(x=0, y=0, shape="circle", fill="blue!40!green", content="Tikz")
n2 = fig.node(x=2, y=0, shape="circle", fill="purple!40!orange", content="Figure")

fig.draw([n1, n2], line_width=2, arrows="->", color="gray")

fig.variable("R", 1.0)

with fig.loop("angle", range(40, 340, 20)) as loop:
    loop.node(
        x=r"\R*cos(\angle)",
        y=r"\R*sin(\angle)",
        shape="circle",
        fill="red!50",
    )

fig.show()

For segment-local TikZ options, you can also build paths fluently with Node.to(...) and keep path-wide styling on fig.draw(...).

You can also save the figure as a .tikz file or print the LaTeX code:

print(fig)

% --------------------------------------------- %
% Tikzfigure generated by tikzfigure v0.2.1     %
% https://github.com/max-models/tikzfigure      %
% --------------------------------------------- %
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \pgfmathsetmacro{\R}{1.0}
    \node[shape=circle, fill=blue!40!green] (node0) at ({0}, {0}) {Tikz};
    \node[shape=circle, fill=purple!40!orange] (node1) at ({2}, {0}) {Figure};
    \draw[color=gray, line width=2, arrows=->] (node0) to (node1);
    \foreach \angle in {40,60,80,100,120,140,160,180,200,220,240,260,280,300,320}{
        \node[shape=circle, fill=red!50] () at ({\R*cos(\angle)}, {\R*sin(\angle)}) {};
    }
\end{tikzpicture}

Note that to visualize the plots in a popup or in jupyterlab, install with pip install "tikzfigure[vis]"

Drawing without creating a figure

For quick scripts and notebooks you can skip the TikzFigure object altogether. The module-level functions draw on an implicit current figure that is created the first time you use one, much like matplotlib.pyplot:

import tikzfigure as tf

tf.draw([(0, 0), (1, 1), (2, 0)], arrows="->")
tf.circle((1, 1), radius=0.3, fill="cyan!40")
tf.show()

Use tf.figure() to start a new figure, tf.gcf() to get hold of the current one, tf.scf(fig) to make an existing figure current, and tf.close() to throw the current figure away. Anything you can do on a TikzFigure is available as a module-level function.

The explicit API remains the recommended one for larger figures, since it is the only way to work on several figures at once.

IPython Magic Commands

tikzfigure includes IPython magic commands for compiling TikZ figures directly in Jupyter notebooks!

Load the extension:

%load_ext tikzfigure.ipython

Then use the %%tikz cell magic:

%%tikz
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw[thick, blue] (0,0) circle (2cm);
\node at (0,0) {Hello TikZ!};
\end{tikzpicture}

See tutorials for more examples!