Danial Taherzadeh

In preparation of my next paper I needed to draw a detailed complex diagram. Since I am using LaTeX and Source Control (which I will write them in detail) I also needed a more robust solution than Adobe Illustrator (which I don't have a license), Inkscape (great package, though still very limited for complex diagrams), and other common ones such as Corel. Needless to say that all their formats are binary and not source-control friendly.

Also, I love to code, so I got to learn about TikZ. It had a wow! effect for me right away.

In TikZ, you can use the full power of LaTeX (as in typesetting), and in addition enhance your digrams with the power of programming. You can create this kind of diagrams in a minute:

What you get is a vector-based image that you can use in your publications (no denting when you scale it), and also track the changes in a version-control system (like when you added a part and then removed it, and you want it back). Also, you can maximize it to your needs and get such diagrams as well (redid the diagram of my first paper to learn):

Also, the synthax is pretty easy to learn too (see below). So, give it a try!

\documentclass[]{article} 
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} 
\usepackage{fullpage} 
\usepackage{tikz} 

%define some cool colors
\xdefinecolor{c1}{HTML}{D4ACEE} 
\xdefinecolor{c2}{HTML}{EEc6AC} 
\xdefinecolor{c3}{HTML}{EDEEAC} 
\xdefinecolor{c4}{HTML}{B3EEAC}

\begin{document} 
\thispagestyle{empty} 
\begin{center}
 
 %here starts the tikz image
 \begin{tikzpicture}
 
 % we define a scope to act as a group property. The subgroups will inherit what you define here
 \begin{scope}[ultra thin]
 
 % we create a for..next loop in Tikz, define xss to be the counter
 \foreach \xss in {0,.1,...,8.1} {
 
 % then start drawing lines.
 \draw[color=c1] (\xss,0) -- (0,8-\xss); 
 \draw[color=c2] (-\xss,0) -- (0,8-\xss); 
 \draw[color=c3] (\xss,0) -- (0,\xss-8); 
 \draw[color=c4] (-\xss,0) -- (0,\xss-8);
 }
 \end{scope}
 
 % let's have some axis as well
 \begin{scope}
 [color=black!50!white] \draw[<->] (-8.5,0) -- (8.5,0) 
 node[right] {$x$}; 
 \draw[<->] (0,-8.5) -- (0,8.5) node[above] {$y$}; 
 \end{scope}
 
 \end{tikzpicture}
\end{center}
\end{document}