Practical Graphics...with LaTeX

Published last year, this book introduces TikZ, a powerful, open source, computer graphics package. Those who use LaTeX to add figures, diagrams, plots or graphs to their documents will find it informative.

-  Frederick Noronha

Quite some time ago, I found some templates online that helped one to create a very neat and coloured mind map. Unfortunately, after some months, I forgot what the name of this software was. There are thousands of useful tools in the world of free and open source software (FOSS). So I wondered how to find the tool I was looking for?

Sometime later, the answer suddenly popped up. It was TikZ. Hence, on seeing this 2023 book on the subject, I thought of checking it out. Then I thought of sharing the potential of this underrated software with anyone who may be interested.

Stefan Kottwitz, the author of this book, promises to give a “practical introduction to production graphics in LaTeX.” He does so, using TikZ, “a powerful modern computer graphics package.” Moreover, he promises that the book will help you write “mathematical, scientific, or technical papers with graphics.” “Learning TikZ is more than worth the effort,” he promises.

Does he succeed in the goal? As someone with an interest in layouts, the digital media and publishing, this book drew my attention.

Its inventor Till Tantau created TikZ as a set of TeX commands for drawing graphics. Tantau is German, studied maths, and works in network and IT security engineering for Lufthansa Industry Solutions.

The book has 15 chapters, ranging from the basics (‘Getting Started with Tikz’) to examples of the more complex results you can achieve. In case you were wondering, this language is meant to produce vector graphics from a geometric or algebraic description. ‘Having Fun with TikZ’ is one chapter. Another brief chapter gives pointers to ‘Other Books You May Enjoy’, and points to LaTeX titles.