[Tex/LaTex] Draw curved lines with arrow in LaTeX (TikZ)

arrowstikz-pgf

I need to write a paper and include some graphics. The image I want to include by TikZ is the one on the link. The idee is to draw three curved lines, en put in the middle an arrow (the directions in this example are just random) en at both ends of the line an arrow.

I have no idea how to do this, the TikZ manual isn't very helpful. I hope that someone can help me!

Best Answer

Maybe with the decorations.marking library:

\documentclass[margin=.1cm]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.markings}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[arrowmark/.style 2 args={decoration={markings,mark=at position #1 with \arrow{#2}}}]
\draw[postaction={decorate},
    arrowmark={.5}{<},
    arrowmark={.9}{>},
    arrowmark={.15}{<}
    ](0,0)to[bend right=45](2,0);
\draw[
    postaction={decorate},
    arrowmark={.5}{<},
    arrowmark={.9}{<},
    arrowmark={.15}{<}
    ](.5,-.75)to[bend left=45](1.5,1);
\draw[
    postaction={decorate},
    arrowmark={.5}{<},
    arrowmark={.9}{<},
    arrowmark={.15}{>}
    ](1.5,-.75)to[bend right=45](.5,1);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

enter image description here

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Tikz: Drawing an arrow with three lines

[Converting the OPs comment into an answer]

Found the answer: Draw an arrow path with a double line and at the same place draw a path with one line and voila - "triple" lined arrow.

triplearrow/.style={
  draw=black!75,
  color=black!75,
  thick,
  double distance=4pt, 
  <-, 
  >=stealth
},
thirdline/.style={
  draw=black!75,
  color=black!75,
  thick,
  <-,
  >=stealth
}

[Tex/LaTex] Tikz: Draw simple shortened curved line between two coordinates in tikz

I am also not 100% sure about the question, but hope this addresses the various parts I see.

Here is an example of a straight line, a curved line, and a shortened curved line (in violet):

enter image description here

1. Draw Straight Line:

\draw  (G) -- (R)

produces the straight olive line from (G) to (R).

2. Curved Line:

\draw    (R) to[out=-20,in=-70] (B)

produces the red line with curvature. Instead of using --, we use the to syntax, and the options out= specifies the angle at the start point, and the in= specifies the angle at the end point.

Using distance=3cm with the same in=, and out= we get the red dotted line.

3. Shortened Line:

Withe either of the straight or curved lines, one can use shorten <= to shorten the start point or shorten >= to shorten the end point. A shorten of 0.25cm is applied to both ends of the violet line.

Code:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[ultra thick]
\coordinate (G) at (2.3,6.1);
\coordinate (R) at (6.4,3.9);
\coordinate (B) at (2.1,1.7);

\node [fill=green,circle] at (G) {}; 
\node [fill=red,  circle] at (R) {};
\node [fill=blue, circle] at (B) {};

\draw [olive, -] (G) -- (R);
\draw [red]   (R) to[out=-20,in=-70] (B);
\draw [red,dotted]   (R) to[out=-20,in=-70, distance=3cm ] (B);
\draw [violet, ->, shorten <= 0.25cm, shorten >= 0.25cm] (B) to[out=120,in=150] (G);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}