[Tex/LaTex] Footprints symbol in LaTeX

packagessymbols

I was wondering if someone knows if there is a foot/feet symbol available in any of latex packages that I could use in my text? I would appreciate any hint.

I do really mean a foot/feet icon as in the picture below.

enter image description here

Best Answer

Welcome to the TikZ section of TeX.SE!

\documentclass[tikz,border=3.14mm]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.footprints}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[decoration={footprints,foot length=20pt}] 
\draw [decorate] (0,0) -- (0,1.5);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

enter image description here

ADDENDUM: A version for tikzlings. ;-)

\documentclass[tikz,border=3.14mm]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.footprints}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\foreach \X [count=\Y] in {human,gnome,bird,felis silvestris}
{\begin{scope}[xshift=2.25*\Y*1cm,decoration={footprints,foot length=20pt,foot of=\X}] 
\draw [decorate] (0,0) -- (0,1.3);
\node[font=\sffamily] at (0,1.5) {\X};
\end{scope}}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

enter image description here

2nd ADDENDUM: How to create your custom footprints? I assume you have some black/white picture of a left foot, which you can legally use for that.

  1. Convert this picture to the pnm format. For instance, on Linux/Mac OS you can use pngtopnm pic.png >pic.pnm.
  2. Then use (e.g.) potrace to make it a vector image, potrace pic.pnm.
  3. You can open that with inkscape and save it as tex, which yields a document in the pstricks format. Remove the preamble and end.
  4. Next you only need to do a regex search and replace that convers converts \curveto to \pgfpathcurveto, similarly for \lineto and \moveto. And a coordinate (x,y) needs to become {\pgfqpoint{xpt}{ypt}} (the outer braces are important).
  5. Then get rid of all \newrgbcolor, \pscustom and \newpath statements and extra braces, but end all paths with \pgfpathclose.

Finally wrap this into

\makeatletter
\def\pgf@lib@foot@of@critter{
  % Coordinates extracted from 
  % license... Unknown author.
  % 
  % Flip and rotate
  \pgftransformcm{0}{-1}{1}{0}{\pgfqpoint{0pt}{0.8pt}}
  \pgftransformscale{0.005}      

  <result of your conversion>

\makeatother

Of course, you may have to adjust the transformations, e.g. by dialing a different scale factor in \pgftransformscale{0.005}. You can then access these foot prints by saying foot of=critter. I will be happy to supplement this by an explicit example if someone points me to an image of a foot print that is free to use.

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