[Tex/LaTex] Shifting origin (0,0) to new coordinates in TikZ

tikz-pgf

I saw some explanation here how to shift the origin. But at the end of the environment it is reverted.

What I want is a command that shifts without reverting it. I thought this might be possible with nodes. But this is just an idea for a work around.

I tried the command \scope[shift={(0,-5)}] and it – of course – didn't work.

What I want to achieve is something like this:

\draw [->, very thick] (0, 0) -- (0,-1);
\scope[shift={(0,-1)}]
\draw [->, very thick] (0, 0) -- (0,-1);
\scope[shift={(0,-1)}]
\draw [->, very thick] (0, 0) -- (0,-1);

resulting in three chained arrows. I'm aware that this might be achieved in other ways, but some command like this would be in my opinion very useful.

Best Answer

I'm not sure of the usefulness of this approach, but \tikzset can alter most of tikz parameters from the point it appears on, so...

\documentclass[tikz, border=5pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \draw [->, very thick] (0, 0) -- (0,-1);
    \tikzset{shift={(0,-1)}}
    \draw [->, very thick] (0, 0) -- (0,-1);
    \tikzset{shift={(0,-1)}}
    \draw [->, very thick] (0, 0) -- (0,-1);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] shifting (0,0) to new coordinate Tikz

If you want to do exactly this, then put whatever you want to move in a scope, and provide the shift option to said scope (the curly braces are necessary so the comma isn't thought to separate options). Something like

\begin{tikzpicture}
  \begin{scope}[shift={(-5,0)}]
    ... graph goes here ...
  \end{scope}
  ... other code goes here ...
\end{tikzpicture}

However, if your whole picture is wider than the text, this won't help. In that case, you should be able to use a negative horizontal space:

\hspace*{-5cm}%
\begin{tikzpicture}
  ... picture goes here ...
\end{tikzpicture}

However, if you want centering, you could check out some of the solutions to a similar problem with over-wide tables, such as surrounding it in a zero-width box.

[Tex/LaTex] Tikz coordinates, arrows, and stopping short

You can use the <coordinate>!<number>!<second coordinate> syntax; for example (3,3)!.25!(0,0) means "the coordinate that is one quarter on the way from (3,3) to (0,0)". To place the label in the middle of the arrow, use the midway option. An example:

\documentclass[12pt]{article} 
\usepackage{tikz} 
\usetikzlibrary{calc} 

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\coordinate (a) at (3,3);
\coordinate (b) at (3,0);
\coordinate (c) at (-3,3);
\node (O) at (0,0) {origin};
\draw[->,red] (3,3) -- ( $ (a)!.25!(0,0) $ ) node [midway, sloped, above] {12 m/s};
\draw[->,blue] (b) -- ( $ (b)!.8!(0,0) $ ) node [midway, sloped, above] {12 m/s};
\draw[->,magenta] (c) -- ( $ (c)!.5!(0,0) $ ) node [midway, sloped, above] {12 m/s};
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

enter image description here

Even closer to waht you need, is the <coordinate>!<dimension>!<second coordinate> syntax, which means "use the point that is distanced <dimension> from <coordinate> on the straight line from <coordinate> to <second coordinate>". A little example: :

\documentclass[12pt]{article} 
\usepackage{tikz} 
\usetikzlibrary{calc} 

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\coordinate (b) at (3,0);
\node (O) at (0,0) {origin};
\draw[->,magenta] (b) -- ( $ (b)!3cm!(0,0) $ ) node [midway, sloped, above] {12 m/s};
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

enter image description here

And, of course, you can wrap this in a macro, as the following example suggests. The \arrowfromto[<attributes>]{<initial coordinate>}{<to coordinate>}{<distance>}{<label>} macro will apply \draw with the options given in the first optional argument, from <initial coordinate> to a point that is <distance> far away from it and on the straight line from <initial coordinate> to the <to coordinate>, using a label given by`:

\documentclass[12pt]{article} 
\usepackage{tikz} 
\usetikzlibrary{calc} 

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
% syntax
% \arrowfromto[<attributes>]{<initial coordinate>}{<to coordinate>}{<distance>}{<label>}
\newcommand\arrowfromto[5][blue]{%
  \draw[#1] #2 -- ( $ #2!#4!#3 $ ) node [midway, sloped, above] {#5}}
\coordinate (a) at (3,3);
\node (O) at (0,0) {$O$};
\node (a) at (0,3) {$a$};
\node (b) at (3,3) {$b$};
\arrowfromto{(O)}{(a)}{5cm}{5cm};
\arrowfromto[-latex,red]{(a)}{(b)}{3cm}{3cm};
\arrowfromto[<->,green!80!black]{(b)}{(O)}{10mm}{10mm};
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

enter image description here

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] shifting (0,0) to new coordinate Tikz

[Tex/LaTex] Tikz coordinates, arrows, and stopping short

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