How do you define the size of a rectangle, circle or node in TikZ to be scalable, like when you position objects using (1, 2) and then apply scale=2? What I'm looking for is to be able to scale the objects like circles and boxes along with the coordinates.
[Tex/LaTex] Using scalable sizes for rectangles, circles and nodes in TikZ
scalingtikz-pgf
Related Solutions
I'm afraid there is no simple answer to your question. In TikZ you usually do not want to scale nodes and the text within. (Till Tantau, the author of the package just calls it 'evil'. :) )
By specifying a scaling factor (e.g. \begin{tikzpicture}[scale=<scaling factor>]), every item drawn in the current tikzpicture environment should be scaled to its appropriate size. (This is possible because TikZ produces vector graphics - 'scaleable' graphics, if you like - unlike bitmap graphics that become 'pixelated' when magnified.)
Nodes are a different breed of objects. For one thing they take the font size from the 'surroundings' and they are immune to 'external' transformations. And this is best left like that, I think. There is, however, an option to force nodes to scale according to the scaling factor of the environment: transform shape. (It also forces rotations, etc.) It is also possible to place a node explicitly on a line, with the pos option.
About the absolute dimensions now: you can specify document-specific dimensions too, if that is your need: e.g. \paperheight and \paperwidth work well. Use their fractions and the figures will be adjusted to new page sizes automatically. (They are also used to create the cover page of the TikZ 2.10 manual.)
I'm not sure above=1cm of othernode is a good idea. I'd rather set the node distance parameter (create a new scope, if it does not apply to the whole picture) and use above=of othernode, letting TikZ use the spacing specified earlier. (Of course, if there is only one such node in the whole picture, it can be more comfortable to set the distance only once, by hand.)
I hope I've been of any help.
The anti-aliasing operation is global and made by PDF renderer.
Here, your example:
\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\fill (0,0) circle (0.1);
\fill[color=yellow] (0,0) circle (0.1);
\fill[color=yellow] (0.21,0) circle (0.1);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}
The bitmap result produced by this command:
pdftoppm -r 900 example.pdf | pnmtopng > example.png
The bitmap result produced by the following command (the aaVector option allows to enable or disable vector anti-aliasing):
pdftoppm -r 900 -aaVector no example.pdf | pnmtopng > example.png
With Adobe Reader, you can enable or disable anti-aliasing:
Preferences>>Page Display>>Smooth line art
Evince does not offer an option to disable the anti-aliasing.
Best Answer
You should do your diagram as at the scale you think you want, and then if you want to scale the figur, say to half its size, apply
[scale=0.5]option:The blue is the original with a default
scale=1.0, and the red is scaled by 50%. Note that the coordinate of the center of the circle, and the location of the nodes is also scaled, and the size of the text is not scaled, which is usually the desired behavior.If you want to scale the text as well you should have a look at How to scale Tikz drawings and text together?