creating-figures

Creating Scientific Figures

Create compact, print-friendly figures for academic papers. Two backends are supported, and the choice is determined by the host paper's file type — not by preference:

Host paper	Backend
LaTeX (.tex, \documentclass{...})	TikZ — see TIKZ.md
Typst (.typ)	CeTZ — see TYPST.md

Detection rule

Before generating any figure, identify the host paper:

1. Look at the working directory (or the path the user gave you) for the main paper source.
2. If it ends in .tex (or you find \documentclass / \begin{document} anywhere in the project), produce a TikZ figure.
3. If it ends in .typ (or you find #set page / #import "@preview/..." anywhere in the project), produce a CeTZ figure.
4. If both exist, default to whichever the user is currently editing or pointed you at.
5. Only ask the user if neither extension is present in the working tree.

Never mix backends: a TikZ figure cannot be included in a Typst paper (and vice versa) without first compiling to a standalone PDF/SVG.

Quick Start

LaTeX/TikZ

Minimal block diagram:

% 10pt = the host paper's base font size — copy it from the paper, don't pick your
% own. (Sizes other than 10/11/12pt are silently dropped by article; use
% class=<paperclass> instead — see TIKZ.md, Standalone Compilation.)
\documentclass[tikz,border=2mm,10pt]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta,positioning}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[
  block/.style={rectangle, draw, fill=gray!15, minimum width=2cm, minimum height=0.8cm, font=\sffamily},
  arrow/.style={->, >=Stealth, thick}
]
  \node[block] (a) {Input};
  \node[block, right=of a] (b) {Process};
  \node[block, right=of b] (c) {Output};
  \draw[arrow] (a) -- (b);
  \draw[arrow] (b) -- (c);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}