How to make a symbol adjust its size globally and locally

Question

In the following code I have created a bullseye symbol. What I want to do is to allow its size to change dynamically both globally (document class option say 10pt, 11pt or 12pt) or locally by using \small, \large, and any command that declares size. That is if in the options of the document class you have 10pt as an option then the symbol will have a size of 10pt if used in the document unless enclosed in {\small} or the sort in which case its size will adjust dynamically to the document settings.

\documentclass[10pt]{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{graphicx}

\newcommand{\bullseye}{%
\tikz{%
\filldraw (0,0) circle (0.6em);
\filldraw[white] (0,0) circle (0.4em);
\filldraw (0,0) circle (0.2em);
}
}
\begin{document}
{\small\bullseye  sample text} sample text % as you can see no change.
\end{document}

Yeah @egreg since it is a horizontal length working with em is better as it is with ex with height right? — azetina, Feb 27 '13 at 18:50
There's no rule for this. Use the one that gives the best results; it mostly depends on how you want the symbol to stick above the baseline with respect to the surrounding text (ex) or you prefer the horizontal dimension (em). — egreg, Feb 27 '13 at 19:02

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 27 '13 at 18:50

6

You can use font dependent units instead of pt

enter image description here

\documentclass[10pt]{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{graphicx}

\newcommand{\bullseye}{%
\tikz{%
\filldraw (0,0) circle (.6em);
\filldraw[white] (0,0) circle (.4em);
\filldraw (0,0) circle (.2em);
}
}
\begin{document}
{\small\bullseye  sample text} sample text % as you can see no change.


{\bullseye  sample text} sample text % as you can see no change.


{\large\bullseye  sample text} sample text % as you can see no change.

\end{document}

answered Feb 27 '13 at 18:50

David Carlisle

757,742

dependent on what? – David Carlisle Feb 27 '13 at 19:03
Say the font size is set to 10pt for the document, is it possible to make the size(height) of the symbol be that without manually setting it? – azetina Feb 27 '13 at 19:05
in that case 1em at \normalsize will be 10pt so just use em units and it will size with [10pt] or [12pt] document options – David Carlisle Feb 27 '13 at 19:07
@DavidCarlisle: 1em and 1ex does not only change with fontsize, but also with family, weight and shape. See my survey made as an answer to “http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/4239/which-measurement-units-should-one-use-in-latex/97970#97970”. – Johan_E Feb 28 '13 at 00:57
@Johan_E yes of course they are font parameters so can be set to any values by the font designer, but in the context of this question size is the important feature and if you define in em units the symbol will change with both font size changes like \large and document options like [12pt] – David Carlisle Feb 28 '13 at 08:32
@DavidCarlisle; sure. The comment was only to remind of the other factors that 1em and 1ex may depend on; so they don’t come back and bite you, i.e. when setting the symbol in a bold context and find it another size compared to a non-bold context despite both being \normalsize (or whatever)... – Johan_E Feb 28 '13 at 21:58

How to make a symbol adjust its size globally and locally

1 Answers1