creating a dotted paper pdf

Question

I want a template like this http://dottedpaper.com/download/dotted.pdf

to print out. But all the ones I find online have watermarks, so I want to create my own. Is it possible to do in LaTeX? What packages would I use? I found a package graphpap that does graph paper. Is it possible to modify this to do dots isntead?

If you could post a minimal working example (MWE) that illustrates what you've tried so far (perhaps what you've tried with the graphpap package) that would greatly increase the speed and likelihood that you'll get a satisfactory answer. Also, welcome to TeX.SX! :) — Adam Liter, Feb 25 '14 at 23:32
http://michaelgoerz.net/blog/2009/07/printable-paper-with-latex-and-tikz/ may be of interest? — cfr, Feb 26 '14 at 00:11
new link: https://michaelgoerz.net/notes/printable-paper-with-latex-and-tikz.html — Alessandro Cuttin, Oct 01 '20 at 07:37

Gonzalo Medina · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-26T02:35:44.070

You can use the background package (\Step gives the size for the grid):

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{background}

\def\Step{1cm}
\tikzset{dotted lines/.style={black, loosely dotted,  thick}}
\backgroundsetup{
scale=1,
angle=0,
position={current page.north west},
contents={
\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture,overlay]
\draw[dotted lines,step=\Step,help lines]
  (current page.south west) grid  (current page.north east);
  \end{tikzpicture}
  }
}
\begin{document}

\mbox{}
\clearpage
\mbox

\end{document}

enter image description here

For a document with many pages, drawing the grid might be too resource consuming; an option is to first create the grid and then use the background package to place it using a standard \includegraphics:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{background}
\usepackage{graphicx}

\backgroundsetup{
scale=1,
angle=0,
color=black,
contents={\includegraphics{grid}}
}
\begin{document}

\mbox{}
\clearpage
\mbox

\end{document}

where the used grid image was produced by

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[margin=0pt]{geometry}
\usepackage{graphicx}

\def\Step{1cm}
\def\MyDot{\scalebox{1.75}{.}}

\def\Dotbox{\hbox to \Step{\smash{\MyDot}\hfil}}
\def\DotPattern{%
  \hbox to \paperwidth{\leaders\Dotbox\hfill}\kern-.4mm
  \vbox to \Step{\offinterlineskip\leaders\hbox to \paperwidth{\leaders\Dotbox\hfill}\vfill}
  \nointerlineskip\hbox to \paperwidth{\leaders\Dotbox\hfill}%
}
\def\DotGrid{\par\leaders\vbox{\DotPattern}\vfill}

\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
\mbox{}\DotGrid
\end{document}

enter image description here

\Step controls the size of the "grid" and changing the scaling factor for \MyDot gives control over the sixe of the dot used.

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 26 '14 at 08:43

Another tikz version with background. Speed concerns are taken over by the use of boxes.

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{background}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.markings,calc}

\def\Step{0.5}  %% separation between dots
\def\Size{1.5pt}    %% radius of the dot
\def\Toty{60}     %% adjust
\def\Totx{50}     %% adjust


\newsavebox{\mybox}
\sbox{\mybox}{%
\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture]
    \foreach \y in {1,2,...,\Toty}{
        \foreach \x in {1,2,...,\Totx}
          \draw[fill=black,opacity=0.3,shift={(\Step*\x cm,\Step*\y cm)}] (0,) circle[radius=\Size];
    }%
\end{tikzpicture}
}%

\backgroundsetup{
scale=1,
angle=0,
position={current page.center},
contents={%
\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture,overlay]
  \node at (current page.center) {\usebox\mybox};
\end{tikzpicture}%
  }%
}%
\begin{document}
\mbox{}
\clearpage
\mbox{}
\end{document}

enter image description here

This is bit slower than earlier and using decorations:

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{background}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.markings,calc}

\def\Step{0.02}  %% vertical separation between dots
\def\Size{1pt}    %% radius of the dot
\def\Toty{50}     %% inverse of \Step i.e., 1/\Step


\tikzset{
  decoration={%
    markings,
    mark=between positions \Step and 1 step \Step with {
      \draw[fill=black,opacity=0.3] (0,0) circle[radius=\Size];
    },
  }
}


\newsavebox{\mybox}
\sbox{\mybox}{%
\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture]
    \foreach \y in {1,2,...,\Toty}{
    \path[decorate] ($(current page.north west)!\y*\Step!(current page.south west)$) -- ($(current page.north east)!\y*\Step!(current page.south east)$);
    }%
\end{tikzpicture}
}%

\backgroundsetup{
scale=1,
angle=0,
position={current page.north west},
contents={%
\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture,overlay]
  \node at (current page.center) {\usebox\mybox};
\end{tikzpicture}%
  }%
}%
\begin{document}
\mbox{}
\clearpage
\mbox{}
\end{document}

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 26 '14 at 09:06

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{multido}
\usepackage[margin=0pt]{geometry}
\unitlength=1mm
\begin{document}
\vbox to 0pt{\leavevmode\multido{\iC=0+5}{50}{\multido{\iR=0+5}{55}{\put(\iC,\iR){\circle*{0.1}}}}}    
\end{document}

enter image description here

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 16 '20 at 20:37

\documentclass{memoir}
\pagenumbering{gobble}
\usepackage[letterpaper,hmargin={0mm,0mm},vmargin={4mm,3mm}]{geometry}  
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
    \centering
    \begin{tikzpicture}[scale=.5]
    \foreach \x in {0,...,41}
    \foreach \y in {0,...,54}
    {
        \fill[gray!75] (\x,\y) circle (0.06cm);
    }       
    \end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

creating a dotted paper pdf

4 Answers4

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