How to draw this kind of complicated figure?

Question

How to draw this kind of complicated figure with LaTeX? Could I have sources? enter image description here

Ah, straightedge and compass stuff :) Generally, 'do it for me' questions aren't received well and are at the mercy of our procrastination team. This example, while it looks complicated, is just a simple extension of the TikZ tutorial available in its manual. You would do well to read it :) After that, if you still have questions, posting what you have and where you need to go will be much better received :) — Sean Allred, May 01 '15 at 12:03
The site doesn't work by posting an image and asking for a solution, it works best if you show your code and then ask a specific tex question. Start with the tikz manual (texdoc tikz ) and a simpler diagram, such as a circle. If you get stuck, show the code and the error you get and ask a specific coding question, then build up to your final diagram. — David Carlisle, May 01 '15 at 12:04
I think that @SeanAllred means the Euclid tutorial (p59). That will help you break the diagram down into simpler steps and show you how to achieve them. The first tutorial about Karl's diagram also seems relevant here. — cfr, May 01 '15 at 12:27
The asymptote programming language is also very capable of drawing this sort of diagram. I personally prefer asymptote over tikz because its language is very similar to c++. See http://asymptote.sourceforge.net/gallery/ for example figures and code. — James, May 01 '15 at 13:18
This question has lead to a discussion on meta.tex.sx: How do I draw this.....? — Martin Schröder, May 06 '15 at 23:19

A.Ellett · Answer 1 · 2015-05-01T16:03:57.660

Here's the diagram. I haven't labeled points. I might get to that later. But otherwise all the difficult stuff has been done.

\documentclass[border=10pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}

  \coordinate (Q) at (0,0);

  %% we start drawing from the inside and work our way out      
  %% There are two parameters to control                        
  %% the number of major arcs drawn                             
  %% the length of the initial segment                          
  %% from Q to A1 (which is the inner most point here)          
  \def\maxMajorArcCount{4}
  \def\initialLength{1in}
  \foreach \myn in {1,2,...,\maxMajorArcCount}
  {
    %% set lengths for each iternation            
    %% the use of `\xdef` is to help remember     
    %% the length of `\majorRadius` to draw the   
    %% final major arc.                           
    \pgfmathparse{\initialLength*sqrt(3)^(\myn-1)}
    \xdef\majorRadius{\pgfmathresult pt}%%
    \pgfmathparse{\majorRadius*sqrt(3)/3}
    \xdef\minorRadius{\pgfmathresult pt}%%

    \coordinate (A\myn) at (\majorRadius,0);

    %% fill the region with gray
    \ifnum\myn<\maxMajorArcCount\relax
      \draw[fill=gray,opacity=.60]
          (A\myn) arc (0:60:\majorRadius)
                  --  ++(0:\majorRadius);
    \fi

    %% draw the major Radius
    \draw (A\myn) arc (0:60:\majorRadius);

    %% draw the triangle and circumscribing circle.
    \ifnum\myn<\maxMajorArcCount\relax
      \draw (A\myn) -- ++ (60:\majorRadius)
                    -- ++ (180:\majorRadius)
                    -- cycle;
      \draw (A\myn) arc (-90:270:\minorRadius);
    \fi
  }

  %% draw outside angle
  \draw (Q) -- ++ (0:\majorRadius);
  \draw (Q) -- ++ (60:\majorRadius);

\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

enter image description here

@MartinSchröder Although the practice is ubiquitous, is it not? — cfr, May 01 '15 at 22:35
@MartinSchröder I do not know whether the OP is in fact a vampire. But I do know that I have suffered no loss of blood and show no signs of bites. And, apparently, I am immune from vampirism because the light of the sun does not cause me any bodily harm. Nevertheless, I appreciate the concern for my own safety. — A.Ellett, May 02 '15 at 15:11

score 14 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

And here's an effort from the campaign for more Metapost...

enter image description here

prologues := 3;
outputtemplate := "%j%c.eps";
beginfig(1);
pair A[], B[], C[];
A0 = 200 right; 
for i=1 upto 4:
    B[i-1] = A[i-1] rotated 60;
    C[i]   = A[i-1] rotated 30;
    ypart B[i] = ypart C[i]; 
    B[i] = whatever[origin,B0];
endfor
draw origin -- A0 .. C1 .. B0 -- cycle;
for i=1 upto 3: 
  fill A[i]--C[i]--B[i]..C[i+1]..cycle withcolor .8[blue,white];
  draw A[i]--C[i]--B[i]..C[i+1]..cycle;
endfor
for i=1 upto 3: 
  draw A[i]--B[i];
  draw A[i]..B[i]..C[i]..cycle;
endfor 
label.bot(btex $A$ etex, A0);
label.bot(btex $A_1$ etex, A1);
label.bot(btex $A_2$ etex, A2);
label.lft(btex $B$ etex, B0);
label.lft(btex $B_1$ etex, B1);
label.lft(btex $B_2$ etex, B2);
label.rt(btex $C_1$ etex, C1);
label.rt(btex $C_2$ etex, C2);
label.llft(btex $O$ etex, origin);
label(btex $\ldots$ etex rotated 30, 12 right rotated 30);
endfig;
end

How to draw this kind of complicated figure?

2 Answers2