What's meaning of parameters when I want to fill area with different color with Tikz?

Question

I want to fill the area with different color within one page, and I find this question How to change the background color within a page.

After reading the answer of the above question, I think the format is this:

\fill[<the color I want to use>] ([xshift=<the offset in x dirction>,yshift=<the offset in y dirction>]<one vertex of diagnol of the rectangle>) rectangle ([xshift=<the offset in x dirction>,yshift=<the offset in y dirction>]<another vertex of the same diagnol of the rectangle>);

So I write the following code

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\newcommand{\amount}{0.33\paperheight}  
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture,overlay]
  \fill[green] (current page.north west) rectangle ([yshift=-\amount]current page.north east);
  \fill[yellow] ([yshift=-\amount]current page.north west) rectangle ([yshift=-2\amount]current page.north east);
  \fill[red]([yshift=-2\amount]current page.north west) rectangle ([yshift=-3\amount]current page.north east);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

to fill the page with three colors. But I get the error 'Dimension too large.'

Just a guess: https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/15736 (\newlength instead of \newcommand). — Dr. Manuel Kuehner, Sep 24 '17 at 15:23
as @Dr.ManuelKuehner, said. Otherwise -2\amount is -20.33\paperheight which is a bigger shift than intended. so \newlength\amount\setlength\amount{0.33\paperheight} — David Carlisle, Sep 24 '17 at 15:25
Should I turn the comment/guess into a short answer so that the question can be closed? — Dr. Manuel Kuehner, Sep 24 '17 at 15:47
You could also replace yshift=2\amount by yshift=2*\amount (and the same for the other yshift options). Then it will work with \newcommand too. — esdd, Sep 24 '17 at 15:48
@esdd Modify my answer if you want. But I would guess that using \newlength is semantically better. — Dr. Manuel Kuehner, Sep 24 '17 at 15:52

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 24 '17 at 15:49

2

Use \newlength instead of \newcommand to define a length (0.33\paperheight in your case).
See What is the difference between \def and \newlength? for mor information.

answered Sep 24 '17 at 15:49

Dr. Manuel Kuehner

22,451

What's meaning of parameters when I want to fill area with different color with Tikz?

1 Answers1