vertical alignment of tikzpicture with text

Question

I would like to use underbrace in order to clarify some text and after some searching I found a solution using the Tikz package. However I am having some trouble with the vertical alignment. Here is a MWE of illustrating my problem:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.pathreplacing}
\tikzstyle{underbrace style}=[decorate,decoration={brace,raise=0.5mm,amplitude=3pt,mirror,pre=moveto,pre length=1pt,post=moveto,post length=1pt}]
\tikzstyle{underbrace text style}=[font=\tiny, below, pos=.5, yshift=-1mm]
\newcommand{\tikzunderbrace}[2]{\draw [underbrace style] (#1.south west) -- (#1.south east) node [underbrace text style] {#2};}
\begin{document}
Begining text
\begin{tikzpicture}
\matrix[matrix of nodes, inner sep=0pt, column sep=0pt, nodes={anchor=south}, text height=1.5ex,text depth=.25ex]{
\node (text) {some underlined text};\
};
\tikzunderbrace{text}{explanation}
\end{tikzpicture}
and some more text
\end{document}

Here is the result that I get:

As you can see, the text is vertically not aligned. After searching some more, I realized that I have to add an option to the tikzpicture environment.

I tried the following option [baseline={(text.south)}] which gave me the following result:

as well as [baseline={([yshift={-\ht\strutbox}]text.north)}], which gave me the following result:

As you can see, in both cases the alignment is not good. I would like the entire text to appear on the same line.

Could someone please help me out with what parameters I need to use in order to achieve proper vertical alignment? Thank you very much in advance.

PS. I am using the matrix environment because my actual document is more complicated than what I am showing here. I've just stripped it down for the case of a MWE.

@jopeto do you need the tikzpicture environment? Otherwise the amsmath package and underbrace will do the job. — Excelsior, Mar 25 '21 at 17:04
@Excelsior Yes, I am aware of the underbrace command in the amsmath module, however for my actual example and not the MWE, it cannot meet my needs. Thank you. — jopeto, Mar 25 '21 at 17:22
I think that tikzmark library provides a more legible solution, and allows you to mark multiple nodes with content that you refer to afterwards. We don't know exactly your project requirements but I suggest that you take a look at it. See my solution below. — SebGlav, Mar 25 '21 at 21:59
@jopeto -- since you are using baseline option why not use \begin{tikzpicture}[baseline=-0.12cm] as in the answer below — js bibra, Mar 26 '21 at 05:06

AboAmmar · Answer 1 · 2021-03-25T17:09:24.213

1

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\newcommand{\explan}[2]{$\underbrace{\text{#1}}_\text{#2}$}

\begin{document}

Begining text \explan{some underlined text}{explanation} and some more text

\end{document}

edited Mar 25 '21 at 17:09

answered Mar 25 '21 at 17:03

AboAmmar

46,352
4
58
127

Thank you! For this MWE you solution works perfectly, however it does not meet my needs for the full-blown document that I have. Thank you anyway. – jopeto Mar 25 '21 at 17:24

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 25 '21 at 20:30

1

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{tikzmark}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.pathreplacing}
\tikzstyle{underbrace style}=[decorate,decoration={brace,raise=0.5mm,amplitude=3pt,mirror,pre=moveto,pre length=1pt,post=moveto,post length=1pt}]
\tikzstyle{underbrace text style}=[font=\tiny, below, pos=.5, yshift=-1mm]
\newcommand{\tikzunderbrace}[2]{\draw [underbrace style] (#1.south west) -- (#1.south east) node [underbrace text style] {#2};}
\begin{document}
You should use  \tikzmarknode{N1}{the tikzmark library} to underbrace your text.
\begin{tikzpicture}[overlay,remember picture]
    \tikzunderbrace{N1}{explanation}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Please note that you will have to compile at least twice in order to get your picture correctly positionned.

answered Mar 25 '21 at 20:30

SebGlav

19,186

Yes, this solution works fine and seems to very elegant. However if the text after the underbrace is longer and wraps around to the next line, the next line goes over the underbrace. What is the way to make latex recognize the underbrace and leave enough space to the next line, so that the next line does not overlap with the underbrace? – jopeto Mar 26 '21 at 08:15
What you're asking for in this comment is far from easy to implement. You may want to ask this in a new topic, once you got your prefered solution here (the one you will accept). – SebGlav Mar 26 '21 at 17:42
1

Thank you for your reply. I think that for now I will go with the tikzpicture version, since it automatically gives me the required spacing for the next line. Apart from that you solution seems to be a lot easier and concise. – jopeto Mar 29 '21 at 07:11
Thanks. Feel free to accept your preferd solution, so ;) – SebGlav Mar 29 '21 at 17:21

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 26 '21 at 05:05

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.pathreplacing}
\tikzstyle{underbrace style}= [decorate,decoration={brace,raise=0.5mm,amplitude=3pt,mirror,pre=moveto,pre length=1pt,post=moveto,post length=1pt}]
\tikzstyle{underbrace text style}=[font=\tiny, below, pos=.5, yshift=-1mm]
\newcommand{\tikzunderbrace}[2]{\draw [underbrace style] (#1.south west) -- (#1.south east) node [underbrace text style] {#2};}
\begin{document}
Begining text
\begin{tikzpicture}[baseline=-0.12cm]
    \matrix[matrix of nodes, inner sep=0pt, column sep=0pt, ]{
        \node (text) {some underlined text};\\
    };
    \tikzunderbrace{text}{explanation}
\end{tikzpicture}
and some more text


\end{document}

Thank you! Where does the 0.12cm come from though? I think a better solution would be the one provided by @wulle and use {(text.base)}. — jopeto, Mar 26 '21 at 07:41

vertical alignment of tikzpicture with text

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