How can I draw a folder/directory icon in tikz?

Question

If possible I want to draw somthing close to a folder dir figure as a node object under tikzpicture:

Related: https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/174673/127048 here there is a tikz solution but I was not able to remove paper inside of the folder.

Answer 1

Here is part of the solution, i.e. one way it could be done:

• place a node
• put as "text" a \tikz{ ...} call
• see the red drawing in the screenshot below

    % ~~~ a simple way to put a drawing as a node ~~~~~
    \node [rotate=-30,red] at (0,-9) {\tikz{\pic [line width=7pt] at (0,0) {symb};}};

For simplicity I expanded my latest solution to an other question you posted: check the last \node statement at the end. As you can see:

• you can pass most options to the \node [...]
• however, at least the line width needs to be passed to the \pic

To define own nodes and shapes, see Ch. 106 in the manual. But I suppose, my approach is easier to digest and to apply.

\documentclass[10pt,border=3mm,tikz]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
% ~~~ pictures ~~~~~~~~~
\tikzset{
    symb/.pic={
    \draw (1.5,3.25) -- (-2.65,3.25) -- (-2.65,-3.3) -- (2.85,-3.35) -- (2.85,1.85) -- cycle;
    \draw (-.45,.8) -- (-1.45,-.25) -- (-.55,-1.3);
    \draw ( .45,.8) -- ( 1.45,-.25) -- ( .55,-1.3);
    }
}
\tikzset{
    pers/.pic={
    \draw (1.5,3.25) -- (-2.65,3.25) -- (-2.65,-3.3) -- (2.85,-3.35) -- (2.85,1.85) -- cycle;
    \draw [fill=black,draw=white] (1.05,1.95) -- (-1.95,2)  -- (-1.95,-2) -- 
    (-0.95, -2) arc [start angle=180,end angle=90,radius=1cm] --
    ++(0,0) arc [start angle=270,end angle=-90,radius=1cm] --
    ++ (0,0)  arc [start angle=90,end angle=0,radius=1cm]
    -- (2.05,-2) -- (2.05,1) -- cycle;
    }
}
 % ~~~ demo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 \begin{tikzpicture}[line width=3pt]
    \pic at (0,0) {symb};
    \pic at (6,0) {pers};
\pic at (12,-9) {pers};

% ~~~ a simple way to put a drawing as a node ~~~~~~~~~~~~
\node [rotate=-30,red] at (0,-9) {\tikz{\pic [line width=7pt] at (0,0) {symb};}};

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Answer 2

Here's a way to do it. The basic concept is the same as described before, but now with a folder drawing:

• lower left folder-in-a-node, line width=3pt
• upper right, changed to \node [dashed] and smaller line width
• just to demonstrate how to use it

\documentclass[10pt,border=3mm,tikz]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
% ~~~ pictures ~~~~~~~~~
\tikzset{
    folder/.pic={
    % ~~~ back part ~~~~~~~~~~
    \draw [fill=green!70!blue, rounded corners] (-1.43,-1.05) -- (-1.43,1.04) -- (-0.77,1.04) -- (-0.77,0.68) -- (0.94,0.68) -- (0.94,0.0) -- cycle;
    % ~~~ front part ~~~~~~~~~
    \draw [fill=green!80!, rounded corners] (-1.43,-1.05) -- (-1.03,0.37) -- (1.29,.37) -- (0.90,-1.05) -- cycle;
    }
}
% ~~~ demo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 \begin{tikzpicture}%   [line width=3pt]

    % ~~~ a simple way to put a drawing as a node ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    \node at (0,-2) {\tikz{\pic [line width=3pt] at (0,0) {folder};}};
    \node [dashed, rotate=20] at (4,1) {\tikz{\pic [line width=1pt] at (0,0) {folder};}};
 \end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

P.S.: Some remarks on scaling effects. Tikz will have trouble to meet demands, when objects become too small. Example:

• \pics called with line width=1pt
• \pic sets rounded corners=5pt
• upper folder uses only ,scale=.5]
• lower one uses ,scale=.5,transform shape]

You can see artifacts, which are similar but not identical for both scaled pics. For the given coordinates limit seems to be around rounded corners=3pt to change between invisible and visible effect.

The reason is that Tikz tries to draw a rounded corner at the given coordinate with the given radius. Would the radius be smaller OR the coordinate difference in height be larger, it would have succeeded.

\documentclass[10pt,border=3mm,tikz]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
% ~~~ pictures ~~~~~~~~~
\tikzset{
    folder/.pic={
    % ~~~ back part ~~~~~~~~~~
    \draw [fill=green!70!blue, rounded corners=5pt] (-1.43,-1.05) -- (-1.43,1.04) -- (-0.77,1.04) -- (-0.77,0.68) -- (0.94,0.68) -- (0.94,0.0) -- cycle;
    % ~~~ front part ~~~~~~~~~
    \draw [fill=green!80!, rounded corners] (-1.43,-1.05) -- (-1.03,0.37) -- (1.29,.37) -- (0.90,-1.05) -- cycle;
    }
}
% ~~~ demo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 \begin{tikzpicture}%   [line width=3pt]

    % ~~~ a simple way to put a drawing as a node ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    \node at (0,3) {\tikz{\pic [line width=1pt,scale=.5] at (0,0) {folder};}};
    \node at (0,0) {\tikz{\pic [line width=1pt] at (0,0) {folder};}};
    \node at (0,-3) {\tikz{\pic [line width=1pt,scale=.5,transform shape] at (0,0) {folder};}};
    \node [dashed, rotate=20] at (4,1) {\tikz{\pic [line width=1pt] at (0,0) {folder};}};
 \end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}