Vertically align a tikzpicture and forest

Question

I have this

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{forest}

\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
\usetikzlibrary{automata}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}[%
    node distance=0.8cm,
    ->,
    font=\small,
    baseline=(current bounding box.north)
]
\node[state] (s1) {$s_1$};
\node[state] (s2) [above left=of s1] {$s_2$};
\node[state] (s3) [right=of s1] {$s_8$};
\node[state] (s4) [left=of s2] {$s_3$};
\node[state] (s5) [left=of s1] {$s_5$};
\node[state] (s6) [right=of s2] {$s_9$};
\node[state] (s7) [below left=of s3] {$s_{11}$};
\node[state] (s8) [left=of s5] {$s_4$};
\node[state] (s9) [right=of s6] {$s_{10}$};
\node[state] (s10) [left=of s7] {$s_6$};
\node[state] (s11) [left=of s10] {$s_7$};

\path (s1) edge (s2);
\path (s1) edge (s3);
\path (s2) edge (s4);
\path (s2) edge (s5);
\path (s3) edge (s6);
\path (s3) edge (s7);
\path (s4) edge (s8);
\path (s6) edge (s9);
\path (s5) edge (s10);
\path (s5) edge (s11);
\end{tikzpicture}
\qquad
\begin{forest}
for tree={%
    math content,
    state,
    edge={->},
    l sep=0.1cm,
    s sep=0.1cm,
    font=\small
}
[s_1
    [s_2
        [s_3
            [s_4]
            [,phantom]
        ]
        [s_5
            [s_6]
            [s_7]
        ]
    ]
    [s_8
        [s_9
            [,phantom]
            [s_{10}]
        ]
        [s_{11}]
    ]
]
\end{forest}

\end{document}

which produces

I want these two graphs/trees to be equal in height (or at least top-aligned).

I have tried with baseline=(current bounding box.north), but it did not work as expected.

How do I make an arrow between these with some small text above the arrow? Should I put each graph in a node and use \draw (graph1) -- node[above] {text above} (graph2)?

Edit 1

Using baseline=(current bounding box.south), I get

so they are still not aligned vertically.

Seems to be the same as omitting baseline option completely.

Edit 2

The problem is that I cannot fit the two graphs side by side on my page if the tikzpicture has node distance=2cm. So either the forest should be smaller or I should give up on making them the same height, and instead just align them vertically.

Also, it seems placing an tikzpicture side by side with a forest makes a left margin:

My code is

Some text

\begin{center}
\begin{tikzpicture}[%
    node distance=0.9cm,
    ->,
    font=\small,
    framed
]
\node[state] (s1) {$s_1$};
\node[state] (s2) [above left=of s1] {$s_2$};
\node[state] (s3) [right=of s1] {$s_8$};
\node[state] (s4) [left=of s2] {$s_3$};
\node[state] (s5) [left=of s1] {$s_5$};
\node[state] (s6) [right=of s2] {$s_9$};
\node[state] (s7) [below left=of s3] {$s_{11}$};
\node[state] (s8) [left=of s5] {$s_4$};
\node[state] (s9) [right=of s6] {$s_{10}$};
\node[state] (s10) [left=of s7] {$s_6$};
\node[state] (s11) [left=of s10] {$s_7$};

\path (s1) edge (s2);
\path (s1) edge (s3);
\path (s2) edge (s4);
\path (s2) edge (s5);
\path (s3) edge (s6);
\path (s3) edge (s7);
\path (s4) edge (s8);
\path (s6) edge (s9);
\path (s5) edge (s10);
\path (s5) edge (s11);
\end{tikzpicture}
\hfill
\begin{forest}
for tree={%
    math content,
    state,
    edge={->},
    l sep=0.1cm,
    s sep=0.1cm,
    font=\small,
}
[s_1
    [s_2
        [s_3
            [s_4]
            [,phantom]
        ]
        [s_5
            [s_6]
            [s_7]
        ]
    ]
    [s_8
        [s_9
            [,phantom]
            [s_{10}]
        ]
        [s_{11}]
    ]
]
\end{forest}
\end{center}

If I remove the forest and does not center it, it it left aligned with Some text just above it.

It seems that the baseline of the forest is on the bottom line. So you need to change that baseline too... — Rmano, Dec 28 '16 at 09:27
Sorry, I didn't read properly. To get space after the arrow you can of course just add the \qquad or something back in. To get space before the arrow you can do something like \draw [-latex] (current bounding box.east) ++(2mm,0) --node[above]{text} +(1cm,0);, and change 2mm to what you like. Note however that the diagrams are already much wider than the textblock, which may or may not be a problem. — Torbjørn T., Dec 28 '16 at 09:31
Does not work to put baseline=(current bounding box.south) in both forest and tikzpicture — Jamgreen, Dec 28 '16 at 10:15
But would it be managable to make the two graphs the same height? I know that the one on the left only has 3 levels while the one on the right has 4 levels. I have tried tweaking with different distances, but I cannot make it work — Jamgreen, Dec 28 '16 at 10:17
For future readers: if you're looking for ways to center-align vertically instead, refer to Forest trees on the same line - TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange — user202729, Jun 05 '22 at 12:34

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

To top-align the trees, you need to set an appropriate (north) baseline for both trees. You have already done that for the tikzpicture tree. For the forest tree, you achieve this by adding options baseline and anchor=north to the root node (either in the root node specification, or in the preamble).

You need to specify anchor=north as baseline sets the node's anchor as the baseline for the picture (manual section 3.7.5).

The full code:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{forest}

\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
\usetikzlibrary{automata}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}[%
    node distance=0.8cm,
    ->,
    font=\small,
    baseline=(current bounding box.north)
]
\node[state] (s1) {$s_1$};
\node[state] (s2) [above left=of s1] {$s_2$};
\node[state] (s3) [right=of s1] {$s_8$};
\node[state] (s4) [left=of s2] {$s_3$};
\node[state] (s5) [left=of s1] {$s_5$};
\node[state] (s6) [right=of s2] {$s_9$};
\node[state] (s7) [below left=of s3] {$s_{11}$};
\node[state] (s8) [left=of s5] {$s_4$};
\node[state] (s9) [right=of s6] {$s_{10}$};
\node[state] (s10) [left=of s7] {$s_6$};
\node[state] (s11) [left=of s10] {$s_7$};

\path (s1) edge (s2);
\path (s1) edge (s3);
\path (s2) edge (s4);
\path (s2) edge (s5);
\path (s3) edge (s6);
\path (s3) edge (s7);
\path (s4) edge (s8);
\path (s6) edge (s9);
\path (s5) edge (s10);
\path (s5) edge (s11);
\end{tikzpicture}
\qquad
\begin{forest}
  baseline,anchor=north,
for tree={%
    math content,
    state,
    edge={->},
    l sep=0.1cm,
    s sep=0.1cm,
    font=\small
}
[s_1
    [s_2
        [s_3
            [s_4]
            [,phantom]
        ]
        [s_5
            [s_6]
            [s_7]
        ]
    ]
    [s_8
        [s_9
            [,phantom]
            [s_{10}]
        ]
        [s_{11}]
    ]
]
\end{forest}

\end{document}

To get the trees of the same height, first measure the height of the tikzpicture tree (https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/137367/16819) and then use this information to compute (within forest) the needed level separation.

This is the code, explanation below. Note that the node distance in the left tree needed to be increased, otherwise that tree was just not high enough.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{fullpage}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{forest}

\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
\usetikzlibrary{automata}
\usetikzlibrary{backgrounds}

\newlength{\mywidth}
\newlength{\myheight}

% computes width and height of tikzpicture
\makeatletter
\newcommand{\pgfsize}[2]{ % #1 = width, #2 = height
 \pgfextractx{\@tempdima}{\pgfpointdiff{\pgfpointanchor{current bounding box}{south west}}
 {\pgfpointanchor{current bounding box}{north east}}}
 \global#1=\@tempdima
 \pgfextracty{\@tempdima}{\pgfpointdiff{\pgfpointanchor{current bounding box}{south west}}
 {\pgfpointanchor{current bounding box}{north east}}}
 \global#2=\@tempdima
 %\draw (current bounding box.north east) -- (current bounding box.south west);
}
\makeatother



\begin{document}

\begin{center}
\begin{tikzpicture}[%
    node distance=1.5cm,
    ->,
    font=\small,
    %framed
]
\node[state] (s1) {$s_1$};
\node[state] (s2) [above left=of s1] {$s_2$};
\node[state] (s3) [right=of s1] {$s_8$};
\node[state] (s4) [left=of s2] {$s_3$};
\node[state] (s5) [left=of s1] {$s_5$};
\node[state] (s6) [right=of s2] {$s_9$};
\node[state] (s7) [below left=of s3] {$s_{11}$};
\node[state] (s8) [left=of s5] {$s_4$};
\node[state] (s9) [right=of s6] {$s_{10}$};
\node[state] (s10) [left=of s7] {$s_6$};
\node[state] (s11) [left=of s10] {$s_7$};

\path (s1) edge (s2);
\path (s1) edge (s3);
\path (s2) edge (s4);
\path (s2) edge (s5);
\path (s3) edge (s6);
\path (s3) edge (s7);
\path (s4) edge (s8);
\path (s6) edge (s9);
\path (s5) edge (s10);
\path (s5) edge (s11);
\pgfsize{\mywidth}{\myheight}
\end{tikzpicture}
\hfill
\begin{forest}
for tree={%
    math content,
    state,
    edge={->},
    font=\small,
},
before packing={%
  tempcounta/.max={level}{tree}, % count the levels in the tree
  tempdima=max_y()-min_y(), % node height (assuming it's the same for all nodes)
  tempdimb=((\myheight-(tempcounta()+1)*tempdima())/tempcounta()),
  if tempdimb<={0pt}{TeX={\errmessage{The left picture is not high enough!}}}{},
  for tree={l=0,l sep=tempdimb},
}
[s_1
    [s_2
        [s_3
            [s_4]
            [,phantom]
        ]
        [s_5
            [s_6]
            [s_7]
        ]
    ]
    [s_8
        [s_9
            [,phantom]
            [s_{10}]
        ]
        [s_{11}]
    ]
]
\end{forest}
\end{center}

\end{document}

So:

The desired height is stored in \myheight.
Aggregate function max (manual section 3.14) gets the deepest level.
Using min_x, max_x, min_y, max_y, one can obtain the dimensions of a node. Note that this must be used after the typesetting nodes stage (see manual section 3.4.1). And as the desired level distance must be set before packing, the relevant code goes into temporal propagator before packing.
Some simple math to compute the desired distance between the parent and child node
The result is stored into l sep (not l!). This must be so because we have computed the distance between the southmost point of the parent and the northmost point of the child. (Setting l would set the distance between the parent's and the child's node anchors.) l must be set to 0pt to get rid of the default minimum and let the l sep determine the distance on its own.

An alternative way to set the baseline of the tree is to use tikz's baseline directly. This can be achieved by modifying (appending to) macro stored by begin draw (manual section 3.4.3). To set the baseline to the center of the entire tree, write

begin draw/.append code={[baseline=(current bounding box.center)]},

Note that for historic reasons, begin draw is not a forest toks register, but must be set using pgfkeys handler from the .code family, see PGF manual section 82.4.3. :-(

Great! Thanks! I also tried replacing .north with .center in both tikzpicture and forest, but it did not vertically center them. How is this obtained? — Jamgreen, Dec 28 '16 at 13:25
In tikzpicture, what you did was correct. In forest, baseline,anchor=center set the baseline of the picture to the center of the root node. I edited the answer to show how to vertically center the tree. — Sašo Živanović, Dec 28 '16 at 13:36

Steven B. Segletes · Answer 2 · 2017-01-04T12:56:40.663

This relies on \scalerel{<object>}{<reference object>} to scale the vertical footprint of <object> to that of <reference object>. NOTE use of 2016-12-29 version of scalerel.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{forest}
\usepackage{scalerel}[2016-12-29]
\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
\usetikzlibrary{automata}

\begin{document}
\scalerel{%
\begin{tikzpicture}[%
    node distance=0.8cm,
    ->,
    font=\small,
    baseline=(current bounding box.north)
]
\node[state] (s1) {$s_1$};
\node[state] (s2) [above left=of s1] {$s_2$};
\node[state] (s3) [right=of s1] {$s_8$};
\node[state] (s4) [left=of s2] {$s_3$};
\node[state] (s5) [left=of s1] {$s_5$};
\node[state] (s6) [right=of s2] {$s_9$};
\node[state] (s7) [below left=of s3] {$s_{11}$};
\node[state] (s8) [left=of s5] {$s_4$};
\node[state] (s9) [right=of s6] {$s_{10}$};
\node[state] (s10) [left=of s7] {$s_6$};
\node[state] (s11) [left=of s10] {$s_7$};

\path (s1) edge (s2);
\path (s1) edge (s3);
\path (s2) edge (s4);
\path (s2) edge (s5);
\path (s3) edge (s6);
\path (s3) edge (s7);
\path (s4) edge (s8);
\path (s6) edge (s9);
\path (s5) edge (s10);
\path (s5) edge (s11);
\end{tikzpicture}
}{%
\qquad
\begin{forest}
for tree={%
    math content,
    state,
    edge={->},
    l sep=0.1cm,
    s sep=0.1cm,
    font=\small
}
[s_1
    [s_2
        [s_3
            [s_4]
            [,phantom]
        ]
        [s_5
            [s_6]
            [s_7]
        ]
    ]
    [s_8
        [s_9
            [,phantom]
            [s_{10}]
        ]
        [s_{11}]
    ]
]
\end{forest}
}
\end{document}

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:34

Here a method to obtain same height for the two pictures

We use this answer to obtain height of both tikz and forest pictures
Calculate the average of the two heights and store it in \midheight
Use \resizebox to obtain same height of the two pictures

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{forest}

\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
\usetikzlibrary{automata}


\newlength{\heightone}
\newlength{\heighttwo}
\newlength{\midheight}

\newsavebox\mytikz
\newsavebox\myforest


% computes height of tikzpicture
\makeatletter
\newcommand{\pgfsize}[1]{ % #1 =  height
 \pgfextracty{\@tempdima}{\pgfpointdiff{\pgfpointanchor{current bounding box}{south west}}
 {\pgfpointanchor{current bounding box}{north east}}}
 \global#1=\@tempdima
}
\makeatother


\begin{document}
\savebox{\mytikz}{%
\begin{tikzpicture}[%
    node distance=1.2cm,
    every node/.style={inner sep=0.1pt},
    ->,
    font=\small,
    baseline=(current bounding box.south)
]
\node[state] (s1) {$s_1$};
\node[state] (s2) [above left=of s1] {$s_2$};
\node[state] (s3) [right=of s1] {$s_8$};
\node[state] (s4) [left=of s2] {$s_3$};
\node[state] (s5) [left=of s1] {$s_5$};
\node[state] (s6) [right=of s2] {$s_9$};
\node[state] (s7) [below left=of s3] {$s_{11}$};
\node[state] (s8) [left=of s5] {$s_4$};
\node[state] (s9) [right=of s6] {$s_{10}$};
\node[state] (s10) [left=of s7] {$s_6$};
\node[state] (s11) [left=of s10] {$s_7$};

\path (s1) edge (s2);
\path (s1) edge (s3);
\path (s2) edge (s4);
\path (s2) edge (s5);
\path (s3) edge (s6);
\path (s3) edge (s7);
\path (s4) edge (s8);
\path (s6) edge (s9);
\path (s5) edge (s10);
\path (s5) edge (s11);
\pgfsize{\heightone}
\end{tikzpicture}}

\savebox{\myforest}{%
\begin{forest}
for tree={%
    math content,
    state,
    edge={->},
    l sep=0.1cm,
    s sep=0.1cm,
    font=\small
}
[s_1
    [s_2
        [s_3
            [s_4]
            [,phantom]
        ]
        [s_5
            [s_6]
            [s_7]
        ]
    ]
    [s_8
        [s_9
            [,phantom]
            [s_{10}]
        ]
        [s_{11}]
    ]
]
\pgfsize{\heighttwo}
\end{forest}}


\setlength{\midheight}{\dimexpr  .5\heightone + .5\heighttwo}

\centerline{
\resizebox{!}{\midheight}{\usebox{\mytikz}}\quad
\resizebox{!}{\midheight}{\usebox{\myforest}}}

\end{document}

Update

Or you can just modify manually node distance to obtain equal height

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{forest}

\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
\usetikzlibrary{automata}



\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[%
    node distance=1.2cm, % change here
    every node/.style={inner sep=0.1pt},
    ->,
    font=\small,
    baseline=(current bounding box.south)
]
\node[state] (s1) {$s_1$};
\node[state] (s2) [above left=of s1] {$s_2$};
\node[state] (s3) [right=of s1] {$s_8$};
\node[state] (s4) [left=of s2] {$s_3$};
\node[state] (s5) [left=of s1] {$s_5$};
\node[state] (s6) [right=of s2] {$s_9$};
\node[state] (s7) [below left=of s3] {$s_{11}$};
\node[state] (s8) [left=of s5] {$s_4$};
\node[state] (s9) [right=of s6] {$s_{10}$};
\node[state] (s10) [left=of s7] {$s_6$};
\node[state] (s11) [left=of s10] {$s_7$};

\path (s1) edge (s2);
\path (s1) edge (s3);
\path (s2) edge (s4);
\path (s2) edge (s5);
\path (s3) edge (s6);
\path (s3) edge (s7);
\path (s4) edge (s8);
\path (s6) edge (s9);
\path (s5) edge (s10);
\path (s5) edge (s11);
\end{tikzpicture}
\quad
\begin{forest}
for tree={%
    math content,
    state,
    edge={->},
    l sep=0.1cm,
    s sep=0.1cm,
    font=\small
}
[s_1
    [s_2
        [s_3
            [s_4]
            [,phantom]
        ]
        [s_5
            [s_6]
            [s_7]
        ]
    ]
    [s_8
        [s_9
            [,phantom]
            [s_{10}]
        ]
        [s_{11}]
    ]
]
\end{forest}
\end{document}

I would actually keep the sizes of the nodes the same. It seems they are the same height in your example :-D But is it possible to make the forest small enough, so it matches the current node distance in the tikzpicture? Sorry for not being clear from the beginning — Jamgreen, Dec 28 '16 at 12:11

Vertically align a tikzpicture and forest

Edit 1

Edit 2

3 Answers3