problem making a commutative diagram in tikz using positioning library

Question

I am using the positioning TikZ library to make a commutative diagram. I am having trouble getting the bottom arrow to be horizontal.

Here is the output with my problem: the positioning library is on the left, and the output I thought I should get (done with the matrix library) is on the right. The problem is the arrow above $\psi^{-1}$ : it is not exactly horizontal on the left version of the diagram.

What am I doing wrong? Is there a reason I shouldn't be getting the same picture on the left and on the right?

output exhibiting problem

And here is my code:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix,positioning}


\begin{document}


\[
\begin{tikzpicture}[  baseline=(current bounding box.center)]
  % Tell it where the nodes are
  \node (F) {$M^P \cap \pi_W^{-1}( U) $};
  \node (E) [right=of F] {$V$};
  \draw[->] (F)-- node [above] {\footnotesize $\pi_V$} (E);
   \node (C) [below=of F] {$U \subset W$};
   \draw[->] (F)-- node [left] {\footnotesize $\pi_W$} (C);
  \node (B) [below=of E] {$I \times V$};
  \draw[->] (C)-- node [below] {\footnotesize $\psi^{-1}$} (B);
  \draw[<-] (E)-- (B);
\end{tikzpicture}
=
\begin{tikzpicture}[every node/.style={midway},  baseline=(current bounding box.center)]
\matrix[column sep={6em,between origins},
        row sep={3em}] at (0,0)
{ 
  \node (F) {$M^P \cap \pi_W^{-1}( U) $}; & 
  \node (E) {$V$};\\
     \node (C) {$U \subset W$};&
      \node (B) {$I \times V$};\\};
        \draw[->] (F)-- node [above] {\footnotesize $\pi_V$} (E);
   \draw[->] (F)-- node [left] {\footnotesize $\pi_W$} (C);
  \draw[->] (C)-- node [below] {\footnotesize $\psi^{-1}$} (B);
  \draw[<-] (E)-- (B);
\end{tikzpicture}
\]
\end{document}

Take a look at the snake lemma (http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/3894/86), the bit starting "(Added in edit)". — Andrew Stacey, Mar 19 '12 at 13:52
Though looking in more detail at your code, that's the explanation but the solutions are different. — Andrew Stacey, Mar 19 '12 at 13:54
Not directly related to the question itself, but there is a package for creating commutative diagrams that uses TikZ, tikz-cd. — Torbjørn T., Mar 19 '12 at 14:02
The top left node has a subscript, hence it has a greater depth. The below=of x on both nodes simply positions the new node some standard distance below x (node distance actually, which is 1cm and 1cm by default). below uses the south anchor, so if one of the nodes has a greater depth it will also have a slightly lower anchor (since the centers are aligned, due to the placement using right=of...). This causes the new nodes to not be aligned horizontally. You can remedy this by using the center anchor explicitly. when saying below=of .... — Roelof Spijker, Mar 19 '12 at 14:28

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 07 '17 at 17:47

This is normal. The node of the first lines are different heights. You need to use option on grid

You can remove every node/.style={midway} in the second picture

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix,positioning}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}[every node/.style={on grid},  baseline=(current bounding box.center),node distance=2]
  % Tell it where the nodes are
  \node (F) {$M^P \cap \pi_W^{-1}( U) $};
  \node (E) [right=of F] {$V$};
  \draw[->] (F)-- node [above] {\footnotesize $\pi_V$} (E);
   \node (C) [below=of F] {$U \subset W$};
   \draw[->] (F)-- node [left] {\footnotesize $\pi_W$} (C);
  \node (B) [below=of E] {$I \times V$};
  \draw[->] (C)-- node [below] {\footnotesize $\psi^{-1}$} (B);
  \draw[<-] (E)-- (B);
\end{tikzpicture}
=
\begin{tikzpicture}[  baseline=(current bounding box.center)]
\matrix[column sep={6em,between origins},
        row sep={3em}] at (0,0)
{ 
  \node (F) {$M^P \cap \pi_W^{-1}( U) $}; & 
  \node (E) {$V$};\\
     \node (C) {$U \subset W$};&
      \node (B) {$I \times V$};\\};
        \draw[->] (F)-- node [above] {\footnotesize $\pi_V$} (E);
   \draw[->] (F)-- node [left] {\footnotesize $\pi_W$} (C);
  \draw[->] (C)-- node [below] {\footnotesize $\psi^{-1}$} (B);
  \draw[<-] (E)-- (B);
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

enter image description here

problem making a commutative diagram in tikz using positioning library

1 Answers1