PGF 3.0 Released

After a long time, a new version of pgf is out as made out in the announcement from CTAN.  Looks like they've got some massive changes in it.  It's already in the MiKTeX distribution, so you just need to update it.

Some of the things that I found interesting are


 - A Syntax for Graphs: There is now a new simple syntax for specifying
   graphs, borrowed from the GraphViz program. It makes it easy
   to specify graphs and especially trees in a convenient manner.

 - Graph Drawing Algorithms: TikZ now comes with a large and powerful
   system for computing the positions of nodes of graphs automatically
   (you need LuaTeX for this, though).

 - Data Visualization: There is now an alternative to pgfplots as part
   of the standard TikZ installation for creating plots. While pgfplots
   is still the more mature system, the new data visualization system
   comes with some interesting new ideas.

 - Driver Support: Support for all mayor backend drivers has been
   improved. A new, cool thing is the support for dvisvgm, which
   allows you to create powerful SVG graphics directly from TeX,
   including the text.

JTikZ: A Java library that produces TikZ code

From an email to the pgf mailing list, Evan Sultanik has written a Java Library to create TikZ code.  If you code in Java, then it might be useful even if the code is in early stages of development.  The library can be found here.

Instructions on using the Library can be found in the email.

PSTricks or PGF/Tikz?

Right now, you have a choice of learning PSTricks or PGF/Tikz for all your drawing needs. Both are large pieces of work which require you to read the manual over and over again. At least till you get it.

For myself, while I've known about PSTricks, I've stuck to PGF/Tikz. But if you need to have better plotting and more features than the already extensive one in PGF/Tikz, then PSTricks is the way to go. Again, the choice is dependant on your needs and the level of programming you'd like to get into.

This thread on comp.text.tex might help you decide.

EDIT: As the note in the comments mentioned there is also METAPOST and one other graphical language called Asymptote.

PGF and TikZ examples page moved

Kjell posted on the pgf mailing list that he has relocated the gallery of pgf and TikZ figures to the new location. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, it is an incredibly useful resource for typesetting graphics and there are numerous examples of different objects that may be of use to you.

Update your bookmarks.

Jpgfdraw: drawing PGF figures

If you find PGF too difficult to learn and use, then Jpgfdraw may be the tool for you. It exports the drawn picture as a file containing a pgfpicture environment which can then be included in your LaTeX document.

The drawback as I see it, it requires java 1.5 or later to run the application. That's way too much HDD storage needed for a bit of laziness in learning pgf. But if you already have it installed, then this should be ideal for those quick drawings that need to included into your LaTeX document.

Latest Builds of the PGF manual

The pgf package which is one of my favourite LaTeX packages for drawing pictures is released rather infrequently. Meaning, you get to wait a pretty long time for new features that are added, tested and then bundled for a release.

In case you want to the latest, you need to check out the CVS code and the prebuilt manual is available from Kjell's site.

Kjell recently posted on the pgf mailing list about the availability of the latest pgf manuals.