Working with the TikZ documentation

The LaTeX and TikZ installations contain documentation. You can access it in the following two ways:

• Windows: Run the cmd app via the Start menu
• Apple macOS or Linux: Open a terminal window

Then, type this command:

texdoc tikz

Your PDF viewing app will open and display the TikZ manual in all its 1,300-page size and glory. But don’t feel intimidated, for the following reasons:

• It’s good to have so many features so well documented in a huge reference with an extensive index, hyperlinks, full-text search, and of course, a lot of examples.
• Hundreds of pages are about the PGF backend, the basic layer, and the system layer on the driver level. You don’t need that as a user.
• It describes all additional libraries and utilities.
• It contains five tutorials.

I hope that in the future, this manual will be split into a TikZ manual, a PGF backend reference for developers, and tutorials.

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