# What does \begin{tikzpicture}[>=latex'] mean?

The code is from here. In the line \begin{tikzpicture}[auto, node distance=2cm,>=latex'] I don't understand this command >=latex'. I found nothing about it in the TikZ & PGF manual.

• It is for arrow tips. See Section 16. Jan 28, 2017 at 15:33

From TikZ Manual for Version 3.0.1a, Section 16.4, pg 201:

So, >= is a shorthand to inform the arrow tip you want. Pay attention for different arrow style related to >=Latex and >=Stealth.

• Hello @Sigur! Thank you for your answer! It's an easy one, shame on me. But this arrow tip seems not to exist anymore, because I get the following error: ! Package pgf Error: Unknown arrow tip kind 'latex''. Jan 29, 2017 at 6:24
• @Su-47, I'm not sure, but I think that you have to load some library to use some different arrow tips. Please, read the guide and search for \usetikzlibrary{arrows} or something similar. Jan 29, 2017 at 11:31
• Hello @Sigur! Thank you for your answer and help! I tested it, see the result below. Feb 5, 2017 at 5:33

After testing I get following.

With the old library and >=:

\documentclass{scrartcl}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows}% old library
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw [-> = latex'] (0, 3) -- (1, 3);% old arrow tip
\draw [-> = latex] (0, 2) -- (1, 2);% old arrow tip
\draw [-> = Latex] (0, 1) -- (1, 1);
\draw [->] (0, 0) -- (1, 0);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


The line \draw [-> = Latex] (0, 1) -- (1, 1); produces an error (as expected):

! Package pgf Error: Unknown arrow tip kind 'Latex'.

The result:

So >= doesn't work in this syntax.

With the old library and -arrow tip type:

\documentclass{scrartcl}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows}% old library
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw [-latex'] (0, 3) -- (1, 3);% old arrow tip
\draw [-latex] (0, 2) -- (1, 2);% old arrow tip
\draw [-Latex] (0, 1) -- (1, 1);
\draw [->] (0, 0) -- (1, 0);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


The line \draw [-Latex] (0, 1) -- (1, 1); produces an error, as above.

The result:

It work like it should.

With the new library and >=.

\documentclass{scrartcl}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw [> = latex'] (0, 3) -- (1, 3);% old arrow tip
\draw [> = latex] (0, 2) -- (1, 2);% old arrow tip
\draw [> = Latex] (0, 1) -- (1, 1);
\draw [->] (0, 0) -- (1, 0);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


The line \draw [> = latex'] (0, 3) -- (1, 3); produces an error (as expected):

! Package pgf Error: Unknown arrow tip kind 'latex''.

The result:

Again >= doesn't work in this syntax.

And the new library with -arrow tip type:

\documentclass{scrartcl}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw [-latex'] (0, 3) -- (1, 3);% old arrow tip
\draw [-latex] (0, 2) -- (1, 2);% old arrow tip
\draw [-Latex] (0, 1) -- (1, 1);
\draw [->] (0, 0) -- (1, 0);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


The line \draw [> = latex'] (0, 3) -- (1, 3); produces an error, as above.

The result:

It work like it should.

The description from the TikZ manual (section 16.1, page 182):

Remark: Almost all of the features described in the following were introduced in version 3.0 of TikZ. For compatibility reasons, the old arrow tips are still available. To differentiate between the old and new arrow tips, the following rule is used: The new, more powerful arrow tips start with an uppercase letter as in Latex, compared to the old arrow tip latex.

Remark: The libraries arrows and arrows.spaced are deprecated. Use arrows.meta instead/additionally, which allows you to do all that the old libraries offered, plus much more. However, the old libraries still work and you can even mix old and new arrow tips (only, the old arrow tips cannot be configured in the ways described in the rest of this section; saying scale=2 for a latex arrow has no effect for instance, while for Latex arrows it doubles their size as one would expect.)

• You want >=Latex, not ->=Latex. Feb 5, 2017 at 7:35
• or -latex: draw[-latex] (0, 2) -- (1, 2); or ... Feb 5, 2017 at 8:03
• Hello @Torbjørn T. and @Zarko! Thank you for your advices. It's more difficult than I thought. See my edited answer above. Feb 10, 2017 at 18:06
• 1) Should have mentioned this before, but please don't write questions in answers. Edit the question, or post a new one. 2) I don't quite understand what the question is. The latex' arrow tip is defined in the old arrows library, so without arrows in the list of libraries you will get the unknown arrow tip error you mention. Feb 10, 2017 at 18:22
• Hello @Torbjørn T.! Thank you for the comment. I have no more questions related to the title What does \begin{tikzpicture}[>=latex'] mean? (in my answer I haven't a single question mark, or do I understand you wrong). After answers and comment (to my question) I wanted to test all cases and write a comparison as an answer. That is all. I hope now it's clear enough. Feb 12, 2017 at 12:16