# How do you slant angle labels to match a diagram?

I saw the image below and noticed that whoever made it slanted the angle label to match the slant of the perspective. I think this is a really nice effect that very effectively labels angles in 3 dimensional shapes.

I was wondering how this kind of effect is done. Also, I was wondering how the slanted right-angle sign is done.

The answer is you don't. Just load the 3d library and let TikZ compute the "slant" for you. The key elements are canvas is <plane> plane at x=<x0> and transform shape in

\begin{scope}[canvas is zy plane at x=0,transform shape]
\draw ({4*cos(30)-cos(15)},{sin(15)}) node[right,xscale=-1,font=\large]{$30^\circ$};
\end{scope}


This will do the projections for you. You may or may not set the 3D coordinate system. If not, TikZ will take the default value z=(-0.5,-0.5). Your picture looks a little bit as if these default values were used, but since these are projections one never knows.

(EDIT: Added the "tilted" arrow using \pgflowlevelsynccm. 2nd EDIT: Now I think I understand what you mean by slanted right angle sign. My bad! 3rd EDIT: added explanation and made minor corrections to the animation.)

\documentclass[margin=3.14mm,tikz]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{3d,arrows.meta}
\tikzset{bullet/.style={circle,fill,scale=0.4}}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[z={({-cos(45)*1cm},{-sin(45)*1cm})},x={(1cm,0cm)}, y={(0cm,1cm)}]
\draw (-2,0,0) -- (5,0,0);
\draw (0.4,0,0) -- (0.4,0,0.4) -- (0,0,0.4);
\draw (0,0,0) node[bullet,label={above left:$P$}] (P){} -- (0,1,0);
\draw (0,{4*sin(30)},0) node[bullet,label={right:$T$}] (T){};
\begin{scope}[canvas is zy plane at x=0,transform shape]
\draw (0,0) -- (6,0);
\draw plot[variable=\x,domain=0:30] ({4*cos(30)-cos(\x)},{sin(\x)});
\draw ({4*cos(30)-cos(15)},{sin(15)}) node[right,xscale=-1,font=\large]{$30^\circ$};
\end{scope}
\begin{scope}[canvas is xz plane at y=0]
\pgflowlevelsynccm
\draw[-{Stealth[length=12pt,width=8pt,inset=3pt]},line width=1mm] (0,-1) -- (0,-2);
\end{scope}
\node[font=\large\sffamily] at (0,0.2,-2) {N};
\draw (0,0,{4*cos(30)}) node[bullet,label={below:$B$}] (B){};
\draw (B) -- (T) -- (P);
\node[bullet,label=above right:$L$] (L) at (4,0,0){};
\draw (L) -- (3,0,6);
\draw[{Triangle[]}-{Triangle[].Bar[]},dashed] ([yshift=9pt]P.center) -- ([yshift=9pt]L.center)
node[midway,fill=white]{1 km};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


The advantage of this method is that this will do the correct slant for any view angle. (One only has to pay a bit attention to the orientation, which is why there is some \mysign trickery at work.)

\documentclass[margin=3.14mm,tikz]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{3d,arrows.meta}
\tikzset{bullet/.style={circle,fill,scale=0.4}}
\begin{document}
\foreach \X in {0,5,...,355}
{\begin{tikzpicture}[z={({-cos(\X)*1cm},{-0.45*sin(\X)*1cm})},x={(1cm,0cm)}, y={(0cm,1cm)}]
\path[use as bounding box] (-6,-5) rectangle (6,5);
\draw (-2,0,0) -- (5,0,0);
\draw (0.4,0,0) -- (0.4,0,0.4) -- (0,0,0.4);
\draw (0,0,0) node[bullet,label={above left:$P$}] (P){} -- (0,1,0);
\draw (0,{4*sin(30)},0) node[bullet,label={right:$T$}] (T){};
\node[bullet,label=above right:$L$] (L) at (4,0,0){};
\draw (L) -- (3,0,6);
\draw[{Triangle[]}-{Triangle[].Bar[]},dashed] ([yshift=9pt]P.center) -- ([yshift=9pt]L.center)
node[midway,fill=white]{1 km};
\begin{scope}[canvas is zy plane at x=0,transform shape]
\draw (0,0) -- (6,0);
\draw plot[variable=\x,domain=0:30] ({4*cos(30)-cos(\x)},{sin(\x)});
\pgfmathtruncatemacro{\mysign}{sign(-cos(\X))}
\ifnum\mysign=1
\draw ({4*cos(30)-cos(15)},{sin(15)}) node[left]{$30^\circ$};
\else
\draw ({4*cos(30)-cos(15)},{sin(15)}) node[xscale={-1},right]{$30^\circ$};
\fi
\end{scope}
\begin{scope}[canvas is xz plane at y=0]
\pgflowlevelsynccm
\draw[-{Stealth[length=12pt,width=8pt,inset=3pt]},line width=1mm] (0,-1) -- (0,-2);
\end{scope}
\node[font=\large\sffamily] at (0,0.2,-2) {N};
\draw (0,0,{4*cos(30)}) node[bullet,label={below:$B$}] (B){};
\draw (B) -- (T) -- (P);
\end{tikzpicture}}
\end{document}


• Cool animation!!! – gen-z ready to perish Aug 5 '18 at 19:49
• The knowledge and helpfulness of the members of this site never cease to amaze me. This is absolutely incredible. – Trogdor Aug 6 '18 at 12:43