# TikZ: Get values for predefined dash patterns

Is there a way to get values for predefined dash patterns such as dotted? I would like to use those in another program to create the same visual experience. Or do I have to define my own patterns in order to have the same values?

You can find the definitions of these and many others in the tikz.code.tex file in your distribution (e.g. MikTeX has it under C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\generic\pgf\frontendlayer\tikz\ )

\tikzstyle{solid}=                   [dash pattern=]
\tikzstyle{dotted}=                  [dash pattern=on \pgflinewidth off 2pt]
\tikzstyle{densely dotted}=          [dash pattern=on \pgflinewidth off 1pt]
\tikzstyle{loosely dotted}=          [dash pattern=on \pgflinewidth off 4pt]
\tikzstyle{dashed}=                  [dash pattern=on 3pt off 3pt]
\tikzstyle{densely dashed}=          [dash pattern=on 3pt off 2pt]
\tikzstyle{loosely dashed}=          [dash pattern=on 3pt off 6pt]
\tikzstyle{dashdotted}=              [dash pattern=on 3pt off 2pt on \the\pgflinewidth off 2pt]
\tikzstyle{densely dashdotted}=      [dash pattern=on 3pt off 1pt on \the\pgflinewidth off 1pt]
\tikzstyle{loosely dashdotted}=      [dash pattern=on 3pt off 4pt on \the\pgflinewidth off 4pt]


For quick comparison, see the output below:

• Damn, you beat me to it by about 15 seconds! This is better than my one too, so +1! Feb 21 '12 at 12:58
• side question: why is the line width referenced using \the in the dashdotted variants, but not in the dotted variants? Jul 31 '15 at 14:20
• @burnpanck Works both ways so probably just inconsistency. Jul 31 '15 at 16:10
• PGF employs the full math parser for dash pattern. You can even do dash pattern=on2off3*3on5, which means dash pattern=on 2pt off 9pt on 5pt off 2pt on 9pt off 5pt. Nov 15 '19 at 22:46
• @Felipe, You need to add some code \documentclass{standalone} \usepackage{pgfplots} \pgfplotsset{compat=1.11} \begin{document} begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ axis lines = left, xmin=-2, xmax=3, ymin=-2, ymax=3, after end axis/.code={ \draw[dashed,blue,->] (axis cs:1,1) -- (axis cs:2,0); } ] \end{axis} \end{tikzpicture} \end{document} Jun 1 '20 at 0:15