Scientific Drawing

Scientific Drawing

Select tool, write source, compile to PDF/SVG, verify output.

Tool Selection

Need diagram?
├─ Software architecture / ERD / flowchart?
│  └─ D2 (references/d2-guide.md)
├─ Mathematical / abstract algebra?
│  ├─ Need automatic layout from notation?
│  │  └─ Penrose (constraint-based, references/penrose.md)
│  └─ Need precise control?
│     └─ TikZ (references/tikz.md)
├─ 3D visualization?
│  └─ Asymptote (references/asymptote.md)
└─ Everything else (2D plots, diagrams, fast iteration)?
   └─ Typst + CeTZ (default — millisecond compile)

Default to Typst + CeTZ unless the task specifically needs TikZ packages (circuits, chemistry, Feynman) or D2 (architecture). Typst compiles in milliseconds vs seconds for LaTeX.

For designer-style illustrations (logos, icons, decorative SVGs) where deterministic code is overkill, use the illustration-gen skill (Quiver Arrow API, paid).

Typst + CeTZ (Default)

#import "@preview/cetz:0.3.4": canvas, draw, plot

#canvas({
  import draw: *
  circle((0, 0), radius: 1, fill: blue.lighten(80%))
  line((0, 0), (2, 1), stroke: red)
  content((1, 0.5), [Hello])
})

Compile: typst compile diagram.typ diagram.pdf (or .svg)

Plotting:

#canvas({
  plot.plot(size: (8, 6), x-label: [Time], y-label: [Value], {
    plot.add(domain: (0, 2*calc.pi), x => calc.sin(x))
  })
})

Useful packages (auto-download on first use):

Gotchas: Math uses $ ... $ not \( ... \). Use CeTZ 0.3.4+ — 0.2.2 panics on negative coordinates.

Compile & Convert

# Typst (fastest)
typst compile diagram.typ diagram.pdf

# TikZ
pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode diagram.tex

# Asymptote
asy -f pdf -noV diagram.asy

# D2
d2 input.d2 output.svg

# Penrose
bunx @penrose/roger trio trio.json > output.svg

# PDF to PNG (high res)
convert -density 300 diagram.pdf diagram.png

Troubleshooting

For detailed tool guides: references/tikz.md, references/d2-guide.md, references/asymptote.md, references/penrose.md. For CI/Docker/batch automation: references/advanced-workflows.md. Worked examples per tool: examples/.

$ARGUMENTS