TUGboat 44:3 (2023)
The Communications of the TeX Users Group

Title: A TikZ rendering of the Arecibo message

Summary: tutorial on rendering raster data with TikZ.

Full text of article: publicly available now.

Author: Travis Stenborg

Publication: TUGboat volume 44, number 3 (2023), pages 375–377

DOI (this page): 10.47397/tb/44-3/tb138stenborg-arecibo
(previous doi - next doi)

Category: Graphics

Difficulty: Introductory

Abstract: A new tutorial on the TikZ package for vector graphics in LaTeX is presented. Rendering binary-encoded data of the interstellar Arecibo message, into a digital image, was used as the learning exercise. Demonstration of data indexing, multidimensional lists, nested loops, string concatenation, variable declarations, and more, are given for budding TikZ enthusiasts. The material also has potential for adaptation to custom rendering 2D data matrices more generally.

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