TikZ and PGF Manual

This option sets “how transparent” lines should be. A value of 1 means “fully opaque” or “not transparent at all”, a value of 0 means “fully transparent” or “invisible”. A value of 0.5 yields lines that are semitransparent.

Note that when you use PostScript as your output format, this option works only with recent versions of Ghostscript.

Sets both the drawing and filling opacity to ⟨value⟩.

The following predefined styles make it easier to use this option:

This option sets the opacity of fillings. In addition to filling operations, this opacity also applies to text and images.

Note, again, that when you use PostScript as your output format, this option works only with recent versions of Ghostscript.

Sets the opacity of text labels, overriding the fill opacity setting.

Sets the current blend mode to ⟨mode⟩. Here ⟨mode⟩ must be one of the modes listed below. More details on these modes can also be found in Section 7.2.4 of the pdf Specification, version 1.7.

In the following example, the blend mode is only used and set inside a transparency group (see also Section 23.5). This is because most renderers (viewing programs) have trouble rendering blending correctly otherwise. For instance, at the time of writing, the versions of Adobe’s Reader and Apple’s Preview render the following drawing very differently, if the transparency group is not used in the following example.

Because of the trouble with rendering blending correctly outside transparency groups, there is a special key that establishes a transparency group and sets a blend mode simultaneously:

Here is an overview of the effects of the different available blend modes. In the examples, we always have three circles drawn on top of each other (as in the example code earlier): We start with a triple of pure red, green, and blue. Below it, we have a triple of light versions of these three colors (red!50, green!50, and blue!50). Next comes the triple yellow, cyan, and magenta; again with a triple of light versions below it. The large example consists of three balls (produced using ball color) having the colors red, green, and blue, are drawn on top of each other just like the circles.

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Example	Mode	Explanations quoted from Table 7.2 of the pdf Specification, Version 1.7
	normal	When painting a pixel with a some color (called the “source color”), the background color (called the “backdrop”) is completely ignored.
	multiply	Multiplies the backdrop and source color values. The result color is always at least as dark as either of the two constituent colors. Multiplying any color with black produces black; multiplying with white leaves the original color unchanged. Painting successive overlapping objects with a color other than black or white produces progressively darker colors.
	screen	Multiplies the complements of the backdrop and source color values, then complements the result. The result color is always at least as light as either of the two constituent colors. Screening any color with white produces white; screening with black leaves the original color unchanged. The effect is similar to projecting multiple photographic slides simultaneously onto a single screen.
	overlay	Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the backdrop color value. Source colors overlay the backdrop while preserving its highlights and shadows. The backdrop color is not replaced but is mixed with the source color to reflect the lightness or darkness of the backdrop.
	darken	Selects the darker of the backdrop and source colors. The backdrop is replaced with the source where the source is darker; otherwise, it is left unchanged.
	lighten	Selects the lighter of the backdrop and source colors. The backdrop is replaced with the source where the source is lighter; otherwise, it is left unchanged.
	color dodge	Brightens the backdrop color to reflect the source color. Painting with black produces no changes.
	color burn	Darkens the backdrop color to reflect the source color. Painting with white produces no change.
	hard light	Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the source color value. The effect is similar to shining a harsh spotlight on the backdrop.
	soft light	Darkens or lightens the colors, depending on the source color value. The effect is similar to shining a diffused spotlight on the backdrop.
	difference	Subtracts the darker of the two constituent colors from the lighter color. Painting with white inverts the backdrop color; painting with black produces no change.
	exclusion	Produces an effect similar to that of the Difference mode but lower in contrast. Painting with white inverts the backdrop color; painting with black produces no change.
	hue	Creates a color with the hue of the source color and the saturation and luminosity of the backdrop color.
	saturation	Creates a color with the saturation of the source color and the hue and luminosity of the backdrop color. Painting with this mode in an area of the backdrop that is a pure gray (no saturation) produces no change.
	color	Creates a color with the hue and saturation of the source color and the luminosity of the backdrop color. This preserves the gray levels of the backdrop and is useful for coloring monochrome images or tinting color images.
	luminosity	Creates a color with the luminosity of the source color and the hue and saturation of the backdrop color. This produces an inverse effect to that of the Color mode.

This command works like a {tikzpicture}, only the picture is not shown, but instead a fading is defined based on this picture. To set the name of the picture, use the name option (which is normally used to set the name of a node).

The following shading is 2cm by 2cm and gets more and more transparent from left to right, but is 50% transparent for a large circle in the middle.

In the next example we create a fading picture that contains some text. When the fading is used, we only see the shading “through it”.

The same effect can also be achieved using knockout groups, see Section 23.5.

The plainTeX version of the environment.

The ConTeXt version of the environment.

This command is used to define a fading similarly to the way a shading is defined. In the ⟨options⟩ you should

• 1. use the name=⟨name⟩ option to set a name for the fading,

• 2. use the shading option to set the name of the shading that you wish to use,

• 3. extra options for setting the colors of the shading (typically you will set them to the color transparent!⟨percentage⟩).

Then, a new fading named ⟨name⟩ will be created based on the shading.

This option tells TikZ that the current path should be faded with the fading ⟨name⟩. If no ⟨name⟩ is given, the ⟨name⟩ set for the whole scope is used. Similarly to options like draw or fill, this option is reset for each path, so you have to add it to each path that should be faded. You can also specify none as ⟨name⟩, in which case fading for the path will be switched off in case it has been switched on by previous options or styles.

Note that you can “fade just about anything”. In particular, you can fade a shading.

The fade inside of the following example is more transparent in the middle than on the outside.

Note that adding the path fading option to a node fades the (background) path, not the text itself. To fade the text, you need to use a scope fading (see below).

In principle, this key works in exactly the same way as the path fading key. The only difference is, that the effect of the fading will persist after the current path till the end of the scope. Thus, the ⟨fading⟩ is applied to all subsequent drawings in the current scope, not just to the current path. In this regard, the option works very much like the clip option. (Note, however, that, unlike the clip option, fadings to not accumulate unless a transparency group is used.)

The keys fit fading and fading transform have the same effect as for path fading. Also that, just as for path fading, providing the scope fading option with a {scope} only sets the name of the fading to be used. You have to explicitly provide the scope fading with a path to actually install a fading.

In the following example we resize the fading to the size of the whole picture:

Scope fadings are also needed if you wish to fade a node.

This option can be given to a scope. It will have the following effect: The scope’s contents is stroked / filled “ignoring any outside transparency”. This means, all previous transparency settings are ignored (you can still set transparency inside the group, but never mind). For instance, in the forbidden sign example, the whole sign is first painted (conceptually) like the image on the left hand side. Note that some pixels of the sign are painted multiple times (up to three times), but only the last color “wins”.

Then, when the scope is finished, it is painted as a whole. The fill transparency settings are now applied to the resulting picture. For instance, the pixel that has been painted three times is just red at the end, so this red color will be blended with whatever is “behind” the group on the page.

Note that in the example, the opacity=.5 is not active inside the transparency group: The group is only established at beginning of the scope and all options given to the {scope} environment are set before the group is established. To change the opacity inside the group, you need to open another scope inside it or use the opacity key with a command inside the group:

The ⟨options⟩ are a list of comma-separated options:

• • knockout When this option is given inside the ⟨options⟩, the group becomes a so-called knockout group. This means, essentially, that inside the group everything is painted as if the “opacity” of a line or area were just another color channel. In particular, if you paint a pixel with opacity \(0\) inside a knockout group, this pixel becomes perfectly transparent immediately. In contrast, painting a pixel with something of opacity \(0\) normally has no effect.

  Not all renderers, let alone printers, will support this. At the time of writing, Apple’s Preview will not show the following correctly (you should see the text TikZ in the middle):

  

  copy
\begin{tikzpicture}
\shade [left color=red,right color=blue] (-2,-1) rectangle (2,1);
\begin{scope}[transparency group=knockout]
\fill [white] (-1.9,-.9) rectangle (1.9,.9);
\node [opacity=0,
font=\fontencoding{T1}\fontfamily{ptm}\fontsize{45}{45}\bfseries]
{Ti\emph{k}Z};
\end{scope}
\end{tikzpicture}


  In the example, we first draw a large shading and then, inside the transparency group “overwrite” most of this shading by a big white rectangle. The interesting part is the text of the node, which has opacity 0. Normally, this would mean that nothing is shown. However, in a knockout group, we “paint” the text with an “opacity zero” color. The effect is that part of the totally opaque white rectangle gets overwritten by a perfectly transparent area (namely exactly the area taken up by the pixels of the text). When this whole knockout group is then placed on top of the shading, the shading will “shine through” at the knocked-out pixels.

• • isolated=false A group can be isolated or not. By default, they are isolated, since this is typically what you want. For details on what isolated groups are, exactly, see Section 7.3.4 of the pdf Specification, version 1.7.

Note that when a transparency group is created, TikZ must correctly determine the size of the material inside the group. Usually, this is no problem, but when you use things like overlay or transform canvas, trouble may result. In this case, please consult Section 115 on how to sidestep this problem in such cases.