tkz-elements — Euclidean geometry with LuaLaTeX

Current release: 4.20c (2025-09-17)

tkz-elements is a Lua library that performs the computations needed to define the objects of an Euclidean geometry figure (points, lines, circles, conics, triangles, paths, …). All numerical work happens in Lua; the drawing is left to tkz‑euclide (recommended) or TikZ.

Features

• Object-oriented design: classes point, line, circle, conic, triangle, path, …
• Rich geometry toolbox: bisectors, altitudes, tangents, radical axis/center, Poncelet point, orthopole, Kimberling points, mixtilinear circle, Morley/Soddy/Napoleon constructions, and more
• Utilities module: helpers for formatting numbers/points, solving equations, trigonometry/angles, barycentric & trilinear coordinates, comparisons, rounding, etc.
• Smooth Lua → TikZ transfer: move computed objects from Lua to TikZ/tkz-euclide with simple macros

Requirements

• LuaLaTeX (Lua 5.3)
• tkz‑euclide (or TikZ)
• A recent TeX distribution (TeX Live / MiKTeX / MacTeX)

Tip: If you use xcolor, load it before tkz-euclide.

Installation

tkz-elements is available via TeX Live and MiKTeX package managers.

For a manual install, place files in your TDS tree (or TEXMFHOME) following the usual directory structure of LaTeX packages.

Quick start

% !TEX TS-program = lualatex
\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage[mini]{tkz-euclide}
\usepackage{tkz-elements}
\begin{document}
\directlua{
  init_elements()
  -- Create geometry in Lua
  z.A = point(0,0)
  z.B = point(2,0)
  z.C = point(1,1.2)
}
\begin{tikzpicture}
  % Transfer Lua points to TikZ nodes A, B, C
  \tkzGetNodes
  % Draw with tkz-euclide / TikZ
  \tkzDrawPolygon(A,B,C)
  \tkzDrawPoints(A,B,C)
  \tkzLabelPoints(A,B,C)
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Alternative: the tkzelements environment (requires luacode).

Documentation & examples

• Project page and examples (including Golden Arbelos): http://altermundus.fr
• The full manual ships with the distribution (see doc/). If you build from sources, the manual is produced at: doc/src/build/TKZdoc-elements-main.pdf

GitHub (source, issues, roadmap)

Development happens on GitHub:

• Repository: https://github.com/al-ma-dev/tkz-elements
• Issues: https://github.com/al-ma-dev/tkz-elements/issues
• Changelog: see CHANGELOG.md
• Contributing guide: CONTRIBUTING.md (PRs welcome)
• License: LPPL 1.3c

Report bugs / request features

Please open a GitHub issue and include:

• a MWE (Minimal Working Example) in LaTeX;
• your TeX distribution (TeX Live/MacTeX/MiKTeX), LuaLaTeX version, OS;
• relevant log excerpts (with -file-line-error).

Build from source (manual)

From the repository root:

latexmk
# Manual PDF: doc/src/build/TKZdoc-elements-main.pdf

# (optional) deliverable copy for distribution:
# cp doc/src/build/TKZdoc-elements-main.pdf doc/tkz-elements.pdf

A project .latexmkrc is provided (LuaLaTeX, synctex, outdir doc/src/build/).
For Skim forward/backward sync, open the PDF located in doc/src/build/.

Versioning & releases

• Versions follow the scheme 4.xx c (e.g., 4.20c) and are tagged on GitHub.
• The PDF manual ships in the repository and on CTAN.

License

This work may be modified and distributed under the terms of the LaTeX Project Public License, version 1.3c or later.

Changelog

Detailed changes are tracked in CHANGELOG.md.

Author

Alain Matthes — al (dot) ma (at) mac (dot) com