Add text to Penrose triangle

Question

I'd like to add text to the Penrose triangle (code below) and write
"London", "Paris", "Berlin" on the sides. How can I do that?

\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=1, line join=bevel]

% \a and \b are two macros defining characteristic
% dimensions of the Penrose triangle.       
\pgfmathsetmacro{\a}{1.8}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\b}{0.7}

\tikzset{%
  apply style/.code     = {\tikzset{#1}},
  triangle_edges/.style = {thick,draw=black}
}

\foreach \theta/\facestyle in {%
    0/{triangle_edges, fill = gray!50},
  120/{triangle_edges, fill = gray!25},
  240/{triangle_edges, fill = gray!90}%
}{
  \begin{scope}[rotate=\theta]
    \draw[apply style/.expand once=\facestyle]
      ({-sqrt(3)/2*\a},{-0.5*\a})                     --
      ++  (-\b,0)                                       --
        ({0.5*\b},{\a+3*sqrt(3)/2*\b})                -- % higher point 
        ({sqrt(3)/2*\a+2.5*\b},{-.5*\a-sqrt(3)/2*\b}) -- % rightmost point
      ++({-.5*\b},-{sqrt(3)/2*\b})                    -- % lower point
        ({0.5*\b},{\a+sqrt(3)/2*\b})                  --
      cycle;

    \end{scope}
  } 
 \end{tikzpicture}

Thanks, Marco

Please include your sources if you pickup the code from somewhere. It's not for legal nonsense but just for being a good sport. http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/150218/3235 — percusse, Aug 31 '14 at 15:07

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 31 '14 at 18:54

Penrose's travels

\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{calc,positioning,decorations.text}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=1, line join=bevel]

% \a and \b are two macros defining characteristic
% dimensions of the Penrose triangle.
\pgfmathsetmacro{\a}{1.8}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\b}{0.7}

\tikzset{%
  apply style/.code     = {\tikzset{#1}},
  triangle_edges/.style = {thick,draw=black}
}

\foreach \theta/\facestyle/\city in {%
    0/{triangle_edges, fill = gray!50}/London,
  120/{triangle_edges, fill = gray!25}/Paris,
  240/{triangle_edges, fill = gray!90}/Berlin%
}{
  \begin{scope}[rotate=\theta]
    \draw[apply style/.expand once=\facestyle]
      ({-sqrt(3)/2*\a},{-0.5*\a})
      -- ++  (-\b,0) coordinate (\city1)
      -- ({0.5*\b},{\a+3*sqrt(3)/2*\b}) coordinate (\city2) % higher point
      --  ({sqrt(3)/2*\a+2.5*\b},{-.5*\a-sqrt(3)/2*\b}) coordinate (\city3)% rightmost point
      -- ++({-.5*\b},-{sqrt(3)/2*\b}) coordinate (\city4) % lower point
      --  ({0.5*\b},{\a+sqrt(3)/2*\b}) coordinate (\city5)
      --  cycle
      ;
  \end{scope}
}
  \path [decorate, decoration={text along path, text={Paris}, text align=center, text color=darkgray}]
    ($(Paris5) - (1/3*\b,0)$) -- ($(Paris4)!1/3!(Paris3)$);
  \path [decorate, decoration={text along path, text={London}, text align=center, text color=darkgray}]
    ($(London5) + (1/3*\b,0)$) -- ($(London3) - (2/3*\b,0)$);
  \path [decorate, decoration={text along path, text={Berlin}, text align=center, text color=white}]
    ($(Berlin3)!1/3!(Berlin3 |- Berlin4)$) -- ($(Berlin5)!2/3!(Berlin3 -| Berlin5)$);
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

AboAmmar · Answer 2 · 2014-08-31T19:24:06.887

EDIT: As per requested by the OP, the labels are now rotated with each face.

Try this:

\documentclass[tikz,border=10pt]{standalone}
\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=1, line join=bevel]

% \a and \b are two macros defining characteristic
% dimensions of the Penrose triangle.       
\pgfmathsetmacro{\a}{1.8}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\b}{0.7}

\tikzset{%
  apply style/.code     = {\tikzset{#1}},
  triangle_edges/.style = {thick,draw=black}
}

\foreach \theta/\facestyle/\city/\al\/\ang in {%
    0/{triangle_edges, fill = gray!50}/Paris/below/-60,
  120/{triangle_edges, fill = gray!25}/Berlin/below/60,
  240/{triangle_edges, fill = gray!90}/London/above/0}
  {
  \begin{scope}[rotate=\theta]
    \draw[apply style/.expand once=\facestyle]
      ({-sqrt(3)/2*\a},{-0.5*\a})                   --
      ++  (-\b,0)                                   --
        ({0.5*\b},{\a+3*sqrt(3)/2*\b})                --node[\al,rotate=\ang]{\city} % higher point 
        ({sqrt(3)/2*\a+2.5*\b},{-.5*\a-sqrt(3)/2*\b}) -- % rightmost point
      ++({-.5*\b},-{sqrt(3)/2*\b})                    -- % lower point
        ({0.5*\b},{\a+sqrt(3)/2*\b})                  --
      cycle;
    \end{scope}
  } 
 \end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

The triangle now looks like this:

enter image description here

Thanks, but I want the words to span on the sides of the triangle. — Marco, Aug 31 '14 at 13:20
@Marco: if you mean you want the words "aligned" with the sides, try [midway,\al,sloped] — Pier Paolo, Aug 31 '14 at 14:44
Well, I want them to be aligned but "inside" the lines of the triangle. Don't know how to explain this in a better way. For instance, the word London should be in the dark gray area of the lower side of the triangle. — Marco, Aug 31 '14 at 15:39

Add text to Penrose triangle

2 Answers2