Subfigure with diagram's arrows

Question

I need to implement some diagrams arrows, like the ones used with the tikz package in a subfigure template (I used subfigure because subfloats give me problems).

So the subfigure template is like the one in this older post subfigure template and the arrows that I would like to insert are just the ones in this other post arrows.

Assuming I would like that for each couple of subfigures there's an arrow in between that link each caption.

EDIT: This is a sample of the code, I do not include the begin document because I had multiple tex files. So where I insert the $\longrightarrow$, instead, I would like an arrow like the one in the post I cited before.

...
\begin{figure}[H]
\begin{center}
    \subfigure[\footnotesize{Mela Golden Delicious}]{
        \label{fig:mela1}
        \includegraphics[width=0.2\textwidth]{example-image}
    }
    \subfigure[\footnotesize{Lime}]{
        \label{fig:lime}
        \includegraphics[width=0.2\textwidth]{example-image}
    }
    \subfigure[\footnotesize{Mango}]{
        \label{fig:mango}
        \includegraphics[width=0.2\textwidth]{example-image}
    }
    $\longrightarrow$
    \subfigure[\footnotesize{Mela Granny Smith}]{
        \label{fig:mela2}
        \includegraphics[width=0.2\textwidth]{example-image}
    }\\
    \subfigure[\footnotesize{Mandarino}]{
        \label{fig:manda}
        \includegraphics[width=0.2\textwidth]{example-image}
    }
    \subfigure[\footnotesize{Pompelmo}]{
        \label{fig:pom}
        \includegraphics[width=0.2\textwidth]{example-image}
    }
    $\longrightarrow$
    \subfigure[\footnotesize{Arancia}]{
        \label{fig:aranc}
        \includegraphics[width=0.2\textwidth]{example-image}
    }\\
    \subfigure[\footnotesize{Succo all'arancia}]{
        \label{fig:succo1}
        \includegraphics[width=0.2\textwidth]{example-image}
    }
    $\longrightarrow$
    \subfigure[\footnotesize{Succo al pompelmo}]{
        \label{fig:succo2}
        \includegraphics[width=0.2\textwidth]{example-image}
    }\\
    \subfigure[\footnotesize{Cetriolo}]{
        \label{fig:cet}
        \includegraphics[width=0.2\textwidth]{example-image}
    }
    $\longrightarrow$
    \subfigure[\footnotesize{Zucchina}]{
        \label{fig:zuc}
        \includegraphics[width=0.2\textwidth]{example-image}
    }
\end{center}
\caption{Example}
\label{fig:subfigures6}
\end{figure}

You mean that you want an automated approach that draws an arrow between each caption of subfigures inside the same figure environment, correct? — Skillmon, Feb 12 '20 at 09:10
Not necessarily automated, I just know the approach used in this post link, but if there is an easier solution it is welcome. — Simo, Feb 12 '20 at 09:23
Could you then please include a minimal working example (MWE) in your question that shows what exactly your current usage looks like and probably what you've tried to get your arrows? — Skillmon, Feb 12 '20 at 09:32
What is wrong with the $\longrightarrow$ s? You could include a free-hand sketch of what you want to achieve. — Skillmon, Feb 12 '20 at 15:58
If you see the post I linked in the original post named "arrows" there is an example of what I would like to achieve — Simo, Feb 12 '20 at 21:04
Just as a note, don't use the center environment inside of a figure, instead you should use \centering, center adds unwanted vertical space. — Skillmon, Feb 13 '20 at 09:42
Please also note that \footnotesize doesn't take an argument, but acts as a switch, affecting everything from that point on wards in the current group. So instead of \footnotesize{foo} you should use {\footnotesize foo}. — Skillmon, Feb 13 '20 at 11:30

Skillmon · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-13T11:51:51.200

A solution which first places the \subfloat (using the subfig package, you really shouldn't use subfigure anymore) and places some marks using the tikzmark library. Afterwards it draws the arrows as an overlayed tikzpicture. Everywhere we want to have some white spaces, which is later filled by the arrows, we have to manually introduce that space (using \hspace{1cm} in this example). Additionally I use \adjustimage and its valign=c option to easily place the \tikzmarks approximately on the vertical centre of the pictures.

Also I removed all the white space around the contents of your \subfloats (by placing % at the end of the lines, which removes the space added by a new line in TeX), and spaced them out more evenly by placing a few \hfils.

The \footnotesize isn't necessary for subfig as it by default sets the fontsize of the subfloat captions to \footnotesize.

To get the arrows at the correct position you have to compile at least twice.

\documentclass[]{article}

\usepackage{subfig}
\usepackage{adjustbox}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{tikzmark}

\begin{document}
\begin{figure}
  \centering
    \subfloat[Mela Golden Delicious]{%
        \label{fig:mela1}%
        \adjustimage{width=0.2\textwidth,valign=c}{example-image}%
    }\hfil
    \subfloat[Lime]{%
        \label{fig:lime}%
        \adjustimage{width=0.2\textwidth,valign=c}{example-image}%
    }\hfil
    \subfloat[Mango]{%
        \label{fig:mango}%
        \adjustimage{width=0.2\textwidth,valign=c}{example-image}%
        \tikzmark{mangoR}%
    }\hfil\hspace{1cm}%
    \subfloat[Mela Granny Smith]{%
        \label{fig:mela2}%
        \tikzmark{melaL}%
        \adjustimage{width=0.2\textwidth,valign=c}{example-image}%
    }\\
    \subfloat[Mandarino]{%
        \label{fig:manda}%
        \adjustimage{width=0.2\textwidth,valign=c}{example-image}%
    }\hfil
    \subfloat[Pompelmo]{%
        \label{fig:pom}%
        \adjustimage{width=0.2\textwidth,valign=c}{example-image}%
        \tikzmark{pompelmoR}%
    }\hfil\hspace{1cm}%
    \subfloat[Arancia]{%
        \label{fig:aranc}%
        \tikzmark{aranciaL}%
        \adjustimage{width=0.2\textwidth,valign=c}{example-image}%
    }\\
    \subfloat[Succo all'arancia]{%
        \label{fig:succo1}%
        \adjustimage{width=0.2\textwidth,valign=c}{example-image}%
        \tikzmark{succoarR}%
    }\hspace{1cm}%
    \subfloat[Succo al pompelmo]{%
        \label{fig:succo2}%
        \tikzmark{succopoL}%
        \adjustimage{width=0.2\textwidth,valign=c}{example-image}%
    }\\
    \subfloat[Cetriolo]{%
        \label{fig:cet}%
        \adjustimage{width=0.2\textwidth,valign=c}{example-image}%
        \tikzmark{cetrioloR}%
    }\hspace{1cm}%
    \subfloat[Zucchina]{%
        \label{fig:zuc}%
        \tikzmark{zuccinaL}%
        \adjustimage{width=0.2\textwidth,valign=c}{example-image}%
    }
  \begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture, overlay, >=latex]
    \foreach\x/\y in
      {mangoR/melaL, pompelmoR/aranciaL, succoarR/succopoL, cetrioloR/zuccinaL}
      \draw[->] (pic cs:\x) -- (pic cs:\y);
  \end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Example}
\label{fig:subfloats6}
\end{figure}
\end{document}

Subfigure with diagram's arrows

1 Answers1