WOLFRAM

Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center
Wolfram Language Home Page »

Arrowheads
✖
Arrowheads

✖
Arrowheads[spec]

is a graphics directive specifying that arrows that follow should have arrowheads with sizes, positions, and forms specified by spec.

Details and Options

  • With the default Arrowheads[Automatic], a single arrowhead is placed at the head of each arrow.
  • Arrowheads[s] specifies that arrowheads should have a length that is a fraction s of the total width of the graphic. The default is 0.04. »
  • The symbolic values Tiny, Small, Medium, and Large can be used for s. With these values, the size of the arrowhead is independent of the total width of the graphic. »
  • Arrowheads[{spec1,spec2,…}] specifies that arrows should include several arrowhead elements.
  • Each arrowhead element can be specified as follows:
  • sdefault arrowhead with scaled size s
    {Automatic,pos}default arrowhead at position pos
    {s,pos}scaled default arrowhead at position pos
    {s,pos,g}arrowhead drawn as graphic g
    {s,pos,{g,δ}}shaft foreshortened by δ
  • The position pos runs from 0 to 1 from the tail to the head of the arrow.
  • Arrowheads[{s0,s1,…,sn}] specifies arrowheads with scaled sizes si at positions i/n. »
  • Arrowheads[{-s,s}] gives double‐headed arrows. »
  • The graphic g is placed so that the origin {0,0} of its coordinates lies at position pos along each arrow.
  • The graphic g is oriented so that its positive axis is aligned with the direction of the shaft at position pos.
  • The graphic g is scaled so that one unit of its coordinates corresponds to a fraction s of the width of the whole graphic in which the arrow is being drawn.
  • The graphic g is always assumed to have AspectRatio->Automatic.
  • With the specification {s,pos,{g,δ}}, the shaft of the arrow is foreshortened by δ in the coordinate system of g. This can prevent a thick shaft from "poking through" arrowheads at the head or tail of the arrow. »
  • In 3D, the default option setting Appearance->"Flat" makes arrowheads always be rendered in the plane of the screen. Appearance->"Projected" makes them be rendered in 3D, and projected into the plane of the screen.

Examples

open allclose all

Basic Examples  (3)Summary of the most common use cases

A 2D arrow:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-kei8fp
Out[1]=1

A 3D arrow:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-sis3c
Out[1]=1

A full 3D arrow primitive using tubes:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-cdqlzj
Out[1]=1

Scope  (16)Survey of the scope of standard use cases

Arrow Sizes  (5)

Arrowheads with scaled sizes:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-cbptp6
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-epkwh
Out[2]=2

Arrowheads with scaled sizes in 3D:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-yu38
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-fkk4wv
Out[2]=2

Arrowheads with scaled sizes for tubes in 3D:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-elu5gk
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-kpec9u
Out[2]=2

Symbolic values to specify predefined absolute sizes of arrowheads:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-jy286q
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-ruuaf
Out[2]=2

Symbolic values in 3D:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-bkbph0
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-ch8ql5
Out[2]=2

With tubed arrows:

In[3]:=3
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-ep59vm
Out[3]=3
In[4]:=4
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-ozezm
Out[4]=4

Multiple Arrowheads  (8)

Double-headed arrow:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-jjras9
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-z32fr
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-cxu6x4
Out[3]=3

Uniformly spaced arrowheads with specific sizes:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-c711m
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-d3uo3s
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-d92z2z
Out[3]=3

Specify arrowhead size and position:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-gl7btv
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-c0kkta
Out[2]=2

Specify size and position in 3D:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-ebqgi3
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-e5ni6
Out[2]=2

With tubed arrows:

In[3]:=3
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-o7yzrm
Out[3]=3
In[4]:=4
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-ir9pwr
Out[4]=4

Multiple arrowheads with specific sizes and positions:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-dmv37n
Out[1]=1

In 3D:

In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-opyhxa
Out[2]=2

With tubed arrows:

In[3]:=3
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-hf2kc9
Out[3]=3

Reverse arrowheads by assigning negative size:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-c7zey6
Out[1]=1

In 3D:

In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-f3qsrn
Out[2]=2

With tubed arrows:

In[3]:=3
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-bcih3q
Out[3]=3

Multiple disconnected arrows:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-mlyae
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-k7s9me
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-g0t9g6
In[4]:=4
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-glg9ib
Out[4]=4

Multiple disconnected arrows with different arrowheads:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-t2qq7
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-dgt434
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-by3azf
In[4]:=4
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-ra43
Out[4]=4

Custom Arrowheads  (3)

Graphics can be used as an arrowhead:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-oqr7sq
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-b27ha
Out[2]=2

Graphics3D can also be used as an arrowhead for 3D arrow:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-bizrg7
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-leta3i
Out[2]=2

Foreshorten the shaft:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-cc0xgn
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-rxvtw
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-bz378c
Out[3]=3

In 3D:

In[4]:=4
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-b8uvnj
In[5]:=5
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-ku1rlw
Out[5]=5

With tubed arrows:

In[6]:=6
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-dseg9l
Out[6]=6

Applications  (1)Sample problems that can be solved with this function

A billboard tree using a projected arrowhead:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-blek6i
In[2]:=2
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-d374wn
Out[2]=2

Neat Examples  (1)Surprising or curious use cases

Moving arrowheads:

In[1]:=1
✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2nnrp1t6-jbiu6
Out[1]=1
Wolfram Research (2007), Arrowheads, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Arrowheads.html (updated 2008).
✖
Wolfram Research (2007), Arrowheads, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Arrowheads.html (updated 2008).

Text

Wolfram Research (2007), Arrowheads, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Arrowheads.html (updated 2008).

✖
Wolfram Research (2007), Arrowheads, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Arrowheads.html (updated 2008).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2007. "Arrowheads." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2008. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Arrowheads.html.

✖
Wolfram Language. 2007. "Arrowheads." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2008. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Arrowheads.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2007). Arrowheads. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Arrowheads.html

✖
Wolfram Language. (2007). Arrowheads. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Arrowheads.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_arrowheads, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Arrowheads}", year="2008", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Arrowheads.html}", note=[Accessed: 26-April-2025 ]}

✖
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_arrowheads, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Arrowheads}", year="2008", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Arrowheads.html}", note=[Accessed: 26-April-2025 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_arrowheads, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Arrowheads}, year={2008}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Arrowheads.html}, note=[Accessed: 26-April-2025 ]}

✖
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_arrowheads, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Arrowheads}, year={2008}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Arrowheads.html}, note=[Accessed: 26-April-2025 ]}