How can I place a figure on top of the page?

January 27, 2022

I am currently working on this code (this is a shortened version):

\documentclass{scrartcl}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}
\begin{document}
% Syntax:
% \DoublLine[half of the double line distance]{first node}{second node}{options line 1}{options line 2}
\newcommand\DoubleLine[5][4pt]{%
    \path(#2)--(#3)coordinate[at start](h1)coordinate[at end](h2);
    \draw[#4]($(h1)!#1!90:(h2)$)--($(h2)!#1!-90:(h1)$); 
    % node [midway, above=1pt, fill=none] {3};
    \draw[#5]($(h1)!#1!-90:(h2)$)--($(h2)!#1!90:(h1)$); 
    % node [midway, below=1pt, fill=none] {3};
    }
\begin{figure}[h]
    \begin{tikzpicture}[myn/.style={very thick,draw,inner sep=0.25cm,outer sep=3pt}]
    \scalebox{0.5}{
\centering
     % place nodes
\node[myn]  (a) at (2,5) {Node 6};
    \node[myn]  (b) at  (4, 8)   {Node 12};
    \node[myn]  (c) at  (5, 5)  {Node 19};
    \node[myn]  (d) at  (5, 3)  {Node 20};
    \node[myn]  (e) at  (7.5,5)  {Node 18};
    \node[myn]  (f) at  (7.5,10)  {Node 10};
\node[myn]  (g) at  (10,3)  {Node 4};
    \node[myn]  (h) at  (10,5)  {Node 2};
    \node[myn]  (i) at  (10,8)  {Node 13};
    \node[myn]  (j) at  (10,10)  {Node 14};
    \node[myn]  (k) at  (13,5)  {Node 21};
    \node[myn]  (l) at  (12,7)  {Node 1};
\node[myn]  (m) at  (12,10)  {Node 16};
    \node[myn]  (n) at  (15.5,5)  {Node 3};
    \node[myn]  (o) at  (13,12)  {Node 8};
    \node[myn]  (p) at  (16,3)  {Node 5};
    \node[myn]  (q) at  (16,7)  {Node 9};
    \node[myn]  (r) at  (7.5,3)  {Node 11};
\node[myn]  (s) at  (11,1){Node 7};
    \node[myn]  (t) at  (12,-1){Node 17};
    \node[myn]  (u) at  (13,-3){Node 22};
    \node[myn]  (v) at  (7.5,-1){Node 15};     

%Single line orange
\draw[edge][color=orange, very thick] (i)--(j);

%Single line orange 
\draw[edge][color=orange, very thick] (n)--(q);
\draw[edge][color=orange, very thick] (h)--(d);

%double line orange
    \DoubleLine{o}{m}{-,very thick,cyan}{-,very thick,orange};
    \DoubleLine{i}{m}{-,very thick,cyan}{-,very thick,orange};
    

    
}
    \end{tikzpicture}
    \caption{Line plan: Model A on Set RL}
    \label{fig:Line plan Model A on Set RL}
\end{figure}
\end{document}

The figure is shown in the middle of the page and not even centered. As I am quite a beginner in latex, I am wondering how this could work? I need the figure to be on top of the page and centered.

I tried [h] and [t] and also \vspace*{3in}, but it does not work.

>Solution :

A couple of problems:

your figure is too large, it includes tons of white space caused by some of the problem mentioned in the points below. You can see a warning about the overfull box in the log file. Thus it can’t be placed according to your [t] floating specifier
using \centering and \scalebox inside the tikz picture makes no sense. If you want the picture to be centred, use it before the tikzpicture
don’t use \scalebox for elements which contain text.
tikz has it’s own commands to scale things
if you want a figure to be at the top of the page, the page actually needs some text on it

and finally:

The code does NOT run if it throws an error message! Latex only syntax checks the rest of the document, not necessarily producing sensible output. Never ignore error messages.

\documentclass{scrartcl}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}
\begin{document}
% Syntax:
% \DoublLine[half of the double line distance]{first node}{second node}{options line 1}{options line 2}
\newcommand\DoubleLine[5][4pt]{%
    \path(#2)--(#3)coordinate[at start](h1)coordinate[at end](h2);
    \draw[#4]($(h1)!#1!90:(h2)$)--($(h2)!#1!-90:(h1)$); 
    % node [midway, above=1pt, fill=none] {3};
    \draw[#5]($(h1)!#1!-90:(h2)$)--($(h2)!#1!90:(h1)$); 
    % node [midway, below=1pt, fill=none] {3};
    }
    
some text
    
\begin{figure}[t]
\centering
\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.5,transform shape,myn/.style={very thick,draw,inner sep=0.25cm,outer sep=3pt}]
\node[myn]  (a) at (2,5) {Node 6};
    \node[myn]  (b) at  (4, 8)   {Node 12};
    \node[myn]  (c) at  (5, 5)  {Node 19};
    \node[myn]  (d) at  (5, 3)  {Node 20};
    \node[myn]  (e) at  (7.5,5)  {Node 18};
    \node[myn]  (f) at  (7.5,10)  {Node 10};
\node[myn]  (g) at  (10,3)  {Node 4};
    \node[myn]  (h) at  (10,5)  {Node 2};
    \node[myn]  (i) at  (10,8)  {Node 13};
    \node[myn]  (j) at  (10,10)  {Node 14};
    \node[myn]  (k) at  (13,5)  {Node 21};
    \node[myn]  (l) at  (12,7)  {Node 1};
\node[myn]  (m) at  (12,10)  {Node 16};
    \node[myn]  (n) at  (15.5,5)  {Node 3};
    \node[myn]  (o) at  (13,12)  {Node 8};
    \node[myn]  (p) at  (16,3)  {Node 5};
    \node[myn]  (q) at  (16,7)  {Node 9};
    \node[myn]  (r) at  (7.5,3)  {Node 11};
\node[myn]  (s) at  (11,1){Node 7};
    \node[myn]  (t) at  (12,-1){Node 17};
    \node[myn]  (u) at  (13,-3){Node 22};
    \node[myn]  (v) at  (7.5,-1){Node 15};     

%Single line orange
\draw[][color=orange, very thick] (i)--(j);

%Single line orange 
\draw[][color=orange, very thick] (n)--(q);
\draw[][color=orange, very thick] (h)--(d);

%double line orange
    \DoubleLine{o}{m}{-,very thick,cyan}{-,very thick,orange};
    \DoubleLine{i}{m}{-,very thick,cyan}{-,very thick,orange};
    \end{tikzpicture}
    \caption{Line plan: Model A on Set RL}
    \label{fig:Line plan Model A on Set RL}
\end{figure}
\end{document}