latex documentclass standalone

To create a standalone image with latex, e.g. using tikz or pstricks, one should use the documentclass standalone. The Standalone document just contains the figure itself without the rest of the document.

 \documentclass{standalone} 

additionally several options can be added:

[tikz]
sets the standalone package as multi images and set every new tikzpicture environment on a seperate page:

 \documentclass[tikz]{standalone} 

additional Infos via standalone documentation