The plot focusses on the more critical data (6 to 12 cm).The abscissa and ordinate are now labelled.I spent just about 5 minutes to improve this plot (right-hand figure). While the figure renders OK on screen, it will not render well in documents or presentations. All I did is take data from certain model simulations and plotted it in Excel. ![]() Plots like this are, unfortunately, commonly used in presentations. The third default colour that Excel uses is in fact yellow and the plot background is gray. This is not an example I concocted just to make a point. While this is an example from Excel, such problems are not restricted to any particular software. The problem lies in accepting the default figure and not giving so much as even a passing thought on whether the plot makes any sense. The following is an example of common problems I have observed with presentation. Unless you have specific reasons, its generally good idea to abide by these guidelines. Remember, there will always be exceptions where the above guideline(s) need to be broken for making better figures. Put legends next to curves, if possible, instead of having them separately.Legends should be clear, legible and convey (some) key information.If using colours, make sure they differ sufficiently from each other, while satisfying the above rules Colours do not render the same on your computer screen, in print and when projected.You may need to print in black-and-white. Do not rely only on colour to convey information.However, any dark colour on white background can give good results. Black on white gives the best contrast.Ensure that there is enough contrast between the foreground and the background.Avoid gridlines unless they convey something specific.Lines should be 2 pt thick so that they render well in the final figure.I prefer to create figures with 20 pt “Times” font, so that the same figure can be scaled to appropriate sizes for both documents and presentations.Typically, serifed fonts (e.g., Times New Roman) are preferred in documents and sans-serif (e.g., Arial) fonts in presentations.When the figure is scaled, the smallest font should be ~10 pt in documents and ~18 pt in presentations.Often, the size of figure in the plotting software is larger than what will be used in documents or presentations.The fonts should be readable when the figure is scaled to the appropriate size.Typical aspect ratio (width:height) for single-panel figures should be 4:3.Although these were specifically developed for Kaleidagraph, I believe they constitute “good practices” for creating figures using any software Lets start with some general guidelines that I got from my Post-doctoral adviser, Dion Vlachos. Having said that, one can use even software such as Excel to prepare easy to read graphs. The result is neater and easier to read graphs. These softwares have more features that come very handy when you need to plot your research data. Excel is not a plotting software investing in software like Kaleidagraph or Origin Plot is well worth the money. The figures used in this post are created using Excel. I am going to use examples to illustrate good practice in plotting your results. A cached copy of that document titled “ Tips on making better plots” is available. ![]() This document is modified and expanded version of what I had written earlier. ![]() I have been meaning to write about plotting your results for print and presentations. Tips on Making Plots for Reports and Presentations In fact, I use Xfig and Matlab if I am writing documents in LaTeX, and Mayura and Kaliedagraph if I am writing documents in MS Word. All these softwares allow users to save the figures in Encapsulated Post Script (eps) format (for LaTeX documents) as well as copy-paste figures in metafile format (for Word or Powerpoint). For making plots, I use either Matlab or Kaliedagraph. My choice of softwares to generate vector graphics are Xfig and Mayura Draw. The advantage of vector graphics is that they are scalable, i.e., you can shrink or enlarge the size of the graphics without any loss of information Vector graphics is a format that uses texts and geometric figures (lines, dots, circles, etc.) to render a figure. Such diagrams should be rendered as vector graphics instead of bitmap formats (such as gif, jpeg, tiff, etc.). Most often, plots and figures are line diagrams. Using a better software will not suddenly make your papers/presentations better they will however make your job of creating crisp and clear figures that much easier.īefore going further, lets talk about the main types of figures one would encounter. I have found that some students and researchers are often unaware of or do not care much about using the right tools for making plots and figures for scientific literature. Making Better Plots and Figures Vector Graphics and Plotting Softwares
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