Creating multi-plot figures

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Tue, 07/09/2013 - 08:18 am

I make almost all my figures for publication in IGOR and then save the graphics to load in to my paper without using an intermediate program. I set the width and height so the figure is the exact size I want. The problem I have is doing this for a figure that has more than one sub figure (a figure a, figure b, ...). I can get around this by creating more axis and drawing them only on a fraction of the plot area, allowing me to create a grid of plots. This works ok, but not perfect (I can't figure out how to have a line plot and a category plot in the same figure this way and labeling each figure is more time consuming). The other way I tried is creating a Layout and adding all the plots there and then save that as a graphic, but I have been unable to set the exact size of the graphic I want; however, the saved graphic is trimmed to just include the objects on the layout I can use a page sized layout and then just make all my figures fit inside the size that I want, not as user friendly but works. As a last alternative I use power point and just load in all the figures, change the page size to the size I want the figure, position everything and save it as whatever format I want, but I don't like having to use power point.

What do others do when making a multi-plot figure in igor?




Quote:
I can't figure out how to have a line plot and a category plot in the same figure this way


You can do this but you need separate axes for the category plot. Here is an example:
Make/N=3 data = p
Make/N=3/T category = {"A", "B", "C"}
Display data
ModifyGraph axisEnab(left)={0,0.45}
AppendToGraph/L=left2/B=bottom2 data vs category
ModifyGraph axisEnab(left2)={0.55,1},freePos(left2)=0,freePos(bottom2)={0,left2}


Quote:
but I have been unable to set the exact size of the graphic I want


You can set a custom page size using the Page Setup dialog.

Quote:
the saved graphic is trimmed to just include the objects on the layout


This is the default behavior. You can use the marquee tool to specify the area of the layout that you want to export. Then choose File->Save Graphics. The Save Graphics dialog generates a /W flag based on the marquee. The resulting SavePICT command will export just the specified part of the layout.

Yet another option is subwindows. Execute:
DisplayHelpTopic "Embedding and Subwindows"

This has a learning curve but might be the simplest solution in the end because each subwindow acts like a separate graph.

July 9, 2013 at 12:08 pm - Permalink

The subwindow looks promising. Is there a way to select the subwindow from the command line. Say I have a command ModifyGraph mirror(bottom)=0 that I want to apply to g0 but g1 is selected, can I select g0 or specify the ModifyGraph goes to g0 from a function call?

Thanks

July 10, 2013 at 10:23 am - Permalink

Use the ModifyGraph /W flag:
String target = "Graph0#G0"
ModifyGraph /W=$target . . .


For details:
DisplayHelpTopic "Subwindow Syntax"

July 10, 2013 at 11:07 am - Permalink