Keeping Graph Aspect When Creating Layout

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Thu, 02/05/2015 - 12:24 pm

I have a feeling this question has been addressed somewhere, but I can't find it. How does one keep the aspect of a graph (and its annotations) when creating a layout? I arrange my graphs nicely and then add them to a layout and they get distorted, most notably the legend covering regions of the graph I don't want covered.
When you add a graph to a layout, the graph object is created at the same size as the graph window. However, if the graph is bigger than the page then the graph object size is clipped to fit on the page.

It's possible that this is what you are running into. If so then you need to make the graph window smaller or use a larger paper size for the page layout.

If that is not it then I don't know what the problem is. It would be best to provide a simple example illustrating the problem. The example could be in the form of Igor commands or an Igor experiment file.

February 5, 2015 at 02:30 pm - Permalink

If you absolutely need a specific size you can also force you size preferences by using the Modify Graph window. By fixing the width and height there (or the aspect) the graph will be inserted into the layout exactly with these values. If the graph is too big it will spill outside of the layout but it will not get deformed. Note that width and height define the inner plot area, and the border margins get added to this. I think it is generally a good idea to think about the graph size a bit more when bringing graphs outside of Igor (by printing, exporting etc.). If you use the 'point' unit you get a file with 72 dpi (i.e., 72 'points' are one inch, at least on windows with the standard profiles; I don't know how this is influenced for other systems). Note, that just looking at the graphs on your monitor may not let you judge the size correctly (depending on your monitor). You can pull up an empty layout to compare the size with a real piece of paper. For me it fits perfectly (I guess I have a real 72 dpi device then). I guess this is already a waay too long answer, but I hope it helps a bit.

February 5, 2015 at 06:17 pm - Permalink

hrodstein wrote:
When you add a graph to a layout, the graph object is created at the same size as the graph window. However, if the graph is bigger than the page then the graph object size is clipped to fit on the page.

It's possible that this is what you are running into. If so then you need to make the graph window smaller or use a larger paper size for the page layout.

If that is not it then I don't know what the problem is. It would be best to provide a simple example illustrating the problem. The example could be in the form of Igor commands or an Igor experiment file.



Hmm...ok, so maybe I can make my question a little more basic, forgetting about the layout.

Can I make the legend scale with the graph as I change the size of the graph? For example, if I make the graph very narrow, all I see is the legend, whereas when it was larger, I had the legend nicely positioned on the right side of the graph.

February 6, 2015 at 08:37 am - Permalink

Quote:
Can I make the legend scale with the graph as I change the size of the graph? For example, if I make the graph very narrow, all I see is the legend, whereas when it was larger, I had the legend nicely positioned on the right side of the graph.


Annotations, including legends, are by default auto-sizing. However, if you specify a font size, this overrides the autosizing. You can instead specify a relative font size (see Add Annotation dialog Rel. Font Size popup menu). This allows you to change the font size without overriding autosizing.

Although annotations, by default, autosize, this is not perfect, mostly because font sizes are not continuous but rather fonts come in discrete sizes.

You should also set the annotation anchor correctly. To learn about this, execute:
DisplayHelpTopic "Annotation Positioning"


Even if you set the anchor right and maintain autosizing, a graph will not scale perfectly as if you were shrinking a picture. This is because graph elements, such as tick mark labels and markers, have discrete sizes. You still need to size the graph window close to the actual size of the layout graph object or the size at which you want to export in order to get predictable results.

If the layout graph object needs to be very small then you may want to make the actual graph 2 times as large using "graph expansion". Execute this for the relevant help:
DisplayHelpTopic "Graph Expansion"


Yet another option is to convert the layout graph object to an embedded graph. For information on this, execute:
DisplayHelpTopic "Embedding and Subwindows"

February 6, 2015 at 08:56 am - Permalink

In my case, I was having the problem that, even when all 3 plots had the legend at top right (manually positioned), after stacking them in the layout, legends moved. Then I tried with right top anchor, and the problem vanished. 

November 23, 2018 at 04:10 am - Permalink