Best Way to Print Graphs- issues with annotation scaling

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Mon, 09/12/2011 - 10:40 am

I consistently have difficulties printing graphs that look like what I see on screen due to issues of scaling. In essence, all the objects that make up a graph do not scale properly, i.e. they are not treated collectively as a whole. This has caused me to spend time preparing new graphs with different font sizes in the annotations boxes depending on whether or not I want to print a single graph, print a single graph on a layout, or print multiple graphs on a layout.

Is there a way in Igor to have a graph and its annotations, labels, etc. print in such a way that is scaled? This is something I have always had issues with, to the point that I have taken to making an image of the graph (usually .tiff) and then print my graphs using an image viewer. All these extra steps are getting a bit onerous. I have 6" by 6" graphs that claim to print on one page, but instead print across two pages very badly (i.e. the right axis and maybe two data points printing on a second page). If I change the graph from an absolute size to aspect, the graph scales correctly in a layout, albeit with relatively larger axis fonts and marker sizes, but the annotations are all together the wrong size relative to the graph in the sense that they obscure it. What I would like to do is have a nice 6x6 inch graph for the purposes of creating .tiff/.pdf files for inclusion in manuscripts/presentations, yet be able to scale that same graph without excessive tweaking so that I can print a hard copy from Igor without having to save in a different file format.

Any ideas on how to improve my workflow? Thank you!
You might try using only relative font size commands in your annotations and axis labels, and leave the graph font size as "Auto". (entering 0 is the same as "Auto").

--Jim Prouty
Software Engineer, WaveMetrics, Inc.

September 12, 2011 at 11:45 am - Permalink

If you send an example to WaveMetrics support and tell us your Igor version, OS and printer we might be able to figure something out. Please give us instructions for reproducing the problem.

September 12, 2011 at 05:27 pm - Permalink