Plotting tools?

x0rg · 2010-03-18 16:43:17

I have a little math talk at school and I need a tool to draw the graph of a function (in 2d). I'm a real newbie in plotting tools (and math xD).
It should embed easily in TeX-documents and be not too hard to learn., but that shouldn't be a difficulty because I really just need basic functionality.

I've looked a bit into matplotlib and it looks very promising, but there are a gazillion other tools/libraries out there to choose....
and I don't even know if I should prefer a language/library or a gui-app.
Do you have experience with plotting-tools? What would you recommend?
Sorry for my bad english

SiC · 2010-03-18 16:50:32

If you want to plot a function and get the result into LaTeX, you can't go wrong using R.

Just plot the function and then export the file as .eps will get a perfect result. Note though, R is not that straightforward, but if you use LaTeX, you won't be on unfamiliar ground, there are plenty of tutorials out there that will give you enough info to plot.

x0rg · 2010-03-18 17:03:06

R looks pretty neat, I'll definitely look into that.
Python-based libraries would be good too, because I have a bit python experience, but i'll try R first.

Cyrusm · 2010-03-18 17:20:31

you could also look into octave/gnuplot that's what I use. gnuplot exports to eps, so it's easy to include graphics in LaTeX docs. and there are several tutorials online that will show you how to do exactly what you need to do.

here's one that I like.

SiC · 2010-03-18 18:38:10

forgot about octave as i use matlab... gnuplot I've never used try them all out though and use whatever suits you best

cl10k · 2010-03-18 21:19:59

+1 for gnuplot

with epslatex terminal you even have all your text (labels, ticmarks,etc.) formatted in latex

Why use octave/R or whatever for making graphs, when you can use a tool which is specialized on the subject?

Last edited by cl10k (2010-03-18 21:21:41)

Barrucadu · 2010-03-18 23:30:52

Heh, when reading the thread title I immediately assumed some sort of software for helping evil masterminds plan their overthrow of the world

Actually, maybe that's what all of that "graphing" software does, I've never actually checked…

Xyne · 2010-03-19 00:08:43

x0rg wrote:

R looks pretty neat, I'll definitely look into that.
Python-based libraries would be good too, because I have a bit python experience, but i'll try R first.

Gnuplot is good as a stand-alone plotter which can also be integrated into scripts and other applications.

If you want something that you can use within Python, take a look at python-matplotlib (available in [community]). If you need 3D down the line, there's also python-enthought-mayavi in the AUR.

*edit*

Barrucadu wrote:

Heh, when reading the thread title I immediately assumed some sort of software for helping evil masterminds plan their overthrow of the world
Actually, maybe that's what all of that "graphing" software does, I've never actually checked…

You're thinking of iPlot.

Last edited by Xyne (2010-03-19 00:10:00)

mikesd · 2010-03-19 01:09:50

I have used gnuplot quite a bit and like it. This semester I am also using R which can also do plots. R can do a lot more than just plot. If you need to do any data manipulation pre plotting then R may be the way to go.

Trent · 2010-03-20 00:44:43

Barrucadu wrote:

Heh, when reading the thread title I immediately assumed some sort of software for helping evil masterminds plan their overthrow of the world

Now, that's a piece of software I could really use.

AlexS · 2010-03-22 18:44:18

If you want to plot with python, use matplotlib. A nice setup is to use the python shell ipython with the pylab option activated ($ipython -pylab).

Otherwise, R is also a good option.

x0rg · 2010-03-23 11:51:23

I chose matplotlib, because I don't have to learn a new syntax, and the idea appeals to me to do "everything" with python.
It's quite nice and outputs pretty graphs.
I hasn't got that nice integration in TeX like gnuplot or metapost (does that do graphs, too?) but It can output almost any file format...

ewaller · 2010-03-23 15:31:33

If you are looking to plot equations instead of data sets, you may want to look at wxmaxima. (Plus it makes using Laplace transforms almost pleasant)

jstadler · 2010-03-23 17:08:28

gnumeric works well

dcc24 · 2010-03-23 17:08:47

I only use Matlab, so I can't really suggest anything else, but Matlab is fantastic and it's more than enough for your needs.

SiC · 2010-03-23 21:27:56

Matlab is indeed awesome, and it's where I spend a fair amount of time at work, however, it is heavyweight and probably overkill, something like gnuplot, R or matplotlib, in addition to being free, are also easier to integrate with LaTeX, I've never quite managed to get satisfactory results from Matlab in LaTeX, even when exporting as EPS.

Berticus · 2010-03-24 09:05:16

Is the R-Project in AUR? I can't seem to find it...

SiC · 2010-03-24 09:42:16

just do

pacman -S r

it's in the main repos.

Stefan Husmann · 2010-03-24 13:17:07

Hm, but the eps format is not supported by pdflatex directly.

There is a gnuplot-luaterm in AUR that suppotts tikz, and ther are python-pyx (community) and pyxplot (a gnuplot-like program using python-pyx as lib).

x0rg · 2010-03-24 17:01:17

Stefan Husmann wrote:

Hm, but the eps format is not supported by pdflatex directly.

Yeah, but most plotting tools (at least matplotlib) support saving as pdf. It's not as common for graphics like eps but it works just as fine.

Pank · 2010-03-24 22:35:04

If one must use eps for dataplots epstopdf will convert them to pdfs. It should be possible to automate this process.

Either way, if you really just want to plot functions (only) the easiest and most elegant way of doing it, IMO, is PGF/TikZ. You just write whatever function you need and add the markup you need, e.g. grids or text. No need for external processes. If you need something more sophisticated than TikZ can handle internally you can call gnuplot from TikZ/TeX.

A function can be plotted by e.g.:

\draw[color=blue] plot (\x,{sin(\x r)}) node[right] {$f(x) = \sin x$};

For plotting data etc. I use R through Sweave. Using Sweave one can embed R code in (La)TeX documents. I usually use the pgfSweave package to get high quality plots. Another possibility is pgfplots.

I don't use exported graphics (eps/pdf) since it will not use the same fonts as the rest of the document. Resizing also becomes a mess.

--Rasmus

Last edited by Pank (2010-03-24 22:36:47)

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#1 2010-03-18 16:43:17

Plotting tools?

#2 2010-03-18 16:50:32

Re: Plotting tools?

#3 2010-03-18 17:03:06

Re: Plotting tools?

#4 2010-03-18 17:20:31

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#5 2010-03-18 18:38:10

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#6 2010-03-18 21:19:59

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#7 2010-03-18 23:30:52

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#8 2010-03-19 00:08:43

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