General Properties

In the Plots tab of the Cell Properties dialog box, you can change properties that affect the appearance of the plots in a graph.

The types of properties that you see vary with the type of plot that you are modifying. In general, you can specify colors, marker symbols, line attributes, and outlines and fills. These general plot properties are described in the following sections.

Line properties apply to many of the plots, including series, needle, step, reference lines, box, contour, and density plots.

Here is an example of line properties for a step plot.

The default style element varies by plot. You can select a different style element from the list box. For more information about style elements, see Specifying Style Elements for Plot Properties.

You can specify the following line attributes:

The attributes that you specify here override the attributes that are derived from the applied style element.

In the example shown here, the step plot contains upper and lower error limits for the data. In the Error Bar tab, you can set line properties for the error limits.

Plots such as bar charts and histograms use graphics elements that have a fill color.

Here is an example of fill properties for a bar chart.

You can select or clear the check boxes to toggle the fill and outline on and off.

The style element varies by plot. For more information about style elements, see Specifying Style Elements for Plot Properties. If you explicitly specify the color, pattern or thickness, the attributes that you specify override the attributes that are derived from the applied style element.

The default settings also vary by plot type. For example, by default some plots have no outline, and only Fill is selected, as shown in the following display. If you select Outline, then the Fill check box can be cleared. (Fill and Outline cannot both be cleared at the same time.) You can change the fill or outline properties even if the check box is dimmed.

Marker properties apply to several plots, including scatter, series, needle, and box plots.

Here is an example of marker properties for a scatter plot.

You can specify the style element from the list box. The style element varies by plot. For more information about style elements, see Specifying Style Elements for Plot Properties.

You can specify the following marker attributes:

The attributes that you specify here override the attributes that are derived from the applied style element.

For some plots, such as series and needle, there is a Markers check box. You can select or clear the check box to toggle the markers on and off.

Text properties apply to contour and block plots as well as other graphics elements such as axis labels, titles, footnotes, and legends.

Here is an example of text properties for the labels of a contour plot.

You can change the format of the text by applying a different style element. The default style element varies for different graphics elements. For more information, see Specifying Style Elements for Text Properties.

You can specify the following text attributes:

The attributes that you specify here override the attributes that are derived from the applied style element.