Working with Plot Properties

The Plot Properties Dialog Box

You can modify all of the properties of the plots and axes that are in a cell by using the Plot Properties dialog box.

To open the Plot Properties dialog box, right-click in a plot and select Plot Properties. You can also click in the plot area and then select Format

Plot Properties from the main menu.

The Plot Properties dialog box contains the following tabs:

Tabs in the Plot Properties Dialog Box

Tab	Purpose
General	used to edit the general properties of the plot or the cell containing plots
Plots	used to edit the properties of individual plots
Axes	used to edit the properties of one or more axes

General Properties

In the General tab, you can modify the wall color and border of the cell.

You can select or clear the Fill and Outline check boxes to toggle on and off the fill color and outline of the plot area. When the Fill check box is selected, you can select a fill color from the list box.

Plot Properties

About Plot Properties

In the Plots tab, you can modify the properties of individual plots. If more than one plot is open, then you can select the plot that you want to modify from the Plot list box.

The types of properties that you see vary depending on the type of plot that you are modifying.

Note: Based on plot settings, the initial value for a property might be shown as Auto or Group. This means that the value is derived from the original plot setting or from the group variable. You can later revert back to the original Auto or Group setting if desired.

If you change the properties, the settings that you specify override any style that has been applied to the graph.

Marker and Line Properties

You can specify the color, pattern, and thickness of a plot's lines from the list boxes.

You can specify the color, shape, and size of a plot's markers from the list boxes.

For markers, in addition to Auto or Group value, the initial value for any of the properties might be as follows:

If the MarkerColorGradient variable is defined, then Gradient is displayed as the current color value. The color list is dimmed, and you cannot change the color.
If the MarkerCharacter variable is defined, then Character is displayed as the current shape. The shape and size are dimmed, and you cannot change them.

Fill and Outline Properties

Plots such as bar charts and histograms use graphical elements that have a fill color. The Fill check box is selected by default. If you specify an outline for the plot, then you can clear the Fill check box.

When the Fill check box is selected, then you can specify the fill color and the transparency. Moving the slider to the right makes the fill color more transparent. (The other part of the plots, such as its outline, do not change.) The default value for transparency is obtained from the plot definition.

You can toggle the plot's outline on and off. If the Outline check box is selected, then you can specify a color for the outline.

Plot Properties dialog box for fill and outline

Contour Properties

Contour has different graphical elements, such as lines, labels, fill, and gradient based on the contour type. You can change the contour type.

If the contour plot includes an area, such as a fill or gradient, then the color can be reversed by selecting the Reverse Gradient check box.

If the contour plot contains lines or labeled lines, then the line properties are enabled and can be edited.

Plot Properties dialog box, contour plot

Surface Properties

For surface plots, you can edit the surface type, color, and transparency. Moving the slider to the right makes the fill color more transparent.

Plot Properties dialog box, surface plot

If the Gradient variable is defined, then Gradient is displayed as the current color value. You can change the value for the color. If you change the color from Gradient to some other color, then that single color is used for the entire surface.

Axis Properties

In the Axes tab, you can modify the properties of labels for all the axes in a plot. You can select the axis you want to modify from the Axis list box.

Select or clear the Label check box to toggle the label on and off for the selected axis.

Select or clear the Grid check box to toggle the grid lines on and off for the selected axis. If the Grid check box is selected, then you can modify the color, the pattern (such as dotted or dashed), and the thickness of the grid lines.

For changes that can be made to axis labels, see Edit an Existing Axis Label.