在本贴中，我会分步介绍我是如何修改上贴中的图片的。这将帮助大家熟悉Microsoft Excel中一些有用的功能。下面的内容是我基于真实的实验数据，利用Microsoft Excel的制图工具制作出来的图片。我在原始数据的基础上，一步一步展示制作出具有吸引力的图片所需的必要步骤，希望这些内容对大家在发表带有绘图的文章时有所帮助。

Microsoft Excel Plot Tutorial

In this post I will present step-by-step instructions on how I altered the graphs from my earlier post. This will help you become familiar with some of the options available in Microsoft Excel.

Step one: Load your data

Figure 1

Here, I have my data set.  It has some peaks that I want the reader to be able to see in detail. However, this data set has 77 peaks. Therefore, I will need to remove some of them to let the reader see appropriate detail. Knowing your goals for the figure will help you select the best display options for your graph. Every plot is different. You will need to adjust many of the steps that I have provided here for your own data. However, this tutorial will show you some basic tools for presenting your data in an effective and attractive manner.

Step two: Remove data header

      

Figure 2

The oscilloscope places a header on the data sets it produces. This head could interfere with future analyses that you may perform. To remove it select the rows containing the data, right click, and select “delete.”

Step three: Convert your data to appropriate units

The oscilloscope provides data using seconds.  However the events of interest are on the nanosecond scale.  Therefore, we must convert the time scale in column A from seconds to nanoseconds.

Enter in the conversion value.  In this case it is 1e9.

Figure 3.1

Next, you will want to multiply the values in column A by this value.  This can be done using “paste special”

           

Figure 3.2

Select the conversion value you entered. Right click and chose “copy.” Then select the data you want to convert. In this case, we select column A.  Right click, and chose “paste special…”

Figure 3.3

A dialog box will appear.  In this box, select “values” and “multiply,” and then click the OK button.

Figure 3.4

Now the data is in nanoseconds.

Step four: Select the data of interest

The data set that we are working with has 40,000 points, which corresponds to 77 pulses.  This is too much to fit in the plot.  Therefore, we will select 2,500 points, which we will use for plotting.

Figure 4.1

Here we have chosen points 13000–15499.

We then copy and paste these data points in a new file. It is best to keep your original data set complete, so that you can refer back to it if you want to make another plot at a future time.

Step five: Make the chart

Figure 5.1

In our new Excel file (the yellow circle in Fig. 5.1 shows the new file name) we can generate the plot. Under the “insert” tab select “scatter.”

Figure 5.2

Under “scatter,” chose “scatter with only markers.”

Figure 5.3

Now the initial plot has been generated.

Step six: Change the marker options

Figure 6.1

Double click on the markers representing the data set.  Then, a dialog box titled “Format data series will appear.

Figure 6.1

In this dialog box, select the submenu “marker options.” Select “built-in.” After making this selection, two more options will appear. Change the type to the round dot, and the size to two, which is the smallest size offered.

Figure 6.2

Now, select the submenu “marker fill.” Chose the option “solid fill.” Again, more options will appear after you make this selection.  Click the “color” button, and chose “red” under “standard colors”

Figure 6.3

Select the submenu “marker line color.” Choose the option “no line.”

Figure 6.4

Now, the markers look good. We should move on to adjusting the axes.

Step seven: Adjusting the axes

This section will have quite a bit of information in it, so I will break it into “sub-steps.”

            Sub-step 7.1: Horizontal axis options

Figure 7.1.1

If you have the “Format markers” dialog box still open simply click on the horizontal axis.  Otherwise, double click on the horizontal axis. Now this is a bit confusing, but the placement of the vertical axis is controlled by the horizontal axis options. Select the submenu “axis options.” Then under “vertical axis crosses” select the option “axis value” then enter a large negative value. In this case -10,000 works well.  This will ensure that the vertical axis appears on the left side of the plot.

Next our goal will be adjusting the minimum and maximum horizontal axis values to ensure the data occupies the entire plot.

Figure 7.1.2

Change under “axis options” change “minimum” and maximum to “fixed.” In this case, I used the values -348 and -218. Now, with the axis minimum and maximum values changed, the data occupies the entire plot.

Figure 7.1.3

I also prefer to have the tic marks on the inside of the axis. By selecting “inside,” which is under “major tic mark type.”

Figure 7.1.4

Select the submenu “number.” In this submenu select the option “general,” which is under “category.”  This will change the numbers on the axis scale to normal notation rather than scientific notation.

Figure 7.1.5

Under submenu “line color” select the option solid line. In the options that subsequently appear, select “black” under the option “color”.

Under submenu “line style” set the “width” to “1.5 pt.”

            Sub-step 7.2: Adjusting the horizontal axis values

Because we selected a section of interesting data from a larger data set, the range of the horizontal axis is strange. This will distract the reader. Therefore we must adjust the values of the horizontal axis.

If we add 283 to the horizontal axis values, which are in column A, zero will be in the center of the graph. When I am free to set the time axis, I prefer to set zero in the center. This makes the graph symmetric, which I find to be visually pleasing.

This process it similar to the one we used to convert the data from seconds to nanoseconds.

Figure 7.2.1

Enter the value, right click, and select copy.

          

Figure 7.2.2

To avoid creating extra entries in the Excel sheet, make sure you only select you data not the entire column.  Right click and select “paste special.” In the dialog box selection options “values” and “add” then click the okay button.

Figure 7.2.3

Now, we will need to change the horizontal axis, because our data has vanished. Double click the horizontal axis to bring up the options dialog box.

Figure 7.2.4

Adjusting the fixed minimum and maximum to -70 and 70, respectively, brings the data back into the viewable area.

            Sub-step 7.3: Adjusting the vertical axis values

In this case I have decided to remove the background to bring more attention to the peaks. The reader might be distracted trying to determine the meaning of the background, which would lessen the effectiveness of the figure. When you are making your plot, it is essential that you do not remove information that is relevant. Take care in making such decisions.  

Therefore, in using a method similar to steps 7.1 and 7.2 we will use the “paste special function to subtract .0125 from all of the values in column B.

Figure 7.3.1

Take care to operate on the correct data, and to perform the correct operation.

Next, we will normalize the data. This data was not calibrated to an absolute scale.  Therefore, it is best not present the reader with values that might think have some meaning.  In this case, the reader might think the maximum value, 0.014 has some significance.  It does not, so it is best to change the scale to range from 0 to 1.  Then, it will be clearer to the reader that this scale is merely relative.

Again we will use the paste special function:

Figure 7.3.2

This time we simply divide data set by 0.014

            Sub-step 7.4: Vertical axis options

Figure 7.4.1

Repeat the following steps done on the horizontal axis on the vertical axis:

Under submenu “line color” select the option solid line. In the options that subsequently appear, select “black” under the option “color”.

Under submenu “line style” set the “width” to “1.5 pt.”

Figure 7.4.2

Now, adjust the maximum and minimum values for the vertical axis. Switch the tic marks to “inside”

Now the data is nicely positioned in the plot.

Step eight: Remove the gridlines

Figure 8.1

Double click on a gridline. Under the submenu “line color,” choose the option “no line”

Step nine: Make a border for the plot

Figure 9.1

Double click on an empty spot inside the plot area. This will bring up the “format plot area” dialog box.

Under the submenu “border color” select the option “solid line” and then chose “black” under the option “color”

Under the submenu “border styles” set the option width to “1.5”

Step ten: Add labels

Figure 10.1

Select the label, “series1,” press delete to eliminate this label.

Figure 10.2

Under the tab “layout” in the “chart tools” sections, click on the “text box button”.  Make two text boxes for your axis labels. In this case, we us the labels “time [ns]” and normalized intensity [arb. units].”  Be sure to include accurate axis labels that include the units used.

Figure 10.3

You may need to rotate the vertical axis label. Use the green dot at the top of the text box. Holding the “shift” key while rotating the box, will help you make it perfectly vertical.

Figure 10.4

Change the font options, so that the axes’ scales and labels are large and easy to read. In this case the font was changed to 12-pt Arial on all of the text in the figure.

Step eleven: Final spacing adjustments

Figure 11.1

Adjust the position and size of the plot and the position of the labels such that you use the entire chart area.  This will help save space when you place the finished chart in your manuscript.

I hope you have found this tutorial useful. As an avid reader of scientific manuscripts, I am always happy to see high-quality easy to understand data plots.

All the best,
Daniel Broaddus, PhD

Physical Sciences Editor, Edanz Group China
www.liwenbianji.cn



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