1.227 FAQ-992 How can I add a Unicode "real" minus sign to my axis tick labels?

Last Update: 1/31/2019

Users occasionally ask how they can add a longer, "real" minus sign in their graph axis tick labels, in place of the short single-hyphen symbol ("-") used to represent a mathematical "minus" sign.

FAQ992 1.png

Beginning with Origin 2019, you can use the page.longminus property to substitute the hyphen and lower-case "x" used as a multiplication symbol in graph axis tick labels, for a "long minus" and a cleaner-looking multiplication symbol. This is especially helpful when displaying tick labels in Scientific or Engineering notations.

FAQ992 2.png


To use a "long minus" symbol in your axis tick labels:

  1. From the main menu, click Window: Script Window.
  2. Make sure your graph is active, then type (or copy/paste) the following into the Script Window and press ENTER.
page.longminus=1

Keywords:tick labels, subtraction, multiplication, Engineering, Scientific, power, exponent