After you finish analyzing your data, you will need to present your results to others (for example, customers, supervisors, funding agencies, and technical journals). The impact of your analytical work is often judged by the visual quality of your presentation. A good scientific graphing and data analysis software will allow you to create presentation-quality output within the software package, and will easily allow you to share your graphs with other presentation software products.
To create high quality visual presentations, look for the following features in a scientific graphing and data analysis software:
Customize all the elements in a graph
The ability to customize the data plot color, size, style, lines, symbols, fills, and borders is essential. Additionally, you should be able to customize the axes and grids, as well as labels and other annotations. The software you select should allow you to make these changes easily, preferably with a point-and-click (or a double-click) interface. It should also allow you to make these changes quickly. Since a graph is redrawn every time an element is added or edited, speed is essential when customizing a graph. Fast redraw speed is therefore imperative when selecting a scientific graphing and data analysis software.
Multiple graphs on a page
Presentations are often enhanced by displaying multiple graphs containing interrelated data on the same page. The software you select should allow you to easily add and arrange graphs on the same page. It should also allow you to easily add and remove data plots from your graphs.
Layout Page
Layout pages allow you to display related graphs, worksheets, and annotations on the same page. These custom presentations can then be printed from the scientific graphing and data analysis software.
OLE Graphics Server
Your scientific graphing and data analysis software should be an OLE server, allowing you to link or embed (copy/paste) your graphs in other presentation applications.
Graphic Export Filters
Look for a scientific graphing and data analysis software that offers a broad range of graphic export filters. In addition to exporting to a Windows metafile or bitmap file, common filters include PDF (Portable Document File), EPS (Encapsulated PostScript), JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), and TIF (Tag Image File).