---+ Barrick Lab Style Guide for Figures ---++ General Workflow * Use a program (Excel, R, CIRCOS, matplotlib, etc.) to graph your data. * Output a file in a vector graphics file format (SVG or PDF). * Integrate the graphs into an annotated figure in Adobe Illustrator. As an example... Things to do in Excel before exporting * Change the font of all labels to Arial or Helvetica * Resize symbols and fonts so that they look good in proportion. * Remove all grid lines. * Outline the graph area with a box. * Change all line widths (axes, box) to 1 point. * Remove the border around the whole graph area. * Remove all shadow effects. This is a figure created in Microsoft Excel of two sets of fitness measurements. <img src="%ATTACHURLPATH%/example_1_excel.png"> This is the final figure created by importing this graph into Adobe Illustrator. Notice: * The line widths of error bars and ticks have been further adjusted for better visibility. * Shadow effects have been removed. * The legend has been expanded. * Horizontal lines showing the averages of each time series have been added. * The names have been changed from abstruse strain numbers into simple numbering. * A panel describing the overall experiment has been added. <img src="%ATTACHURLPATH%/example_1_illustrator.png"> ---++ General Guidelines for Figures * Fonts * Always use Helvetica or Arial. * Avoid font sizes smaller than 6 pts as much as possible. * Generally label figure subparts with capital bold letters of 12-14 pt size. * Use CMYK color. This is what journals use for print copies. * Blues, in particular, look much different than in RGB space. * Generally, DO NOT use: * Shadows, halos, etc., or other shading effects. Be aware that this is the default in many Microsoft programs. * Cross-hashing. There can be odd effects when printing close cross-hashes. * More than one kind of dashed line. ---++ What type of graph should I use for my data? * Types of data * Relative fitness * Expression levels * Mutation rates * Don't use bar graphs when a log scale is the natural scale. ---++ Using Excel to Create Graphs * Differences from Excel defaults * Remove black box from the outside of the graph. * Remove horizontal dividing lines. * Outline graph area and make axes use 1 pt black lines. * Change the default font to Arial or Helvetica before exporting. Other fonts (including the Calibri default!) can change into random symbols when loading into Illustrator. ---++ Creating Figures in Adobe Illustrator * Imported graphs. * Be careful to only perform isomorphic transformations on imported graphs. Obviously it is important to preserve the exact locations of ticks relative to data. * Since you can determine the exact pixel locations of what you draw in Adobe Illustrator, you can calculate exactly where to place extra features in the context of your graph.
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Topic revision: r3 - 2013-06-13 - JeffreyBarrick