Graphing software?

[Rothrandir]

I need to plot a graph based on a number of points, and can do so with excel or openoffice calc, but neither program will let me achieve a true scale, so I can have an accurate representation when printed.

Does anyone know of something that will let me specify an actual size for the graph, so that I can have each axis be dimensionally the same? I want one inch on the graph to equal one inch on paper. Why is this so hard?

 

[jtice]

Sounds more like a task for drafting software, like CAD.

In CAD I have made something similar, it was a to scale plot of elevation change.

What I did was make points, by telling it, 3'-4" over, 100'-7" high,
then the next point is 4'-5" over, 107'-6" high.
Then after you have all the points, just connect the dots.
CAD keeps scale, so you could print it any way you wanted.
If you wanted 1" in CAD to = 1" on paper, you simply print it full scale (1:1)

~John

 

[elgarak]

Professional data analysis and graphing programs should do that; we here use Igor Pro from Wavemetrics, and it does that. Problem is that it costs $395 for students....

The other big professional program is Origin. It should do it also, but I've not used it in years. They offer a free trial version, if you only need to do the one graph.

 

[Marduke]

It's tricky, but it can be done in Excel and OpenOffice. If I want even more control, I'll use Matlab, but that's not cheap.

 

[chrwe]

Try www.r-project.org (number cruncher) or http://wxmaxima.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page (CAS). Both are released under the GPL and both will do the trick.

 

[Rothrandir]

Thanks guys

I cheated with oo calc and got it good enough.