superscripts in FrameLabel
- To: mathgroup at yoda.physics.unc.edu
- Subject: superscripts in FrameLabel
- From: "Arthur Ogawa" <ogawa at orion.arc.nasa.gov>
- Date: Mon, 17 Feb 92 16:40:44 -0800
howard at cco.caltech.edu (Howard S. Lee) writes: > 3. Is there a document out there with ideas on what to do to make > publication quality plots. If yes, I would like to get a copy. > I didn't find anything in the yoda archive. I wanted to address your third query from the standpoint of the Mathematica Journal. Up through V2 Issue 1, all plots published in the Journal that were generated by Mathematica were exported to Adobe Illustrator and modified there to bring them into compliance with the Journal's standards. (There were minor exceptions to this process.) Mathematica-generated plots were substandard in numerous ways that we found impossible to fix using Mathematica alone. Most mathematical type, we regenerated more correctly with TeX, and then pasted them in, replacing those generated by Mathematica. Rules for various elements were altered, notably the axes and axis ticks. Generally, axis ticks were removed, (because Mathematica put too many on). Weights of rules were altered to conform to standards. It was not uncommon to re-render curves generated by Mathematica (as many short line segments) into Bezier splines (taking up considerably fewer resources). Whenever this was done, the two curves were verified to not differ visibly (at 2400 dpi). There is a bug in Mathematica's renderer such that, in a 3D polygon, the edges are rendered identically no matter the distance from the viewpoint, or the inclination of the plane of the polygon to the viewpoint. Thus an Edge may obscure a polygon's Face if viewing very obliquely. And portions of a 3D polygonal surface near the vanishing point are rendered as "all edges". The most recent issue of the Journal shows how we chose to deal with such problems. The cover image and the minimal surface on page 58 were rendered by ray-tracing software instead of by Mathematica's renderer. In general I have found that to obtain high quality graphics from Mathematica, one must start with a standard, and then use Mathematica's facilities to exchange data with more flexible downstream processes, such as Adobe Illustrator or Ray Dream Designer. Then enforce the standard using these more accessible tools. In sum, I'm sure that we are fortunate to have Mathematica's export capabilities, without which it would simply be useless as a vehicle for creating publication graphics. It could be used as a direct tool for some graphics, given improvements in type handling and finer control over rule weights. But this by no means addresses all of its shortcomings. Arthur Ogawa Internet: ogawa at orion.arc.nasa.gov Ph: 1/415/691-1126 TeX consultant AppleLink: ogawa FAX:1/415/962-1969 STEPS Project 1101 San Antonio Rd. #413, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94043-1002