The ECN No Name Newsletter is no longer being published. This is an archived issue.

Placing Plots and Figures Within Text

There are easy ways of placing plots and figures within text. Well, I guess I should say they are easy once you have the drawing or figure worked out.

One method is to have the computer to do the placement for you. This is done by placing the pic code directly into the text. The example below would place a box and arrow in the text at the point where the code is placed.

                     .PS
                     box "sample"
                     arrow right
                     .PE

Another method is reading a separate pic file into the text. The simple pic drawing placed at the top of page 14 of the hard copy newsletter was positioned using this method. First, pic code was keyed into a separate file, p1, and then that file was read into the master text file as below:

                     text, text, text, text
                     .sp
                     .PS < p1
                     .sp 3
                     text, text, text, text

One advantage of using the "read in" method is that the size of the master file is kept to a minimum. Additionally, this method allows work to be done on the smaller pic file, adjusting it until the correct code is achieved. Throughout the testing phase, the separate file idea allows printing of only the single page containing the pic drawing rather than a full multi-page project This can mean a substantial savings if you are paying for printing by the sheet.

For those of you who do not like to fiddle with the fine tuning of placing the final figure (ie, up a half inch, to the left a tenth). The waxing method can be your salvation. This method, borrowed from the art community, requires you to print your file and then run the finished drawing through a waxer. The waxer applies strips of wax to the back of the paper and these wax strips permit the drawing to be pressed onto another sheet. It works much like paste, except you may remove and reapply your drawing as many times as is required for proper placement. If you are interested in trying this "arty" method, stop by the HKN lounge in the basement of EE and give the waxer a try.

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