Re: Blurry Graphs

[Ben Abbott]

On Feb 17, 2014, at 11:29 AM, Jordan Erisman <address@hidden> wrote:

> On Feb 17, 2014 7:52 AM, "Ben Abbott" <address@hidden> wrote:
> >
> > On Feb 16, 2014, at 11:08 PM, Jordan Erisman <address@hidden> wrote:
> >
> >> On Sun, Feb 16, 2014 at 7:00 PM, Ben Abbott <address@hidden> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Feb 15, 2014, at 5:46 PM, Jordan Erisman <address@hidden> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> > Hello,
> >>> >
> >>> > I have Octave installed on my Macbook Pro. When I go to plot my graphs 
> >>> > using X11, the images are very blurry. I have plotted a few graphs on a 
> >>> > PC at my school and the graphs are very clear. I am new to octave, and 
> >>> > do not much about it. I would also like to know how to save the graphs 
> >>> > from X11 to say, a word document. Thanks for the help in advance.
> >>> >
> >>> > Jordan
> >
> >  
> >>>
> >>> X11 on Mac OSX doesn't do any anti-aliasing.  If you can tell us what 
> >>> version of Octave you are running and where you get if from, as well as 
> >>> what version of Mac OSX you are running it on we'll be able to help out.
> >>>
> >>> To save a graph to include in a word document, try ....
> >>>
> >>>         print test.png
> >>>
> >>> And then add the png picture to your word document.  Word on Mac OSX lets 
> >>> you use PDF files for pictures, which often gives a superior result.  If 
> >>> you are running Octave whose version is 3.4.x, 3.6.x, or 3.8.x, then you 
> >>> can ....
> >>>
> >>>         print -dpdfwrite test.pdf
> >>>
> >>> Ben
> >>
> >>  I have GNU Octave, version 3.6.4 installed on my 10.9.1 Macbook via fink. 
> >> The plots are clear when I manually set the environment to plot in 
> >> aquaterm, but I prefer x11 if possible. 
> >
> >  
> > Please bottom-post ...
> >
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Bottom-posting
> >
> > And avoid top-posting ...
> >
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Top-posting
> >
> > For Octave via Fink, I recommend you install the atlas variant (there are 
> > bugs in Apple's vecLib).
> >
> > fink install octave364-atlas-dev
> >
> >
> > To improve the graphic display, I'd avoid x11 and if you'd like to avoid 
> > Aquaterm, then try wxt or qt.
> >
> >
> > fink install gnuplot-wxcocoa-qtmac
> >
> >
> > When you run Octave, you can compare the different plots by ...
> >
> >
> > close all
> >
> > graphics_toolkit gnuplot
> >
> > figure (1)
> >
> > clf ()
> >
> > setenv GNUTERM wxt
> >
> > plot (rand (3))
> >
> > title ("wxt")
> >
> > figure (2)
> >
> > clf ()
> >
> > setenv GNUTERM qt
> >
> > plot (rand (3))
> >
> > title ("qt")
> >
> >
> > Ben
> >
> >
> 
> Thank you for all of the tips, Ben. I have one more question. Once I find 
> which plots I like, how do I get octave to permanently plot the one I choose. 
> I tried to do this with aquaterm by editing the octaverc file, and adding the 
> line "setenv GNUTERM aqua," but it still plotted in X11.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jordan

The file you'll need to edit is "~/.octaverc".  The tilde "~" refers to your 
home directory (i.e. the ".octaverc" file needs to be in your home directory), 
and the dot "." preceding "octaverc" makes the file invisible.  You need the 
dot "." since it is also part of the filename.  Since the file is invisible, 
you won't see it from the Finder.  Instead you'll need to "ls -ah ~" from a 
Terminal window.

Ben