st: Hatched bars, again

[Fred Wolfe]

Although this subject has been aired before, I though this letter from
a journal copy editor to me might put the issues practically. I sent a
paired -graph box - with three shades of grey using scheme(s2mono).
Not one should worry, as I will fix it with the editor, but the letter
is interesting.

"Dr. Wolfe,

With respect, the artwork sent for this article  does not meet minimum
standards for print reproduction <snip> ...  you will note the fine
lines and details of the text and art are blurred and turning 'grey'
or disappearing. And complicating the problem, there's a frame of grey
shading all around the 2 graphs (an artefact from the original slide)
that will show up in print as a distracting mess of shadow.

As a general guideline, artwork intended for publication should be
prepared in black and white only, with no grey-colored shading or
lines, because material in grey cannot be printed clearly with good
contrast.  Where a different 'color' is needed to differentiate data
or columns, cross-hatching effects in black and white are useful.

As well, for best quality reproduction, it is best if charts and
graphs are sent to us in the original program in which they were
created (such as MicroSoft Word or Excel), not as "image scans" in
MicroSoft Document format. When an image is scanned, it inevitably
loses some sharpness of detail. But with artwork in the original
program we are sometimes able to make adjustments for clarity of
print.

The department of publications at  one of the authors' institutions
may be able to assist in preparation of  good quality artwork that
communicates your data effectively.

Is it possible that better quality artwork could be prepared somehow?"



--
Fred Wolfe
National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases
Wichita, Kansas
NDB Office  [phone] Ext 0
Research Office [phone]
[hidden email]
*
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*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
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*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/

[Sergiy Radyakin]

Dear Dr. Wolfe,

there is nothing impossible in getting hatching effects in Stata.

About a year ago I've posted a -twoway parea- graphing command that
has a feature of pattern fills to the SSC archive.

To download type: findit parea

Here are some examples:
   http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=patternsih3.png
   http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pareamapug3.png

Please ignore the unrelated advertisements displayed by the free image
hosting site and click the image to see it in full, otherwise the
patterns may be distorted during the scale-down procedures implemented
in the browsers (e.g. IE).

Currently I did only twoway parea as an extended version of twoway
area, and not the other types of graphs, as I needed it to work with
maps in Stata.

One thing to remember, however: though the patterns look like patterns
on the screen, they will be scaled down in print if you export in
vector format. E.g. if the step between the hatch lines is 10 pixels,
and you see it as a pattern, then once printed at 600 dpi, this will
be only 1/60th of an inch between the lines, which is optically much
smaller distance (typical reduction is about 10 times, or 72/600 but
might be different). However the eye typically perceives this small
pattern just as a shade of grey (which is done using only two basic
colors: black and white). If you want to have a distinct pattern, use
export with a raster format, e.g. PNG.

Hope this helps

Best regards, Sergiy Radyakin




On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 1:47 PM, Fred Wolfe
<[hidden email]> wrote:

> Although this subject has been aired before, I though this letter from
> a journal copy editor to me might put the issues practically. I sent a
> paired -graph box - with three shades of grey using scheme(s2mono).
> Not one should worry, as I will fix it with the editor, but the letter
> is interesting.
>
> "Dr. Wolfe,
>
> With respect, the artwork sent for this article  does not meet minimum
> standards for print reproduction <snip> ...  you will note the fine
> lines and details of the text and art are blurred and turning 'grey'
> or disappearing. And complicating the problem, there's a frame of grey
> shading all around the 2 graphs (an artefact from the original slide)
> that will show up in print as a distracting mess of shadow.
>
> As a general guideline, artwork intended for publication should be
> prepared in black and white only, with no grey-colored shading or
> lines, because material in grey cannot be printed clearly with good
> contrast.  Where a different 'color' is needed to differentiate data
> or columns, cross-hatching effects in black and white are useful.
>
> As well, for best quality reproduction, it is best if charts and
> graphs are sent to us in the original program in which they were
> created (such as MicroSoft Word or Excel), not as "image scans" in
> MicroSoft Document format. When an image is scanned, it inevitably
> loses some sharpness of detail. But with artwork in the original
> program we are sometimes able to make adjustments for clarity of
> print.
>
> The department of publications at  one of the authors' institutions
> may be able to assist in preparation of  good quality artwork that
> communicates your data effectively.
>
> Is it possible that better quality artwork could be prepared somehow?"
>
>
>
> --
> Fred Wolfe
> National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases
> Wichita, Kansas
> NDB Office  [phone] Ext 0
> Research Office [phone]
> [hidden email]
> *
> *   For searches and help try:
> *   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
> *   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
> *   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
>

*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/

[Nick Cox]

I am not clear on the connection here.

Fred reports an exchange with an editor about the rendering of various
greys in a diagram in a paper. The diagram shows three box plots.

Fred also used the title "hatched bars", which gave Sergiy a good
opportunity to remind us of his implementation of area shadings.

Does Fred want to be able to fill the boxes of his box plots?

I've always found informative text (which could be numeric) the simplest
way to distinguish different box plots. That applies where the plots are
for distinct groups, variables or combinations.

Incidentally, although grey requires care, I've had no problems
publishing Stata-produced plots as diagrams in journals in my part of
science.

Nick
[hidden email]

Fred Wolfe

Although this subject has been aired before, I though this letter from
a journal copy editor to me might put the issues practically. I sent a
paired -graph box - with three shades of grey using scheme(s2mono).
Not one should worry, as I will fix it with the editor, but the letter
is interesting.

"Dr. Wolfe,

With respect, the artwork sent for this article  does not meet minimum
standards for print reproduction <snip> ...  you will note the fine
lines and details of the text and art are blurred and turning 'grey'
or disappearing. And complicating the problem, there's a frame of grey
shading all around the 2 graphs (an artefact from the original slide)
that will show up in print as a distracting mess of shadow.

As a general guideline, artwork intended for publication should be
prepared in black and white only, with no grey-colored shading or
lines, because material in grey cannot be printed clearly with good
contrast.  Where a different 'color' is needed to differentiate data
or columns, cross-hatching effects in black and white are useful.

As well, for best quality reproduction, it is best if charts and
graphs are sent to us in the original program in which they were
created (such as MicroSoft Word or Excel), not as "image scans" in
MicroSoft Document format. When an image is scanned, it inevitably
loses some sharpness of detail. But with artwork in the original
program we are sometimes able to make adjustments for clarity of
print.

The department of publications at  one of the authors' institutions
may be able to assist in preparation of  good quality artwork that
communicates your data effectively.

Is it possible that better quality artwork could be prepared somehow?"


*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/

[Fred Wolfe]

On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 8:37 AM, Nick Cox <[hidden email]> wrote:
> I am not clear on the connection here.

The connection ... Although I mostly agree with Nick, the point of my
email was to provide some additional evidence that at least some
journals editors want "hatched bars."

A second, perhaps hidden, point was that this journal doesn't like
grey borders. So that perhaps Stata might want to consider adding a
default non-grey bordered scheme.

As for me, I can modify the scheme myself or edit it in the graph
editor... and I was able to convince the copy editor on the telephone
that the  graph was quite readable with hatching.

Fred

>
> Fred reports an exchange with an editor about the rendering of various
> greys in a diagram in a paper. The diagram shows three box plots.
>
> Fred also used the title "hatched bars", which gave Sergiy a good
> opportunity to remind us of his implementation of area shadings.
>
> Does Fred want to be able to fill the boxes of his box plots?
>
> I've always found informative text (which could be numeric) the simplest
> way to distinguish different box plots. That applies where the plots are
> for distinct groups, variables or combinations.
>
> Incidentally, although grey requires care, I've had no problems
> publishing Stata-produced plots as diagrams in journals in my part of
> science.
>
> Nick
> [hidden email]
>
> Fred Wolfe
>
> Although this subject has been aired before, I though this letter from
> a journal copy editor to me might put the issues practically. I sent a
> paired -graph box - with three shades of grey using scheme(s2mono).
> Not one should worry, as I will fix it with the editor, but the letter
> is interesting.
>
> "Dr. Wolfe,
>
> With respect, the artwork sent for this article  does not meet minimum
> standards for print reproduction <snip> ...  you will note the fine
> lines and details of the text and art are blurred and turning 'grey'
> or disappearing. And complicating the problem, there's a frame of grey
> shading all around the 2 graphs (an artefact from the original slide)
> that will show up in print as a distracting mess of shadow.
>
> As a general guideline, artwork intended for publication should be
> prepared in black and white only, with no grey-colored shading or
> lines, because material in grey cannot be printed clearly with good
> contrast.  Where a different 'color' is needed to differentiate data
> or columns, cross-hatching effects in black and white are useful.
>
> As well, for best quality reproduction, it is best if charts and
> graphs are sent to us in the original program in which they were
> created (such as MicroSoft Word or Excel), not as "image scans" in
> MicroSoft Document format. When an image is scanned, it inevitably
> loses some sharpness of detail. But with artwork in the original
> program we are sometimes able to make adjustments for clarity of
> print.
>
> The department of publications at  one of the authors' institutions
> may be able to assist in preparation of  good quality artwork that
> communicates your data effectively.
>
> Is it possible that better quality artwork could be prepared somehow?"
>
>
> *
> *   For searches and help try:
> *   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
> *   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
> *   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
>

--
Fred Wolfe
National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases
Wichita, Kansas
NDB Office  [phone] Ext 0
Research Office [phone]
[hidden email]
*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/

[Nick Cox]

I don't think this needs a new scheme or indeed new anything. For
example, with bars or even marker symbols you can use one option for
fill and one for outline.

In one Tip I use various grey scales to indicate various levels on an
ordered scale but in every case insist on a dark outline colour, i.e.
mlcolor(black). See

<http://www.stata-journal.com/sjpdf.html?articlenum=gr0023>

I think the strongest case for patterned fills is when people want
different colours, but a full colour range is impossible or too
expensive and grey scale does not satisfy. That is perhaps most
convincing for choropleth (patch) maps, but even then it is difficult to
construct an unambiguous ordering with mixes of stippling, striping and
shading. For bar charts a better answer is usually to use horizontal
bars with text labels or a dot chart or indeed a table.

Nick
[hidden email]

Fred Wolfe

On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 8:37 AM, Nick Cox <[hidden email]> wrote:
> I am not clear on the connection here.

The connection ... Although I mostly agree with Nick, the point of my
email was to provide some additional evidence that at least some
journals editors want "hatched bars."

A second, perhaps hidden, point was that this journal doesn't like
grey borders. So that perhaps Stata might want to consider adding a
default non-grey bordered scheme.

As for me, I can modify the scheme myself or edit it in the graph
editor... and I was able to convince the copy editor on the telephone
that the  graph was quite readable with hatching.

>
> Fred reports an exchange with an editor about the rendering of various
> greys in a diagram in a paper. The diagram shows three box plots.
>
> Fred also used the title "hatched bars", which gave Sergiy a good
> opportunity to remind us of his implementation of area shadings.
>
> Does Fred want to be able to fill the boxes of his box plots?
>
> I've always found informative text (which could be numeric) the

simplest
> way to distinguish different box plots. That applies where the plots
are

> for distinct groups, variables or combinations.
>
> Incidentally, although grey requires care, I've had no problems
> publishing Stata-produced plots as diagrams in journals in my part of
> science.
>
>
> Fred Wolfe
>
> Although this subject has been aired before, I though this letter from
> a journal copy editor to me might put the issues practically. I sent a
> paired -graph box - with three shades of grey using scheme(s2mono).
> Not one should worry, as I will fix it with the editor, but the letter
> is interesting.
>
> "Dr. Wolfe,
>
> With respect, the artwork sent for this article  does not meet minimum
> standards for print reproduction <snip> ...  you will note the fine
> lines and details of the text and art are blurred and turning 'grey'
> or disappearing. And complicating the problem, there's a frame of grey
> shading all around the 2 graphs (an artefact from the original slide)
> that will show up in print as a distracting mess of shadow.
>
> As a general guideline, artwork intended for publication should be
> prepared in black and white only, with no grey-colored shading or
> lines, because material in grey cannot be printed clearly with good
> contrast.  Where a different 'color' is needed to differentiate data
> or columns, cross-hatching effects in black and white are useful.
>
> As well, for best quality reproduction, it is best if charts and
> graphs are sent to us in the original program in which they were
> created (such as MicroSoft Word or Excel), not as "image scans" in
> MicroSoft Document format. When an image is scanned, it inevitably
> loses some sharpness of detail. But with artwork in the original
> program we are sometimes able to make adjustments for clarity of
> print.
>
> The department of publications at  one of the authors' institutions
> may be able to assist in preparation of  good quality artwork that
> communicates your data effectively.
>
> Is it possible that better quality artwork could be prepared somehow?"

*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/