Veusz Quick Start

Overview

Veusz is a GUI scientific plotting and graphing package. It is designed to produce publication-ready Postscript or PDF output. SVG, EMF and bitmap export formats are also supported. The program runs under Unix/Linux, Windows or Mac OS X, and binaries are provided. Data can be read from text, CSV, HDF5 or FITS files. In addition, you can also enter, manipulate or examine data from within the application. The developer's site, basic tutorials, and a full list of features are available here.

Getting Started

Download and install Veusz package.

Formatting Data Files for Veusz

• One of the easiest methods for formatting data to import into Veusz is by using Microsoft Excel. An example of data formatting is shown in the Excel image below. Once data is properly arranged, it can be saved as a comma delimited .csv text file for importing.

Example data formatting for creating Veusz import files.

Importing Data

• Now that your data file has been formatted, open Veusz. You will get the default plot format.

• Click "Data -> Import" to open the import data window. Select the tab that corresponds to your data format (e.g. CSV). Browse to your formatted data file and click open. Make sure your data was read correctly and click "Import" on the bottom right of the Import data window. Close the import window. Your data should now be visible in the "Dataset" pane on the right hand side.

• On the left hand side, highlight "graph1" then click "Insert -> Add xy". This will create the element "xy1" where you can link your data to the graph. To plot more than one set of data on a graph, click "Insert -> Add xy" again and this will create a new element "xy2".

Veusz Properties

• On the left hand side, you now have a list of elements "x, y, xy1". Selecting any of these will allow you to format each individually. When selecting "x" or "y", the "Properties" pane will allow you to assign labels to the axes (e.g. Strain Amplitude, Reversals), set the minimum and maximum axis values, as well as set the axis to display as logarithmic. Selecting "xy1" will allow you to set the data for each axis and the display name for the plot key.

• Click the new element "xy1" and in the "Properties - Veusz " pane select your X and Y data from the drop down lists.

Example Plot Output

Example Veusz plot of simulated fatigue data.