Text Labels

# Add Text Labels...

Users can add short text strings to a graph in a number of fonts, sizes, and styles. To add a label, select the graph to be used, then choose the Add Text Labels command in the Edit menu. The Annotations window will come up.

Type in the string to be created in the top entry box and select the appropriate display options. Only a small subset of commonly-used font families are included in the font listing. Click the color button to specify a color. (Note: For the first label created, the default font values found here are obtained from the Edit Graph/Set Default Options settings for Text Labels. For all subsequent labels, though, the values are inheritted from the previous label created.)

The Position entry boxes list the coordinates at which the label is to be placed; the position corresponds to the bottom left corner of the text string. The values are interpretted based on the following option.

The Attach To radiobuttons determine how the Position values are interpretted and how the text handled. The Graph option will make the label a graph object which will be placed at a fixed position relative to the graph but independent of the axes values (like the title or axis labels). The lower-left corner of the graph is position 0,0 and the top-right corner is 1,1. The label can be placed outside the graph as well as inside. Zooming has no effect on it, but resizing the graph will move the label so that its relative position is the same. This option is good for adding notes or legends to the graph. The Coordinates option will make the label a plotted object which will be placed according to the graph's axes. If the indicated position is not within the current bounds -- due to zooming or panning -- the label will not be displayed. This option is good for labeling objects in images or parts of curves. The Position values will be converted between these two coordinate systems when the option is changed.

The Add button creates a new label. The Delete button removes the current label from the graph. And the Apply button modifies the current label.

Once created, labels can be repositioned by dragging them with the left mouse button. If a label is attached to a graph's Coordinates and you drag it outside the graph, the label will disappear when dropped. The label still exists, but is just positioned outside the graph's axes range. Alter the axes to display the labels new position.

Double-clicking a label will bring up the Annotations window, if it doesn't already exist, with the label's information. When this window is open, a single-click is sufficient for selecting a different label for editting.