6.11.7 Polar Graph with Custom Angular Scale



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Summary

Normally, the polar angular axis unit reads in degrees, radians or gradians. However, Origin's polar graph also supports use of custom units.

Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 01.png

Minimum Origin Version Required: 2018b

What You Will Learn

This tutorial will show you how to:

  • use a dataset to control symbol size and color in a polar graph.
  • use a custom unit for the angular axes.
  • display tick labels as quarters.
  • add and custom the bubble scale

Steps

You can refer to this graph in Learning Center. (Select Help: Learning Center menu or press F11 key , and then open Graph Sample: Polar Graphs)

  1. Highlight column B and select Plot > Specialized :Symbol theta r to create a symbol plot in polar coordinate system.
  2. Double-click on any axis to open the Axis dialog. Go to the Scale tab and select Angular in the left panel. In this right panel, expand Units Definition node, and choose Radians as Units. Make sure the scale from 0 to 2 PI. Then change the Value of increment to 0.25
    Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 02.png

  3. Go to the Show tab for Angular-Outer axis, then change the Direction to Clockwise and set Rotate (deg.) to 90.
    Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 03.png

  4. Go to the Scale tab and select 'Radial in the left panel. Then set the scale from 0 to 1.2, and change the Value of increment to 0.4.
    Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 04.png

  5. Go to Tick Lables tab for the Angular- Outer axis. Open Display subtab, set Display to Custom and enter # #/4 as Custom Format to show the tick labels as fractions.
    Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 10.png

  6. Select Radial- Outer 1 axis. Choose Format subpage, and check the Bold check box. Then click the Apply To... button. In the pop-up dialog, make sure Apply From is Outer 1 and Apply to is All Axes, then check the Bold under the Tick Labels. Click OK.
    Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 05.png

    In Axis dialog, click OK to apply settings and close the Axis dialog.
  7. Double-click on the line plot to open the Plot Details dialog, in the Symbol tab, recreate the following settings, in the sequence shown in the screenshot:
    Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 06.png

    Click OK to apply the settings and close the Plot Details dialog.
  8. Select Bubble Scale in the Insert main menu to add a bubble scale in this graph. Click the bubble scale, and in the popup mini toolbar, click Layout button to select Nested Layout form the drop-down list.
    Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 07a.png
  9. Click the scale again, and in the popup mini toolbar, click the Bubble Style button to remove the fill color for the bubbles.
    Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 07b.png
  10. Click the scale again, and in the popup mini toolbar, click Decimal Places to set it to be 1.
    Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 07c.png
  11. Double-click on the bubble scale to open the Bubble Scale Control dialog. Go to the Levels page, set the level from 0 to 1, and change the Value of increment to 0.2.
    Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 07.png
  12. Go to Layout page, change the Label Offset from Symbol Center to 150. Check the Show Leader Line check box, then expand the node to check the Auto Reoisition to Avoid Overlapping check box. Click OK to apply the setting and close the dialog.
    Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 09.png

    Manually move the legend object and Radial axis, and click the Enable\Disable Anti-Aliasing button Button Anti Aliasing.png to smooth the graph. The final graph should look like this:
    Tutorial Polar with Custom Azimuth Scale 01.png