1.62 FAQ-184 How can I plot 4-dimensional (4D) data in Origin

Last Update: 2/18/2019

If you have 4 columns of data that you wish to plot, you could plot the first 3 as an XYZ scatter and then use the 4th column to set the symbol color.

  1. Set the third column as Z and then highlight this column and choose Plot > 3D : 3D Scatter.
  2. With the plot active, select Format:Plot, to open the Plot Details dialog.
  3. Set the Symbol Color to Color Mapping and choose the 4th column from the list of columns. (see note below)

You could take this one step further and also convert the XYZ data to a matrix and then plot as a wireframe plot through the scatter points.

Note

You have three options for "Using Values in a Data Set to Control Data Plot Color":

  1. Indexing: This option allows you to specify a data set whose values denote the order of colors (index number) in the Origin Color Palette.
  2. Direct RGB: An RGB composite value is computed from triplet components of Red, Green, and Blue. The R, G, and B component values range from 0 to 255.
  3. Color Mapping: With this option you create a mapping relationship between ranges of 2D Y values or 3D Z values and an associated scale of colors. The 2D Y values or 3D Z values are then used to determine the data point element colors in the data plot, based on the established color map.

Using other Indexing options you can extend this idea to represent up to 8 dimensions of data in your 3D XYZ Plot:

  1. The X data
  2. The Y data
  3. The Z data
  4. Size - Select one of the col(Column_Name) options
  5. Edge Color - Select one of the col(Column_Name) options(only for the 2D symbol type)
  6. Fill Color - Select one of the col(Column_Name) options(only for the 2D symbol type)
  7. Shape - Select one of the col(Column_Name) options (only for the 2D symbol type; the 3D symbol type only supports five shapes, doesn't support using dataset to specify the symbol shapes)
  8. Interior - Select one of the col(Column_Name) options (only for the 2D symbol type)

All additional columns must be to the immediate right of the Z column in your worksheet.


Keywords:plot, 4d
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