1.1 My First Graph

GSB-first-graph

In this first lesson, we will generate some data, create a graph, do some simple customization of the graph, and save the data and graph as an Origin project.

Import data and graph

1. Launch Origin. You will see an empty workbook with one worksheet containing two columns.
2. Click Help: Open Folder: Samples Folder and browse to \Curve Fitting\Sensor01.dat. Drag the file to the Origin workbook.



3. Now let us create a graph. Click on the header of column B to select the entire column. Then click the Line button in the 2D Graphs toolbar docked at the bottom left of the interface. A graph window will open, with the data plotted as a line.

Customize the graph

1. We will now do some simple customization of the graph. Click on the X axis, and in the pop-up Mini Toolbar, click the Show Gridlines button to select Both in the drop-down list. This will add major and minor grid lines for the X axis. Do the same for Y axis.

   

2. Click on the line plot. In the pop-up Mini Toolbar, click the Line Color button to change the line color to Blue.

   

3. Change the width to 3 by using the Line Thickness drop-down list in the Mini Toolbar.
4. Single-click inside the layer, but not on the grid lines or plot. You may need to click once to deselect your plot and then again to select the layer. The graph layer will be selected, and this will be indicated by selection handles. Change the layer background color to LT Yellow by using the Layer Background Color button on the Mini Toolbar. Your graph should look like below:

   

Explore data graphically

1. Let us now explore the data graphically. Make sure the graph window is active by clicking on the title bar.
   • Hold the Z key down and use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out on the X axis.
   • Hold the X key down, and use mouse wheel to pan across the x axis.
     Hold the Shift key down along with Z/X keys to zoom/pan in Y direction.
   • Bring the plot back to full scale by clicking the yellow background, then clicking the Rescale button on the Mini Toolbar.
     Use shortcut CTRL+R to rescale plots in the graph layer.
     
2. Hover your cursor on a point of the curve and a Data Point tooltip will show.
   

   

Save the Project

We will now save this Origin project for later use.

1. Move mouse over to the Project Explorer bar on the left side of the work space to expand it.
2. Right click on the Folder1 in the upper folders panel and choose Rename from the context menu. Type My First Graph to rename the folder.
3. Choose menu File: Save Project to save the project. Give the project a name such as Getting Started Tutorials.

   Files created by the user such as projects, graph templates, fitting functions etc are by default saved in the User Files Folder (UFF). You can access the UFF and other useful folder locations with the main menu Help: Open Folder.