Ten Simple Rules for Better Figures
Scientific visualization is a graphical interface between people and data.
Know Your Audience.(针对不同人群，简略程度不一样)
Identify Your Message. (明确要传达的信息)
A figure is meant to express an idea or introduce some facts or a result that would be too long (or nearly impossible) to explain only with words, be it for an article or during a time-limited oral presentation.
- Adapt the Figure to the Support Medium.(根据媒体介质调整图像)
each type of support medium requires a different figure.
- Captions Are Not Optional.(图注是必要的)
you cannot explain everything within the figure itself—a figure should be accompanied by a caption.
- Do Not Trust the Defaults.(个性化调整是必需的)
All plots require at least some manual tuning of the different settings to better express the message.
- Use Color Effectively.(高效运用颜色)
to highlight some element of a figure, you can use color for this element while keeping other elements gray or black.
‘‘Is there any reason this plot is blue and not black?’’ If you don’t know the answer, just keep it black.
avoid using too many similar colors.
- Do Not Mislead the Reader.
两个例子：点的大小应用面积表示，而非半径。柱状图的纵轴范围。
shown as objectively as possible.
always use the simplest type of plots.
- Avoid ‘‘Chartjunk’’
any decorations that do not tell the viewer something new must be banned.
- Message Trumps Beauty
in science, message and readability of the figure is the most important aspect while beauty is only an option.
- Get the Right Tool
the software or library you’re using to make a visualization can be different from the software or library you’re using to conduct your research and/or analyze your data.