Arrange Layers

This dialog is activated by selecting the command Arrange Layersfrom the Graph Menuor by the key code Shift-A.

It allows to modify the geometrical arrangement of the plots which are already present in the active window. You can add new layers or remove existing ones using the Number of layers control. By checking the Link X axes option, the layers will be interconnected, meaning that if you manually set the abscissae scale limits for one plot layer, the same limits will be automatically set for all other layers in the plot window.

You can specify the numbers of rows and columns which will define a grid of plots. With the default settings, QtiPlot computes the size of the layers from the size of the window. If you check the Layer Canvas Size, you can set the size of drawing area of the layers and QtiPlot will modify the size of the window. By checking the Fixed size box, the size of the layers will be kept unchanged when you manually resize the plot window.

The controls in the two right group boxes, Alignment and Spacing, allow to set the alignment of the layers in the window, and the margins between the layer borders and the window limits. By choosing, the option Canvases for the Spacing | Align field, the spacing defines the distance between the axes of the layers, whereas with the Layers option it defines the distance between the borders of the layers.

Finally you have the possibility to swap two layers using the Swap Layers box.

Figure 5-10. The Arrange Layers dialog: the geometry tab

The layers will be arranged in order to obtain a good alignment of the vertical and horizontal axis.

Figure 5-11. Exemple of a vertical arrangement for two plots.

If you do some modifications on your plot, the alignment of the different axis may not be conserved. You can exec again the Arrange Layers to re-arrange your plot.