Customizing the symbols used on an X–Y curve

You can customize the symbols used on an X–Y curve.

See Also
Selecting one or more X–Y curves to customize

Context:

Use the Curve Options dialog box to customize the appearance of the symbols used to represent data points on an X–Y curve. For example, in Figure 1 the plot on the left uses the default symbols, while the plot on the right uses customized symbols.

Figure 1. X–Y plots with different data point symbols.

The symbol that you select appears along the curve and in the legend. The customization options are available only when Show symbol is toggled on.

  1. Locate the Attributes options.

    The Attributes options appear in the lower half of the Curve Options dialog box.

  2. From the Curves field, select one or more X–Y curves whose symbols you wish to customize.

    Note:

    To make an X–Y curve available for selection, you must first plot it.

    The customization options you choose will apply to all of the curves you have selected; if you want to vary the symbols on multiple curves, you must customize them one at a time.

  3. Toggle Show symbol to display or suppress the symbols representing each selected X–Y curve's data points.

    When Show symbol is on, symbols are displayed and the symbol attributes are enabled.

  4. Choose the symbol color:
    1. Click the color sample .

      Abaqus/CAE displays the Select Color dialog box.

    2. Use one of the methods in the Select Color dialog box to select a new color. For more information, see Customizing colors.
    3. Click OK to close the Select Color dialog box.

      The color sample changes to the selected color. The new color does not appear in the viewport until you click OK or Apply in the XY Plot Options dialog box.

  5. Choose the symbol:
    1. Click the Symbol button to reveal the choice of symbols.
    2. From the list of symbols, click the desired symbol.

      The specified symbol appears on the selected X–Y curve.

  6. Choose the symbol size:
    1. Click the Size button to reveal the symbol size options.
    2. From the symbol size options, click the desired symbol size.

      The specified symbol size appears on the selected X–Y curve.

  7. Select the frequency of the symbols.

    Type an integer into the Frequency text field to choose how often symbols appear along the curve. For example, if you enter a frequency of two, Abaqus displays symbols at every second data point. The value zero is not allowed; to suppress the display of symbols, toggle off Show symbol.

  8. Click Dismiss to close the Curve Options dialog box.