Using Logger Pro Version 3.8 As a Graphing Tool
Using Logger Pro Version 3.8 as a graphing tool
A Quick Reference Guide for commonly used features
To Open the Logger Pro graphing tool: If installed on your computer, just click the shortcut icon on the desktop or look for it in the programs list.
To title the data table:
- Double click the box at the top of the table where it says “data set” and enter the desired title
To title the graph:
- Double click the graph
- Choose Graph Options tab
- Enter the title in the box labeled “Title”
To label the data table columns and the axes of the graph:
- Double click on the top of the desired column (x or y) in the data table
- Enter the heading for the column in the box labeled “Name” This will be the same name given to the corresponding axis on the graph
- Enter the units for the data in the box labeled “Units”
Changing the scales on the axes:
By default, he program will auto-scale the values on the x and y axes. To change that do the following…
- Double click the graph
- Choose Axes Options tab (OR you can double click the axes label and select “more” from the list)
- In the drop down menu labeled “Scaling” you can choose to scale the axes from zero or set a manual scale
- If you choose manual scale, you then need to enter values for the minimum and maximum.
To add point protectors to plotted data:
- Double click on the column heading in the data table
- Choose the Options tab at the top
- In the area labeled Point Symbols choose the desired style (if you have a color printer, color can be chosen as well)
- click “Done”
- If they do not show up on graph….Double click the graph
- Choose the Graph Options tab
- Check the box labeled Point Symbols to turn them on
Drawing the “best fit” graph:
Unfortunately, the program defaults to playing “connect the dots” but this can be changed…
- Double click the graph
- Choose the Graph options tab
- In the box labeled “Appearance”, uncheck the Connect Lines selection
- If your graph appears to be a straight line, click and drag your mouse across the range of data points of interest on the graph then click the button “R=”. This will fit a regression line to the data.
- If your data is not a straight line (or you need to manipulate the values of coefficients) you can fit various equations to the data by choosing the button labeled “f(x)=”*
*these options can also be found under the Analyze menu at the top
Note on best fits…Keep in mind that the best fit functions can be manipulated by changing values of coefficients to create better fits as needed.
Adding Error Bars to data points:
- Double click on the column heading in the data table
- Choose the Options tab at the top
- Check the Error Bar Calculation box and define the appropriate settings
- Double click the graph
- Choose the Graph Options tab
- Check the boxes to turn on the error bars for the different axes
Graphing more than one set of data on the same graph:
- With the data table window highlighted, go to the Data menu at the top
- Click “New Data Set”. A second set of columns will appear that are labeled just like the original. These headings can be changed if needed just as described earlier in this document
- Enter your values into the data table
- You will see that the new data does not automatically graph, we must tell the program to graph it. To do this...Double click on the heading for the Y axis on the graph and choose “more” from the list
- Click on the + symbol for the new data (either Data Set 2 or whatever you have named it)
- Check the box for the data in the Y column of the data table
Adding a key to the graph:
- Go to Analyze on the menu options and choose “Legend”. This is good to have when more than one set of data is graphed on the same axes
Printing your graph or data table:
- Open the File menu at the top
- If you choose “print,” you will print out both the data table and graph as they appear on the screen…this is not always good.
- If you choose “print graph,” you will only get the graph and it will be larger in size
- If you choose “print data table,” you will get only the data table
- Keep in mind that the graph and/or data table can be copy/pasted into other documents
Copying your graph:
- Click on your graph to highlight it.
- Use Ctrl-C to copy it
- Open up a document (like your lab report for example) and paste it in place. Ctrl-V is the keystroke paste command.