Frequently asked questions

The role of the design-window is easy to understand but the preview-window in more obscure
The resizable preview-window carries out two functions:

The lines and dots on the screen look irregularly spaced
It is normal. If the calculated interval between two lines is for instance 2.5 pixels, the resulting distance on the screen for a series of lines will periodically change from 2 to 3.

How can I navigate between windows and entry fields with the keyboard
To navigate from the design-window to the preview-window and vice versa, key in "Ctrl + Tab".

Key in "Tab" to jump to the next field or "Shift + Tab" to return to the previous one. Note that the entries in the editor-fields are not acquired when pressing "Tab". You must use "Enter" or the relevant button "Apply".

How can I resize the diagram
Left-click on one of the red-squared handles displayed around the red frame of the preview and, keeping the left button down, move the mouse to get the size you want. More accurately, you can also enter the appropriate values in the fields of the panel "Size". At last, you can right-click on the preview to open a local menu with preset options for the size.

How can I set the margins of the diagram
Left-click inside the red frame of the preview and, keeping the left button down, move the mouse to get the margins you want. More accurately, you can also enter the appropriate values in the fields of the panel "Margins". At last, you can right-click on the preview to open a local menu with preset options for the margins.

Why is my diagram smaller than the preset dimensions
The actual extent of the diagram may be smaller than the red outline in two cases :
1) Metric and imperial axes. In these axes there is a rounding down to the nearest integer division (1 cm or 1/2 in). The diagram is centered in the red frame with two additional equal margins.
2) Graduated scales (log, square, square root, probability, Weibull, logit) : additional margins are taken from the area of the diagram to provide room to print the values of the graduations along the axes.

How can I create semi-log paper
Select the first variant of paper "Rectangular - Fixed graduations" and search the drop-down picklist "Ordinate scale" for "Logarithmic". Once it has been clicked, you can choose just underneath the range from 1 to 8 cycles. The abscissa scale can be either metric or imperial.

Can I keep the design of the papers I have created
Yes, click on the button "Keep as personal design", give a name to your design and that's all. Later, you will be able to retrieve or edit your paper with all of its attributes among the "Personal designs", an additional red item created at the bottom of the list of the differents variants.

I am a teacher and want to print a grid to write down 6 grades for each one of my 25 pupils
Select the variant of paper "Table", go in the "Rows" panel and enter a number of 26 rows (one header row + 25 pupils). Then go in the "Columns" panel to enter a number of 7 columns (one for the names + 6 for the grades). When created, all of the columns have the same width. To widen the first column reserved to names, left-click on the red-squared handle of its right border-line and drag the line rightwards (with the help of the graduated bottom scale). To equalize the width of the 6 columns for grades, select them through a series of right-click of the mouse (they turn yellow) and press the button "Equalize selected columns". Note that it is faster to use the button "Select all" and then only unselect the first column.
Have a look at paragraph 6 to see how to write headers in rows or columns.

I am wondering if I can set up the program to print out 14 squares per inch for cross stitching
There is no ready-made 1/14 inch scale, but it can be easyly made with the type of paper "Rectangular - Custom divisions". Enter in the fields "Space between thin lines", both vertically and horizontally, the value 0.0714 inch (= 1/14 inch if you are working in "imperial system") or 0.1814 cm (= 2.54/14 cm if you are working in "metric system"). Define the distribution of medium and major lines as you want. You can enter a formula (see below paragraph 7) like 100/1 to have only light lines. You could also enter a formula 7/2 to get a medium line every 7 minor lines and a major line every 2 medium lines and so print a marker every inch and half-inch.

I would like to print a unique sheet of paper with several different small diagrams
Create your diagrams one by one and transfer them to the same page of your favorite word-processor program through the clipboard using the button "Copy". You can also save your diagrams as a disk metafile with the button "Save" and reload them in your word-processor program.

What is a "set of lines"
When you have defined the colors and widths for the major, medium and minor lines of a graph paper, all of these parameters can be saved as a "set of lines" to be available later for another design of graph paper. Default sets of lines are provided at the first opening of the program.
Test Page : The actual aspect of a line on a printed sheet is sometimes different from what was expected. The printout of a test page is provided that shows a series of lines with gradually increasing thicknesses in the three colors of the major, medium and minor styles.

My printer is a black and white model
Preferably use the black color for your graph papers. According to the make of your printer, the colors may be interpreted in suitable shades of grey, but may also disappear or be turned in various hatched patterns. Beware of the ink-saving option. It can lead to faulty printouts.

What are subdivision lines
In non linear scales (log, square, square root, probability, logit, weibull), the axis range is divided in unequal intervals.The largest divisions can be subdivided if the box "With subdivisions" is ticked. The threshholds over which subdivisions are drawn can be changed independantly for each variant of paper.

Switching from metric to imperial system
Go in the configuration dialog and check the box "imperial".

When is an accuracy correction useful
According to the printer, the metric or imperial actual divisions can be a bit too wide or too narrow. An accuracy correction ranging in +/-2% is provided in the dialog "Configuration". Two independant factors for horizontal and vertical axes are to define.

What is the printable area
Printing cannot extend up to the borders of the sheet of paper. Each printer has its own non-printable margin. The printer capability is changed if you enter a factor to compensate for an inaccurate printer. For instance, if you have a printer with a 200 mm capability, you can theoretically print 20 squares of 10 mm. Let us assume that you measure a real printed length of 196 mm (2% too little). You will enter a correction factor equal to +2% to get an accurate length. But with this factor, the printer would receive an order to print 20 squares of 10.2 mm leading to an overall length of 204 mm. This figure exceeds the printer capability. The diagram is reduced to 19 squares because the new apparent printer capability has become 196 mm. It is the reason why the printable area changes whenever a correction factor is set.

How can I write titles or captions on the sheet
Press the button "Add caption" at the bottom of the preview-window to open a dialog through which you can enter your text, select a font and, if necessary, rotate the baseline from -360° to +360°. When validated, the caption is created in the center of the preview.

I want to move a caption and turn it bigger
To move a caption, simply left-click on it and drag it with the mouse. To edit a caption, right-click on it to open a local menu. The options "Bigger" and "Smaller" increases and decreases the size in a factor of 25%. The option "Clone" is useful to quickly create a second caption with the same attributes as a first one. Use then the "Edit" menu-option to enter the wished text. You can also double-click on the caption.
Special case (tables) : When a caption is moved over a cell in a table, it is automatically self-centered in the cell. More, it becomes attached to the cell. If you change the size, the position or the building of the table, the caption will stay centered in the same cell.

I am composing a Requiem and want a staff with a F clef for the baritone part
After having defined the number of staves in the score, right-click on the staff of the barytone part (in any score if several on the sheet) and select the F clef in the local menu. All of the relevant staves are updated simultaneously.

Explain what is the "formula" of a scale
A "formula", made of two figures, is associated to every linear scale. It controls the distribution of major, medium and minor lines on the paper. If the formula is A/B, it means that there will be 1 medium line every A minor lines and 1 major line every B medium lines. For instance to create "half-inch paper":

Default distribution of lines
When the choice of the formula is not provided, the following distribution of lines is adopted

Scales	Major lines	Medium lines	Minor lines
Logarithmic		1, 10, 100, …	other lines
Quadratic		0, 10, 20, 50	other lines
Square-root		0, 10, 20, 50	other lines
Music paper	beginning of scores	bars	staff lines
Weibull	additional axes	see note (*)	other lines
Probability		see note (*)	other lines
Logit		see note (**)	other lines
Handwriting		Horizontal lines	inclined lines

(*) Weibull and probability scales : The medium lines are used for the probabilities 0,001 - 0,010 - 0,100 - 0,200 ... 0,800 - 0,900 - 0,990 - 0,999.
(**) Logit scale : The medium lines are used for the probabilities 0.07 - 0.1 - 0.2 - ... - 0.8 - 0.9 - 0.97.

What is Weibull paper
The Weibull plotting-sheet is designed for reliability data analysis. It linearizes the regression of the failure probabilities on the lifetimes.
Abscissa (lifetimes) : Plot on this logarithmic scale the lifetimes, either number of cycles before failure or failure times. Select in the dropdown pick-list the narrowest range (1 to 8 cycles) wider than the range of the failure data.
Left ordinate : This scale is provided to read reliability predictions. Graduations are the probabilities of failure (0.01 to 0.99). Each one is positionned on the axis with the transformation : Ordinate = ln(-ln(1-failure probability)).
Right ordinate : This scale is drawn when the checkbox "Median ranks scale" is ticked. It allows a direct plotting of the experimental cumulative number of observed failures for a given lifetime. Each cumulated number n (from 1 to N) is transformed by the scale in a median failure frequency with the median ranks formula. The position on the right ordinate axis follows the transformation : ln(-ln(1-(n-0.3)/(N+0.4))).
Additional axes : They are provided for a direct reading of the two parameters of the Weibull distribution (the scale parameter alpha, and the shape parameter beta).

Who uses logit-log regression
It is a data reduction method used in biology. The weighted logit-log technique linearizes most sigmoid curves. The ordinate transformation used is Logit(Y) = ln(Y/(1-Y)).

What is binomial plotting paper
The binomial paper is useful in statistical analysis. It has a square root scale both horizontally and vertically. The basic achievement of this paper is enabling the user to obtain the approximate value of a standard normal variable simply by measuring the distance between a point and a line or between two parallel lines.

It provides a rapid way of using the arcsine transformation for Binomial data that is more accurate for small sample sizes, and for zero and near zero counts, than the more usual Normal transformation.

Contingency tables can be analysed, with the graphical representation providing more easily understood information than the tabular layouts of Chi sq etc.

Printer problems
Some printer drivers cannot correctly manage the large graph papers particularly when the lines are thick and tight. To cope with this problem you can :

This software does not suit me, how to erase it from my computer
You can either uninstall through Windows or launch the "Uninstall" command in the program folder "Graph paper printer" of the start menu.