Graphics

It's All PostScript

All the graphics in Mathematica are PostScript. This has the advantage of being a WYSIWYG graphics environment. Mathematica graphics are extensively and easily customizable through command-line options.

To learn more than can be presented here about customizing graphics, please read Sections 1.9 and 2.9 in The Mathematica Book.

Basic Plotting

The basic two-dimensional visualization functions in Mathematica are Plot, ParametricPlot, and ListPlot. Mathematica graphics are autosampled, so they need no vector or line space for the x coordinate. Additionally, Mathematica always tries to plot functions as smooth curves. As a result, in places where your function wiggles a lot, Mathematica will use more points. In general, Mathematica tries to adapt its sampling of your function to the form of the function. There is, however, a customizable limit to how finely Mathematica will sample a function. You can learn more about basic plotting in Section 1.9.1 of The Mathematica Book.

Customizing Two-Dimensional Graphics

Mathematica includes a complete graphics programming language that enables you to extensively customize all graphics or even create artistic images or animations. You can view some sample graphics in The Mathematica Book's Graphics Gallery.

To learn more about graphics customization, read Sections 1.9 and 2.9 in The Mathematica Book.

Customizing Three-Dimensional Graphics

Changing the Viewpoint

Mathematica 4.0 and later support real-time manipulations of 3D graphics. To use this feature, load the RealTime3D package into Mathematica.

Then, when you create a plot, you can change the viewpoint or zoom in on the graphic with your mouse and the control key.

For more precise control of the orientation, 3D Mathematica graphics are controlled by the ViewPoint setting, which you can edit directly or via the 3D ViewPoint Selector in the Input menu.

These steps are easier if you use buttons.

Wolfram Research also offers a number of third-party 3D graphics application packages such as Dynamic Visualizer. For more information, please visit the Mathematica Applications pages.