[R] Charts to M$Word - what's the best format

[Ernesto Jardim]

On Mon, 2003-04-14 at 13:00, Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
> On 14 Apr 2003, Ernesto Jardim wrote:
> 
> > You're also assuming I'm in M$Windows, which I'm not. Anyway if I'm in
> 
> How do use use bmp if you are not?  Perhaps you would be so kind as to 
> tell us
> 
> - What platform you are using R on?
> - What platform you are using MicroSoft Word on?
> 
> and in future disclose such information in your first posting.
> 

I'm using R 1.6.2 in SuSE linux box. I promise not to forget this
information in my posts anymore. 

I've tried bmp in a machine with windows. Rigth now I'm in Linux and I
don't have a windows machine with me. However, as you know, I'm able to
see the bmp in linux and I can also print all these formats.

One of the major R features for me is the ability to use it in Linux or
windows without worry with platform issues. I want to produce some plots
that I can send to someone else, who uses M$Windows and M$Word (I don't
know what version).

So I made a simple question. What's the best way to export a chart from
R to be used in M$Word. The copy/paste doesn't help, but it's a good
information for a moment that I'll be working in R for windows.


> > windows that is the best way ? What about exporting with R functions
> > like png() ? 
> > 
> > I thought these functions would be the best way of exporting charts.
> 
> You assert, but you don't explain why and you don't like the results! If a
> `chart' means a vector plot, it is pretty obvious that a vector graphics
> format is best, and that means EMF, ps, PDF or SVG in the world of R
> graphics drivers.  AFAIK Word does not support the last two.
> 

I'm not asserting anything. I'm making a statement based on my
understanding and experience of R.

Open Source, as I see it, makes use of the users comments and opinions.
So if I have an opinion I'll post it, the R team is free to use it or
not. If it will contribute to a better R I'll be deligth to help,
otherwise it's just a few minutes I lose writing a message. 

I'm doing simple plot() and png(), bmp() and jpeg() are producing plots
with lower resolution. You can find the files here:

http://ernesto.freezope.org/cmf/r/plot.png
http://ernesto.freezope.org/cmf/r/plot.ps

if you want to see what I mean.

> > On Mon, 2003-04-14 at 13:22, Ko-Kang Kevin Wang wrote:
> > > Try Metafile.  You can copy the graph (I'm assuming you're using Rgui) as 
> > > Metafile, then in Word, go to Edit -> Paste Special..., then paste as 
> > > Enhanced Metafile.
> > > 
> > > This allows you to resize the plot in Word without losing its quality.
> > > 
> > > On 14 Apr 2003, Ernesto Jardim wrote:
> > > 
> > > > Date: 14 Apr 2003 12:09:44 +0100
> > > > From: Ernesto Jardim <ernesto at ipimar.pt>
> > > > To: Mailing List R <r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch>
> > > > Subject: [R] Charts to M$Word - what's the best format
> > > > 
> > > > Hi
> > > > 
> > > > I'm exporting some graphs from R to M$Word. I used png, jpeg and bmp and
> > > > the quality is poor when comparing with the postscript.
> > > > 
> > > > What is the best way to export a chart to be included in a M$Word file ?

Regards

EJ