Creating an inset plot

A common pattern is a graph enclosing another smaller graph that reveals a detail in the larger graph by plotting it using a magnified scale. Following is an example:

In the previous figure, the smaller plot is usually called an inset. We can create this figure with the script given in the following How to do it... section.

How to do it…

The following script produces the previous figure:

set multiplot
set object ellipse center .13, 0 size .4, 4
set arrow from .1, 2.1 to screen .22, .4 front lt 3
set samples 1000
set grid
set xtics .4
set ytics 4
plot [0:2*pi] exp(x)*sin(1/x)
set origin .2, .4
set size .25,.25
clear
unset key
unset grid
unset object
unset arrow
set xtics .1
set ytics .5
set bmargin 1
set tmargin 1
set lmargin 3
set rmargin 1
plot [0:.2] exp(x)*sin(1/x)
unset multiplot

How it works…

There are few new commands here. We have simply combined several things covered earlier in order to create an illustration consisting of a large graph, an inset, and a device consisting...