Positioning plots manually

If you need an arrangement of figures other than a regular rectangular array, you must specify the origin and size for each plot manually. The following figure provides an example:

The happy face shown in the previous figure is a simple example of what you can achieve with manual plot positioning; using these commands, figures of frightening complexity can be built up.

How to do it…

The following script shows how to use gnuplot's manual positioning commands:

set multiplot
unset key
unset tics
set polar
set size 1, .5
plot [pi:2*pi] 1 lw 5
set origin 0, .5
set size .5, .5
plot 1 lw 2, .2 with filledcurves
set origin .5, .5
plot 1 lw 2, .2 with filledcurves
unset multiplot

How it works…

Arbitrary sizing and positioning of individual plots is accomplished using the two new commands that we have highlighted in the previous script. After entering multiplot mode, the set origin command can be used to set the position of the lower-left corner of the next plot. The set size...