Producing nice looking figures

To produce nice looking figures in MTEX the default settings need to be changed. Unfortunately, this needs to be done each time you download a new version of MTEX. The lines where these changes are located also change each version. The current changes apply to version 5.2.8

Changes to mtex_settings.m

Change the fontsize

The default MTEX fontsize of the pole figures are too small for journal figures. The fontsize is a function of the figure size.

fontSize = round(15 * ppi/100);

You can either increase this value, or we suggest commenting this line out (% means comment in MATLAB) and then setting the default font size in the line below.

fontSize = 35;

Remove the default annotations

The default annotations in MTEX cover the pole figure data. We can remove these by uncommenting this line.

pfAnnotations = @(varargin) [];

and then reapplying the annotations.

Note, this is found in the section.

%% default global plotting options

Change the spacing between plots

To fit in the new annotations, we need to change the spacing of the pole figures. The value 30 works well to leave room between the individual pole figures. The value 50 is needed to leave enough room at the edge of the plot.

setMTEXpref('outerPlotSpacing',50);
setMTEXpref('innerPlotSpacing',30);

Set the defualt colour map

The defualt colour map for MTEX is rainbow. This is not ideal since it is not perceptually uniform, which causes problems when printing figures in black and white, or for people who are colour blind. A much better option is the viridis colour (called ‘parula’ in MATLAB), but others are available if you’re looking for something different.

setMTEXpref('defaultColorMap','parula');

Note, this is found in the section.

%% Default ColorMap

Changes to phi2sections.m

The phi2sections.m file is located in ODFSections folder, in the plotting folder, within the MTEX package.

To remove the labels that cover the ODF contours and change the size of the values and fonts on the ODF slices, lines 110-113 need deleting.

% plot data
h = plot(v,data{:},oS.sR,'TR',[int2str(oS.phi2(sec)./degree),'^\circ'],...
  'parent',ax,'projection','plain','xAxisDirection','east',...
  'xlabel','$\varphi_1$','ylabel','$\Phi$','dynamicMarkerSize',...
  'zAxisDirection','intoPlane',varargin{:},'doNotDraw');

And the following should be added.

% plot data
h = plot(v,data{:},oS.sR,...
  'parent',ax,'projection','plain','xAxisDirection','east',...
  'xlabel','$\varphi_1$','ylabel','$\Phi$','dynamicMarkerSize',...
  'zAxisDirection','intoPlane',varargin{:},'doNotDraw');
set(ax,'FontSize',35,'LineWidth',1); % additional figure settings