Understanding the Process of Creating Graphics

201

Creating graphics involves planning, producing, revising, and citing.

PLANNING GRAPHICS

Whether you focus first on the text or the graphics, consider the following four issues as you plan your graphics.

As you plan how you are going to create the graphics, consider four important factors:

203

ETHICS NOTE

CREATING HONEST GRAPHICS

Follow these six suggestions to ensure that you represent data honestly in your graphics.

  • If you did not create the graphic or generate the data, cite your source. If you want to publish a graphic that you did not create, obtain permission. For more on citing graphics, see “Citing Sources of Graphics,” below.

  • Include all relevant data. For example, if you have a data point that you cannot explain, do not change the scale to eliminate it.

  • Begin the axes in your graphs at zero—or mark them clearly—so that you represent quantities honestly.

  • Do not use a table to hide a data point that would be obvious in a graph.

  • Show items as they really are. Do not manipulate a photograph of a computer monitor to make the screen look bigger than it is, for example.

  • Do not use color or shading to misrepresent an item’s importance. A light-shaded bar in a bar graph, for example, appears larger and nearer than a dark-shaded bar of the same size.

Common problem areas are pointed out in the discussions of various kinds of graphics throughout this chapter.

PRODUCING GRAPHICS

See a Tech Tip on inserting and modifying graphics.

Usually, you won’t have all the resources you would like. You will have to choose one of the following four approaches:

Integrating Graphics and Text

image

It is not enough to add graphics to your text; you have to integrate the two.

  • Place the graphic in an appropriate location. If readers need the graphic in order to understand the discussion, put it directly after the relevant point in the discussion or as soon after it as possible. If the graphic merely supports or elaborates a point, include it as an appendix.

  • Introduce the graphic in the text. Whenever possible, refer to a graphic before it appears (ideally, on the same page). Refer to the graphic by number (such as “see Figure 7”). Do not refer to “the figure above” or “the figure below,” because the graphic might move during the production process. If the graphic is in an appendix, cross-reference it: For complete details of the operating characteristics, see Appendix B.

  • Explain the graphic in the text. State what you want readers to learn from it. Sometimes a simple paraphrase of the title is enough: “Figure 2 compares the costs of the three major types of coal gasification plants.” At other times, however, you might need to explain why the graphic is important or how to interpret it. If the graphic is intended to make a point, be explicit:

    As Figure 2 shows, a high-sulfur bituminous coal gasification plant is more expensive than either a low-sulfur bituminous or an anthracite plant, but more than half of its cost is for cleanup equipment. If these expenses could be eliminated, high-sulfur bituminous would be the least expensive of the three types of plants.

    In addition to text explanations, graphics are often accompanied by captions, ranging from a sentence to several paragraphs.

  • For more about white space, screens, boxes, and rules, see Designing Print Documents” in Ch. 7. For more about lists of illustrations, see “Writing Recommendation Reports” in Ch. 13.

    Make the graphic clearly visible. Distinguish the graphic from the surrounding text by adding white space around it, placing rules (lines) above and below it, putting a screen behind it, or enclosing it in a box.

  • Make the graphic accessible. If the document is more than a few pages long and contains more than four or five graphics, consider including a list of illustrations so that readers can find them easily.

REVISING GRAPHICS

205

As with any other aspect of technical communication, build in enough time and budget enough money to revise the graphics you want to use. Create a checklist and evaluate each graphic for effectiveness. The Writer’s Checklist at the end of this chapter is a good starting point. Show your graphics to people whose backgrounds are similar to those of your intended readers and ask them for suggestions. Revise the graphics and solicit more reactions.

CITING SOURCES OF GRAPHICS

For more about copyright, see “Your Ethical and Legal Obligations” in Ch. 2.

If you wish to publish a graphic that is protected by copyright (even if you have revised it), you need to obtain written permission from the copyright holder. Related to the issue of permission is the issue of citation. Of course, you do not have to cite the source of a graphic if you created it yourself, if it is not protected by copyright, or if your organization owns the copyright.

In all other cases, however, you should include a source citation, even if your document is a course assignment and will not be published. Citing the sources of graphics, even those you have revised substantially, shows your instructor that you understand professional conventions and your ethical responsibilities.

206

If you are following a style manual, check to see whether it presents a format for citing sources of graphics. In addition to citing a graphic’s source in the reference list, most style manuals call for a source statement in the caption:

For more about style manuals, see Appendix, Part A.

PRINT SOURCE

Source: Verduijn, 2015, p. 14. Copyright 2015 by Tedopres International B.V. Reprinted with permission.

ONLINE SOURCE

Source: Johnson Space Center Digital Image Collection. Copyright 2015 by NASA. Reprinted with permission.

If your graphic is based on an existing graphic, the source statement should state that the graphic is “based on” or “adapted from” your source:

Source: Adapted from Jonklaas et al., 2011, p. 771. Copyright 2008 by American Medical Association. Reprinted with permission.