Figures - norrissam/ra-manual GitHub Wiki

Figure style

The background should always be white

graphregion(color(white))

Here are some good RGB colors for lines and markers:

red-pink: 216 27 96
blue: 30 136 229
green: 68 128 63
orange: 255 193 7
other stata options: midblue, cranberry

To use these as a color, put the rbg code in quotes (e.g., ```, ... color("216 27 96")''').

Axis labels should be informative ...

Graphs should be legible in black and white:

• For scatter plots, use different marker shapes to differentiate groups (circle, triangle, square, etc.)
• Use longdash and dash to differentiate lines (eg. estimates vs. confidence intervals)

twoway (line ols_est year, lcolor(midblue)) ///
       (line ols_min95 ols_max95 year, lcolor(midblue%40) lpattern(dash dash)) ///
       (line iv_estimate year, lcolor(cranberry) lpattern(longdash)) ///
       (line iv_min95 iv_max95 year, lcolor(cranberry%40) lpattern(dash dash)), ///							
       xtitle("Year relative to incarceration") ytitle("Effect") ///            
       xlabel(-6(1)8, labsize(small)) ylabel(-250(50)250, labsize(small) angle(0)) ///
       legend(order(1 "OLS estimate" 3 "IV estimate"))
       graphregion(color(white)) bgcolor(white)

 twoway (scatter estimate x if x==1, color("30 136 229") msymbol(circle)) ///
        (rcap min95 max95 x if x==1, color("30 136 229")) ///
        (scatter estimate x if x==2, color("68 128 63") msymbol(triangle)) ///
        (rcap min95 max95 x if x==2, color("68 128 63")), ///
        legend(order(1 "Extensive" 3 "Intensive" rows(1) position(11) ring(0) size(small)) ///
        graphregion(color(white)) 

Multiple panel figure

Titles and notes should not be on the graph. We add them using a tex wrapper. Here is an example of a figure with multiple panels:

\clearpage
    \begin{figure}[!ht]
    \centering
    \caption{Effect of police response on future calls}
    \label{fig:future_calls}
    \begin{tabular}{c}
     (a) Effect on future call within 30 days \\
    \includegraphics[width=0.75\textwidth]{fig/future_calls/effect_30_days.pdf} \\
     (b) Effect on future call within 60 days \\ 
    \includegraphics[width=0.75\textwidth]{fig/future_calls/effect_60_days.pdf} \\
    \end{tabular}
    \parbox{\textwidth}{\footnotesize
    \vspace{1eX}\emph{Notes}: ...
    }
\end{figure}