SPSS v9.0 graphics and LaTeX
Loos, Anja
I am using SPSS v9.0 and LaTeX 2e (MIKTeX). I would like to export
Graphics with *.eps format to embed these graphics into LaTeX. I have
tried out quite a few different filter constellations but the results
looked really poor, or didn't work at all.
Does anybody know which parameter constellationan better graphics works
fine or which graphics format might produce better results for
emdbedding the graphics in LaTeX?
Please help me!!!
Anja
Riccardo Jack Lucchetti
The safest thing is always to go through Postscript. I have tried to
export from SPSS to PostScript and incorporating the resulting file in
a LaTeX document via \includegraphics (package graphicx). I have found
no problems. Only, the eps files that SPSS generates are rather big. A
good alternative route is to use an utility called wmf2eps, which can
be found at:
http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/support/wmf2eps
It allows you to cut the graphic and paste it into a window where it
gets converted into EPS with 1 mouse click. It produces much smaller
files (even 80% smaller). The only thing, it is a little tricky to set
up. Apart from that, I am very happy with it.
By the way, there is another nice utility that I find very useful when
it comes to have SPSS and LaTeX cooperate. It's called X2Latex, and it
converts Excel sheets into tabular environments. Basically, you cut
your table from the Output window, paste it into Excel, and then run
this nice Excel macro (1 mouse click, again) which produces a .tex
file that you can \input in your document. You'll find it at:
http://www.jam-software.com/software.html
Hope this helps,
Jack
Riccardo 'Jack' Lucchetti
Dipartimento di Economia
Universita' di Ancona
Loos, Anja
thank you for your reply.
I have some further questions on the way you are exporting *.eps files.
Which parameter constellation do you use? I have tried to export *.eps
graphics produced by the interactive graphics assistant. In this case the
export did work with the following parameters:
-enabled AI-Format
-AI-Version 5
- 300x300dpi
The result of this parameter constellation looked like a pixel-graphic with
many steps. The size of the *.eps file was also rather big, but nevertheless
it did work.
When I tried to convert a non-interactive graphic, I could not find even one
parameter constellation which produced no error message by ghostview.
To embed my graphics in LaTeX, I use the following packages and LaTeX-code:
\usepackage{epsf}
\usepackage[dvips]{graphics}
...
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{center}
\mbox{\epsfxsize=13cm\epsffile{Bilder/qual61.eps}}
\caption{Flußdiagramm des qualitativen Teils der Meta--Analyse}
\end{center}
\end{figure}
> The safest thing is always to go through Postscript. I have tried to
> export from SPSS to PostScript and incorporating the resulting file in
So did you actually choose a postscript-format and not an eps-format? Again,
my question: Which parameter constellations did you use?
> good alternative route is to use an utility called wmf2eps, which can
> be found at:
>
I will try that. Thank you.
Anja
Riccardo Jack Lucchetti
<lo...@imsd.uni-mainz.de> wrote:
>Hi Jack,
>
>thank you for your reply.
>
>I have some further questions on the way you are exporting *.eps files.
>Which parameter constellation do you use? I have tried to export *.eps
>graphics produced by the interactive graphics assistant. In this case the
>export did work with the following parameters:
>-enabled AI-Format
>-AI-Version 5
>- 300x300dpi
>
>The result of this parameter constellation looked like a pixel-graphic with
>many steps. The size of the *.eps file was also rather big, but nevertheless
>it did work.
>When I tried to convert a non-interactive graphic, I could not find even one
>parameter constellation which produced no error message by ghostview.
I'll be honest with you: at first I thought you were doing something
wrong; then, I began experimenting myself and I have come to the
conclusion that there's something wrong with the SPSS export routine
instead. Actually, when I first tried to export a graph
(interactively) to an EPS file, I did not touch anything at all, and
it worked like a charm; that was before your second message. After
your second message, I experimented several parameters configurations,
and not only I had troubles in getting it to work with different
parameters, SPSS couldn't produce proper EPS files even with the
parameters I had started with! Moreover, in some instances you get EPS
files that contain garbage characters. The two things put together
lead me to think that SPSS's EPS export is not particulalry reliable.
The best results I got were specifiying AI-version 6. As you said,
though, the resulting files get rather big, and I wouldn't recommend
it.
I had MUCH better results by exporting to WMF and then translating by
wmf2eps. Try it. You won't regret it. (I should say I'm just an
enthusiastic user, I have no financial interest in it whatsoever).
By the way, you also get a "batch mode" that allows you to save as
many files as you want (even not interactively) and than convert tham
all by running wmf2eps once.
>To embed my graphics in LaTeX, I use the following packages and LaTeX-code:
>
>\usepackage{epsf}
>\usepackage[dvips]{graphics}
>...
>\begin{figure}[htb]
>\begin{center}
> \mbox{\epsfxsize=13cm\epsffile{Bilder/qual61.eps}}
> \caption{Flußdiagramm des qualitativen Teils der Meta--Analyse}
>\end{center}
>\end{figure}
>
Why do you use both epsf and graphics? Once you've got graphics, epsf
is superfluous: just use \includegraphics instead of
\mbox{\epsfxsize=13cm\epsffile{Bilder/qual61.eps}}. The package
"graphics" (or its sibling "graphicx") is the standard for inserting
PostScript nowadays. Moreover, if you use MikTeX, you've already got
all the documentation for the graphics package: it's in texmf\doc
somewhere and it's called grfguide.ps.
>> The safest thing is always to go through Postscript. I have tried to
>> export from SPSS to PostScript and incorporating the resulting file in
>
>So did you actually choose a postscript-format and not an eps-format? Again,
>my question: Which parameter constellations did you use?
>
As far as I know, EPS *is* PostScript; EPS actually stands for
Encapsulated PostScript.
Best of luck