Figure Templates, Fit Styles and Figure Editor Plugins

Three kinds of files change how PhysPlot’s figures look:

a figure template (config/templates/*.json) restyles each plot after Generate Plot;
a fit-style preset (config/figureforge_fit_styles/*.json) fills the Fit Line fields of the LSQ fit;
a Figure Editor plugin (config/figureforge_plugins/*.py) adds a command to the Figure Editor.

All three can be written for you by an AI assistant: see the “Let an AI Assistant Write It” sections below and Build Modules with an AI Assistant. Plot Customization shows how to style a plot by hand.

Figure Templates 

A template is a JSON file with figure and axes styling and no data: figure size and background, the fonts of the axes title and axis labels, grid, spines, tick-label size and colour, line and marker colours, and the legend. Choose it in 3. Plotter Module → Template; every Generate Plot then applies it. Templates are not part of the protocol, so replays and bulk runs do not apply them.

The usual way to make one:

Generate a Basic Plotter figure.
Style it in the Figure Editor.
Choose Figure Editor → PhysPlot → Save as Template. It is saved in Documents/PhysPlot/config/templates/.
Back in PhysPlot, click Reload beside Template and select it.

A template cannot set tick direction, tick length or minor ticks, the font family of tick labels and legend entries, marker shape and size, axis limits, or the text of the title and labels. A Figure Editor plugin can change ticks (see below).

Let an AI Assistant Write a Template 

The guide file config/templates/AI_GUIDE.md lists every key PhysPlot reads and includes a tested journal-style template. The best start is a template you saved from the Figure Editor for the kind of plot you use, so the assistant only changes what you ask.

Download the guide. Open the link above and click Download raw file (the ↓ button).
Start a new chat with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot or another assistant, and attach AI_GUIDE.md, your saved template and, optionally, a picture of the target style or the journal’s figure guidelines.

Say what you want, for example:

Attached is a template I saved from a Basic Plotter scatter plot with an LSQ
fit. Make it a single-column figure for my journal: 3.4 by 2.6 inches, 8 pt
axis labels, 7 pt tick labels, thin black axes on all four sides, open black
circles, a red fit line, and a legend without a frame. No grid.

Save the reply in Documents/PhysPlot/config/templates/ (File → Open Config Folder), click Reload beside Template, select it and click Generate Plot.

The assistant tells you when a request, such as inward ticks, needs a Figure Editor plugin instead.

Fit-Style Presets 

A fit-style preset sets how the LSQ fit line is drawn. Choosing it in 3. Plotter Module → Fit Style fills the Fit Line fields:

{
  "name": "Thin Dashed Fit",
  "line_style": "--",
  "line_width": 1.0,
  "label": "Linear fit",
  "show_legend": true
}

line_style is one of "--", "-", "-." or ":"; line_width is in points; an empty label gives the automatic label with the fitted values. A preset has no colour and no fit function; a template can colour the fit line. The chosen values are saved in the protocol with the fit, so replays draw the same line. Click Reload beside Fit Style after adding a file.

Let an AI Assistant Write a Fit Style 

Attach config/figureforge_fit_styles/AI_GUIDE.md to a new chat and describe the line, for example:

Make a fit style called "Thin Dotted Fit": a dotted line 1 pt wide, labelled
"Exponential fit", with the legend shown.

Save the reply in Documents/PhysPlot/config/figureforge_fit_styles/, click Reload beside Fit Style and choose it.

Figure Editor Plugins 

A Figure Editor plugin is a Python file that adds a command to the Figure Editor’s Figure Editor menu. You select a part of the figure in the Figure Explorer (the figure, an axes, a line, …) and choose the command; it changes that part and the editor redraws the figure. Good uses are restyling the Property Inspector and templates cannot do (tick direction, minor ticks), reference lines, annotations and small calculations. The changes stay in that editor window: save them with the editor’s File → Export.

PhysPlot copies the .py files from Documents/PhysPlot/config/figureforge_plugins/ into the Figure Editor each time a new Figure Editor opens, so to try a new or changed plugin, generate a new Basic Plotter plot. The bundled physplot_fit_function.py and physplot_save_style_module.py are working examples.

Let an AI Assistant Write a Plugin 

Attach config/figureforge_plugins/AI_GUIDE.md to a new chat, with a screenshot of the Figure Editor or the figure if it helps and the menu name you want. For example:

In the Figure Editor I want a command "Reference Line" under a new submenu
"Guides". With an Axes selected, it asks me for a y value and draws a thin grey
dashed horizontal line there.

Save the reply in Documents/PhysPlot/config/figureforge_plugins/, generate a plot and click Advanced Styling… to open a fresh Figure Editor. If the command is missing, the editor’s status bar names the plugin and its error; paste that error into the chat for a corrected file.

Figure Templates, Fit Styles and Figure Editor Plugins