I’m looking for a professional and efficient way to create scientific graphics. There are basically two types of graphics I want to create (and maybe not a joint approach works for both):
Plots of functions and data, and free body-type diagrams.
Until now I’ve been using Mathematica with MathPSfrag, but this seems too bulky now. I know about gnuplot, TikZ, and Inkscape, although I haven’t used them extensively. So I come here looking for suggestions.
Some requirements:
- Pdf-output to a separate file, since some journals want it that way.
- Have the typesetting of text and math done by a TeX-engine to get a coherent look between main text and text in figures (probably by adding a LaTeX- or XeTeX- header).
- Cross-platform (Windows/Linux).
Also, feel free to post your workflow for creating graphics.