[Updated October 19, 2009—see below]
Are you intrigued by nomograms but have no idea how to go about drawing them? PyNomo is an amazing, free software package for drawing precision nomograms. The output is in vector form in a PDF or EPS file, so it can be printed in any size and still retain its sharpness. PyNomo directly supports 9 basic types of nomograms based simply on the format of the equation, so for these types there is no need to convert the equation to the standard nomographic determinant or use geometric relations. But it also supports compound nomograms as well as more complicated equations that have been cast into general determinant form, so it can produce output for any equation that can be plotted as a nomogram.
When I started writing an essay on using PyNomo my plans were to show three examples of nomograms. But I had so much fun making really cool nomograms that the essay turned out to be more of a user’s manual, with examples of all the supported types and descriptions of the many parameters you can use to customize your nomograms. Leif Roschier, the author of the software, spent a great deal of time reviewing draft versions of the essay and making software updates for new features that were rolled into it, so the essay is comprehensive in scope and quite complete in details and practical advice. PyNomo is clearly my choice for drawing nomograms going forward, and I think you will find it as uniquely wonderful as I have.
The essay is too long and the example nomograms too detailed to be rendered in HTML here. The PDF version of the essay can be found here. The PyNomo website, which also contains many examples, is found here.
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Updated October 19, 2009, to Version 1.1 for the new features of PyNomo Release 0.2.2:
- Automatic spacing of tick marks along scales—more tick marks where space is available and less where it’s crowded.
- Drawing of sample isopleths between specified values on scales.
- Printing of only significant digits of scale values by default, producing a cleaner-looking nomogram overall.
Entries (RSS)
August 1st, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Wow, Ron, that is great - simple and comprehensive.
My nomography time (what little I have had) has been spent on a project that has taken me a lot longer than I had hoped.
My plan is to use the free package R to fit nomographs to data, and then - either using the graphical facilities in R or by linking R with to Pynomo in some fashion (R talks to Python and vice-versa) produce a nomogram.
However, R - while powerful - takes a fair bit of time to learn. I am happy writing functions in it, but getting it to the stage of producing an R-package will be a while yet, and then I have to get Python running on my machine and see what will be easiest. At least this document looks like the Pynomo side of things will be easier for me to learn!
Thanks, Glen. I’d really be interested in seeing your project when it gets to the point where you’re willing to provide a beta version for testing—it sounds very interesting and useful. — Ron
August 6th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
stunning.
Thanks! — Ron
August 7th, 2009 at 1:27 am
Thanks Ron!
I’m sure this article helps new users of PyNomo to turn into nomographers and works as a reference for experienced ones. The information on pynomo.org site is still quite limited and this article is a major contribution to the PyNomo documentation. Personally, I think this article is the best acknowledgement for the project since I started writing PyNomo.
Leif Roschier
When I wrote my first nomography essay a year and a half ago I had just come across your PyNomo site, so I referenced it and wrote that I had not reviewed the software yet. At the time I considered it an unlikely task to write a program to allow someone to create nomograms of much variety and sophistication. Was I wrong about that! Your collection of scripting parameters provides a really versatile set of tools to customize a nomogram in very creative ways. I would try things and think, “It won’t really draw a circular scale, or a scale that bends back around on itself…” and to my surprise it would do exactly that. It’s so versatile I’m planning on using it to create diagrams of scales and lines for computing mechanisms in a future essay (as in the logarithm computer here). — Ron
August 10th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Ron, this is an incredible, wonderful piece of work, and it reflects your passion for nomography. I am in awe of the work that you and Leif are doing to keep this craft — a beautiful combination of art and science — alive. For awhile I was in despair that nomography was dying, but now I am much more optimistic. And I’m making some progress with the medical users, so we may breathe new life into this part of mathematics. If people only appreciated what a great communication tool nomographs are, bridging the gap in so many domains between the expert specialist and the everyday practitioner.
I look forward to the day when I can build all my nomographs from scratch to finished product using PyNomo.
Congratulations!
Joe Marasco
Hi Joe! This means a lot to me coming from you. When I first started looking on the web for information on nomograms a couple of years ago, your site was one of the very few good ones I found. So you’ve been working to keep these creations alive for longer than I have. I’ve seen some of your nomographic work for the medical community, really high quality work, and I have no doubt that you’ll continue to make successful inroads there. — Ron
December 16th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Thanks for the background on nomograms and great tutorial on PyNomo.