easyplot-matlab

name	easyplot-matlab
description	Build publication-ready MATLAB figures with EasyPlot using long linear scripts, layout-first panel construction, explicit scales and labels, and iterative readability refinement. Use when users ask to create, polish, export, or explain paper-quality MATLAB figures in a compact EasyPlot publication style.

EasyPlot MATLAB

Use this skill when the task is to write or refine MATLAB figure code in a publication-ready EasyPlot style.

Workspace Boundaries

• Work only inside the current workspace.
• Keep figure scripts and exports inside the project tree.
• Put finished figures in Figure unless the user explicitly requests another output folder.

Read references/figure-workflow.md before writing or heavily revising a figure script. Read references/final-review.md before calling a figure complete.

Default Style

• Use EasyPlot as the figure and layout framework unless the user explicitly overrides it.
• Keep scripts long, linear, and top-to-bottom.
• Do not introduce helper or local functions by default.
• Use standard MATLAB drawing calls like plot, scatter, imagesc, bar, histogram, and contour only as marks on EasyPlot-managed axes when EasyPlot does not provide that plot type.
• Keep figures visible while authoring unless the user explicitly requests headless export.
• Use FontSize 7 as a strong default baseline for publication figures.
• Set limits, ticks, tick labels, labels, titles, and color limits explicitly.
• Reposition legends, colorbars, scalebars, and panel labels manually when needed to avoid overlap.

Workflow

1. Inspect the current script, target figure, or example first.

• If no figure script exists, create one in the project root with a descriptive name such as Fig01_example.m.
• Create Figure when it is missing.

2. Start with a visible EasyPlot figure.

• Validate EasyPlot availability with assert(~isempty(which('EasyPlot.figure')), 'EasyPlot not found on MATLAB path').
• Prefer EasyPlot.figure, EasyPlot.axes, EasyPlot.createGridAxes, and EasyPlot.createAxesAgainstAxes.

3. Build layout before plotting.

• Reserve enough room for labels, ticks, legends, colorbars, and scalebars.
• Store related axes in cell arrays when shared formatting or group movement will be useful.
• Use EasyPlot.align, EasyPlot.place, and EasyPlot.move for layout refinement.

4. Draw data on named EasyPlot axes.

• Keep plotting calls attached to explicit axes handles.
• Use MATLAB mark primitives only on those EasyPlot axes.
• Prefer clear line widths, marker sizes, and alpha values that remain readable after export.

5. Make panel semantics explicit.

• Set x/y/c limits deliberately.
• Set ticks and tick labels deliberately.
• Add axis labels, shared labels, and short titles only where they improve readability.
• Use shared-label helpers when they make a multi-panel figure cleaner.

6. Add interpretation aids selectively.

• Use EasyPlot.legend, EasyPlot.colorbar, EasyPlot.scalebar, and EasyPlot.markAxes only when they help the reader.
• Reposition them until they no longer collide with traces, labels, titles, or neighboring panels.

7. Export only after the layout is clean.

• Call EasyPlot.cropFigure(fig) near the end.
• Export both PNG and PDF unless the user explicitly requests otherwise.

8. Evaluate and refine until the figure is perfect.

• After every render, inspect axes positions, row and column intervals, label spacing, clipping, and whether any text overlaps other text or data.
• Check legends, colorbars, scalebars, panel labels, titles, axis labels, and tick labels individually.
• If anything is crowded, misaligned, clipped, or overlapping, adjust the layout and rerun.
• Keep iterating until the figure is publication-ready or the user explicitly stops the refinement loop.

Reporting Rules

• Report the exact output paths for exported figures.
• Separate observed rendering issues from your interpretation of how to fix them.
• If the figure is still crowded, prefer layout refinement before changing font sizes.