Cropping in Prism

Why you might want to crop

When you place a Prism graph on a layout, or when you copy/export a Prism graph, Prism does not copy or export the entire page. It only copies the part of the page that has something on it, so has to decide where the boundary of the graph object (graph plus legends, drawings, etc.) is. Sometimes, Prism leaves too much white space around the graph, making it impossible to position it on a layout (or in Word or PowerPoint) as you want. 

"Cropping" by fixing the underlying problem

• Bug in Prism 6.00 to 6.02 with Grouped graphs. If your  grouped graph includes a data set that is empty, Prism gets very confused and leaves a huge white space around the graph when you put it on a layout or export. This is not subtle. You can barely see the actual graph since it surrounded by huge empty margins. Fixed in 6.03. The workaround is to remove any empty data sets from a grouped graph using the middle tab of Format Graph dialog. 
• Invisible objects. Go to the graph, drop the Edit menu and choose Select All. Or press Control-A. Make sure you are on the graph, not the layout, when you do this. You'll see all objects on the page selected. Perhaps you'll see a text object or drawing that should not be present. Even an empty text object, or a text object or drawing that is invisible because it is all white, will still cause Prism leave space for it when it decides on where the graph borders are. Delete these empty objects, and the problem should be solved. You may also see empty graph or axis titles. See the next paragraph.
• Empty titles. Prism leaves space for the graph title, the X axis title, and the Y axis(axes) title(s). If the objects exist, Prism will leave space for them even if they are empty. Double click an axis to bring up the Format Axis dialog. Go to the last tab. You can see which titles are checked. Uncheck to hide the axes and tell Prism not to leave space for them.

Cropping on the Prism layout

This is new to Prism 6. Double-click on a graph placed on a layout. The dialog where you choose the graph, also includes the ability to crop a specified distance on all four sides. You can also enter negative numbers to increase the cropping if you want. 

Cropping within Word or PowerPoint

If Prism leaves too much white space around a graph, you can crop within Word or PowerPoint. The details depend on which version of Office you use, and on whether you pasted a picture or an object.  You should be able to find the cropping options if you right click on the Prism graph, and then choose either Format Object or Format Picture.