How it works

From a column of numbers to a finished graph.

No scripting and no fiddling with defaults. The graph is correct when it first appears, and every setting is one click away.

Bring your data
Type it in, paste from Excel with Ctrl+V, or import CSV, XLSX or ODS. Mark columns as X, Y, ± error or labels. An error column next to a Y column becomes its error bars.
Pick a chart
Choose from 13 chart types, or open one of 14 worked examples and swap in your own numbers.
Analyse on the plot
Add a curve fit with its equation and R², choose SD, SEM or 95 % CI error bars, and mark significant differences with t-test brackets.
Send it where it's going
Copy straight into Word or PowerPoint, or export PDF, SVG, TIFF or PNG at up to 2400 dpi.

PlotBench start screen with buttons for a blank figure, importing data and opening a project, above a grid of example figures.

Lab report to journal

One app for every graph you'll make in your degree and after it.

Undergraduates

Lab reports and assignments

Clear axes with proper units, error bars and a trend line in minutes. Paste the graph into your Word report and move on.

Final-year & postgraduate

Projects and theses

Thesis presets fit the A4 text block and match your body text, so every chapter's graphs look like one document.

Lecturers & presenters

Slides, posters and notes

Slide and poster presets set type large enough for the back row. Share one .gplot file with students, data included.

Researchers

Journal and conference papers

Presets for IEEE, Elsevier, Nature, Springer, ACS, PLOS, MDPI, IEEJ, IEICE and more set the width, fonts and DPI for you.

Change the destination. The graph follows.

The same data, redrawn for each target at its real printed width. Font, text size, line weight and resolution change with it.

Grouped bar chart of dry biomass for Control and Treatments A to C at days 7, 14 and 21, in thesis A4 style, 150 mm wide.

Built-in check

Catches what markers and reviewers notice.

The Check tab scores your graph against the chosen target's rules and fixes most problems in one click.

Text large enough to read once printedSub- and superscripts included.
Colours that stay distinct for colour-blind readersChecked for protan, deutan and tritan vision.
Width that fits the page or columnPlaced at 100 %, so nothing is rescaled.
Line weights, resolution and embedded fonts
Honest statisticsWarns when a bar of means hides 30 or fewer data points.

PlotBench window with the Check tab open. The figure uses red, green and magenta bars and scores 93; a warning says the red and green look alike with protanopia and offers the Okabe–Ito palette.

Red and green bars look alike to readers with protanopia, about 1 in 12 men. The check says so and offers a colour-blind-safe palette.

Bar chart in bright red, green and magenta. — **On your screen**Spreadsheet colours look distinct on a monitor.

The same bar chart in grayscale, where the red and green bars become nearly the same grey. — **On a grayscale printout**Red and green turn into the same grey. The preview shows you this before your lecturer or examiner sees it.

What's inside version 0.1

Labels typed like a printed page.

Write units and symbols as plain text. PlotBench sets italics, sub- and superscripts and true minus signs the way a typesetter would.

mg L^{−1}mg L⁻¹

H_{2}OH₂O

\i{T}_{g} (°C)T_g (°C)

\alpha-Fe_{2}O_{3}α-Fe₂O₃

Chart types: 13 types: line, line + symbol, scatter, area, grouped, stacked and horizontal bar, mean bar + points, dot plot, box plot, violin, histogram with normal curve, pie and donut.
Analysis: Linear, quadratic, cubic, exponential, power and log fits with equation and R². SD, SEM or 95 % CI error bars. Welch t-test brackets with exact p.
Axes: Linear or log scales, a second Y axis, minor ticks, reversed axes and number formats including ×10ⁿ and percent.
Data: Type, or paste from Excel. Import CSV, TSV, TXT, XLSX and ODS in UTF-8, Shift_JIS or Windows-1252. Several data sheets per project.
Layout: Multi-panel figures from 1×1 to 3×2 with axes aligned across panels and (a), (b) labels added. Text annotations anywhere.
Style: 4 themes and 8 palettes, 5 of them colour-blind safe. Live colour-blind and grayscale preview. Drafts a caption and alt text.
Targets: 29 presets: lab and thesis pages, 16:9 slides, poster panels, and journals and conferences from IEEE, Elsevier, Nature, Springer, ACS, APS, PLOS, MDPI, Wiley, IEEJ, IEICE, ACM and LNCS.
Export: Copy to Word or PowerPoint. PDF and SVG with fonts embedded; TIFF and PNG at 300–2400 dpi; source-data CSV. Projects save as open .gplot files with 120 steps of undo.

What you see is what you get

One renderer draws the on-screen preview, the PDF, the SVG and the image files. The layout does not shift when you paste into Word, open in Illustrator or print.

Details that make a graph look professional

True minus signs. Italic quantities with upright units. Axis limits that stay tight to your data. Legends placed in the emptiest corner. Panels aligned to the point.

Download · version 0.1.0

Make your next graph in PlotBench.

PlotBench runs on Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), with no account and no internet connection needed. Install it, or carry the portable version on a USB stick to the lab computer.

The builds are not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC". Choose More info, then Run anyway.

Installer

PlotBench-Setup-0.1.0.exe · 109 MB

Adds Start-menu and desktop shortcuts. Choose the install folder.

Download installer

Portable

PlotBench-Portable-0.1.0.exe · 108 MB

One file, no installation. Runs from any folder or USB drive.

Download portable