In “Graphing Data” and “Categorical Graphs” we described in detail EViews tools for producing graphical displays of your data. The topics considered range from simple observation line graphs, to analytical graphs such as histograms, to even more complex categorical graphs.

These graphical displays are what we term graph views since they are simply a different way of viewing the data in the underlying data object. While graph views may be customized in a variety of ways, they are generally transitory; when you close the series or group object and subsequently redisplay or switch views, many customized settings are lost. And in cases where the views are dynamic, the view is regenerated automatically when the underlying object or the active sample changes, resulting in the loss of any custom settings.

Fortunately, you may create a graph object by freezing a graph view. Freezing a view will create a new graph object containing a “snapshot” of the current graph view, allowing you to perform permanent customization of the graphical output. Graphs may also be placed into a spool object along with table and text objects for use in custom presentations (see “Spool Objects”).

This remainder of this chapter describes the options available for customizing the appearance of a graph object. This chapter does not offer a comprehensive examination of all of the possible customizations you may perform; we encourage you to experiment with various settings to see the effect on your output.