history

Figure Studio fixes publication-frame preview and axis controls

id: LK-20260721-figure-studio-plot-frame-preview
date: 2026-07-21
sequence: 154
type: fix
compatibility: compatible
component: `labkit_FigureStudio_app` | `0.6.0 -> 0.6.1`
scope: LabKit Core

Context

Figure Studio had treated a requested output size as a whole figure canvas. That made labels and titles consume the configured plot area, and resizing the preview could make the displayed typography unrelated to the eventual export. Copied UIAxes also needed a portable reconstruction path for reliable export.

Decision and rationale

Treat the requested width and aspect as the inner axes frame. Keep all publication-style calibration within Figure Studio, then calculate an outer figure from the live rendered text extents so visual styling cannot reduce the configured data area.

Changes

• Defined the plot width and aspect controls as the inner axes frame; export now calculates an outer figure around that fixed frame from visible labels, ticks, titles, legends, and annotations.
• Calibrated the LabKit publication preset from the maintained single-panel visual measurements, including category-specific typography and strokes.
• Kept the preview as an interactive axes, reflowing its display scale when its allocated area changes without changing saved/export settings.
• Added explicit X/Y minimum and maximum controls, plus visible-data recalculation with a finite-data envelope expanded by 50 percent.
• Rebuilt UIAxes sources through the portable renderer for conventional export, retaining displayed scientific axis exponents.

User and data impact

Existing Figure Studio projects remain compatible. Existing style sizes retain their meaning as a plot frame; the enclosing export figure may grow to avoid clipping external text. No scientific calculations or source figure data are changed.

Compatibility and migration

The project schema migrates existing style records without changing their stored data. UIAxes exports use the portable display snapshot only for the screen-specific aspect geometry that cannot be transferred to normal axes.

Validation

• Focused Figure Studio result-file and source-axes tests.
• Hidden-GUI Figure Studio layout tests, including UIAxes export and preview reflow behavior.
• Pixel-scale visual metrics for the calibrated single-panel output.

Evidence

The calibrated profile fixes the inner frame at 1237 by 942 pixels. Its generated output reports that same axes size while the enclosing figure grows only for required outer text and annotations.

Known limitations and follow-up

Manual review remains appropriate for native MATLAB graphics that cannot be represented by the portable package.