IN THE LEXIMANCER MARKERS FILE EXPORT (WHICH SHOWS THE CONCEPT CO-OCCURRENCES WHEN OPENED IN EXCEL) WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE COLUMNS X, Y, AND WEIGHT?

Weight is the sum of the co-occurrence count values of the concept with all the other concepts (these values should be integers, but there is a small precision loss - just round the value to get the integer back).

We use this to rank the connectedness of the concepts. You could calculate this anyway by adding the counts occupying the rest of the line, but not including the ‘on diagonal’ count. The ‘on diagonal’ count is the occurrence count of the concept itself.

WHAT DOES THE SAVE CONCEPT MAPS FEATURE DO?

The ‘save’ button does not save the map to your local computer. It saves a view of the map with the current view settings (number of concepts visible, theme size...) within Leximancer. This map view may then be reloaded by using the ‘load’ button located to the right of the ‘save’ button above the map. (See page 25 of the manual for more details.)

HOW DO I SAVE AN IMAGE OF THE CONCEPT MAP?

If you wish to export an image of the map to use with other software, click on the export image button (immediately to the left of the ‘save’ button) This will allow you to save a map image in a variety of image formats.

When you create a project in Leximancer, the generated map is part of the project (as are many other files and resources), you do not need to explicitly save it. Re-opening the project and clicking on the ‘concept map’ will restore the view of the map. You will only see project folders and project names in the project folder panel on the left.

HOW CAN I MAKE THE CONCEPT MAP MORE READABLE OR SUITABLE FOR A PUBLICATION GRAPHIC?

THEME VISIBILITY:

You can make all the theme names visible on the map without having to hover the mouse. Use the settings button above the map to Make Theme Names Always Visible.

MAP ROTATION:

We often find that rotating the map using the slider at the bottom can often clarify collisions.

EXPORT AND USE 3RD PARTY IMAGE MANIPULATION SOFTWARE:

You can export the map (using the button above the map that looks like a black computer screen) in a number of image formats such the SVG format (which stands for scalable vector graphics), and bitmap image formats including jpg and png. The SVG format gives you the most control over editing but does require a program that supports SVG such as Inkscape (free open-source package).

  • SVG:

    • When you export the SVG file, you will need to add the extension .svg to the exported file name.

    • You can edit an SVG export in almost any way you like - moving labels, resizing fonts or circles, changing colours, etc. You just need software that edits SVG format graphics. When you load the Leximancer SVG export into a program such as Inkscape, you first need to select the image and find the 'unmerge' menu option to break up all the individual graphics objects. Then you can edit any part of the image and export in many formats from Inkscape. You can also export images in any resolution. Adobe Illustrator may also handle SVG.

  • JPG, PNG

    • A number of image manipulation programs are available which will allow you to load a Leximancer concept map image and perform effects on the entire image, such as transforming color to grey-scale.

OTHER:

  • Change the font size (using the settings button over the map)

  • Increase the available screen real estate by zooming the map

  • Hiding concepts on the map (temporarily using the settings button over the map, or permanently in the Mapping Concepts list)

  • Renaming concepts or themes (temporarily by right mouse clicking near the desired item on the map, or permanently in the seed editor)