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Graphics Layout Engine

Graphics programming language

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated August 9, 2025
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Graphics Layout Engine (GLE) is a graphics scripting language designed for creating publication quality graphs, plots, diagrams, figures and slides. GLE supports various graph types such as function plots, histograms, bar graphs, scatter plots, contour lines, color maps and surface plots through a simple but flexible set of graphing commands. More complex output can be created by relying on GLE's scripting language, which is full featured with subroutines, variables, and logic control. GLE relies on LaTeX for text output and supports mathematical formula in graphs and figures. GLE's output formats include EPS, PS, PDF, JPEG, and PNG.

The GLE software dates back to the early 1990s and it is still under active development. Currently, GLE development is hosted on GitHub.

01Platforms

GLE is available for all major operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Unix. It is included in Linux distributions such as Debian, Fedora, and SUSE.

02License

GLE is licensed under the BSD license. QGLE, the GLE user interface, is licensed under the GPL license.

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Graphics Layout Engine”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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