matplotlib is a python 2D plotting library which produces publication quality figures in a variety of hardcopy formats and interactive environments across platforms. matplotlib can be used in python scripts, the python and ipython shell (ala matlab or mathematica), web application servers, and six graphical user interface toolkits.
matplotlib tries to make easy things easy and hard things possible. You can generate plots, histograms, power spectra, bar charts, errorcharts, scatterplots, etc, with just a few lines of code. For a sampling, see the screenshots, thumbnail gallery, and examples directory
For example, to generate 10,000 gaussian random numbers and make a histogram plot binning the data into 100 bins, you simply need to type
>>> from pylab import randn, hist >>> x = randn(10000) >>> hist(x, 100)
For the power user, you have full control of line styles, font properties, axes properties, etc, via an object oriented interface or via a set of functions familiar to Matlab® users. The pylab mode provides all of the pyplot plotting functions listed below, as well as non-plotting functions from numpy and matplotlib.mlab.
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
| acorr | plot the autocorrelation function |
| annotate | annotate something in the figure |
| arrow | add an arrow to the axes |
| axes | create a new axes |
| axhline | draw a horizontal line across axes |
| axvline | draw a vertical line across axes |
| axhspan | draw a horizontal bar across axes |
| axvspan | draw a vertical bar across axes |
| axis | set or return the current axis limits |
| barbs | a (wind) barb plot |
| bar | make a bar chart |
| barh | a horizontal bar chart |
| broken_barh | a set of horizontal bars with gaps |
| box | set the axes frame on/off state |
| boxplot | make a box and whisker plot |
| cla | clear current axes |
| clabel | label a contour plot |
| clf | clear a figure window |
| clim | adjust the color limits of the current image |
| close | close a figure window |
| colorbar | add a colorbar to the current figure |
| cohere | make a plot of coherence |
| contour | make a contour plot |
| contourf | make a filled contour plot |
| csd | make a plot of cross spectral density |
| delaxes | delete an axes from the current figure |
| draw | Force a redraw of the current figure |
| errorbar | make an errorbar graph |
| figlegend | make legend on the figure rather than the axes |
| figimage | make a figure image |
| figtext | add text in figure coords |
| figure | create or change active figure |
| fill | make filled polygons |
| fill_between | make filled polygons between two curves |
| findobj | recursively find all objects matching some criteria |
| gca | return the current axes |
| gcf | return the current figure |
| gci | get the current image, or None |
| getp | get a graphics property |
| grid | set whether gridding is on |
| hexbin | make a 2D hexagonal binning plot |
| hist | make a histogram |
| hold | set the axes hold state |
| ioff | turn interaction mode off |
| ion | turn interaction mode on |
| isinteractive | return True if interaction mode is on |
| imread | load image file into array |
| imsave | save array as an image file |
| imshow | plot image data |
| ishold | return the hold state of the current axes |
| legend | make an axes legend |
| loglog | a log log plot |
| matshow | display a matrix in a new figure preserving aspect |
| pcolor | make a pseudocolor plot |
| pcolormesh | make a pseudocolor plot using a quadrilateral mesh |
| pie | make a pie chart |
| plot | make a line plot |
| plot_date | plot dates |
| plotfile | plot column data from an ASCII tab/space/comma delimited file |
| pie | pie charts |
| polar | make a polar plot on a PolarAxes |
| psd | make a plot of power spectral density |
| quiver | make a direction field (arrows) plot |
| rc | control the default params |
| rgrids | customize the radial grids and labels for polar |
| savefig | save the current figure |
| scatter | make a scatter plot |
| setp | set a graphics property |
| semilogx | log x axis |
| semilogy | log y axis |
| show | show the figures |
| specgram | a spectrogram plot |
| spy | plot sparsity pattern using markers or image |
| stem | make a stem plot |
| subplot | make a subplot (numrows, numcols, axesnum) |
| subplots_adjust | change the params controlling the subplot positions of current figure |
| subplot_tool | launch the subplot configuration tool |
| suptitle | add a figure title |
| table | add a table to the plot |
| text | add some text at location x,y to the current axes |
| thetagrids | customize the radial theta grids and labels for polar |
| title | add a title to the current axes |
| xcorr | plot the autocorrelation function of x and y |
| xlim | set/get the xlimits |
| ylim | set/get the ylimits |
| xticks | set/get the xticks |
| yticks | set/get the yticks |
| xlabel | add an xlabel to the current axes |
| ylabel | add a ylabel to the current axes |
| autumn | set the default colormap to autumn |
| bone | set the default colormap to bone |
| cool | set the default colormap to cool |
| copper | set the default colormap to copper |
| flag | set the default colormap to flag |
| gray | set the default colormap to gray |
| hot | set the default colormap to hot |
| hsv | set the default colormap to hsv |
| jet | set the default colormap to jet |
| pink | set the default colormap to pink |
| prism | set the default colormap to prism |
| spring | set the default colormap to spring |
| summer | set the default colormap to summer |
| winter | set the default colormap to winter |
| spectral | set the default colormap to spectral |