Skip to main content

Common Matplotlib (Pyplot) Code Examples

· 5 min read
ひかり
ひかり
Main bloger

I'll introduce commonly used code examples with graphs.

Table of Contents​

Creating Graphs​

First, import the required libraries.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

Single Graph​

fig, ax = plt.subplots()

2 x 3 Graphs​

fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 3)

Plotting Graphs​

Plotting a parabola

x = np.linspace(-1, 1, 201)
y = x ** 2

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot(x, y)

Plotting a parabola with points

fig, ax = plt.subplots()

x = np.linspace(-1, 1, 21)
y = x ** 2

ax.plot(x, y, 'o')

Setting color to orange

fig, ax = plt.subplots()

x = np.linspace(-1, 1, 21)
y = x ** 2

ax.plot(x, y, color="tab:orange")

Standard colors are as follows:

ColorString
Bluetab:blue
Orangetab:orange
Greentab:green
Redtab:red
Purpletab:purple
Browntab:brown
Pinktab:pink
Graytab:gray
Olivetab:olive
Cyantab:cyan

Setting line width to 4

fig, ax = plt.subplots()

x = np.linspace(-1, 1, 21)
y = x ** 2

ax.plot(x, y, lw=4)

Setting Titles​

Setting title to "Title"

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.set_title("Title")

Setting Axis Labels​

Setting X-Axis Labels​

Setting x-axis label to "Time (s)"

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.set_xlabel("Time (s)")

Setting Y-Axis Labels​

Setting y-axis label to "Distance (m)"

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.set_ylabel("Distance (m)")

Setting Graph Top and Bottom​

Setting top to 100

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.set_ylim(top=100)

Setting bottom to -100

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.set_ylim(bottom=-100)

Setting top to 100 and bottom to -100

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.set_ylim([-100, 100])

Setting Graph Left and Right​

Setting left to -100

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.set_xlim(left=-100)

Setting right to 100

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.set_xlim(right=100)

Setting left to -100 and right to 100

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.set_xlim([-100, 100])

Displaying Grid​

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.grid()

Displaying grid vertically only

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.grid(axis="x")

Displaying grid horizontally only

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.grid(axis="y")

Setting Ticks​

Setting x-axis ticks

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
xticks = range(6)
ax.set_xticks(xticks)

Setting x-axis ticks and tick labels

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
xticks = range(6)
ax.set_xticks(xticks, [f"{xtick}m" for xtick in xticks])

Setting y-axis ticks

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
yticks = [i * 20 for i in range(6)]
ax.set_yticks(yticks)

Setting y-axis ticks and tick labels

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
yticks = [i * 20 for i in range(6)]
ax.set_yticks(yticks, [f"{ytick}%" for ytick in yticks])

Removing Ticks​

Removing x-axis ticks

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.tick_params(bottom=False)

Removing x-axis tick labels

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.tick_params(labelbottom=False)

Removing y-axis ticks

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.tick_params(left=False)

Removing y-axis tick labels

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.tick_params(labelleft=False)

Setting Tick Colors​

Setting x-axis tick color to red

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.tick_params(axis="x", color="tab:red")

Setting x-axis tick label color to red

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.tick_params(axis="x", labelcolor="tab:red")

Setting y-axis tick color to red

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.tick_params(axis="y", color="tab:red")

Setting y-axis tick label color to red

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.tick_params(axis="y", labelcolor="tab:red")

Adjusting Graph Spacing​

Setting vertical spacing to 0.2 and horizontal spacing to 0.3

fig, ax = plt.subplots(3, 3)
fig.subplots_adjust(hspace=0.2, wspace=0.3)

Setting spacing to automatic

fig, ax = plt.subplots(3, 3)
fig.tight_layout()

Saving Images​

Saving as PNG

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
plt.savefig("graph.png")

Saving as SVG

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
plt.savefig("graph.svg")

Saving as PDF

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
plt.savefig("graph.pdf")

graph.pdf

Saving at 300 dpi

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
plt.savefig("graph300.png", dpi=300)