/matplotlib-scientific-plotting

name: "matplotlib-scientific-plotting"
description: "Low-level Python plotting for scientific figures: publication-quality line, scatter, bar, heatmap, contour, 3D; multi-panel layouts; fine control of every element. PNG/PDF/SVG export. Use seaborn for quick stats, plotly for interactive."
license: "PSF-based"

matplotlib

Overview

Matplotlib is Python's foundational visualization library for creating static, animated, and interactive plots. It provides both a MATLAB-style pyplot interface and an object-oriented API for full control over figures, axes, and artists. Essential for generating publication-quality scientific figures.

When to Use

• Creating publication-quality plots with precise control over every element (fonts, ticks, colors, spacing)
• Building multi-panel figures with complex subplot layouts for papers
• Generating standard scientific plot types: line, scatter, bar, histogram, heatmap, box, violin, contour
• Exporting figures to vector formats (PDF, SVG) for journal submission
• Creating 3D surface, scatter, or wireframe plots
• Customizing colormaps and color schemes for accessibility (colorblind-friendly)
• Integrating plots with NumPy arrays and pandas DataFrames
• For quick statistical visualizations (distributions, regressions), use `seaborn` instead
• For interactive/web-based plots with hover and zoom, use `plotly` instead

Prerequisites

• **Python packages**: `matplotlib`, `numpy`
• **Optional**: `pandas` (for DataFrame plotting), `seaborn` (for style presets)
• **Environment**: Works in scripts, Jupyter notebooks (`%matplotlib inline`), and GUI apps

pip install matplotlib numpy

Quick Start

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# Publication-ready figure template: set size, plot, label, save as PDF
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(6, 4))  # single-column journal width ≈ 6 cm → set here in inches

x = np.linspace(0, 2 * np.pi, 200)
ax.plot(x, np.sin(x), color="steelblue", lw=1.5, label="sin(x)")
ax.plot(x, np.cos(x), color="coral",    lw=1.5, label="cos(x)", linestyle="--")

ax.set_xlabel("x (radians)")
ax.set_ylabel("Amplitude")
ax.set_title("Sine and Cosine Waves")
ax.legend(frameon=False)
ax.spines[["top", "right"]].set_visible(False)  # clean axis style

plt.tight_layout()
plt.savefig("quickstart.pdf", bbox_inches="tight", dpi=300)
print("Saved quickstart.pdf")

Core API

Module 1: Figure and Axes Creation

The fundamental objects: Figure (canvas) and Axes (plotting area).

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# Single plot (recommended: OO interface)
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(8, 5))
x = np.linspace(0, 2 * np.pi, 100)
ax.plot(x, np.sin(x), label="sin(x)")
ax.plot(x, np.cos(x), label="cos(x)")
ax.set_xlabel("x"); ax.set_ylabel("y")
ax.set_title("Trigonometric Functions")
ax.legend(); ax.grid(True, alpha=0.3)
plt.savefig("basic_plot.png", dpi=300, bbox_inches="tight")
print("Saved basic_plot.png")

# Multi-panel subplots
fig, axes = plt.subplots(2, 2, figsize=(10, 8), constrained_layout=True)
axes[0, 0].plot(x, np.sin(x)); axes[0, 0].set_title("sin(x)")
axes[0, 1].scatter(x[::5], np.cos(x[::5])); axes[0, 1].set_title("cos(x)")
axes[1, 0].bar(["A", "B", "C"], [3, 7, 5]); axes[1, 0].set_title("Bar")
axes[1, 1].hist(np.random.randn(500), bins=30); axes[1, 1].set_title("Histogram")
plt.savefig("subplots.png", dpi=300, bbox_inches="tight")
print("Saved subplots.png with 4 panels")

Module 2: Plot Types

Standard scientific chart types.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

fig, axes = plt.subplots(2, 3, figsize=(15, 9), constrained_layout=True)

# Line plot — trends over time
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 50)
axes[0, 0].plot(x, np.exp(-x/3) * np.sin(x), "b-", linewidth=2)
axes[0, 0].set_title("Line Plot")

# Scatter plot — correlations
np.random.seed(42)
axes[0, 1].scatter(np.random.randn(100), np.random.randn(100), alpha=0.6, c=np.random.rand(100), cmap="viridis")
axes[0, 1].set_title("Scatter Plot")

# Bar chart — categorical comparisons
categories = ["Gene A", "Gene B", "Gene C", "Gene D"]
axes[0, 2].bar(categories, [4.2, 7.1, 3.5, 6.8], color="steelblue", edgecolor="black")
axes[0, 2].set_title("Bar Chart")

# Histogram — distributions
axes[1, 0].hist(np.random.randn(1000), bins=40, edgecolor="black", alpha=0.7)
axes[1, 0].set_title("Histogram")

# Box plot — statistical distributions
data = [np.random.randn(50) + i for i in range(4)]
axes[1, 1].boxplot(data, labels=["Ctrl", "Drug A", "Drug B", "Drug C"])
axes[1, 1].set_title("Box Plot")

# Heatmap — matrix data
matrix = np.random.rand(8, 8)
im = axes[1, 2].imshow(matrix, cmap="coolwarm", aspect="auto")
plt.colorbar(im, ax=axes[1, 2])
axes[1, 2].set_title("Heatmap")

plt.savefig("plot_types.png", dpi=300, bbox_inches="tight")
print("Saved 6 plot types to plot_types.png")

Module 3: Styling and Customization

Colors, fonts, styles, annotations.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# Use style sheets
plt.style.use("seaborn-v0_8-whitegrid")

# Custom rcParams for publication
plt.rcParams.update({
    "font.size": 12, "axes.labelsize": 14,
    "axes.titlesize": 16, "xtick.labelsize": 10,
    "ytick.labelsize": 10, "legend.fontsize": 11,
})

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(8, 5))
x = np.linspace(0, 5, 100)
ax.plot(x, np.exp(-x), "r--", linewidth=2, label="Exponential decay")
ax.fill_between(x, np.exp(-x) - 0.1, np.exp(-x) + 0.1, alpha=0.2, color="red")

# Annotations
ax.annotate("Half-life", xy=(0.693, 0.5), xytext=(2, 0.7),
            arrowprops=dict(arrowstyle="->", color="black"),
            fontsize=12, fontweight="bold")
ax.set_xlabel("Time (s)"); ax.set_ylabel("Signal")
ax.legend()
plt.savefig("styled_plot.png", dpi=300, bbox_inches="tight")
print("Saved styled_plot.png")

Module 4: Advanced Layouts

Mosaic layouts, GridSpec, insets.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.gridspec import GridSpec
import nump