Plot Customization - Setting Defaults#

Matplotlib has default figure sizes, font sizes, and color schemes. In some cases, if you’re making a presentation, for example, you might want your font size to be larger than the default font size. Matplotlib allows you to customize many of the defaults used for your figures, such as plot size and font size. Consider the figure we created in the last section.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import pandas as pd

%matplotlib notebook

s_orbitals = pd.read_csv("s_orbitals_1D.csv")

fig, ax = plt.subplots(1, 3)

ax[0].plot("r","1s", data=s_orbitals)
ax[1].plot("r","2s", data=s_orbitals)
ax[2].plot("r","3s", data=s_orbitals)

for axis in ax:
    axis.set_xlabel("r")
    axis.set_ylabel(r"$\psi$")
    axis.legend()
    axis.set_xlim(0, 14)
    axis.set_ylim(-0.05, 0.5)


fig.tight_layout()

We might wish for our text to be larger, or for our figures to be a different size. To change defaults used for figures, you update paramaters stored in matplotlib.rcParams.

import matplotlib as mpl

We can examine everything in mpl.rcParams.

mpl.rcParams
RcParams({'_internal.classic_mode': False,
          'agg.path.chunksize': 0,
          'animation.avconv_args': [],
          'animation.avconv_path': 'avconv',
          'animation.bitrate': -1,
          'animation.codec': 'h264',
          'animation.convert_args': [],
          'animation.convert_path': 'convert',
          'animation.embed_limit': 20.0,
          'animation.ffmpeg_args': [],
          'animation.ffmpeg_path': 'ffmpeg',
          'animation.frame_format': 'png',
          'animation.html': 'none',
          'animation.html_args': [],
          'animation.writer': 'ffmpeg',
          'axes.autolimit_mode': 'data',
          'axes.axisbelow': 'line',
          'axes.edgecolor': 'black',
          'axes.facecolor': 'white',
          'axes.formatter.limits': [-5, 6],
          'axes.formatter.min_exponent': 0,
          'axes.formatter.offset_threshold': 4,
          'axes.formatter.use_locale': False,
          'axes.formatter.use_mathtext': False,
          'axes.formatter.useoffset': True,
          'axes.grid': False,
          'axes.grid.axis': 'both',
          'axes.grid.which': 'major',
          'axes.labelcolor': 'black',
          'axes.labelpad': 4.0,
          'axes.labelsize': 'medium',
          'axes.labelweight': 'normal',
          'axes.linewidth': 0.8,
          'axes.prop_cycle': cycler('color', ['#1f77b4', '#ff7f0e', '#2ca02c', '#d62728', '#9467bd', '#8c564b', '#e377c2', '#7f7f7f', '#bcbd22', '#17becf']),
          'axes.spines.bottom': True,
          'axes.spines.left': True,
          'axes.spines.right': True,
          'axes.spines.top': True,
          'axes.titlecolor': 'auto',
          'axes.titlelocation': 'center',
          'axes.titlepad': 6.0,
          'axes.titlesize': 'large',
          'axes.titleweight': 'normal',
          'axes.titley': None,
          'axes.unicode_minus': True,
          'axes.xmargin': 0.05,
          'axes.ymargin': 0.05,
          'axes3d.grid': True,
          'backend': 'nbAgg',
          'backend_fallback': True,
          'boxplot.bootstrap': None,
          'boxplot.boxprops.color': 'black',
          'boxplot.boxprops.linestyle': '-',
          'boxplot.boxprops.linewidth': 1.0,
          'boxplot.capprops.color': 'black',
          'boxplot.capprops.linestyle': '-',
          'boxplot.capprops.linewidth': 1.0,
          'boxplot.flierprops.color': 'black',
          'boxplot.flierprops.linestyle': 'none',
          'boxplot.flierprops.linewidth': 1.0,
          'boxplot.flierprops.marker': 'o',
          'boxplot.flierprops.markeredgecolor': 'black',
          'boxplot.flierprops.markeredgewidth': 1.0,
          'boxplot.flierprops.markerfacecolor': 'none',
          'boxplot.flierprops.markersize': 6.0,
          'boxplot.meanline': False,
          'boxplot.meanprops.color': 'C2',
          'boxplot.meanprops.linestyle': '--',
          'boxplot.meanprops.linewidth': 1.0,
          'boxplot.meanprops.marker': '^',
          'boxplot.meanprops.markeredgecolor': 'C2',
          'boxplot.meanprops.markerfacecolor': 'C2',
          'boxplot.meanprops.markersize': 6.0,
          'boxplot.medianprops.color': 'C1',
          'boxplot.medianprops.linestyle': '-',
          'boxplot.medianprops.linewidth': 1.0,
          'boxplot.notch': False,
          'boxplot.patchartist': False,
          'boxplot.showbox': True,
          'boxplot.showcaps': True,
          'boxplot.showfliers': True,
          'boxplot.showmeans': False,
          'boxplot.vertical': True,
          'boxplot.whiskerprops.color': 'black',
          'boxplot.whiskerprops.linestyle': '-',
          'boxplot.whiskerprops.linewidth': 1.0,
          'boxplot.whiskers': 1.5,
          'contour.corner_mask': True,
          'contour.linewidth': None,
          'contour.negative_linestyle': 'dashed',
          'date.autoformatter.day': '%Y-%m-%d',
          'date.autoformatter.hour': '%m-%d %H',
          'date.autoformatter.microsecond': '%M:%S.%f',
          'date.autoformatter.minute': '%d %H:%M',
          'date.autoformatter.month': '%Y-%m',
          'date.autoformatter.second': '%H:%M:%S',
          'date.autoformatter.year': '%Y',
          'date.epoch': '1970-01-01T00:00:00',
          'docstring.hardcopy': False,
          'errorbar.capsize': 0.0,
          'figure.autolayout': False,
          'figure.constrained_layout.h_pad': 0.04167,
          'figure.constrained_layout.hspace': 0.02,
          'figure.constrained_layout.use': False,
          'figure.constrained_layout.w_pad': 0.04167,
          'figure.constrained_layout.wspace': 0.02,
          'figure.dpi': 100.0,
          'figure.edgecolor': 'white',
          'figure.facecolor': 'white',
          'figure.figsize': [6.4, 4.8],
          'figure.frameon': True,
          'figure.max_open_warning': 20,
          'figure.raise_window': True,
          'figure.subplot.bottom': 0.11,
          'figure.subplot.hspace': 0.2,
          'figure.subplot.left': 0.125,
          'figure.subplot.right': 0.9,
          'figure.subplot.top': 0.88,
          'figure.subplot.wspace': 0.2,
          'figure.titlesize': 'large',
          'figure.titleweight': 'normal',
          'font.cursive': ['Apple Chancery',
                           'Textile',
                           'Zapf Chancery',
                           'Sand',
                           'Script MT',
                           'Felipa',
                           'cursive'],
          'font.family': ['sans-serif'],
          'font.fantasy': ['Comic Neue',
                           'Comic Sans MS',
                           'Chicago',
                           'Charcoal',
                           'ImpactWestern',
                           'Humor Sans',
                           'xkcd',
                           'fantasy'],
          'font.monospace': ['DejaVu Sans Mono',
                             'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono',
                             'Computer Modern Typewriter',
                             'Andale Mono',
                             'Nimbus Mono L',
                             'Courier New',
                             'Courier',
                             'Fixed',
                             'Terminal',
                             'monospace'],
          'font.sans-serif': ['DejaVu Sans',
                              'Bitstream Vera Sans',
                              'Computer Modern Sans Serif',
                              'Lucida Grande',
                              'Verdana',
                              'Geneva',
                              'Lucid',
                              'Arial',
                              'Helvetica',
                              'Avant Garde',
                              'sans-serif'],
          'font.serif': ['DejaVu Serif',
                         'Bitstream Vera Serif',
                         'Computer Modern Roman',
                         'New Century Schoolbook',
                         'Century Schoolbook L',
                         'Utopia',
                         'ITC Bookman',
                         'Bookman',
                         'Nimbus Roman No9 L',
                         'Times New Roman',
                         'Times',
                         'Palatino',
                         'Charter',
                         'serif'],
          'font.size': 10.0,
          'font.stretch': 'normal',
          'font.style': 'normal',
          'font.variant': 'normal',
          'font.weight': 'normal',
          'grid.alpha': 1.0,
          'grid.color': '#b0b0b0',
          'grid.linestyle': '-',
          'grid.linewidth': 0.8,
          'hatch.color': 'black',
          'hatch.linewidth': 1.0,
          'hist.bins': 10,
          'image.aspect': 'equal',
          'image.cmap': 'viridis',
          'image.composite_image': True,
          'image.interpolation': 'antialiased',
          'image.lut': 256,
          'image.origin': 'upper',
          'image.resample': True,
          'interactive': True,
          'keymap.all_axes': ['a'],
          'keymap.back': ['left', 'c', 'backspace', 'MouseButton.BACK'],
          'keymap.copy': ['ctrl+c', 'cmd+c'],
          'keymap.forward': ['right', 'v', 'MouseButton.FORWARD'],
          'keymap.fullscreen': ['f', 'ctrl+f'],
          'keymap.grid': ['g'],
          'keymap.grid_minor': ['G'],
          'keymap.help': ['f1'],
          'keymap.home': ['h', 'r', 'home'],
          'keymap.pan': ['p'],
          'keymap.quit': ['ctrl+w', 'cmd+w', 'q'],
          'keymap.quit_all': [],
          'keymap.save': ['s', 'ctrl+s'],
          'keymap.xscale': ['k', 'L'],
          'keymap.yscale': ['l'],
          'keymap.zoom': ['o'],
          'legend.borderaxespad': 0.5,
          'legend.borderpad': 0.4,
          'legend.columnspacing': 2.0,
          'legend.edgecolor': '0.8',
          'legend.facecolor': 'inherit',
          'legend.fancybox': True,
          'legend.fontsize': 'medium',
          'legend.framealpha': 0.8,
          'legend.frameon': True,
          'legend.handleheight': 0.7,
          'legend.handlelength': 2.0,
          'legend.handletextpad': 0.8,
          'legend.labelspacing': 0.5,
          'legend.loc': 'best',
          'legend.markerscale': 1.0,
          'legend.numpoints': 1,
          'legend.scatterpoints': 1,
          'legend.shadow': False,
          'legend.title_fontsize': None,
          'lines.antialiased': True,
          'lines.color': 'C0',
          'lines.dash_capstyle': 'butt',
          'lines.dash_joinstyle': 'round',
          'lines.dashdot_pattern': [6.4, 1.6, 1.0, 1.6],
          'lines.dashed_pattern': [3.7, 1.6],
          'lines.dotted_pattern': [1.0, 1.65],
          'lines.linestyle': '-',
          'lines.linewidth': 1.5,
          'lines.marker': 'None',
          'lines.markeredgecolor': 'auto',
          'lines.markeredgewidth': 1.0,
          'lines.markerfacecolor': 'auto',
          'lines.markersize': 6.0,
          'lines.scale_dashes': True,
          'lines.solid_capstyle': 'projecting',
          'lines.solid_joinstyle': 'round',
          'markers.fillstyle': 'full',
          'mathtext.bf': 'sans:bold',
          'mathtext.cal': 'cursive',
          'mathtext.default': 'it',
          'mathtext.fallback': 'cm',
          'mathtext.fallback_to_cm': None,
          'mathtext.fontset': 'dejavusans',
          'mathtext.it': 'sans:italic',
          'mathtext.rm': 'sans',
          'mathtext.sf': 'sans',
          'mathtext.tt': 'monospace',
          'mpl_toolkits.legacy_colorbar': True,
          'patch.antialiased': True,
          'patch.edgecolor': 'black',
          'patch.facecolor': 'C0',
          'patch.force_edgecolor': False,
          'patch.linewidth': 1.0,
          'path.effects': [],
          'path.simplify': True,
          'path.simplify_threshold': 0.111111111111,
          'path.sketch': None,
          'path.snap': True,
          'pcolor.shading': 'flat',
          'pdf.compression': 6,
          'pdf.fonttype': 3,
          'pdf.inheritcolor': False,
          'pdf.use14corefonts': False,
          'pgf.preamble': '',
          'pgf.rcfonts': True,
          'pgf.texsystem': 'xelatex',
          'polaraxes.grid': True,
          'ps.distiller.res': 6000,
          'ps.fonttype': 3,
          'ps.papersize': 'letter',
          'ps.useafm': False,
          'ps.usedistiller': None,
          'savefig.bbox': None,
          'savefig.directory': '~',
          'savefig.dpi': 'figure',
          'savefig.edgecolor': 'auto',
          'savefig.facecolor': 'auto',
          'savefig.format': 'png',
          'savefig.jpeg_quality': 95,
          'savefig.orientation': 'portrait',
          'savefig.pad_inches': 0.1,
          'savefig.transparent': False,
          'scatter.edgecolors': 'face',
          'scatter.marker': 'o',
          'svg.fonttype': 'path',
          'svg.hashsalt': None,
          'svg.image_inline': True,
          'text.antialiased': True,
          'text.color': 'black',
          'text.hinting': 'force_autohint',
          'text.hinting_factor': 8,
          'text.kerning_factor': 0,
          'text.latex.preamble': '',
          'text.latex.preview': False,
          'text.usetex': False,
          'timezone': 'UTC',
          'tk.window_focus': False,
          'toolbar': 'toolbar2',
          'webagg.address': '127.0.0.1',
          'webagg.open_in_browser': True,
          'webagg.port': 8988,
          'webagg.port_retries': 50,
          'xaxis.labellocation': 'center',
          'xtick.alignment': 'center',
          'xtick.bottom': True,
          'xtick.color': 'black',
          'xtick.direction': 'out',
          'xtick.labelbottom': True,
          'xtick.labelsize': 'medium',
          'xtick.labeltop': False,
          'xtick.major.bottom': True,
          'xtick.major.pad': 3.5,
          'xtick.major.size': 3.5,
          'xtick.major.top': True,
          'xtick.major.width': 0.8,
          'xtick.minor.bottom': True,
          'xtick.minor.pad': 3.4,
          'xtick.minor.size': 2.0,
          'xtick.minor.top': True,
          'xtick.minor.visible': False,
          'xtick.minor.width': 0.6,
          'xtick.top': False,
          'yaxis.labellocation': 'center',
          'ytick.alignment': 'center_baseline',
          'ytick.color': 'black',
          'ytick.direction': 'out',
          'ytick.labelleft': True,
          'ytick.labelright': False,
          'ytick.labelsize': 'medium',
          'ytick.left': True,
          'ytick.major.left': True,
          'ytick.major.pad': 3.5,
          'ytick.major.right': True,
          'ytick.major.size': 3.5,
          'ytick.major.width': 0.8,
          'ytick.minor.left': True,
          'ytick.minor.pad': 3.4,
          'ytick.minor.right': True,
          'ytick.minor.size': 2.0,
          'ytick.minor.visible': False,
          'ytick.minor.width': 0.6,
          'ytick.right': False})

You can change the defaults used for your plots by modifying this dictionary. These commands will increase our font size and change us from using a sans-serif font to using a serif font.

mpl.rcParams["font.family"] = "serif"
mpl.rcParams['font.size'] = 14
mpl.rcParams['legend.fontsize'] = 'large'
fig, ax = plt.subplots(1, 3)

ax[0].plot("r","1s", data=s_orbitals)
ax[1].plot("r","2s", data=s_orbitals)
ax[2].plot("r","3s", data=s_orbitals)

for axis in ax:
    axis.set_xlabel("r")
    axis.set_ylabel(r"$\psi$")
    axis.legend()
    axis.set_xlim(0, 14)
    axis.set_ylim(-0.05, 0.5)


fig.tight_layout()