Matplotlib Plotting Lines
If we customize the style of the lines, including the type, color, and size, during the plotting process.
Line Types
The line type can be defined using the linestyle parameter, abbreviated as ls.
| Type | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 'solid' (default) | '-' | Solid line |
| 'dotted' | ':' | Dotted line |
| 'dashed' | '--' | Dashed line |
| 'dashdot' | '-.' | Dash-dotted line |
| 'None' | '' or ' ' | No line |
Example
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([6, 2, 13, 10])
plt.plot(ypoints, linestyle = 'dotted')
plt.show()
The result is shown below:
Using abbreviation:
Example
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([6, 2, 13, 10])
plt.plot(ypoints, ls = '-.')
plt.show()
The result is shown below:
Line Color
The line color can be defined using the color parameter, abbreviated as c.
Color types:
| Color Marker | Description |
|---|---|
| 'r' | Red |
| 'g' | Green |
| 'b' | Blue |
| 'c' | Cyan |
| 'm' | Magenta |
| 'y' | Yellow |
| 'k' | Black |
| 'w' | White |
Custom colors can also be used, such as SeaGreen, #8FBC8F, etc. For a complete list of styles, refer to HTML Color Values.
Example
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([6, 2, 13, 10])
plt.plot(ypoints, color = 'r')
plt.show()
The result is shown below:
Example
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([6, 2, 13, 10])
plt.plot(ypoints, c = '#8FBC8F')
plt.show()
The result is shown below:
Example
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([6, 2, 13, 10])
plt.plot(ypoints, c = 'SeaGreen')
plt.show()
The result is shown below:
Line Width
The line width can be defined using the linewidth parameter, abbreviated as lw, and the value can be a float, such as 1, 2.0, 5.67, etc.
Example
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([6, 2, 13, 10])
plt.plot(ypoints, linewidth = '12.5')
plt.show()
The result is shown below:
Multiple Lines
The plot() method can include multiple pairs of x,y values to draw multiple lines.
Example
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
y1 = np.array([3, 7, 5, 9])
y2 = np.array([6, 2, 13, 10])
plt.plot(y1)
plt.plot(y2)
plt.show()
From the above figure, it can be seen that the default values for x are set to [0, 1, 2, 3].
The result is shown below:
We can also set the x-coordinates ourselves:
Example
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
x1 = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y1 = np.array([3, 7, 5, 9])
x2 = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])
y2 = np.array([6, 2, 13, 10])
plt.plot(x1, y1, x2, y2)
plt.show()
The result is shown below: