How can I create student-style charts using matplotlib?

Question

I am experimenting with matplotlib at the moment. Some time ago, I used Excel VBA code to create images such as an attachment.

You will notice that it is not presented in a scientific / research style, but rather, as if it were prepared by a schoolgirl on graphic paper - with three different grid styles.

Is there a pretty simple way to achieve this kind of thing with matplotlib?

Answer 1

Yes, you can use spikes for this.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt from matplotlib.ticker import MultipleLocator, FormatStrFormatter import numpy as np fig = plt.figure(1) ax = fig.add_subplot(111) # set up axis ax.spines['left'].set_position('zero') ax.spines['right'].set_color('none') ax.spines['bottom'].set_position('zero') ax.spines['top'].set_color('none') ax.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom') ax.yaxis.set_ticks_position('left') # draw curve x = np.arange(-2.5,2.5,0.01) line, = ax.plot(x, x**2) #set bounds ax.set_ybound(-1,7) # create grid #ax.xaxis.set_major_locator(MultipleLocator(1)) #ax.xaxis.set_minor_locator(MultipleLocator(0.2)) #ax.yaxis.set_major_locator(MultipleLocator(1)) #ax.yaxis.set_minor_locator(MultipleLocator(0.2)) #ax.xaxis.grid(True,'minor') #ax.yaxis.grid(True,'minor') #ax.xaxis.grid(True,'major',linewidth=2) #ax.yaxis.grid(True,'major',linewidth=2) #adjust grid on the 2s #for idx,loc in enumerate(ax.xaxis.get_majorticklocs()): #if loc !=0 and loc % 2 == 0: ax.get_xgridlines()[idx].set_c('r') #for idx,loc in enumerate(ax.yaxis.get_majorticklocs()): #if loc !=0 and loc % 2 == 0: ax.get_ygridlines()[idx].set_c('r') ## THIS IS THE EDIT ax.xaxis.set_minor_locator(MultipleLocator(0.2)) ax.yaxis.set_minor_locator(MultipleLocator(0.2)) ax.xaxis.grid(True,'minor',linewidth=2) ax.yaxis.grid(True,'minor',linewidth=2) minor_grid_lines = [tick.gridline for tick in ax.xaxis.get_minor_ticks()] for idx,loc in enumerate(ax.xaxis.get_minorticklocs()): if loc % 2.0 == 0: minor_grid_lines[idx].set_c('r' ) elif loc % 1.0 == 0: minor_grid_lines[idx].set_c('g' ) else: minor_grid_lines[idx].set_c( 'b' ) plt.show() 

Answer 2

Another thought - I also tried to do all this using small grid lines (among other things, it will help my understanding), but this is not listing properly, no doubt due to get_minorticklocs and ax.get_xgridlines. Sorry and thanks in advance ...

Jeddes

 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt from matplotlib.ticker import MultipleLocator, FormatStrFormatter import numpy as np fig = plt.figure(1) ax = fig.add_subplot(111) # set up axis ax.spines['left'].set_position('zero') ax.spines['right'].set_color('none') ax.spines['bottom'].set_position('zero') ax.spines['top'].set_color('none') ax.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom') ax.yaxis.set_ticks_position('left') # draw curve x = np.arange(-2.5,2.5,0.01) line, = ax.plot(x, x**2) #set bounds ax.set_ybound(-1,7) # create grid ax.xaxis.set_minor_locator(MultipleLocator(0.2)) ax.yaxis.set_minor_locator(MultipleLocator(0.2)) ax.xaxis.grid(True,'minor',linewidth=2) ax.yaxis.grid(True,'minor',linewidth=2) #adjust grid on the 2s for idx,loc in enumerate(ax.xaxis.get_minorticklocs()): if loc % 2 == 0: ax.get_xgridlines()[idx].set_color('r') if loc % 1 == 0: ax.get_xgridlines()[idx].set_color('g') if loc % 0.2 == 0: ax.get_xgridlines()[idx].set_color('b') for idx,loc in enumerate(ax.yaxis.get_majorticklocs()): if loc % 2 == 0: ax.get_ygridlines()[idx].set_c('b') plt.savefig('spines3.png',dpi=300) 

Answer 3

This is a modified version of the accepted answer above. Maybe someone will find this useful

 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt from matplotlib.ticker import MultipleLocator, FormatStrFormatter import numpy as np from matplotlib.ticker import FormatStrFormatter _fontsize_legend = 10 _fontsize = 15 DP = 2 fig = plt.figure(figsize=(12, 12), dpi=100, facecolor='w', edgecolor='k') ##fig = plt.figure() fig.canvas.draw() ax = plt.gca() # set up axis ax.spines['left'].set_position('zero') ax.spines['right'].set_color('none') ax.spines['bottom'].set_position('zero') ax.spines['top'].set_color('none') ax.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom') ax.yaxis.set_ticks_position('left') # draw curve x = np.arange(-2.5,2.5,0.01) line, = ax.plot(x, x**2) #set bounds ax.set_ybound(-1,7) ## THIS IS THE EDIT ax.xaxis.set_major_locator(MultipleLocator(1/4)) ax.yaxis.set_major_locator(MultipleLocator(1/4)) ax.xaxis.grid(True,'major',linewidth=2/DP,linestyle='-',color='#d7d7d7',zorder=0) ax.yaxis.grid(True,'major',linewidth=2/DP,linestyle='-',color='#d7d7d7') ax.xaxis.set_minor_locator(MultipleLocator( (1/4) / 5 )) ax.yaxis.set_minor_locator(MultipleLocator( (1/4) / 5 )) ax.xaxis.grid(True,'minor',linewidth=0.5/DP,linestyle='-',color='#d7d7d7') ax.yaxis.grid(True,'minor',linewidth=0.5/DP,linestyle='-',color='#d7d7d7') ax.set_axisbelow(True) ax.set_aspect('equal') ##ax.axhline(linewidth=0) ##ax.axvline(linewidth=0) ax.xaxis.set_major_formatter(FormatStrFormatter('%i')) xticks = ax.xaxis.get_major_ticks() for i,l in enumerate(xticks): if not (i - 1) % 4 == 0: xticks[i].label1.set_visible(False) else: xticks[i].label1.set_fontsize(_fontsize) ax.yaxis.set_major_formatter(FormatStrFormatter('%i')) yticks = ax.yaxis.get_major_ticks() for i,l in enumerate(yticks): if not (i - 1) % 4 == 0: yticks[i].label1.set_visible(False) else: yticks[i].label1.set_fontsize(_fontsize) figManager = plt.get_current_fig_manager() figManager.window.showMaximized() plt.show() 

Here is what this sample looks like [picture]