matplotlib line

Linestyle

You can use the keyword argument linestyle, or shorter ls, to

change the style of the plotted line:

Example

Use a dotted line:



import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np



ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])



plt.plot(ypoints, linestyle = 'dotted')

plt.show()



Result:







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Example

Use a dotted line:

Result:

Example

Use a dashed line:





plt.plot(ypoints, linestyle = 'dashed')





Result:







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Example

Use a dashed line:

Result:

Shorter Syntax

The line style can be written in a shorter syntax:

linestyle can be written as ls.

dotted can be written as :.

dashed can be written as --.

Example

Shorter syntax:



plt.plot(ypoints, ls = ':')



Result:







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Example

Shorter syntax:

Result:

Line Styles

You can choose any of these styles:

Line Color

You can use the keyword argument color or

the shorter c to set the color of the line:

Example

Set the line color to red:



import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np



ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])



plt.plot(ypoints, color = 'r')

plt.show()



Result:







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Example

Set the line color to red:

Result:

You can also use Hexadecimal color values:

Example

Plot with a beautiful green line:



...



plt.plot(ypoints, c = '#4CAF50')

...



Result:







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Example

Plot with a beautiful green line:

Result:

Or any of the 140 supported color names.

Example

Plot with the color named "hotpink":



...



plt.plot(ypoints, c = 'hotpink')

...



Result:







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Example

Plot with the color named "hotpink":

Result:

Line Width

You can use the keyword argument linewidth or

the shorter lw to change the width of the line.

The value is a floating number, in points:

Example

Plot with a 20.5pt wide line:



import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np



ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])



plt.plot(ypoints, linewidth = '20.5')

plt.show()



Result:







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Example

Plot with a 20.5pt wide line:

Result:

Multiple Lines

You can plot as many lines as you like by simply adding more plt.plot() functions:

Example

Draw two lines by specifying a plt.plot() function for each line:



import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np



y1 = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

y2 = np.array([6, 2, 7, 11])



plt.plot(y1)

plt.plot(y2)



plt.show()



Result:







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Example

Draw two lines by specifying a plt.plot() function for each line:

Result:

You can also plot many lines by adding the points for the x- and y-axis for each line in the same plt.plot() function.

(In the examples above we only specified the points on the y-axis, meaning that the points on the x-axis got the the default values (0, 1, 2, 3).)

The x- and y- values come in pairs:

Example

Draw two lines by specifiyng the x- and y-point values for both lines:



import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np



x1 = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])

y1 = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])



x2 = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3])

y2 = np.array([6, 2, 7, 11])



plt.plot(x1, y1, x2, y2)

plt.show()



Result:







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Example

Draw two lines by specifiyng the x- and y-point values for both lines:

Result: