Styling Plots

Background Colors

Background color for the entire figure or just the data area may be individually controlled. When using dark figure backgrounds it may be necessary to configure axes to use light colors

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

// setup a plot with sample data
myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Sin(51));
myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Cos(51));
myPlot.XLabel("Horizontal Axis");
myPlot.YLabel("Vertical Axis");

// some items must be styled directly
myPlot.FigureBackground.Color = Colors.Navy;
myPlot.DataBackground.Color = Colors.Navy.Darken(0.1);
myPlot.Grid.MajorLineColor = Colors.Navy.Lighten(0.1);

// some items have helper methods to configure multiple properties at once
myPlot.Axes.Color(Colors.Navy.Lighten(0.8));

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Axis Customization

Axis labels, tick marks, and frame can all be customized.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Sin(51));
myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Cos(51));

myPlot.Axes.Title.Label.Text = "Plot Title";
myPlot.Axes.Title.Label.ForeColor = Colors.RebeccaPurple;
myPlot.Axes.Title.Label.FontSize = 32;
myPlot.Axes.Title.Label.FontName = Fonts.Serif;
myPlot.Axes.Title.Label.Rotation = -5;
myPlot.Axes.Title.Label.Bold = false;

myPlot.Axes.Left.Label.Text = "Vertical Axis";
myPlot.Axes.Left.Label.ForeColor = Colors.Magenta;
myPlot.Axes.Left.Label.Italic = true;

myPlot.Axes.Bottom.Label.Text = "Horizontal Axis";
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.Label.Bold = false;
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.Label.FontName = Fonts.Monospace;

myPlot.Axes.Bottom.MajorTickStyle.Pattern = LinePattern.Dotted;
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.MajorTickStyle.Length = 19;
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.MajorTickStyle.Width = 3;
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.MajorTickStyle.Color = Colors.Magenta;
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.MinorTickStyle.Length = 5;
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.MinorTickStyle.Width = 0.5f;
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.MinorTickStyle.Color = Colors.Green;
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.FrameLineStyle.Color = Colors.Blue;
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.FrameLineStyle.Width = 3;

myPlot.Axes.Right.FrameLineStyle.Width = 0;

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Palettes

A palette is a set of colors, and the Plot’s palette defines the default colors to use when adding new plottables. https://scottplot.net/cookbook/5/palettes/ displays all palettes included with ScottPlot.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

// change the default palette used when adding new plottables
myPlot.Add.Palette = new ScottPlot.Palettes.Nord();

for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
{
    double[] data = Generate.Sin(100, phase: -i / 20.0f);
    var sig = myPlot.Add.Signal(data);
    sig.LineWidth = 3;
}

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Inverted Palettes

Palettes can be inverted. Palettes that work well on light backgrounds typically work well on dark backgrounds if they are inverted.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

var palette1 = new ScottPlot.Palettes.ColorblindFriendly();
var palette2 = palette1.Inverted();
var palette3 = palette1.InvertedHue();

for (int x = 0; x < palette1.Count(); x++)
{
    CoordinateRect rect1 = CoordinateRect.UnitSquare.WithTranslation(x, 4);
    CoordinateRect rect2 = CoordinateRect.UnitSquare.WithTranslation(x, 2);
    CoordinateRect rect3 = CoordinateRect.UnitSquare.WithTranslation(x, 0);
    var shape1 = myPlot.Add.Rectangle(rect1);
    var shape2 = myPlot.Add.Rectangle(rect2);
    var shape3 = myPlot.Add.Rectangle(rect3);

    // set color using the palette
    shape1.FillColor = palette1.Colors[x];
    shape2.FillColor = palette2.Colors[x];
    shape3.FillColor = palette3.Colors[x];

    shape1.LineColor = shape1.FillColor;
    shape2.LineColor = shape2.FillColor;
    shape3.LineColor = shape3.FillColor;

}

myPlot.Add.Text("Standard", 0, 5.5);
myPlot.Add.Text("Inverted", 0, 3.5);
myPlot.Add.Text("Inverted Hue", 0, 1.5);
myPlot.HideGrid();

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Colormaps

A colormap is a continuous gradient of multiple colors. It can be used to color continuous data like heatmaps and images, but colormaps may also be sampled directly to create collections of colors. https://scottplot.net/cookbook/5/colormaps/ displays all colormaps included with ScottPlot.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

var colormap1 = new ScottPlot.Colormaps.Viridis();
var colormap2 = colormap1.Invert();
var colormap3 = colormap1.InvertHue();

int steps = 20;
for (int x = 0; x < steps; x++)
{
    CoordinateRect rect1 = CoordinateRect.UnitSquare.WithTranslation(x, 4);
    CoordinateRect rect2 = CoordinateRect.UnitSquare.WithTranslation(x, 2);
    CoordinateRect rect3 = CoordinateRect.UnitSquare.WithTranslation(x, 0);
    var shape1 = myPlot.Add.Rectangle(rect1);
    var shape2 = myPlot.Add.Rectangle(rect2);
    var shape3 = myPlot.Add.Rectangle(rect3);

    // set color using the colormap
    double fraction = (double)x / (steps - 1);
    shape1.FillColor = colormap1.GetColor(fraction);
    shape2.FillColor = colormap2.GetColor(fraction);
    shape3.FillColor = colormap3.GetColor(fraction);

    shape1.LineColor = shape1.FillColor;
    shape2.LineColor = shape2.FillColor;
    shape3.LineColor = shape3.FillColor;
}

myPlot.Add.Text("Standard", 0, 5.5);
myPlot.Add.Text("Inverted", 0, 3.5);
myPlot.Add.Text("Inverted Hue", 0, 1.5);
myPlot.HideGrid();

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Arrow Shapes

Many standard arrow shapes are available

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

ArrowShape[] arrowShapes = Enum.GetValues<ArrowShape>().ToArray();

for (int i = 0; i < arrowShapes.Length; i++)
{
    Coordinates arrowTip = new(0, -i);
    Coordinates arrowBase = arrowTip.WithDelta(1, 0);

    var arrow = myPlot.Add.Arrow(arrowBase, arrowTip);
    arrow.ArrowShape = arrowShapes[i].GetShape();

    var txt = myPlot.Add.Text(arrowShapes[i].ToString(), arrowBase.WithDelta(.1, 0));
    txt.LabelFontColor = arrow.ArrowLineColor;
    txt.LabelAlignment = Alignment.MiddleLeft;
    txt.LabelFontSize = 18;
}

myPlot.Axes.SetLimits(-1, 3, -arrowShapes.Length, 1);
myPlot.HideGrid();

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Line Styles

Many plot types have a LineStyle which can be customized.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

List<LinePattern> patterns = [];
patterns.AddRange(LinePattern.GetAllPatterns());
patterns.Add(new([2, 2, 5, 10], 0, "Custom"));

for (int i = 0; i < patterns.Count; i++)
{
    LinePattern pattern = patterns[i];

    var line = myPlot.Add.Line(0, -i, 1, -i);
    line.LinePattern = pattern;
    line.LineWidth = 2;
    line.Color = Colors.Black;

    var txt = myPlot.Add.Text(patterns[i].Name, 1.1, -i);
    txt.LabelFontSize = 18;
    txt.LabelBold = true;
    txt.LabelFontColor = Colors.Black;
    txt.LabelAlignment = Alignment.MiddleLeft;
}

myPlot.Axes.Margins(right: 1);
myPlot.HideGrid();
myPlot.Layout.Frameless();

myPlot.ShowLegend();

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Scale Factor

All components of an image can be scaled up or down in size by adjusting the ScaleFactor property. This is very useful for creating images that look nice on high DPI displays with display scaling enabled.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

myPlot.ScaleFactor = 2;
myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Sin());
myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Cos());

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Hairline Mode

Hairline mode allows axis frames, tick marks, and grid lines to always be rendered a single pixel wide regardless of scale factor. Enable hairline mode to allow interactive plots to feel smoother when a large scale factor is in use.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

myPlot.ScaleFactor = 2;
myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Sin());
myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Cos());

myPlot.Axes.Hairline(true);

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Dark Mode

Plots can be created using dark mode by setting the colors of major plot components to ones consistent with a dark theme.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

// set the color palette used when coloring new items added to the plot
myPlot.Add.Palette = new ScottPlot.Palettes.Penumbra();

// add things to the plot
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
{
    var sig = myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Sin(51, phase: -.05 * i));
    sig.LineWidth = 3;
    sig.LegendText = $"Line {i + 1}";
}
myPlot.XLabel("Horizontal Axis");
myPlot.YLabel("Vertical Axis");
myPlot.Title("ScottPlot 5 in Dark Mode");
myPlot.ShowLegend();

// change figure colors
myPlot.FigureBackground.Color = Color.FromHex("#181818");
myPlot.DataBackground.Color = Color.FromHex("#1f1f1f");

// change axis and grid colors
myPlot.Axes.Color(Color.FromHex("#d7d7d7"));
myPlot.Grid.MajorLineColor = Color.FromHex("#404040");

// change legend colors
myPlot.Legend.BackgroundColor = Color.FromHex("#404040");
myPlot.Legend.FontColor = Color.FromHex("#d7d7d7");
myPlot.Legend.OutlineColor = Color.FromHex("#d7d7d7");

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Colormap Steps

Colormaps can be used to generate a collection of discrete colors that can be applied to plottable objects.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

IColormap colormap = new ScottPlot.Colormaps.Turbo();

for (int count = 1; count < 10; count++)
{
    double[] xs = Generate.Consecutive(count);
    double[] ys = Generate.Repeating(count, count);
    Color[] colors = colormap.GetColors(count);

    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
    {
        var circle = myPlot.Add.Circle(xs[i], ys[i], 0.45);
        circle.FillColor = colors[i];
        circle.LineWidth = 0;
    }
}

myPlot.YLabel("number of colors");

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Colormap Gradient from Colors

Colormaps can be created as a gradient between a collection of colors.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

Color[] colors = [Colors.Red, Colors.Magenta, Colors.DarkGreen];
IColormap myColormap = Colormap.FromColors(colors);

double[] xs = Generate.Consecutive(51);
double[] ys = Generate.Sin(51);
var markers = myPlot.Add.Markers(xs, ys);
markers.Colormap = myColormap;

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Hand Drawn Line Style

Enabling hand-drawn line style allows creation of charts that mimic XKCD style graphs which use squiggly lines for comedic effect.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

double[] xs = Generate.Consecutive(100);
double[] values1 = Generate.Sigmoidal(xs.Length, -1, 2);

// create a hand drawn scatter plot
var sp = myPlot.Add.ScatterLine(xs, values1);
sp.LineStyle.HandDrawn = true;
sp.LineStyle.HandDrawnJitter = 2;
sp.LineWidth = 3;
sp.LineColor = Colors.Black;

// configure axis frames to appear hand drawn
myPlot.HideGrid();
myPlot.Axes.GetAxes().ToList().ForEach(x => x.FrameLineStyle.HandDrawn = true);

// use a comedic font for axis titles and tick labels
myPlot.Title("Answers");
myPlot.YLabel("Utility");
myPlot.XLabel("Time Taken to Respond");
myPlot.Axes.Title.Label.FontName = "Comic Sans MS";
myPlot.Axes.Left.Label.FontName = "Comic Sans MS";
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.Label.FontName = "Comic Sans MS";
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.TickLabelStyle.FontName = "Comic Sans MS";

// use manually placed horizontal axis ticks
myPlot.Axes.Left.TickGenerator = new ScottPlot.TickGenerators.EmptyTickGenerator();
myPlot.Axes.Bottom.SetTicks([10, 50, 75], ["Minutes", "Days", "Weeks"]);

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Hide the Title

A shortcut method exists to easily disable title visibility. This strategy can be used to un-hide the title later, preserving its original text.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

// add sample data
myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Sin());
myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Cos());

// display text in the title area
myPlot.Title("This is an example title");

// hide the title
myPlot.Title(false);

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Title Alignment

The title is centered over the data area by default, but a flag allows users to center it relative to the figure instead

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Sin(51, mult: 1e9));
myPlot.Title("This title is centered in the figure");
myPlot.Axes.Title.FullFigureCenter = true;

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Plot Border

Plots can be assigned borders to draw around the figure or data area.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Sin());
myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Cos());

myPlot.FigureBorder = new()
{
    Color = Colors.Magenta,
    Width = 3,
    Pattern = LinePattern.Dotted,
};

myPlot.DataBorder = new()
{
    Color = Colors.Green,
    Width = 3,
    Pattern = LinePattern.DenselyDashed,
};

// the hide axis frame lines so our custom border is the only one
myPlot.Axes.Frame(false);

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Set Font by Name

Set font by its name to apply it to common plot components.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

myPlot.Font.Set("Comic Sans MS");
myPlot.Title("Hello, World");
var sig = myPlot.Add.Signal(Generate.Sin(51, mult: 1e6));
sig.LegendText = "Hello, Custom Font";

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Set Font Weight

Font weight can be customized.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

myPlot.Font.Set("Calibri"); // apply to many existing plot labels
myPlot.Title("Hello, World");

FontWeight[] weights = [FontWeight.Light, FontWeight.Normal,
    FontWeight.SemiBold, FontWeight.Bold, FontWeight.ExtraBlack];

for (int i = 0; i < weights.Length; i++)
{
    FontWeight weight = weights[i];
    myPlot.Font.Set("Calibri", weight: weight); // apply to new labels
    var text = myPlot.Add.Text($"FontWeight.{weight}", 0, i);
    text.LabelFontSize = 24;
}

myPlot.Axes.SetLimits(-1, 5, -2, weights.Length);
myPlot.HideGrid();

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Set Font Slant

Font slant can be customized.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

myPlot.Font.Set("Calibri", slant: FontSlant.Italic); // apply to many existing plot labels
myPlot.Title("Hello, World");

FontSlant[] slants = [FontSlant.Upright, FontSlant.Italic, FontSlant.Oblique];

for (int i = 0; i < slants.Length; i++)
{
    FontSlant slant = slants[i];
    myPlot.Font.Set("Calibri", slant: slant); // apply to new labels
    var text = myPlot.Add.Text($"FontSlant.{slant}", 0, i);
    text.LabelFontSize = 24;
}

myPlot.Axes.SetLimits(-1, 5, -1, slants.Length);
myPlot.HideGrid();

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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Set Label Underline

Underlines may be added to label styles. Underline thickness and offset may be customized as well.

Styling.cs

ScottPlot.Plot myPlot = new();

for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
{
    var text = myPlot.Add.Text($"Underline {i}px", i / 5.0, i);
    text.LabelFontSize = 24;
    text.LabelFontColor = ScottPlot.Palette.Default.GetColor(i);
    text.LabelUnderline = true;
    text.LabelUnderlineWidth = i;
    text.LabelUnderlineOffset = 2 + i / 2;
}

myPlot.Axes.SetLimits(-1, 5, -1, 4);
myPlot.HideGrid();

myPlot.SavePng("demo.png", 400, 300);

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