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Plot configuration

Images in BornAgain examples are generated using the Python library MatPlotLib.

Default settings can be overridden by function arguments or MatPlotLib ressources.

Exceptionally, heat map supports an environment variable.

Parameterization with plotargs

In the functions

plot_datafield(result, **plotargs)
plot_heatmap(result, **plotargs)
plot_multicurve(results, **plotargs)
plot2d_to_grid(results, ncol, **plotargs)
plot2d_to_row(results, **plotargs)

the placeholder **plotargs stands for optional keyword arguments. These can be supplied in three ways:

(1) Directly like in

    bp.plot_datafield(result, cmap='viridis', intensity_min=1e-6)
    bp.plt.show()

(2) Through a dictionary variable like in

    plotargs = {}
    plotargs['intensity_min'] = 1e-12
    plotargs['intensity_max'] = 1e2
    bp.plot_datafield(result, **plotargs)
    bp.plt.show()

(3) If a script contains the lines

    plotargs = bp.parse_commandline()
    bp.plot_datafield(result, **plotargs)

then parameters can be passed from the command line, like

python3 <script> intensity_min=1e-9

Supported arguments

Supported keyword arguments include:

  • cmap: colormap, see heat map.
  • figfile: graphics output file path, see Export.
  • fontsize: font size for labels.
  • frame_aspect: plot frame width:height ratio, see Aspect ratio.
  • intensity_max: maximum intensity value for color scale.
  • intensity_min: minimum intensity value for color scale.
  • legendloc: legend location (for plot_multicurve).
  • log_range: decades to show below maximum (for plot2d_to_grid).
  • normalized_cb: normalize colorbar to 1 (for plot2d_to_grid).
  • spacing: tuple (wspace, hspace) for subplot spacing (for plot2d_to_grid).
  • title: plot title.
  • unit_aspect: aspect ratio based on axis units, see Aspect ratio.
  • with_cb: whether to show colorbar (default: True).
  • xlabel: x-axis label.
  • ylabel: y-axis label.
  • zlabel: colorbar label (default: “Intensity”).

Aspect ratio

In 2D intensity plots, pixels are always square by default. The aspect ratio of the plot is therefore determined by the number of detector bins in each direction.

To override the default aspect ratio, use one of these arguments:

  • unit_aspect: The aspect ratio is based on axis ranges only, ignoring the number of bins. With unit_aspect=1, equal axis ranges produce a square plot. This is the default for GISAS (scatter2d) examples.

    bp.plot_datafield(result, unit_aspect=1)

  • frame_aspect: Directly sets the width:height ratio of the plot frame.

    bp.plot_datafield(result, frame_aspect=1.618)

At most one of frame_aspect and unit_aspect may be specified. The colorbar height automatically matches the plot frame height.

For other optional arguments that may or may not be respected, see the MatPlotLib customizing tutorial.