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:

Try it Yourself »

Example

Use a dashed line:


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

Result:

Try it Yourself »


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:

Try it Yourself »

Line Styles

You can choose any of these styles:

Style Or
'solid' (default) '-' Try it »
'dotted' ':' Try it »
'dashed' '--' Try it »
'dashdot' '-.' Try it »
'None' '' or ' ' Try it »

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:

Try it Yourself »

You can also use Hexadecimal color values:

Example

Plot with a beautiful green line:

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

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Or any of the 140 supported color names.

Example

Plot with the color named "hotpink":

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

Result:

Try it Yourself »

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:

Try it Yourself »

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:

Try it Yourself »

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:

Try it Yourself »

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