matplotlib-users Mailing List for matplotlib

Hi Steven,
First let me say, your question is great. It is humble and great too.
Then, I would say, just do it. Sorry for the cliché, but
programming is a lot of trial and error. If you don't do, you will not make
errors, and you will not learn.
But lucky for you, you live in the age of Internet. So, you have this
list, physics forums, and places like stackoverflow.
Asking the list is not a bad idea. Search isn't also. A lot of times, I started
writing code, and then realized I don't know even how to formulate the
question.
So, I just googled and browsed stackoverflow, until I found a way to
ask the question.
Many times, I realized I already know most of the answer and just
needed a little help.
This help came from the list or from people in stackoverflow (which by
the way rewards
for asking good questions too! you'd get a lot of upvoted for that).
If you are newbie - and also if you aren't - and you still don't know
IPython - use
IPython!
It makes the learning curve of Python way smoother. It gives you
documentation in very very
handy way, and pressing TAB [1] shows you what every object can do (in
other words, OO
terminology, which methods the object has).
And finally, be patient. Any significant learning you do, takes time.
Don't expect to do fancy graphs
right away. Man, I had plotted about 120 alone in my master thesis.
Luckily, I already trained during
my courses before, although the assignments were supposed to be done
in Matlab (yuck!), I insisted doing
everything in Python two. And you know what? 2 years later when I look
at my codes written back
then, I think "eww... I could that better, and this too!". It will
happen to you too.
You will start awkward, not sure, with many ugly hacks. And then
suddenly, after 1-2 years, you will
realize you speak Python, and you know how to read the very good
documentation of matplotlib.
It will happen to you too.
I am also adding a link to a nice blog I follow about numpy and matplotlib:
http://glowingpython.blogspot.com
Good luck, and enjoy the journey.
Oz
[1] this feature is also available also in a normal Python session
under certain conditions ...

Thanks. It should be restored momentarily when github fetches the new 
revision of the docs.
Mike
On 01/15/2013 11:52 AM, Alejandro Weinstein wrote:
> Hi:
>
> I just want to report that in the screenshots section of the website
> (http://matplotlib.org/users/screenshots.html), in the Basemap demo
> (http://matplotlib.org/users/screenshots.html#basemap-demo) section,
> instead of the plot there is a message saying "Sorry, could not import
> Basemap".
>
> Alejandro.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Hi Steven,
I first look at what types of plots and axes are available out-of-the-box. The gallery and examples sections of the matplotlib webpage are good places to get ideas about what is possible when programming in this mode. 
If there isn't an existing axis type which works, I take one of two approaches. If it is a type of plot which I will be making many times, I try to make my own type of axis / projection: see http://matplotlib.org/examples/axes_grid/demo_floating_axes.html for an example of what I mean.
If I'm simply trying to reproduce a graphic only once, I will generally fudge it by drawing a bunch of Collections (usually a PolyCollection or LineCollection, http://matplotlib.org/api/collections_api.html) on a normal cartesian axis, and then hide the axes, ticks and ticklabels.
This approach works for me, though your mileage may vary.
Cheers.
Oliver
On Jan 15, 2013, at 11:52 AM, Steven Boada wrote:
> Heyya list.
> 
> I must admit that my matplotlib-foo is only so so. One of the biggest 
> problems that I face is seeing cool stuff around the net, and thinking, 
> "that's pretty neat, I'd like to copy it." In reality, I have no idea 
> how I would go about creating something like that.
> 
> Here's an example: http://imgur.com/JdkR4
> 
> Just a little circular histogram thing with some annotations. Obviously, 
> I'd need the annotate command for the words, but what about the arcs? No 
> idea, off hand. So my question is, how do you decode (read: what to 
> think about) figures that you see, and turn them into actual python? 
> Sure I could post on stack exchange or email all you people every time, 
> but I want to be *better* at this. And while some people are going to 
> scoff and reply "that's easy, silly" it's not so for some. I just hate 
> to admit it's me.
> 
> Thanks for the advice.
> 
> -- 
> 
> Steven Boada
> 
> Doctoral Student
> Dept of Physics and Astronomy
> Texas A&M University
> bo...@ph...
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Master SQL Server Development, Administration, T-SQL, SSAS, SSIS, SSRS
> and more. Get SQL Server skills now (including 2012) with LearnDevNow -
> 200+ hours of step-by-step video tutorials by Microsoft MVPs and experts.
> SALE 99ドル.99 this month only - learn more at:
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/learnmore_122512
> _______________________________________________
> Matplotlib-users mailing list
> Mat...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-users

On Jan 15, 2013, at 20:52 , Steven Boada wrote:
>
> > Heyya list.
> >
> > I must admit that my matplotlib-foo is only so so. One of the biggest
> > problems that I face is seeing cool stuff around the net, and thinking,
> > "that's pretty neat, I'd like to copy it." In reality, I have no idea
> > how I would go about creating something like that.
> >
> > Here's an example: http://imgur.com/JdkR4
> >
> > Just a little circular histogram thing with some annotations. Obviously,
> > I'd need the annotate command for the words, but what about the arcs? No
> > idea, off hand. So my question is, how do you decode (read: what to
> > think about) figures that you see, and turn them into actual python?
> > Sure I could post on stack exchange or email all you people every time,
> > but I want to be *better* at this. And while some people are going to
> > scoff and reply "that's easy, silly" it's not so for some. I just hate
> > to admit it's me.
> >
> > Thanks for the advice.
>
On Tue, Jan 15, 2013 at 12:09 PM, Nicolas Rougier <Nic...@in...>
 wrote:
>
>
> I do exactly that from time to time (copying a graphic) and I always start
> looking at the matplotlib gallery (http://matplotlib.org/gallery.html)
> for what is the most similar figure and starts from here (after removing
> what is not necessary). Most important is identifying the kind of axis
> necessary (cartesian, log, polar, ...)
>
> Some examples at: http://www.loria.fr/~rougier/coding/gallery/
>
> Some really nice graphics (but difficult) to try to copy at:
>
> http://www.improving-visualisation.org/visuals
Agreed. In this particular case, you want a bar plot on a polar axis like
this:
http://matplotlib.org/examples/pylab_examples/polar_bar.html
Pay extra attention to the `bottom` and `width` keyword arguments.
-paul

Do you happen to have a really good programmer nearby? I usually do a ton
of dumb trial and error for a week, banging my head against the wall, until
my super good programmer colleague comes over and goes "goddammit what are
you trying to do?", then in like 2 minutes he shows me where I went wrong.
But I find that I learn the most after a lot of dumb trial and error, then
someone who knows what they are doing shows me.
On Tue, Jan 15, 2013 at 2:09 PM, Nicolas Rougier
<Nic...@in...>wrote:
>
>
> I do exactly that from time to time (copying a graphic) and I always start
> looking at the matplotlib gallery (http://matplotlib.org/gallery.html)
> for what is the most similar figure and starts from here (after removing
> what is not necessary). Most important is identifying the kind of axis
> necessary (cartesian, log, polar, ...)
>
> Some examples at: http://www.loria.fr/~rougier/coding/gallery/
>
> Some really nice graphics (but difficult) to try to copy at:
>
> http://www.improving-visualisation.org/visuals
>
>
>
> Nicolas
>
>
> On Jan 15, 2013, at 20:52 , Steven Boada wrote:
>
> > Heyya list.
> >
> > I must admit that my matplotlib-foo is only so so. One of the biggest
> > problems that I face is seeing cool stuff around the net, and thinking,
> > "that's pretty neat, I'd like to copy it." In reality, I have no idea
> > how I would go about creating something like that.
> >
> > Here's an example: http://imgur.com/JdkR4
> >
> > Just a little circular histogram thing with some annotations. Obviously,
> > I'd need the annotate command for the words, but what about the arcs? No
> > idea, off hand. So my question is, how do you decode (read: what to
> > think about) figures that you see, and turn them into actual python?
> > Sure I could post on stack exchange or email all you people every time,
> > but I want to be *better* at this. And while some people are going to
> > scoff and reply "that's easy, silly" it's not so for some. I just hate
> > to admit it's me.
> >
> > Thanks for the advice.
> >
> > --
> >
> > Steven Boada
> >
> > Doctoral Student
> > Dept of Physics and Astronomy
> > Texas A&M University
> > bo...@ph...
> >
> >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Master SQL Server Development, Administration, T-SQL, SSAS, SSIS, SSRS
> > and more. Get SQL Server skills now (including 2012) with LearnDevNow -
> > 200+ hours of step-by-step video tutorials by Microsoft MVPs and experts.
> > SALE 99ドル.99 this month only - learn more at:
> > http://p.sf.net/sfu/learnmore_122512
> > _______________________________________________
> > Matplotlib-users mailing list
> > Mat...@li...
> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-users
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Master SQL Server Development, Administration, T-SQL, SSAS, SSIS, SSRS
> and more. Get SQL Server skills now (including 2012) with LearnDevNow -
> 200+ hours of step-by-step video tutorials by Microsoft MVPs and experts.
> SALE 99ドル.99 this month only - learn more at:
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/learnmore_122512
> _______________________________________________
> Matplotlib-users mailing list
> Mat...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-users
>

I do exactly that from time to time (copying a graphic) and I always start looking at the matplotlib gallery (http://matplotlib.org/gallery.html) for what is the most similar figure and starts from here (after removing what is not necessary). Most important is identifying the kind of axis necessary (cartesian, log, polar, ...)
Some examples at: http://www.loria.fr/~rougier/coding/gallery/
Some really nice graphics (but difficult) to try to copy at:
http://www.improving-visualisation.org/visuals
Nicolas
On Jan 15, 2013, at 20:52 , Steven Boada wrote:
> Heyya list.
> 
> I must admit that my matplotlib-foo is only so so. One of the biggest 
> problems that I face is seeing cool stuff around the net, and thinking, 
> "that's pretty neat, I'd like to copy it." In reality, I have no idea 
> how I would go about creating something like that.
> 
> Here's an example: http://imgur.com/JdkR4
> 
> Just a little circular histogram thing with some annotations. Obviously, 
> I'd need the annotate command for the words, but what about the arcs? No 
> idea, off hand. So my question is, how do you decode (read: what to 
> think about) figures that you see, and turn them into actual python? 
> Sure I could post on stack exchange or email all you people every time, 
> but I want to be *better* at this. And while some people are going to 
> scoff and reply "that's easy, silly" it's not so for some. I just hate 
> to admit it's me.
> 
> Thanks for the advice.
> 
> -- 
> 
> Steven Boada
> 
> Doctoral Student
> Dept of Physics and Astronomy
> Texas A&M University
> bo...@ph...
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Master SQL Server Development, Administration, T-SQL, SSAS, SSIS, SSRS
> and more. Get SQL Server skills now (including 2012) with LearnDevNow -
> 200+ hours of step-by-step video tutorials by Microsoft MVPs and experts.
> SALE 99ドル.99 this month only - learn more at:
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/learnmore_122512
> _______________________________________________
> Matplotlib-users mailing list
> Mat...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-users

Heyya list.
I must admit that my matplotlib-foo is only so so. One of the biggest 
problems that I face is seeing cool stuff around the net, and thinking, 
"that's pretty neat, I'd like to copy it." In reality, I have no idea 
how I would go about creating something like that.
Here's an example: http://imgur.com/JdkR4
Just a little circular histogram thing with some annotations. Obviously, 
I'd need the annotate command for the words, but what about the arcs? No 
idea, off hand. So my question is, how do you decode (read: what to 
think about) figures that you see, and turn them into actual python? 
Sure I could post on stack exchange or email all you people every time, 
but I want to be *better* at this. And while some people are going to 
scoff and reply "that's easy, silly" it's not so for some. I just hate 
to admit it's me.
Thanks for the advice.
-- 
Steven Boada
Doctoral Student
Dept of Physics and Astronomy
Texas A&M University
bo...@ph...

Hi:
I just want to report that in the screenshots section of the website
(http://matplotlib.org/users/screenshots.html), in the Basemap demo
(http://matplotlib.org/users/screenshots.html#basemap-demo) section,
instead of the plot there is a message saying "Sorry, could not import
Basemap".
Alejandro.