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I am forwarding a message from Nathaniel Smith which is the start of a 
long thread on matplotlib-devel
http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.python.matplotlib.devel
related to changes that are in the works for matplotlib, and that are 
therefore of interest to matplotlib users. Specifically, we will be 
updating the default color cycle for line plots, and the default 
colormap for image-type plots, including contourf and pcolormesh. The 
most important part of Nathaniel's message is the link:
 https://bids.github.io/colormap/
which has been updated since his first message below.
Note that we are looking for a new *default* colormap--the one that will 
be used if you have not specified an alternative in your matplotlibrc 
file, your function keyword arguments, or anywhere else. It does not in 
any way limit your ability to specify a colormap that you prefer for a 
particular application, or as your own default. Rather, it should be a 
good all-around choice, that works reasonably well in a variety of 
applications, and that most people will find *comfortable* as well as 
functional. It will become part of matplotlib's "look"; it should 
attract rather than repel prospective and new users. We have some 
consensus about some of the other criteria, and these are coded into the 
tool that Nathaniel and Stéfan have developed for generating colormaps. 
 So far, 4 alternatives generated with this tool have been proposed at 
the link above; more might be added.
Eric
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: [matplotlib-devel] RFC: candidates for a new default colormap
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2015 18:46:21 -0700
From: Nathaniel Smith <nj...@po...>
To: mat...@li... 
<mat...@li...>
Hi all,
As was hinted at in a previous thread, Stéfan van der Walt and I have
been using some Fancy Color Technology to attempt to design a new
colormap intended to become matplotlib's new default. (Down with jet!)
Unfortunately, while our Fancy Color Technology includes a
computational model of perceptual distance, it does not include a
computational model of aesthetics. So this is where you come in.
We've put up three reasonable candidates at:
 https://bids.github.io/colormap/
(along with some well-known colormaps for comparison), and we'd like
your feedback.
They are all optimal on all of the objective criteria we know how to
measure. What we need judgements on is which one you like best, both
aesthetically and as a way of visualizing data. (There are some sample
plots to look at there, plus you can download them and play with them
on your own data if you want.)
We especially value input from anyone with anomalous color vision.
There are some simulations there, but computational models are
inherently limited here. (It's difficult to ask someone with
colorblindness "does this look to you, the same way this other picture
looks to me?")
-n
-- 
Nathaniel J. Smith -- http://vorpus.org
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