I am a college student and I want to be able to use matplotlib to plot publishing quality graphs and embed them into my pdf documents (all composed with latex) for college. This would give my documents a more professional look. I do not know the first thing about Python language. And I am only able to create a very simple pie graph by using and editing a script file from mpl's website. But things are not going well and I do not want to use any other programs such as GNUplot or other such open source programs which run on my linux machine and I am not purchasing any anything developed by Micro$oft. I have come to a road block and need guidance regarding what materials (e.g. books) I should purchase to help teach myself python/mathplolib or how I should move forward to become proficient use mpl? I know little or nothing now so any newbie advice is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Hi Corbin, it is pretty much impossible that you will get a reply here that helps you to become a professional Python programmer from scratch without asking a specific question :) Please try to read some introductory courses and create your first sample plots, and then ask. I am sure you will get answers then. Best of luck -- and be assured that Python/Scipy/Numpy/Matplotlib is indeed a perfect toolbox for astonishing, professional and versatile data processing and plotting. I am using it for everything, from simple calculations to severe data reduction and scientific plotting. Daniel > I am a college student and I want to be able to use matplotlib to plot > publishing quality graphs > and embed them into my pdf documents (all composed with latex) for > college. This would give my documents a more professional look. > > I do not know the first thing about Python language. And I am only able > to create a very simple pie graph by using and editing a script file > from mpl's website. > > But things are not going well and I do not want to use any other > programs such as GNUplot or other such open source programs which run on > my linux machine and I am not purchasing any anything developed by > Micro$oft. > > I have come to a road block and need guidance regarding what materials > (e.g. books) I should purchase to help teach myself python/mathplolib or > how I should move forward to become proficient use mpl? > > I know little or nothing now so any newbie advice is much appreciated. > > Thanks in advance. > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > vRanger cuts backup time in half-while increasing security. > With the market-leading solution for virtual backup and recovery, > you get blazing-fast, flexible, and affordable data protection. > Download your free trial now. > http://p.sf.net/sfu/quest-d2dcopy1 > _______________________________________________ > Matplotlib-users mailing list > Mat...@li... > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-users
Hi Corbin, On Mon, May 30, 2011 at 10:09 AM, Corbin Fletcher <cef...@gm...> wrote: > I am a college student and I want to be able to use matplotlib to plot > publishing quality graphs > and embed them into my pdf documents (all composed with latex) for > college. This would give my documents a more professional look. > > I do not know the first thing about Python language. And I am only able > to create a very simple pie graph by using and editing a script file > from mpl's website. > > But things are not going well and I do not want to use any other > programs such as GNUplot or other such open source programs which run on > my linux machine and I am not purchasing any anything developed by > Micro$oft. > > I have come to a road block and need guidance regarding what materials > (e.g. books) I should purchase to help teach myself python/mathplolib or > how I should move forward to become proficient use mpl? > > I know little or nothing now so any newbie advice is much appreciated. I used matplotlib to generate publication-quality images for academic literature and my dissertation. To get started, I recommend reading "Learning Python" by Mark Lutz, which is a gentle intro to the language. Then I would move on to either skimming through the matplotlib documentation at http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/users/index.html , or looking through some of the examples at http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/examples/index.html . The mathtext support is pretty good, now that matplotlib implements the mathtext layout algorithms, but if you are an advanced latexer, you may want to look at the tex demo and usetex demos at the above examples website. Darren
I do not know the first thing about Python language.....But things are not > going well That's not a "but" but an "of course". How could they possibly go well already? It takes time to learn something. You will get there, bit by bit. > and I do not want to use any other > programs such as GNUplot or other such open source programs which run on > my linux machine and I am not purchasing any anything developed by > Micro$oft. > I'm curious. Why not? > I have come to a road block and need guidance regarding what materials > (e.g. books) I should purchase to help teach myself python/mathplolib or > how I should move forward to become proficient use mpl? > For Python, there are tons of online tutorials such as Alan Gauld's as well as any number of books (Google for recommendations or search the Python Google Group for very many iterations of asking for recommendations). For specific questions, the Python tutor list is great, and now Stack Overflow is also very good. For specific Matplotlib questions beyond the tutorial or examples, either SO or this list is excellent. There is now a matplotlib book by Sandro Tosi, too. > I know little or nothing now so any newbie advice is much appreciated. > I recommend that you write down a set of goals for what you want to accomplish, and then tackle them one by one.