How to make IPython notebook matplotlib plot inline

Question

I am trying to use IPython notebook on MacOS X with Python 2.7.2 and IPython 1.1.0.

I cannot get matplotlib graphics to show up inline.

import matplotlib
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
%matplotlib inline

I have also tried %pylab inline and the ipython command line arguments --pylab=inline but this makes no difference.

x = np.linspace(0, 3*np.pi, 500)
plt.plot(x, np.sin(x**2))
plt.title('A simple chirp')
plt.show()

Instead of inline graphics, I get this:

<matplotlib.figure.Figure at 0x110b9c450>

And matplotlib.get_backend() shows that I have the 'module://IPython.kernel.zmq.pylab.backend_inline' backend.

• joaquin: your code snippet should not produce <matplotlib.figure.Figure at 0x110b9c450> but <matplotlib.text.Text at 0x94f9320> (because your last line is printing a title). Anyway, your code (with %matplotlib inline and plt.show()) works as expected on windows
• Ian Fiske: Thanks for those suggestions, but they don't work for me. I still get the above output with no inline graphics. Do you have any troubleshooting advice?
• joaquin: no clue. Same python, same ipython (and same backend) but on windows, and it works.... I suppose plot is working for you when not inline, right ?
• Ian Fiske: without the %matplotlib inline, the kernel stays busy permanently and I get no output. It has to be killed. This is trying to use the MacOSX backend but I guess it cannot be opened for some reason. When not using ipython notebook, the MacOSX backend for matplotlib works just fine.
• Vicky T: I had an identical symptom but it turned out I had installed a 32 bit version of Canopy on OSX 10.8. Reinstalling with the 64 bit version fixed it.

Answer 1

I used %matplotlib inline in the first cell of the notebook and it works. I think you should try:

%matplotlib inline
import matplotlib
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

You can also always start all your IPython kernels in inline mode by default by setting the following config options in your config files:

c.IPKernelApp.matplotlib=<CaselessStrEnum>
 Default: None
 Choices: ['auto', 'gtk', 'gtk3', 'inline', 'nbagg', 'notebook', 'osx', 'qt', 'qt4', 'qt5', 'tk', 'wx']
 Configure matplotlib for interactive use with the default matplotlib backend.

• mpavlov: I would mark this as the right answer. The alternative --pylab inline works, but greets you with the following warning: Starting all kernels in pylab mode is not recommended, and will be disabled in a future release. Please use the %matplotlib magic to enable matplotlib instead. pylab implies many imports, which can have confusing side effects and harm the reproducibility of your notebooks.
• TSGM: @eNord9 @mightwolf: I'm learning to using iPython (and Python programming instead of Matlab); what does import matplotlib' do versus import matplotlib as [name]'? Forgive for simplistic comment
• TSGM: @eNord9 @mightwolf: and also how does this compare to `from matplotlib import mpl'.
• mpavlov: @TSGM The best explanation I've seen for your question is: effbot.org/zone/import-confusion.htm
• Ian Fiske: Thanks @eNord9. I just tested your commands since it's been a while with updates and all. Now everything works fine on Python 2.7.9 and IPython 3.1.0.

Answer 2

If your matplotlib version is above 1.4, it is also possible to use

IPython 3.x and above

%matplotlib notebook
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

older versions

%matplotlib nbagg
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

Both will activate the nbagg backend, which enables interactivity.

Example plot with the nbagg backend

• orome: This doesn't seem to work with %config InlineBackend.figure_format='retina'. Any idea how to get interactive Retina figures?
• Løiten: Hmm...I don't really have too much expertise with retina figures. The only thing I stumbled upon was this link, but it may be deprecated. If more people are wondering about the same, I link your SO question here, and wish you good luck with the answers there. Best
• Hieu: This answer is underrated. %matplotlib notebook provides the better visualization than %matplotlib inline.
• michael: using %matplotlib notebook does not work (kind of shows something, then blank) on jupyter notebook 4.1.1 / ubuntu 16.04 / chrome, %matplotlib inline does show images, but they come after the markdown text, not literally "inline".
• Czechnology: If you tried %matplotlib inline first and then switch to %matplotlib notebook, you might get empty result. Restart the kernel and run again.

Answer 3

Ctrl + Enter

%matplotlib inline

Magic Line :D

See: Plotting with Matplotlib.

• CodeFarmer: @BradleyKreider Not dead yet. Alternatively, you can visit ipython repo on github, go into 'example' folder, find ' Plotting with Matplotlib' notebook.

Answer 4

Use the %pylab inline magic command.

• Dave X: No longer: "ipython notebook --pylab inline [E 15:01:18.182 NotebookApp] Support for specifying --pylab on the command line has been removed. [E 15:01:18.182 NotebookApp] Please use %pylab inline or %matplotlib inline in the notebook itself."

Answer 5

To make matplotlib inline by default in Jupyter (IPython 3):

1. Edit file ~/.ipython/profile_default/ipython_config.py

2. Add line c.InteractiveShellApp.matplotlib = 'inline'

Please note that adding this line to ipython_notebook_config.py would not work. Otherwise it works well with Jupyter and IPython 3.1.0

• Jason S: where is this documented? (please cite source)

Answer 6

I have to agree with foobarbecue (I don't have enough recs to be able to simply insert a comment under his post):

It's now recommended that python notebook isn't started wit the argument --pylab, and according to Fernando Perez (creator of ipythonnb) %matplotlib inline should be the initial notebook command.

See here: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/github/ipython/ipython/blob/1.x/examples/notebooks/Part%203%20-%20Plotting%20with%20Matplotlib.ipynb

Answer 7

I found a workaround that is quite satisfactory. I installed Anaconda Python and this now works out of the box for me.

Answer 8

I did the anaconda install but matplotlib is not plotting

It starts plotting when i did this

import matplotlib
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
%matplotlib inline 

Answer 9

I had the same problem when I was running the plotting commands in separate cells in Jupyter:

In [1]: %matplotlib inline
 import matplotlib
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 import numpy as np
In [2]: x = np.array([1, 3, 4])
 y = np.array([1, 5, 3])
In [3]: fig = plt.figure()
 <Figure size 432x288 with 0 Axes> #this might be the problem
In [4]: ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1)
In [5]: ax.scatter(x, y)
Out[5]: <matplotlib.collections.PathCollection at 0x12341234> # CAN'T SEE ANY PLOT :(
In [6]: plt.show() # STILL CAN'T SEE IT :(

The problem was solved by merging the plotting commands into a single cell:

In [1]: %matplotlib inline
 import matplotlib
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 import numpy as np
In [2]: x = np.array([1, 3, 4])
 y = np.array([1, 5, 3])
In [3]: fig = plt.figure()
 ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1)
 ax.scatter(x, y)
Out[3]: <matplotlib.collections.PathCollection at 0x12341234>
 # AND HERE APPEARS THE PLOT AS DESIRED :)

Answer 10

You can simulate this problem with a syntax mistake, however, %matplotlib inline won't resolve the issue.

First an example of the right way to create a plot. Everything works as expected with the imports and magic that eNord9 supplied.

df_randNumbers1 = pd.DataFrame(np.random.randint(0,100,size=(100, 6)), columns=list('ABCDEF'))
df_randNumbers1.ix[:,["A","B"]].plot.kde()

However, by leaving the () off the end of the plot type you receive a somewhat ambiguous non-error.

Erronious code:

df_randNumbers1.ix[:,["A","B"]].plot.kde

Example error:

<bound method FramePlotMethods.kde of <pandas.tools.plotting.FramePlotMethods object at 0x000001DDAF029588>>

Other than this one line message, there is no stack trace or other obvious reason to think you made a syntax error. The plot doesn't print.

• Kyle Strand: This isn't a syntax error--without the () to invoke kde, iPython is telling you what kde is, namely, a bound method. So in fact from iPython's perspective, this is not an "error" at all, hence why there is no stack trace.
• Blake M: @KyleStrand Thanks. After re-reading my post what I should have said is: "I thought I had the problem of not getting my plots to show inline using the %matplotlib inline command. Really I just forgot to put () on the end of the plot type. So if everything else fails, look at your parentheses for a mistake."

Answer 11

If you're using Jupyter notebooks in Visual Studio Code (VSCode) then the inline backend doesn't seem to work so you need to specify widget/ipympl (which you may need to install support for e.g. pip install ipympl):

%matplotlib widget