I want to plot a graph with one logarithmic axis using matplotlib.
I've been reading the docs, but can't figure out the syntax. I know that it's probably something simple like 'scale=linear' in the plot arguments, but I can't seem to get it right
Sample program:
from pylab import *
import matplotlib.pyplot as pyplot
a = [ pow(10,i) for i in range(10) ]
fig = pyplot.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(2,1,1)
line, = ax.plot(a, color='blue', lw=2)
show()
You simply need to use semilogy instead of plot:
from pylab import *
import matplotlib.pyplot as pyplot
a = [ pow(10,i) for i in range(10) ]
fig = pyplot.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(2,1,1)
line, = ax.semilogy(a, color='blue', lw=2)
show()
You can use the Axes.set_yscale method. That allows you to change the scale after the Axes object is created. That would also allow you to build a control to let the user pick the scale if you needed to.
The relevant line to add is:
ax.set_yscale('log')
You can use 'linear' to switch back to a linear scale. Here's what your code would look like:
from pylab import *
import matplotlib.pyplot as pyplot
a = [ pow(10,i) for i in range(10) ]
fig = pyplot.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(2,1,1)
line, = ax.plot(a, color='blue', lw=2)
ax.set_yscale('log')
show()
First of all, it's not very tidy to mix pylab and pyplot code. What's more, pyplot style is preferred over using pylab.
Here is a slightly cleaned up code, using only pyplot functions:
from matplotlib import pyplot
a = [ pow(10,i) for i in range(10) ]
pyplot.subplot(2,1,1)
pyplot.plot(a, color='blue', lw=2)
pyplot.yscale('log')
pyplot.show()
The relevant function is pyplot.yscale(). If you use the object-oriented version, replace it by the method Axes.set_yscale(). Remember that you can also change the scale of X axis, using pyplot.xscale() (or Axes.set_xscale()).
Check my question What is the difference between ‘log’ and ‘symlog’? to see a few examples of the graph scales that matplotlib offers.