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tikzfigure

2D Plots: Basics

tikzfigure provides a high-level API for creating publication-quality 2D plots using pgfplots. This tutorial covers the fundamentals:

  • Creating a 2D axis with axis2d()
  • Adding data plots
  • Axis labels, limits, and grids
  • Linear and logarithmic axes
  • Multiple plots on one axis
  • Controlling plot dimensions
from tikzfigure import TikzFigure

Your first 2D plot

Section titled “Your first 2D plot”

A 2D plot starts with creating an axis via axis2d(), then adding data with add_plot().

fig = TikzFigure()


# Create a 2D axis
ax = fig.axis2d(xlabel="$X$", ylabel="$Y$")


# Add a plot with x and y data
ax.add_plot([0, 1, 2, 3, 4], [0, 1, 4, 9, 16])


fig.show()

Show Tikz code 
print(fig)
% --------------------------------------------- %
% Tikzfigure generated by tikzfigure v0.3.1     %
% https://github.com/max-models/tikzfigure      %
% --------------------------------------------- %
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \begin{axis}[xlabel=$X$, ylabel=$Y$, grid=major]
        \addplot[] coordinates {(0,0) (1,1) (2,4) (3,9) (4,16)};
    \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

pgfplots automatically scales the axes to fit the data.

Adding labels and limits

Section titled “Adding labels and limits”

Axis labels and explicit limits make plots more readable:

fig = TikzFigure()


ax = fig.axis2d(
    xlabel="Time (seconds)",
    ylabel="Distance (meters)",
    xlim=(0, 5),
    ylim=(0, 30),
    grid=True,
)


time = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
distance = [0, 2.5, 10, 22.5, 40, 62.5]


ax.add_plot(time, distance, label="motion")


fig.show()

Show Tikz code 
print(fig)
% --------------------------------------------- %
% Tikzfigure generated by tikzfigure v0.3.1     %
% https://github.com/max-models/tikzfigure      %
% --------------------------------------------- %
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \begin{axis}[xlabel=Time (seconds), ylabel=Distance (meters), xmin=0, xmax=5, ymin=0, ymax=30, grid=major]
        \addplot[] coordinates {(0,0) (1,2.5) (2,10) (3,22.5) (4,40) (5,62.5)};
    \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

grid=True adds grid lines. xlim and ylim set explicit axis ranges.

Log-scale axes

Section titled “Log-scale axes”

Use xlog=True and ylog=True to switch either axis (or both) to logarithmic scale.

fig = TikzFigure()


# Semilog-x plot (x axis logarithmic, y axis linear)
ax = fig.axis2d(
    xlabel="Frequency (Hz)",
    ylabel="Gain",
    xlim=(1, 10000),
    ylim=(0.1, 100),
    xlog=True,
    grid=True,
)
ax.add_plot(
    [1, 10, 100, 1000, 10000],
    [0.2, 2, 5, 50, 100],
    label="semilog-x",
    color="blue",
    mark="*",
)


fig.show()

Show Tikz code 
print(fig)
% --------------------------------------------- %
% Tikzfigure generated by tikzfigure v0.3.1     %
% https://github.com/max-models/tikzfigure      %
% --------------------------------------------- %
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \begin{axis}[xlabel=Frequency (Hz), ylabel=Gain, xmin=1, xmax=10000, ymin=0.1, ymax=100, xmode=log, grid=major]
        \addplot[color=blue, mark=*] coordinates {(1,0.2) (10,2) (100,5) (1000,50) (10000,100)};
    \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

Multiple plots on one axis

Section titled “Multiple plots on one axis”

A single axis can hold multiple plots for comparisons:

fig = TikzFigure()


ax = fig.axis2d(
    xlabel="X",
    ylabel="Y",
    xlim=(0, 10),
    ylim=(0, 10),
    grid=True,
)


ax.add_plot(
    [0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10],
    [0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10],
    label="$y = x$",
)
ax.add_plot(
    [0, 1, 2, 3],
    [0, 1, 4, 9],
    label="$y = x^2$",
)


ax.set_legend(position="north west")


fig.show()

Show Tikz code 
print(fig)
% --------------------------------------------- %
% Tikzfigure generated by tikzfigure v0.3.1     %
% https://github.com/max-models/tikzfigure      %
% --------------------------------------------- %
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \begin{axis}[xlabel=X, ylabel=Y, xmin=0, xmax=10, ymin=0, ymax=10, grid=major, legend pos=north west]
        \addplot[] coordinates {(0,0) (2,2) (4,4) (6,6) (8,8) (10,10)};
        \addplot[] coordinates {(0,0) (1,1) (2,4) (3,9)};
        \legend{$y = x$, $y = x^2$}
    \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

Controlling plot dimensions

Section titled “Controlling plot dimensions”

Override the default sizing with explicit width and height:

fig = TikzFigure()


ax = fig.axis2d(
    xlabel="X",
    ylabel="Y",
    xlim=(0, 10),
    ylim=(0, 10),
    width="8cm",
    height="4cm",
    grid=True,
)


ax.add_plot(
    x=[0, 5, 10],
    y=[0, 5, 10],
    label="Linear",
    color="blue",
)


fig.show()

Show Tikz code 
print(fig)
% --------------------------------------------- %
% Tikzfigure generated by tikzfigure v0.3.1     %
% https://github.com/max-models/tikzfigure      %
% --------------------------------------------- %
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \begin{axis}[xlabel=X, ylabel=Y, xmin=0, xmax=10, ymin=0, ymax=10, grid=major, width=8cm, height=4cm]
        \addplot[color=blue] coordinates {(0,0) (5,5) (10,10)};
    \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

Dimensions can be specified as:

  • Numbers (cm): width=8, height=6
  • Strings with units: width="8cm", height="6pt"
  • None (default): pgfplots auto-sizes the axis

Multiple independent axes

Section titled “Multiple independent axes”

Call axis2d() multiple times for separate plots rendered in sequence:

fig = TikzFigure()


ax1 = fig.axis2d(
    xlabel="Hour",
    ylabel="Temperature",
    xlim=(0, 24),
    ylim=(10, 30),
    grid=True,
)
ax1.add_plot(
    [0, 6, 12, 18, 24],
    [12, 14, 28, 26, 18],
    label="Temperature",
    color="orange",
    mark="*",
)
ax1.set_legend(position="north east")


ax2 = fig.axis2d(
    xlabel="Hour",
    ylabel="Humidity (%)",
    xlim=(0, 24),
    ylim=(30, 90),
    grid=True,
)
ax2.add_plot(
    [0, 6, 12, 18, 24],
    [70, 65, 40, 35, 55],
    label="Humidity",
    color="cyan",
    mark="square",
)
ax2.set_legend(position="south east")


fig.show()

Show Tikz code 
print(fig)
% --------------------------------------------- %
% Tikzfigure generated by tikzfigure v0.3.1     %
% https://github.com/max-models/tikzfigure      %
% --------------------------------------------- %
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \begin{axis}[xlabel=Hour, ylabel=Temperature, xmin=0, xmax=24, ymin=10, ymax=30, grid=major, legend pos=north east]
        \addplot[color=orange, mark=*] coordinates {(0,12) (6,14) (12,28) (18,26) (24,18)};
        \legend{Temperature}
    \end{axis}
    \begin{axis}[xlabel=Hour, ylabel=Humidity (%), xmin=0, xmax=24, ymin=30, ymax=90, grid=major, legend pos=south east]
        \addplot[color=cyan, mark=square] coordinates {(0,70) (6,65) (12,40) (18,35) (24,55)};
        \legend{Humidity}
    \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}