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I have a problem very similar to this question. The answer works very well for plotting the voxels. However, I need to find a way to colour the voxels according to a colormap (of type 'jet') which is based on the 5x1 array called "variable". I also need to associate a logarithmic colorbar with that 3D plot.
Thanks in advance!
I found a solution myself. I will post the code here in case somebody has the same problem.
I added two changes to the problem conditions:
The voxels are rectangular prisms of custom dimensions (a,b,c) instead of simple cubes.
Instead of "variable", i defined an array called "Ivec", which has more suitable values for displaying the logarithmic colormap.
If one wants to display a linear colormap, he/she can simply uncomment the line commented as "linear scale colormap" and comment/delete the line commented as "log scale colormap"
import numpy as np
import matplotlib
import matplotlib.cm as cmx
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame({"x": [14630, 14630, 14360, 14360, 14360], "y" : [21750, 21770, 21790, 21930, 21950], "z" : [4690, 4690, 4690, 5290, 5270]})
Ivec = np.array([1, 10, 100, 1000, 10000])
def get_cube():
phi = np.arange(1,10,2)*np.pi/4
Phi, Theta = np.meshgrid(phi, phi)
x = np.cos(Phi)*np.sin(Theta)
y = np.sin(Phi)*np.sin(Theta)
z = np.cos(Theta)/np.sqrt(2)
return x,y,z
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
a = 25
b = 8
c = 14
ax.view_init(azim=0, elev=0)
cm = plt.get_cmap('jet')
#cNorm = matplotlib.colors.Normalize(vmin=min(Ivec), vmax=max(Ivec))#linear scale colormap
cNorm = matplotlib.colors.LogNorm(vmin=min(Ivec), vmax=max(Ivec)) #log scale colormap
scalarMap = cmx.ScalarMappable(norm=cNorm, cmap=cm)
scalarMap.set_array(Ivec)
fig.colorbar(scalarMap)
cmapRgba=scalarMap.to_rgba(Ivec)
for i in df.index:
x,y,z = get_cube()
# Change the centroid of the cube from zero to values in data frame
x = x*a + df.x[i]
y = y*b + df.y[i]
z = z*c + df.z[i]
ax.plot_surface(x, y, z, color = cmapRgba[i])
ax.set_zlabel("z")
plt.xlabel("x")
plt.ylabel("y")
plt.show()
Essentially, I'm trying to make a 4-D scatter plot with 4 columns of data (see sample below).
X (mm) Y (mm) Z (mm) Diameter (mm)
11.096 11.0972 13.2401 124.279
14.6836 11.0389 8.37134 138.949
19.9543 11.1025 31.1912 138.949
15.4079 10.9505 31.1639 152.21
20.6372 14.5175 6.94501 152.211
20.47 11.225 31.3612 152.211
19.0432 11.3234 8.93819 152.213
29.4091 10.1331 26.6354 186.417
12.9391 10.6616 28.9523 186.418
29.9102 10.4828 25.1129 186.418
30.5483 12.163 15.9116 186.418
19.0631 10.5784 30.9791 186.418
9.65332 10.8563 12.975 186.419
8.4003 11.0417 17.0181 186.419
26.0134 10.6857 9.41572 186.419
13.7451 11.1495 28.7108 186.419
The first three columns of data (X, Y, Z) are the coordinate positions of the 4th column of data (Diameter) so I was able to generate a 3-D scatter plot of these positions. However, I'm trying to plot these Diameters with different color markers based on certain threshold values (ie. Diameters that are less than 100 mm are red, 101-200 mm are blue, 201-300 mm are green, etc.) Once the color of the markers are determined, it would plot these markers based on its X, Y, Z coordinates. I tried writing a simple for loop to do this, but for some reason it becomes very slow/laggy and will only plot one color too. Can anyone see if there's something wrong with my approach? Thanks!
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import pandas
import os
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
os.chdir(r'C:\Users\Me\Documents')
data = pandas.read_excel("Diameter Report", "Data")
X = data['X (mm)'].values.tolist()
Y = data['Y (mm)'].values.tolist()
Z = data['Z (mm)'].values.tolist()
dims = data['Diameter (mm)'].values.tolist()
for i in dims:
if i < int(100):
ax.plot(X, Y, Z, c='r', marker='o')
elif i >= int(101) and i <200:
ax.plot(X, Y, Z, c='b', marker='o')
elif i >= int(201) and i <300:
ax.plot(X, Y, Z, c='g', marker='o')
ax.set_xlabel('Center X (mm)')
ax.set_ylabel('Center Y (mm)')
ax.set_zlabel('Center Z (mm)')
plt.show()
It seems the thresholds for the values are equally spaced, so you can just divide by 100 and truncate further decimal places. This allows to plot a single scatter instead of hundreds of plots.
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import pandas
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
data = pandas.read_excel("Diameter Report", "Data")
X = data['X (mm)'].values
Y = data['Y (mm)'].values
Z = data['Z (mm)'].values
dims = data['Diameter (mm)'].values
ax.scatter(X,Y,Z, c=(dims/100).astype(int), marker="o", cmap="brg")
ax.set_xlabel('Center X (mm)')
ax.set_ylabel('Center Y (mm)')
ax.set_zlabel('Center Z (mm)')
plt.show()
The more general case of arbitrary boundaries would probably best be solved using a BoundaryNorm and a colormap with as many different colors as classifications.
import numpy as np
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.colors as mcolors
import pandas as pd
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
d = np.random.rand(10,4)
d[:,3] = np.random.randint(1,300, 10)
data = pd.DataFrame(d, columns=["X (mm)","Y (mm)","Z (mm)","Diameter (mm)"])
X = data['X (mm)'].values
Y = data['Y (mm)'].values
Z = data['Z (mm)'].values
dims = data['Diameter (mm)'].values
bounds = [0,100,200,300]
colors = ["b", "r", "g"]
cmap = mcolors.ListedColormap(colors)
norm = mcolors.BoundaryNorm(bounds, len(colors))
sc = ax.scatter(X,Y,Z, c=dims, marker="o", cmap=cmap, norm=norm)
ax.set_xlabel('Center X (mm)')
ax.set_ylabel('Center Y (mm)')
ax.set_zlabel('Center Z (mm)')
fig.colorbar(sc)
plt.show()
Here is a slightly more general solution where you can explicitly specify the ranges you want regardless of the spacing. I did not have the complete data so I modified your limits from 100, 200, 300 to 140, 180, 200 based on the provided data.
A couple of things:
You probably want to use scatter3d as you mentioned it in your question instead of plot.
I am using NumPy to read in the data because this way you will have the data as NumPy arrays which make the masking and slicing easy.
Here I am creating 3 conditional masks depending on the magnitude of dims.
Next, you store these masks in a list and then iterate over it to use one mask at a time.
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import pandas
import numpy as np
import os
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
X, Y, Z, dims = np.loadtxt('sample.txt', unpack=True, skiprows=1)
mask1 = (dims<140)
mask2 = ((dims>=140) & (dims<180))
mask3 = ((dims>=180) & (dims<200))
masks = [mask1, mask2, mask3]
colors = ['r', 'b', 'g'] # color order as you specified in the question
for mask, color in zip(masks, colors):
ax.scatter3D(X[mask], Y[mask], Z[mask], c=color)
ax.set_xlabel('Center X (mm)')
ax.set_ylabel('Center Y (mm)')
ax.set_zlabel('Center Z (mm)')
plt.show()
I have a sequence of line plots for two variables (x,y) for a number of different values of a variable z. I would normally add the line plots with legends like this:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
# suppose mydata is a list of tuples containing (xs, ys, z)
# where xs and ys are lists of x's and y's and z is a number.
legns = []
for(xs,ys,z) in mydata:
pl = ax.plot(xs,ys,color = (z,0,0))
legns.append("z = %f"%(z))
ax.legends(legns)
plt.show()
But I have too many graphs and the legends will cover the graph. I'd rather have a colorbar indicating the value of z corresponding to the color. I can't find anything like that in the galery and all my attempts do deal with the colorbar failed. Apparently I must create a collection of plots before trying to add a colorbar.
Is there an easy way to do this? Thanks.
EDIT (clarification):
I wanted to do something like this:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.cm as cm
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
mycmap = cm.hot
# suppose mydata is a list of tuples containing (xs, ys, z)
# where xs and ys are lists of x's and y's and z is a number between 0 and 1
plots = []
for(xs,ys,z) in mydata:
pl = ax.plot(xs,ys,color = mycmap(z))
plots.append(pl)
fig.colorbar(plots)
plt.show()
But this won't work according to the Matplotlib reference because a list of plots is not a "mappable", whatever this means.
I've created an alternative plot function using LineCollection:
def myplot(ax,xs,ys,zs, cmap):
plot = lc([zip(x,y) for (x,y) in zip(xs,ys)], cmap = cmap)
plot.set_array(array(zs))
x0,x1 = amin(xs),amax(xs)
y0,y1 = amin(ys),amax(ys)
ax.add_collection(plot)
ax.set_xlim(x0,x1)
ax.set_ylim(y0,y1)
return plot
xs and ys are lists of lists of x and y coordinates and zs is a list of the different conditions to colorize each line. It feels a bit like a cludge though... I thought that there would be a more neat way to do this. I like the flexibility of the plt.plot() function.
(I know this is an old question but...) Colorbars require a matplotlib.cm.ScalarMappable, plt.plot produces lines which are not scalar mappable, therefore, in order to make a colorbar, we are going to need to make a scalar mappable.
Ok. So the constructor of a ScalarMappable takes a cmap and a norm instance. (norms scale data to the range 0-1, cmaps you have already worked with and take a number between 0-1 and returns a color). So in your case:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap, norm=plt.normalize(min=0, max=1))
plt.colorbar(sm)
Because your data is in the range 0-1 already, you can simplify the sm creation to:
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap)
EDIT: For matplotlib v1.2 or greater the code becomes:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap, norm=plt.normalize(vmin=0, vmax=1))
# fake up the array of the scalar mappable. Urgh...
sm._A = []
plt.colorbar(sm)
EDIT: For matplotlib v1.3 or greater the code becomes:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap, norm=plt.Normalize(vmin=0, vmax=1))
# fake up the array of the scalar mappable. Urgh...
sm._A = []
plt.colorbar(sm)
EDIT: For matplotlib v3.1 or greater simplifies to:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap, norm=plt.Normalize(vmin=0, vmax=1))
plt.colorbar(sm)
Here's one way to do it while still using plt.plot(). Basically, you make a throw-away plot and get the colorbar from there.
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
min, max = (-40, 30)
step = 10
# Setting up a colormap that's a simple transtion
mymap = mpl.colors.LinearSegmentedColormap.from_list('mycolors',['blue','red'])
# Using contourf to provide my colorbar info, then clearing the figure
Z = [[0,0],[0,0]]
levels = range(min,max+step,step)
CS3 = plt.contourf(Z, levels, cmap=mymap)
plt.clf()
# Plotting what I actually want
X=[[1,2],[1,2],[1,2],[1,2]]
Y=[[1,2],[1,3],[1,4],[1,5]]
Z=[-40,-20,0,30]
for x,y,z in zip(X,Y,Z):
# setting rgb color based on z normalized to my range
r = (float(z)-min)/(max-min)
g = 0
b = 1-r
plt.plot(x,y,color=(r,g,b))
plt.colorbar(CS3) # using the colorbar info I got from contourf
plt.show()
It's a little wasteful, but convenient. It's also not very wasteful if you make multiple plots as you can call plt.colorbar() without regenerating the info for it.
Here is a slightly simplied example inspired by the top answer given by Boris and Hooked (Thanks for the great idea!):
1. Discrete colorbar
Discrete colorbar is more involved, because colormap generated by mpl.cm.get_cmap() is not a mappable image needed as a colorbar() argument. A dummie mappable needs to generated as shown below:
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib as mpl
n_lines = 5
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
y = np.sin(x[:, None] + np.pi * np.linspace(0, 1, n_lines))
c = np.arange(1, n_lines + 1)
cmap = mpl.cm.get_cmap('jet', n_lines)
fig, ax = plt.subplots(dpi=100)
# Make dummie mappable
dummie_cax = ax.scatter(c, c, c=c, cmap=cmap)
# Clear axis
ax.cla()
for i, yi in enumerate(y.T):
ax.plot(x, yi, c=cmap(i))
fig.colorbar(dummie_cax, ticks=c)
plt.show();
This will produce a plot with a discrete colorbar:
2. Continuous colorbar
Continuous colorbar is less involved, as mpl.cm.ScalarMappable() allows us to obtain an "image" for colorbar().
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib as mpl
n_lines = 5
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
y = np.sin(x[:, None] + np.pi * np.linspace(0, 1, n_lines))
c = np.arange(1, n_lines + 1)
norm = mpl.colors.Normalize(vmin=c.min(), vmax=c.max())
cmap = mpl.cm.ScalarMappable(norm=norm, cmap=mpl.cm.jet)
cmap.set_array([])
fig, ax = plt.subplots(dpi=100)
for i, yi in enumerate(y.T):
ax.plot(x, yi, c=cmap.to_rgba(i + 1))
fig.colorbar(cmap, ticks=c)
plt.show();
This will produce a plot with a continuous colorbar:
[Side note] In this example, I personally don't know why cmap.set_array([]) is necessary (otherwise we'd get error messages). If someone understand the principles under the hood, please comment :)
As other answers here do try to use dummy plots, which is not really good style, here is a generic code for a
Discrete colorbar
A discrete colorbar is produced in the same way a continuous colorbar is created, just with a different Normalization. In this case a BoundaryNorm should be used.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.colors
n_lines = 5
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
y = np.sin(x[:, None] + np.pi * np.linspace(0, 1, n_lines))
c = np.arange(1., n_lines + 1)
cmap = plt.get_cmap("jet", len(c))
norm = matplotlib.colors.BoundaryNorm(np.arange(len(c)+1)+0.5,len(c))
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(norm=norm, cmap=cmap)
sm.set_array([]) # this line may be ommitted for matplotlib >= 3.1
fig, ax = plt.subplots(dpi=100)
for i, yi in enumerate(y.T):
ax.plot(x, yi, c=cmap(i))
fig.colorbar(sm, ticks=c)
plt.show()
Is it possible to change the line color in a plot when values exceeds a certain y value?
Example:
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
a = np.array([1,2,17,20,16,3,5,4])
plt.plt(a)
This one gives the following:
I want to visualise the values that exceeds y=15. Something like the following figure:
Or something like this(with cycle linestyle)::
Is it possible?
Define a helper function (this a bare-bones one, more bells and whistles can be added). This code is a slight refactoring of this example from the documentation.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.collections import LineCollection
from matplotlib.colors import ListedColormap, BoundaryNorm
def threshold_plot(ax, x, y, threshv, color, overcolor):
"""
Helper function to plot points above a threshold in a different color
Parameters
----------
ax : Axes
Axes to plot to
x, y : array
The x and y values
threshv : float
Plot using overcolor above this value
color : color
The color to use for the lower values
overcolor: color
The color to use for values over threshv
"""
# Create a colormap for red, green and blue and a norm to color
# f' < -0.5 red, f' > 0.5 blue, and the rest green
cmap = ListedColormap([color, overcolor])
norm = BoundaryNorm([np.min(y), threshv, np.max(y)], cmap.N)
# Create a set of line segments so that we can color them individually
# This creates the points as a N x 1 x 2 array so that we can stack points
# together easily to get the segments. The segments array for line collection
# needs to be numlines x points per line x 2 (x and y)
points = np.array([x, y]).T.reshape(-1, 1, 2)
segments = np.concatenate([points[:-1], points[1:]], axis=1)
# Create the line collection object, setting the colormapping parameters.
# Have to set the actual values used for colormapping separately.
lc = LineCollection(segments, cmap=cmap, norm=norm)
lc.set_array(y)
ax.add_collection(lc)
ax.set_xlim(np.min(x), np.max(x))
ax.set_ylim(np.min(y)*1.1, np.max(y)*1.1)
return lc
Example of usage
fig, ax = plt.subplots()
x = np.linspace(0, 3 * np.pi, 500)
y = np.sin(x)
lc = threshold_plot(ax, x, y, .75, 'k', 'r')
ax.axhline(.75, color='k', ls='--')
lc.set_linewidth(3)
and the output
If you want just the markers to change color, use the same norm and cmap and pass them to scatter as
cmap = ListedColormap([color, overcolor])
norm = BoundaryNorm([np.min(y), threshv, np.max(y)], cmap.N)
sc = ax.scatter(x, y, c=c, norm=norm, cmap=cmap)
Unfortunately, matplotlib doesn't have an easy option to change the color of only part of a line. We will have to write the logic ourselves. The trick is to cut the line up into a collection of line segments, then assign a color to each of them, and then plot them.
from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.collections import LineCollection
import numpy as np
# The x and y data to plot
y = np.array([1,2,17,20,16,3,5,4])
x = np.arange(len(y))
# Threshold above which the line should be red
threshold = 15
# Create line segments: 1--2, 2--17, 17--20, 20--16, 16--3, etc.
segments_x = np.r_[x[0], x[1:-1].repeat(2), x[-1]].reshape(-1, 2)
segments_y = np.r_[y[0], y[1:-1].repeat(2), y[-1]].reshape(-1, 2)
# Assign colors to the line segments
linecolors = ['red' if y_[0] > threshold and y_[1] > threshold else 'blue'
for y_ in segments_y]
# Stamp x,y coordinates of the segments into the proper format for the
# LineCollection
segments = [zip(x_, y_) for x_, y_ in zip(segments_x, segments_y)]
# Create figure
plt.figure()
ax = plt.axes()
# Add a collection of lines
ax.add_collection(LineCollection(segments, colors=linecolors))
# Set x and y limits... sadly this is not done automatically for line
# collections
ax.set_xlim(0, 8)
ax.set_ylim(0, 21)
Your second option is much easier. We first draw the line and then add the markers as a scatterplot on top of it:
from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
# The x and y data to plot
y = np.array([1,2,17,20,16,3,5,4])
x = np.arange(len(y))
# Threshold above which the markers should be red
threshold = 15
# Create figure
plt.figure()
# Plot the line
plt.plot(x, y, color='blue')
# Add below threshold markers
below_threshold = y < threshold
plt.scatter(x[below_threshold], y[below_threshold], color='green')
# Add above threshold markers
above_threshold = np.logical_not(below_threshold)
plt.scatter(x[above_threshold], y[above_threshold], color='red')
Basically #RaJa provides the solution, but I think that you can do the same without loading an additional package (pandas), by using masked arrays in numpy:
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
a = np.array([1,2,17,20,16,3,5,4])
# use a masked array to suppress the values that are too low
a_masked = np.ma.masked_less_equal(a, 15)
# plot the full line
plt.plot(a, 'k')
# plot only the large values
plt.plot(a_masked, 'r', linewidth=2)
# add the threshold value (optional)
plt.axhline(15, color='k', linestyle='--')
plt.show()
Result:
I don't know wether there is a built-in function in matplolib. But you could convert your numpy array into a pandas series and then use the plot function in combination with boolean selection/masking.
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
a = np.array([1,2,17,20,16,3,5,4])
aPandas = pd.Series(a)
aPandas.plot()
aPandas[aPandas > 15].plot(color = 'red')
I have a sequence of line plots for two variables (x,y) for a number of different values of a variable z. I would normally add the line plots with legends like this:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
# suppose mydata is a list of tuples containing (xs, ys, z)
# where xs and ys are lists of x's and y's and z is a number.
legns = []
for(xs,ys,z) in mydata:
pl = ax.plot(xs,ys,color = (z,0,0))
legns.append("z = %f"%(z))
ax.legends(legns)
plt.show()
But I have too many graphs and the legends will cover the graph. I'd rather have a colorbar indicating the value of z corresponding to the color. I can't find anything like that in the galery and all my attempts do deal with the colorbar failed. Apparently I must create a collection of plots before trying to add a colorbar.
Is there an easy way to do this? Thanks.
EDIT (clarification):
I wanted to do something like this:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.cm as cm
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
mycmap = cm.hot
# suppose mydata is a list of tuples containing (xs, ys, z)
# where xs and ys are lists of x's and y's and z is a number between 0 and 1
plots = []
for(xs,ys,z) in mydata:
pl = ax.plot(xs,ys,color = mycmap(z))
plots.append(pl)
fig.colorbar(plots)
plt.show()
But this won't work according to the Matplotlib reference because a list of plots is not a "mappable", whatever this means.
I've created an alternative plot function using LineCollection:
def myplot(ax,xs,ys,zs, cmap):
plot = lc([zip(x,y) for (x,y) in zip(xs,ys)], cmap = cmap)
plot.set_array(array(zs))
x0,x1 = amin(xs),amax(xs)
y0,y1 = amin(ys),amax(ys)
ax.add_collection(plot)
ax.set_xlim(x0,x1)
ax.set_ylim(y0,y1)
return plot
xs and ys are lists of lists of x and y coordinates and zs is a list of the different conditions to colorize each line. It feels a bit like a cludge though... I thought that there would be a more neat way to do this. I like the flexibility of the plt.plot() function.
(I know this is an old question but...) Colorbars require a matplotlib.cm.ScalarMappable, plt.plot produces lines which are not scalar mappable, therefore, in order to make a colorbar, we are going to need to make a scalar mappable.
Ok. So the constructor of a ScalarMappable takes a cmap and a norm instance. (norms scale data to the range 0-1, cmaps you have already worked with and take a number between 0-1 and returns a color). So in your case:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap, norm=plt.normalize(min=0, max=1))
plt.colorbar(sm)
Because your data is in the range 0-1 already, you can simplify the sm creation to:
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap)
EDIT: For matplotlib v1.2 or greater the code becomes:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap, norm=plt.normalize(vmin=0, vmax=1))
# fake up the array of the scalar mappable. Urgh...
sm._A = []
plt.colorbar(sm)
EDIT: For matplotlib v1.3 or greater the code becomes:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap, norm=plt.Normalize(vmin=0, vmax=1))
# fake up the array of the scalar mappable. Urgh...
sm._A = []
plt.colorbar(sm)
EDIT: For matplotlib v3.1 or greater simplifies to:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap, norm=plt.Normalize(vmin=0, vmax=1))
plt.colorbar(sm)
Here's one way to do it while still using plt.plot(). Basically, you make a throw-away plot and get the colorbar from there.
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
min, max = (-40, 30)
step = 10
# Setting up a colormap that's a simple transtion
mymap = mpl.colors.LinearSegmentedColormap.from_list('mycolors',['blue','red'])
# Using contourf to provide my colorbar info, then clearing the figure
Z = [[0,0],[0,0]]
levels = range(min,max+step,step)
CS3 = plt.contourf(Z, levels, cmap=mymap)
plt.clf()
# Plotting what I actually want
X=[[1,2],[1,2],[1,2],[1,2]]
Y=[[1,2],[1,3],[1,4],[1,5]]
Z=[-40,-20,0,30]
for x,y,z in zip(X,Y,Z):
# setting rgb color based on z normalized to my range
r = (float(z)-min)/(max-min)
g = 0
b = 1-r
plt.plot(x,y,color=(r,g,b))
plt.colorbar(CS3) # using the colorbar info I got from contourf
plt.show()
It's a little wasteful, but convenient. It's also not very wasteful if you make multiple plots as you can call plt.colorbar() without regenerating the info for it.
Here is a slightly simplied example inspired by the top answer given by Boris and Hooked (Thanks for the great idea!):
1. Discrete colorbar
Discrete colorbar is more involved, because colormap generated by mpl.cm.get_cmap() is not a mappable image needed as a colorbar() argument. A dummie mappable needs to generated as shown below:
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib as mpl
n_lines = 5
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
y = np.sin(x[:, None] + np.pi * np.linspace(0, 1, n_lines))
c = np.arange(1, n_lines + 1)
cmap = mpl.cm.get_cmap('jet', n_lines)
fig, ax = plt.subplots(dpi=100)
# Make dummie mappable
dummie_cax = ax.scatter(c, c, c=c, cmap=cmap)
# Clear axis
ax.cla()
for i, yi in enumerate(y.T):
ax.plot(x, yi, c=cmap(i))
fig.colorbar(dummie_cax, ticks=c)
plt.show();
This will produce a plot with a discrete colorbar:
2. Continuous colorbar
Continuous colorbar is less involved, as mpl.cm.ScalarMappable() allows us to obtain an "image" for colorbar().
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib as mpl
n_lines = 5
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
y = np.sin(x[:, None] + np.pi * np.linspace(0, 1, n_lines))
c = np.arange(1, n_lines + 1)
norm = mpl.colors.Normalize(vmin=c.min(), vmax=c.max())
cmap = mpl.cm.ScalarMappable(norm=norm, cmap=mpl.cm.jet)
cmap.set_array([])
fig, ax = plt.subplots(dpi=100)
for i, yi in enumerate(y.T):
ax.plot(x, yi, c=cmap.to_rgba(i + 1))
fig.colorbar(cmap, ticks=c)
plt.show();
This will produce a plot with a continuous colorbar:
[Side note] In this example, I personally don't know why cmap.set_array([]) is necessary (otherwise we'd get error messages). If someone understand the principles under the hood, please comment :)
As other answers here do try to use dummy plots, which is not really good style, here is a generic code for a
Discrete colorbar
A discrete colorbar is produced in the same way a continuous colorbar is created, just with a different Normalization. In this case a BoundaryNorm should be used.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.colors
n_lines = 5
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
y = np.sin(x[:, None] + np.pi * np.linspace(0, 1, n_lines))
c = np.arange(1., n_lines + 1)
cmap = plt.get_cmap("jet", len(c))
norm = matplotlib.colors.BoundaryNorm(np.arange(len(c)+1)+0.5,len(c))
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(norm=norm, cmap=cmap)
sm.set_array([]) # this line may be ommitted for matplotlib >= 3.1
fig, ax = plt.subplots(dpi=100)
for i, yi in enumerate(y.T):
ax.plot(x, yi, c=cmap(i))
fig.colorbar(sm, ticks=c)
plt.show()