mphowardlab-mpl

A collection of matplotlib style files compatible with various scientific journals.

Installing

Use install.py to make a copy of the style files. There are a few installation options:

1. Detect and install all styles to the shared matplotlib configuration directory:

python3 install.py

2. Install to a specific directory (e.g., a project)

python3 install.py -o ~/myproject/styles

Use the -j option to limit the journal styles that are installed. One or more of the following values can be specified:

• acs: American Chemical Society (ACS) journals
• aip: American Institute of Physics (AIP) journals

The default value is all, which will install all of the above.

To uninstall, simply remove the files that you installed. This is easier in a project than in the configuration directory!

For best results, you should make sure to install the Microsoft fonts.

Using styles

Specify a style

The following styles may exist (but are not required) for each <journal>:

• <journal>: default one-panel figure
• <journal>-tall: one-column two-panel figure
• <journal>-wide: two-column figure

To use a style in your plot, load it at the top of your script. You should always load the mphowardlab style first, followed by any options for a particular journal.

Example for a one-panel AIP figure with styles installed in shared directory:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.style.use(['mphowardlab','aip'])

Example for a one-panel AIP figure with styles installed in a project:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.style.use(['./mphowardlab.mplstyle','./aip.mplstyle'])

Colors

The default color cyle implements the following colors that may be manually specified in plot commands:

• C0: red
• C1: blue
• C2: green
• C3: orange
• C4: purple
• C5: pink
• C6: gold
• C7: grey
• C8: black

Adding new styles

New journal styles can be added to this collection using the following steps:

1. Choose a journal name prefix that is not already taken.
2. Create as many style files as you want, always including the prefix and following the naming conventions listed above.
3. Add this prefix to the list of choices in install.py.

For detailed style file options, see this tutorial with an example matplotlibrc file.