matplotlib.colors

Note

The Color tutorials and examples demonstrate how to set colors and colormaps. You may want to read those instead.

A module for converting numbers or color arguments to RGB or RGBA.

RGB and RGBA are sequences of, respectively, 3 or 4 floats in the range 0-1.

This module includes functions and classes for color specification conversions, and for mapping numbers to colors in a 1-D array of colors called a colormap.

Mapping data onto colors using a colormap typically involves two steps: a data array is first mapped onto the range 0-1 using a subclass of Normalize, then this number is mapped to a color using a subclass of Colormap. Two subclasses of Colormap provided here: LinearSegmentedColormap, which uses piecewise-linear interpolation to define colormaps, and ListedColormap, which makes a colormap from a list of colors.

See also

Creating Colormaps in Matplotlib for examples of how to make colormaps and

Choosing Colormaps in Matplotlib for a list of built-in colormaps.

Colormap normalization for more details about data normalization

More colormaps are available at palettable.

The module also provides functions for checking whether an object can be interpreted as a color (is_color_like), for converting such an object to an RGBA tuple (to_rgba) or to an HTML-like hex string in the "#rrggbb" format (to_hex), and a sequence of colors to an (n, 4) RGBA array (to_rgba_array). Caching is used for efficiency.

Colors that Matplotlib recognizes are listed at Specifying colors.

Color norms

Norm()	Abstract base class for normalizations.
Normalize([vmin, vmax, clip])	A class which, when called, maps values within the interval [vmin, vmax] linearly to the interval [0.0, 1.0].
NoNorm([vmin, vmax, clip])	Dummy replacement for Normalize, for the case where we want to use indices directly in a ScalarMappable.
AsinhNorm([linear_width, vmin, vmax, clip])	The inverse hyperbolic sine scale is approximately linear near the origin, but becomes logarithmic for larger positive or negative values.
BoundaryNorm(boundaries, ncolors[, clip, extend])	Generate a colormap index based on discrete intervals.
CenteredNorm([vcenter, halfrange, clip])	Normalize symmetrical data around a center (0 by default).
FuncNorm(functions[, vmin, vmax, clip])	Arbitrary normalization using functions for the forward and inverse.
LogNorm([vmin, vmax, clip])	Normalize a given value to the 0-1 range on a log scale.
PowerNorm(gamma[, vmin, vmax, clip])	Linearly map a given value to the 0-1 range and then apply a power-law normalization over that range.
SymLogNorm(linthresh[, linscale, vmin, ...])	The symmetrical logarithmic scale is logarithmic in both the positive and negative directions from the origin.
TwoSlopeNorm(vcenter[, vmin, vmax])	Normalize data with a set center.
MultiNorm(norms[, vmin, vmax, clip])	A class which contains multiple scalar norms.

Univariate Colormaps

Colormap(name[, N, bad, under, over])	Baseclass for all scalar to RGBA mappings.
LinearSegmentedColormap(name, segmentdata[, ...])	Colormap objects based on lookup tables using linear segments.
ListedColormap(colors[, name, N, bad, ...])	Colormap object generated from a list of colors.

Multivariate Colormaps

BivarColormap([N, M, shape, origin, name])	Base class for all bivariate to RGBA mappings.
SegmentedBivarColormap(patch[, N, shape, ...])	BivarColormap object generated by supersampling a regular grid.
BivarColormapFromImage(lut[, shape, origin, ...])	BivarColormap object generated by supersampling a regular grid.
MultivarColormap(colormaps, combination_mode)	Class for holding multiple Colormap for use in a ScalarMappable object

Other classes

ColorSequenceRegistry()	Container for sequences of colors that are known to Matplotlib by name.
LightSource([azdeg, altdeg, hsv_min_val, ...])	Create a light source coming from the specified azimuth and elevation.

Functions

from_levels_and_colors(levels, colors[, extend])	A helper routine to generate a cmap and a norm instance which behave similar to contourf's levels and colors arguments.
hsv_to_rgb(hsv)	Convert HSV values to RGB.
rgb_to_hsv(arr)	Convert an array of float RGB values (in the range [0, 1]) to HSV values.
to_hex(c[, keep_alpha])	Convert c to a hex color.
to_rgb(c)	Convert the color c to an RGB color tuple.
to_rgba(c[, alpha])	Convert c to an RGBA color.
to_rgba_array(c[, alpha])	Convert c to a (n, 4) array of RGBA colors.
is_color_like(c)	Return whether c as a valid Matplotlib color specifier.
same_color(c1, c2)	Return whether the colors c1 and c2 are the same.
get_named_colors_mapping()	Return the global mapping of names to named colors.
make_norm_from_scale(scale_cls[, ...])	Decorator for building a Normalize subclass from a ScaleBase subclass.

Exported colors

The data used to populate the List of named colors are exposed as dictionaries that map color names to hex strings.

matplotlib.colors.BASE_COLORS

matplotlib.colors.TABLEAU_COLORS

matplotlib.colors.CSS4_COLORS

matplotlib.colors.XKCD_COLORS