Theme Gallery¶

Each predefined theme has a card here: a strip of its color swatches with hex codes, the sequential colormap, and the font it sets in, its colour-blindness scores, and the same six signature charts rendered under that theme — grouped bars, lines, a fitted scatter, a box plot, a heatmap, and a twin-axis Panel. The six charts cover every trait a theme can differ in: palette, edges and fills, line strokes and markers, bodies, value scales, and the furniture around them (spines, grid, ticks, legend). The themes are grouped by where they work best:

Theme	Character
Screen and presentations
THEME.DEFAULT	Softened Okabe–Ito palette, colour-blind safe, open spines, soft grid.
THEME.MATERIAL	Google palette, bottom spine only, light grid.
THEME.MINIMAL	Accent violet with deep grays, no spines, flat bars.
THEME.HARBOR	Navy and amber in lightness steps, colour-blind safe.
Print and black-and-white
THEME.GREYSCALE	Monochrome, print-friendly.
THEME.INK	Diversified YlGnBu palette with navy ink accents.
THEME.HATCH	Hatch cycle, black edges, dotted grid.
THEME.MUTED	Tol's muted colours, dash and marker cycles, colour-blind safe.
THEME.CONTRAST	Lightness-stepped colours plus hatches, print-safe.
Illustrative
THEME.SKETCH	Hand-drawn wobble and halo, Comic Neue font, no grid.
THEME.QUILL	Black ink on white paper: pen strokes, etched fills, IM Fell English font.

Themes also carry defaults for chart settings: every theme but SKETCH and QUILL shows a muted y-grid unless a chart call sets show_grid itself, and HATCH hatches bar series via its hatch cycle, which is why the very same chart code below renders with grids and hatches that differ per theme. An explicit setting always wins.

The sample data and the two helpers behind every card are defined in a hidden cell. show_swatches() reads the palette, sequential colormap and font straight from the active config, so the strip always matches the theme as shipped. It closes with the theme's colour-blindness scores, computed by cvd_scores() as explained in the next section; cvd_table() lists them for every theme. signature(pair) builds the six charts with the very same code for every theme; pair supplies the two colors the twin-axis panel styles explicitly (one per axis), picked from the theme's own swatches. Each card opens with the one call that selects the theme.

Colour-blindness suitability¶

A reader compares any two series on a chart, so every theme is scored on its worst pair of palette colours, not only on neighbouring ones. Each colour is passed through the Machado, Oliveira and Fernandes (2009) simulation of deuteranopia, protanopia and tritanopia at full severity, and the distance between the two closest colours is measured in the OKLab colour space (ΔE, ×100). Normal is the same distance without simulation, and greyscale gap is the smallest lightness step between two colours once the chart is printed without colour.

A theme passes when the worst pair stays at ΔE 8 or more for both deutan and protan readers and at 15 or more for everyone; between 6 and 8 it is weak, acceptable only where a second cue (dashes, markers, hatches) tells the series apart; below that it fails. Tritan scores are reported but not gated, since that deficiency is rare. GREYSCALE and QUILL separate series by lightness and pattern rather than hue, so their scores read the colour axis only. DEFAULT, HARBOR, MUTED and CONTRAST were built to pass this check.

In [2]:

cvd_table()

cvd_table()

Theme	Series	Deutan	Protan	Tritan	Normal	Greyscale gap	Verdict
Screen and presentations
default	6	10.8	12.8	8.3	15.7	0	pass
material	6	1.3	6.4	5.8	17.8	0	fail
minimal	4	17.5	17.2	15.0	17.5	13	pass
harbor	6	16.1	13.8	15.3	15.6	0	pass
Print and black-and-white
greyscale	6	4.0	4.2	4.1	4.1	4	fail
ink	6	9.5	8.1	7.2	9.1	8	fail
hatch	6	3.6	5.0	2.5	8.8	0	fail
muted	5	17.3	10.5	16.0	17.8	3	pass
contrast	5	10.1	12.6	12.1	15.3	9	pass
Illustrative
sketch	5	4.8	7.3	11.5	14.3	4	fail
quill	1	one ink; series differ by pattern					—

Screen and presentations¶

Colorful categorical palettes on light furniture, for notebooks, dashboards and slides.

Default¶

The modernized default: a softened Okabe–Ito palette closed with charcoal, so every pair of series stays apart for colour-blind readers; white bar edges, open spines, soft y-grid from the theme default.

Selected with THEME.DEFAULT; the full attribute set is DEFAULT_THEME.

In [3]:

config.set_theme(THEME.DEFAULT)
show_swatches()
signature(pair=("#3B76B0", "#C24E2A")).show()

config.set_theme(THEME.DEFAULT) show_swatches() signature(pair=("#3B76B0", "#C24E2A")).show()

#3B76B0

#E8A63E

#2F9E82

#C24E2A

#7CBCE4

#444444

Blues

AaHelvetica

Colour-blindness, worst pair ΔE: deutan 10.8 · protan 12.8 · tritan 8.3 · normal 15.7 · greyscale gap 0  pass

Material¶

The Google palette with a bottom spine only and a light solid grid.

Selected with THEME.MATERIAL; the full attribute set is MATERIAL_THEME.

In [4]:

config.set_theme(THEME.MATERIAL)
show_swatches()
signature(pair=("#1A73E8", "#D93025")).show()

config.set_theme(THEME.MATERIAL) show_swatches() signature(pair=("#1A73E8", "#D93025")).show()

#1A73E8

#D93025

#F9AB00

#1E8E3E

#12B5CB

#9334E6

Blues

AaRoboto

Colour-blindness, worst pair ΔE: deutan 1.3 · protan 6.4 · tritan 5.8 · normal 17.8 · greyscale gap 0  fail

Minimal¶

Accent violet with deep grays, no spines or tick marks, flat bars.

Selected with THEME.MINIMAL; the full attribute set is MINIMAL_THEME.

In [5]:

config.set_theme(THEME.MINIMAL)
show_swatches()
signature(pair=("#7048E8", "#1F2933")).show()

config.set_theme(THEME.MINIMAL) show_swatches() signature(pair=("#7048E8", "#1F2933")).show()

#7048E8

#1F2933

#8A97A3

#C5CDD4

Purples

AaHelvetica

Colour-blindness, worst pair ΔE: deutan 17.5 · protan 17.2 · tritan 15.0 · normal 17.5 · greyscale gap 13  pass

Harbor¶

Navy to sky and amber to sand, stepped in lightness, with taupe and near-black closing the set. Two hue families keep the chart reading as one palette, and every pair of series stays apart for deutan, protan and tritan readers.

Selected with THEME.HARBOR; the full attribute set is HARBOR_THEME.

In [6]:

config.set_theme(THEME.HARBOR)
show_swatches()
signature(pair=("#1F4E79", "#D08C3A")).show()

config.set_theme(THEME.HARBOR) show_swatches() signature(pair=("#1F4E79", "#D08C3A")).show()

#1F4E79

#D08C3A

#6FA3D3

#EFC98C

#8C6D5A

#1A1A1A

Cividis

AaHelvetica

Colour-blindness, worst pair ΔE: deutan 16.1 · protan 13.8 · tritan 15.3 · normal 15.6 · greyscale gap 0  pass

Print and black-and-white¶

Themes that survive a greyscale printer or photocopier: one that is monochrome by design, one whose palette stays distinct on paper, one that tells series apart by pattern, and two whose colours stay apart for colour-blind readers and carry dashes, markers or hatches for the greyscale print.

Greyscale¶

Monochrome and print-friendly, with the same open spines and muted grid treatment.

Selected with THEME.GREYSCALE; the full attribute set is GREYSCALE_THEME.

In [7]:

config.set_theme(THEME.GREYSCALE)
show_swatches()
signature(pair=("#252525", "#969696")).show()

config.set_theme(THEME.GREYSCALE) show_swatches() signature(pair=("#252525", "#969696")).show()

#2C3E50

#5D6D7E

#85929E

#ABB2B9

#D5DBDB

#34495E

Greys

AaHelvetica

Colour-blindness, worst pair ΔE: deutan 4.0 · protan 4.2 · tritan 4.1 · normal 4.1 · greyscale gap 4  fail

Ink¶

The diversified YlGnBu palette (COLORS.PaperYlGnBu) with navy ink edges, print-ready.

Selected with THEME.INK; the full attribute set is INK_THEME.

In [8]:

config.set_theme(THEME.INK)
show_swatches()
signature(pair=("#0C2C84", "#41B6C4")).show()

config.set_theme(THEME.INK) show_swatches() signature(pair=("#0C2C84", "#41B6C4")).show()

#0C2C84

#7FCDBB

#1D91C0

#C7E9B4

#225EA8

#41B6C4

Blues

AaHelvetica

Colour-blindness, worst pair ΔE: deutan 9.5 · protan 8.1 · tritan 7.2 · normal 9.1 · greyscale gap 8  fail

Hatch¶

Black edges, dotted grid, and the hatch cycle ("", "//", "..") applied per bar series, so grouped bars stay distinguishable in black-and-white print.

Selected with THEME.HATCH; the full attribute set is HATCH_THEME.

In [9]:

config.set_theme(THEME.HATCH)
show_swatches()
signature(pair=("#B5563A", "#4F6D8F")).show()

config.set_theme(THEME.HATCH) show_swatches() signature(pair=("#B5563A", "#4F6D8F")).show()

#B5563A

#4F6D8F

#D4A64A

#4E7A5A

#A6A6A6

#7B5EA7

YlOrBr

AaHelvetica

Colour-blindness, worst pair ΔE: deutan 3.6 · protan 5.0 · tritan 2.5 · normal 8.8 · greyscale gap 0  fail

Muted¶

Indigo, cyan, sand, rose and wine from Paul Tol's muted scheme, every pair distinct for deutan, protan and tritan readers. Lines also differ by dash and scatter points by marker, bars carry black edges and the grid is dotted, so a figure survives a greyscale print.

Selected with THEME.MUTED; the full attribute set is MUTED_THEME.

In [10]:

config.set_theme(THEME.MUTED)
show_swatches()
signature(pair=("#332288", "#CC6677")).show()

config.set_theme(THEME.MUTED) show_swatches() signature(pair=("#332288", "#CC6677")).show()

#332288

#88CCEE

#DDCC77

#CC6677

#882255

YlOrBr

AaHelvetica

Colour-blindness, worst pair ΔE: deutan 17.3 · protan 10.5 · tritan 16.0 · normal 17.8 · greyscale gap 3  pass

Contrast¶

Navy, straw, dusty rose, charcoal and grey, each a clear lightness step from the next, so a photocopy still tells the series apart; bars take a hatch cycle and black edges, lines a dash cycle, scatter points a marker cycle.

Selected with THEME.CONTRAST; the full attribute set is CONTRAST_THEME.

In [11]:

config.set_theme(THEME.CONTRAST)
show_swatches()
signature(pair=("#1F4E79", "#B45C6A")).show()

config.set_theme(THEME.CONTRAST) show_swatches() signature(pair=("#1F4E79", "#B45C6A")).show()

#1F4E79

#D4B24C

#B45C6A

#2B2B2B

#9A9A9A

Cividis

AaHelvetica

Colour-blindness, worst pair ΔE: deutan 10.1 · protan 12.6 · tritan 12.1 · normal 15.3 · greyscale gap 9  pass

Illustrative¶

Hand-drawn looks for explainers, blog posts and talks, where a chart should read as a drawing rather than a measurement.

Sketch¶

Hand-drawn: wobbled paths, series lines cut out by a white halo, thick spines and lines, no grid, and the bundled Comic Neue font, so the look is the same on every machine. The wobble and halo are theme attributes applied at render time, so nothing changes in matplotlib's global settings; the halo sits under line, radial and regression lines only, and a chart's style can set plot_sketch_halo_width to 0 where many lines overlap.

Selected with THEME.SKETCH; the full attribute set is SKETCH_THEME.

In [12]:

config.set_theme(THEME.SKETCH)
show_swatches()
signature(pair=("#2E86AB", "#E4572E")).show()

config.set_theme(THEME.SKETCH) show_swatches() signature(pair=("#2E86AB", "#E4572E")).show()

#E4572E

#2E86AB

#F5B700

#7E5AAB

#76B041

YlOrRd

AaComic Neue

Colour-blindness, worst pair ΔE: deutan 4.8 · protan 7.3 · tritan 11.5 · normal 14.3 · greyscale gap 4  fail

Quill¶

Black ink on white paper, as a quill and an etching needle would draw it. There is one ink only, so series differ by line style, marker and etching, never by color. Series lines are broad-nib pen strokes whose width follows the pen's direction. Bars, areas and bodies are etched by hand instead of tiled with a hatch, with a faint ink wash under the bars and bodies. A value scale (heatmap, calendar, hexbin, filled contour) reads as steps of etch density; where a chart asks for a colorbar, a legend of the steps takes its place. Text is set in the bundled IM Fell English font, titles in its italic. Like the sketch look, every effect is a theme attribute applied at render time, so nothing changes in matplotlib's global settings.

Selected with THEME.QUILL; the full attribute set is QUILL_THEME.

In [13]:

config.set_theme(THEME.QUILL)
show_swatches()
signature(pair=("#1A120A", "#1A120A")).show()

config.set_theme(THEME.QUILL) show_swatches() signature(pair=("#1A120A", "#1A120A")).show()

#1A120A

Greys

AaIM FELL English

Colour-blindness: one ink, series differ by pattern, not colour.

---

Applying a theme replaces the whole global configuration, so remember to call config.set_theme(...) (or config.reset_config()) before building the charts it should style. See the themes how-to for customizing themes attribute by attribute.

In [14]:

config.reset_config()

config.reset_config()