Plot

Wolfram Kernel

Execution environment

A Swiss knife for displaying 2D data

Plot[expr_, {variable, min, max, step}, opts__]

has HoldFirst attribute. See the list of supported options (opts) down below

Options

PlotStyle

Works as in Mathematica, i.e. per element in expr array, supports color, opacity and etc

Plot[Table[x^y, {y, 6}]//Evaluate, {x, 0,1}, PlotStyle->Table[Blend[{Red, Blue}, i/6], {i, 6}]]

AxesLabel

Place labels on your axes

Plot[Sinc[x], {x, 0, 10}, AxesLabel -> {"x", "Sinc[x]"}]

Labels accepts only strings or numbers unlike Mathematica, where you can put everything.

Since it is translated into Text, one can use sort of TeX math input

Plot[PDF[NormalDistribution[0, 1], x], {x, -10, 10}, AxesLabel -> {"wavenumber (cm^{-1})", "absorption \\alpha"}, PlotRange->Full]

It also supports absolute positioning using offset

Plot[PDF[NormalDistribution[0, 1], x], {x, -10, 10}, AxesLabel -> {"wavenumber (cm^{-1})", {"absorption \\alpha", {112,0}}}, PlotRange->Full]

Ticks

Customize ticks by providing an array of numbers for both axes

Plot[x, {x, 0, 1}, Ticks->{{0, 0.5, 1}, {}}]

Or by providing as pairs {Number, String} one can specify the displayed text

Plot[x, {x, 0, 1}, Ticks->{{{0, "Zero"}, {0.5, "Half"}, {1,"One"}}, {}}]

Controls 💛

This is more an option for Graphics, but with a bit of a hacking it can be used here as well. The features allows to pan and zoom your plots, that was never possible in Mathematica

Plot[Sin[1/x], {x, 0.001, 0.1}, MaxRecursion->1];
Insert[%, Controls->True, {2,-1}]

Try to use your mouse here

Frame

Turns plot into the journals-like styled graph. In general it has much more options to customize the look

Plot[x, {x, 0, 1}, Frame->True]

FrameTicks

The same as Ticks, but for this regime.

FrameLabel

The same as AxesLabel

Plot[x, {x, 0, 1}, Frame->True, FrameLabel->{
	"x-axis", 
	"y-axis"
}]

one can specify an absolute offset for a label by wrapping it into a list

Plot[x, {x, 0, 1}, Frame->True, FrameLabel->{
	"x-axis", 
	{"y-axis", {0,50}}
}]

FrameStyle

Affects the style of FrameLabels. Use Directive for changing the style

Plot[x, {x, 0, 1}, Frame->True, FrameLabel->{"x-axis", "y-axis"}, FrameStyle->Directive[FontSize->16]]

FrameTicksStyle

Affects the style of FrameTicks

Plot[x, {x, 0, 1}, Frame->True, FrameLabel->{"x-axis", "y-axis"}, FrameTicksStyle->Directive[FontSize->16]]

TickLabels

info

Since Plot options are hardcoded in WL core, we cannot add new options, however using trick with Insert any values can be provided to the resulting Graphics expression

To remove unnecessary ticks, use

Plot[x, {x, 0, 1}, Frame->True];
Insert[%, "TickLabels"->{{True, False}, {True, False}}, {2,-1}]

ClippingStyle

Show the clipped regions like the rest of the curve and colored

Plot[Sin[x]/x^2, {x, -10, 10}, ClippingStyle -> Red]

Filling

Fill the area under, over of between curves

Plot[Evaluate[Table[BesselJ[n, x], {n, 4}]], {x, 0, 10}, Filling -> Axis]

Possible options will be

• Bottom
• Top
• {1 -> {2}} from curve 1 to 2

Baseline

Align graphs by the $x$ axis in each plot:

{Plot[Im[Zeta[1/2 + I t]], {t, -20, 20}, BaselinePosition -> Axis], 
 Plot[Re[Zeta[1/2 + I t]], {t, -20, 20}, BaselinePosition -> Axis]} // Row

Epilog

Puts any graphics object on top of the data plotted

Plot[Sin[x], {x, 0, 2 Pi}, Epilog -> {PointSize[0.04], Point[{0, 0}], Point[{Pi, 0}], Point[{2 Pi, 0}]}]

It opens up many possibilities, since it provides low-level access to the Graphics canvas.

Prolog

The same as Epilog, but acts before plotting the data.

ExclusionsStyle

Use red lines to indicate the vertical asymptotes

Plot[Tan[x], {x, 0, 10}, Exclusions -> {Cos[x] == 0}, 
 ExclusionsStyle -> Red]

ImageSize

A common option for any graphics

ImageSize -> Width

or

ImageSize -> {Width, Height}

It uses pixels as units

MaxReqursion

Affects the accuracy of the plot when it comes to the sudden changes of a sampled function

Plot[Sin[1/x], {x, 0.001, 0.1}, MaxRecursion->1]

The lowest values is 0

Mesh

Shows sampling points

Plot[Sin[1/x], {x, 0.001, 0.1}, Mesh -> All]

PeformanceGoal

Affects the number of sampling points to reduce the load

• "Speed"
• "Quality"

PlotPoints

Change the initial sampling points

• a number

PlotLegends

Is quite limited. Accepts Automatic, "Expressions" or List of expressions to show

PlotRange

Change the lot range to show the whole area

Plot[Sqrt[x], {x, -5, 5}, PlotRange -> Full]

Or a custom range

Plot[Sqrt[x], {x, -5, 5}, PlotRange -> {{-5,5}, {0,1}}]

RegionFunction

Show the specific area only

Plot[Sin[x], {x, 0, 8 Pi}, RegionFunction -> Function[{x, y}, Abs[y] > 0.5]]

Axes

caution

Currently is not supported by Graphics ;(

Show or hide axes of the plot

Plot[Sinc[x], {x, 0, 10}, Axes -> False]

Dynamics

Consider to use ManipulatePlot for manipulating parameters of a function in real time