Metadata-Version: 1.0
Name: mpl-scatter-density
Version: 0.6
Summary: Matplotlib helpers to make density scatter plots
Home-page: https://github.com/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density
Author: Thomas Robitaille
Author-email: thomas.robitaille@gmail.com
License: BSD
Description: |Travis Status| |AppVeyor Status| |Coverage Status|
        
        About
        -----
        
        Plotting millions of points can be slow. Real slow... :sleeping:
        
        So why not use density maps? :zap:
        
        The **mpl-scatter-density** mini-package provides functionality to make it easy
        to make your own scatter density maps, both for interactive and non-interactive
        use. Fast. The following animation shows real-time interactive use with 10
        million points, but interactive performance is still good even with 100 million
        points (and more if you have enough RAM).
        
        .. image:: https://github.com/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density/raw/master/images/demo_taxi.gif
           :alt: Demo of mpl-scatter-density with NY taxi data
           :align: center
        
        When panning, the density map is shown at a lower resolution to keep things
        responsive (though this is customizable).
        
        To install, simply do::
        
            pip install mpl-scatter-density
        
        This package requires `Numpy <http://www.numpy.org>`_, `Matplotlib
        <http://www.matplotlib.org>`_, and `fast-histogram
        <https://github.com/astrofrog/fast-histogram>`_ - these will be installed
        by pip if they are missing. Both Python 2.7 and Python 3.x are supported,
        and the package should work correctly on Linux, MacOS X, and Windows.
        
        Usage
        -----
        
        There are two main ways to use **mpl-scatter-density**, both of which are
        explained below.
        
        scatter_density method
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        The easiest way to use this package is to simply import ``mpl_scatter_density``,
        then create Matplotlib axes as usual but adding a
        ``projection='scatter_density'`` option (if your reaction is 'wait, what?', see
        `here <https://github.com/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density/blob/master/README.rst#why-on-earth-have-you-defined-scatter_density-as-a-projection>`_).
        This will return a ``ScatterDensityAxes`` instance that has a
        ``scatter_density`` method in addition to all the usual methods (``scatter``,
        ``plot``, etc.).
        
        .. code:: python
        
            import numpy as np
            import mpl_scatter_density
            import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
        
            # Generate fake data
        
            N = 10000000
            x = np.random.normal(4, 2, N)
            y = np.random.normal(3, 1, N)
        
            # Make the plot - note that for the projection option to work, the
            # mpl_scatter_density module has to be imported above.
        
            fig = plt.figure()
            ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1, projection='scatter_density')
            ax.scatter_density(x, y)
            ax.set_xlim(-5, 10)
            ax.set_ylim(-5, 10)
            fig.savefig('gaussian.png')
        
        Which gives:
        
        .. image:: https://github.com/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density/raw/master/images/gaussian.png
           :alt: Result from the example script
           :align: center
        
        The ``scatter_density`` method takes the same options as ``imshow`` (for example
        ``cmap``, ``alpha``, ``norm``, etc.), but also takes the following optional
        arguments:
        
        * ``dpi``: this is an integer that is used to determine the resolution of the
          density map. By default, this is 72, but you can change it as needed, or set
          it to ``None`` to use the default for the Matplotlib backend you are using.
        
        * ``downres_factor``: this is an integer that is used to determine how much to
          downsample the density map when panning in interactive mode. Set this to 1
          if you don't want any downsampling.
        
        * ``color``: this can be set to any valid matplotlib color, and will be used
          to automatically make a monochromatic colormap based on this color. The
          colormap will fade to transparent, which means that this mode is ideal when
          showing multiple density maps together.
        
        Here is an example of using the ``color`` option:
        
        .. code:: python
        
            import numpy as np
            import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
            import mpl_scatter_density  # noqa
        
            fig = plt.figure()
            ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1, projection='scatter_density')
        
            n = 10000000
        
            x = np.random.normal(0.5, 0.3, n)
            y = np.random.normal(0.5, 0.3, n)
        
            ax.scatter_density(x, y, color='red')
        
            x = np.random.normal(1.0, 0.2, n)
            y = np.random.normal(0.6, 0.2, n)
        
            ax.scatter_density(x, y, color='blue')
        
            ax.set_xlim(-0.5, 1.5)
            ax.set_ylim(-0.5, 1.5)
        
            fig.savefig('double.png')
        
        Which produces the following output:
        
        .. image:: https://github.com/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density/raw/master/images/double.png
           :alt: Result from the example script
           :align: center
        
        ScatterDensityArtist
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        If you are a more experienced Matplotlib user, you might want to use the
        ``ScatterDensityArtist`` directly (this is used behind the scenes in the
        above example). To use this, initialize the ``ScatterDensityArtist`` with
        the axes as first argument, followed by any arguments you would have passed
        to ``scatter_density`` above (you can also take a look at the docstring for
        ``ScatterDensityArtist``). You should then add the artist to the axes:
        
        .. code:: python
        
            from mpl_scatter_density import ScatterDensityArtist
            a = ScatterDensityArtist(ax, x, y)
            ax.add_artist(a)
        
        Advanced
        --------
        
        Non-linear stretches for high dynamic range plots
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        In some cases, your density map might have a high dynamic range, and you might
        therefore want to show the log of the counts rather than the counts. You can do
        this by passing a ``matplotlib.colors.Normalize`` object to the ``norm`` argument
        in the same wasy as for ``imshow``. For example, the `astropy
        <http://www.astropy.org>`_ package includes a `nice framework
        <http://docs.astropy.org/en/stable/api/astropy.visualization.LogStretch.html#astropy.visualization.LogStretch>`_
        for making such a ``Normalize`` object for different functions. The following
        example shows how to show the density map on a log scale:
        
        .. code:: python
        
            import numpy as np
            import mpl_scatter_density
            import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
        
            # Make the norm object to define the image stretch
            from astropy.visualization import LogStretch
            from astropy.visualization.mpl_normalize import ImageNormalize
            norm = ImageNormalize(vmin=0., vmax=1000, stretch=LogStretch())
        
            N = 10000000
            x = np.random.normal(4, 2, N)
            y = np.random.normal(3, 1, N)
        
            fig = plt.figure()
            ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1, projection='scatter_density')
            ax.scatter_density(x, y, norm=norm)
            ax.set_xlim(-5, 10)
            ax.set_ylim(-5, 10)
            fig.savefig('gaussian_log.png')
        
        Which produces the following output:
        
        .. image:: https://github.com/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density/raw/master/images/gaussian_log.png
           :alt: Result from the example script
           :align: center
        
        Adding a colorbar
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        You can show a colorbar in the same way as you would for an image - the
        following example shows how to do it:
        
        .. code:: python
        
            import numpy as np
            import mpl_scatter_density
            import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
        
            N = 10000000
            x = np.random.normal(4, 2, N)
            y = np.random.normal(3, 1, N)
        
            fig = plt.figure()
            ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1, projection='scatter_density')
            density = ax.scatter_density(x, y)
            ax.set_xlim(-5, 10)
            ax.set_ylim(-5, 10)
            fig.colorbar(density, label='Number of points per pixel')
            fig.savefig('gaussian_colorbar.png')
        
        Which produces the following output:
        
        .. image:: https://github.com/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density/raw/master/images/gaussian_colorbar.png
           :alt: Result from the example script
           :align: center
        
        Color-coding 'markers' with individual values
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        In the same way that a 1-D array of values can be passed to Matplotlib's
        ``scatter`` function/method, a 1-D array of values can be passed to
        ``scatter_density`` using the ``c=`` argument:
        
        .. code:: python
        
            import numpy as np
            import mpl_scatter_density
            import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
        
            N = 10000000
            x = np.random.normal(4, 2, N)
            y = np.random.normal(3, 1, N)
            c = x - y + np.random.normal(0, 5, N)
        
            fig = plt.figure()
            ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1, projection='scatter_density')
            ax.scatter_density(x, y, c=c, vmin=-10, vmax=+10, cmap=plt.cm.RdYlBu)
            ax.set_xlim(-5, 13)
            ax.set_ylim(-5, 11)
            fig.savefig('gaussian_color_coded.png')
        
        Which produces the following output:
        
        .. image:: https://github.com/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density/raw/master/images/gaussian_color_coded.png
           :alt: Result from the example script
           :align: center
        
        Note that to keep performance as good as possible, the values from the ``c``
        attribute are averaged inside each pixel of the density map, then the colormap
        is applied. This is a little different to what ``scatter`` would converge to in
        the limit of many points (since in that case it would apply the color to all the
        markers than average the colors).
        
        Q&A
        ---
        
        Isn't this basically the same as datashader?
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        This follows the same ideas as
        `datashader <https://github.com/bokeh/datashader>`_, but the aim of
        mpl-scatter-density is specifically to bring datashader-like functionality to
        Matplotlib users. Furthermore, mpl-scatter-density is intended to be very easy
        to install - for example it can be installed with pip. But if you have
        datashader installed and regularly use bokeh, mpl-scatter-density won't do much
        for you. Note that if you are interested in datashader and Matplotlib together,
        there is a work in progress (`pull request
        <https://github.com/bokeh/datashader/pull/200>`_) by **@tacaswell** to create a
        Matplotlib artist similar to that in this package but powered by datashader.
        
        What about vaex?
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        `Vaex <http://vaex.astro.rug.nl>`_ is a powerful package to
        visualize large datasets on N-dimensional grids, and therefore has some
        functionality that overlaps with what is here. However, the aim of
        mpl-scatter-density is just to provide a lightweight solution to make
        it easy for users already using Matplotlib
        to add scatter density maps to their plots rather than provide a complete
        environment for data visualization. I highly recommend that you take a look
        at Vaex and determine which approach is right for you!
        
        Why on earth have you defined scatter_density as a projection?
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        If you are a Matplotlib developer: I truly am sorry for distorting the intended
        purpose of ``projection`` :blush:. But you have to admit that it's a pretty
        convenient way to have users get a custom Axes sub-class even if it has nothing
        to do with actual projection!
        
        Where do you see this going?
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        There are a number of things we could add to this package, for example a way to
        plot density maps as contours, or a way to color code each point by a third
        quantity and have that reflected in the density map. If you have ideas, please
        open issues, and even better contribute a pull request! :smile:
        
        Can I contribute?
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        I'm glad you asked - of course you are very welcome to contribute! If you have
        some ideas, you can open issues or create a pull request directly. Even if you
        don't have time to contribute actual code changes, I would love to hear from you
        if you are having issues using this package.
        
        .. |Travis Status| image:: https://travis-ci.org/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density.svg?branch=master
           :target: https://travis-ci.org/astrofrog/fast-histogram
        
        .. |AppVeyor Status| image:: https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/9a75dpq2489y9fig/branch/master?svg=true
           :target: https://ci.appveyor.com/project/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density
        
        .. |Coverage Status| image:: https://codecov.io/gh/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density/branch/master/graph/badge.svg
          :target: https://codecov.io/gh/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density
          
        Running tests
        -------------
        
        To run the tests, you will need `pytest <https://docs.pytest.org/en/latest/>`_
        and the `pytest-mpl <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pytest-mpl>`_ plugin. You can
        then run the tests with::
        
            pytest mpl_scatter_density --mpl
        
Platform: UNKNOWN
