matplotlib.axes.Axes.scatter#

Axes.scatter(x, y, s=None, c=None, marker=None, cmap=None, norm=None, vmin=None, vmax=None, alpha=None, linewidths=None, *, edgecolors=None, plotnonfinite=False, data=None, **kwargs)[source]#

A scatter plot of y vs. x with varying marker size and/or color.

Parameters:
x, yfloat or array-like, shape (n, )

The data positions.

sfloat or array-like, shape (n, ), optional

The marker size in points**2 (typographic points are 1/72 in.). Default is rcParams['lines.markersize'] ** 2.

carray-like or list of colors or color, optional

The marker colors. Possible values:

  • A scalar or sequence of n numbers to be mapped to colors using cmap and norm.

  • A 2D array in which the rows are RGB or RGBA.

  • A sequence of colors of length n.

  • A single color format string.

Note that c should not be a single numeric RGB or RGBA sequence because that is indistinguishable from an array of values to be colormapped. If you want to specify the same RGB or RGBA value for all points, use a 2D array with a single row. Otherwise, value-matching will have precedence in case of a size matching with x and y.

If you wish to specify a single color for all points prefer the color keyword argument.

Defaults to None. In that case the marker color is determined by the value of color, facecolor or facecolors. In case those are not specified or None, the marker color is determined by the next color of the Axes' current "shape and fill" color cycle. This cycle defaults to rcParams["axes.prop_cycle"] (default: cycler('color', ['#1f77b4', '#ff7f0e', '#2ca02c', '#d62728', '#9467bd', '#8c564b', '#e377c2', '#7f7f7f', '#bcbd22', '#17becf'])).

markerMarkerStyle, default: rcParams["scatter.marker"] (default: 'o')

The marker style. marker can be either an instance of the class or the text shorthand for a particular marker. See matplotlib.markers for more information about marker styles.

cmapstr or Colormap, default: rcParams["image.cmap"] (default: 'viridis')

The Colormap instance or registered colormap name used to map scalar data to colors.

This parameter is ignored if c is RGB(A).

normstr or Normalize, optional

The normalization method used to scale scalar data to the [0, 1] range before mapping to colors using cmap. By default, a linear scaling is used, mapping the lowest value to 0 and the highest to 1.

If given, this can be one of the following:

This parameter is ignored if c is RGB(A).

vmin, vmaxfloat, optional

When using scalar data and no explicit norm, vmin and vmax define the data range that the colormap covers. By default, the colormap covers the complete value range of the supplied data. It is an error to use vmin/vmax when a norm instance is given (but using a str norm name together with vmin/vmax is acceptable).

This parameter is ignored if c is RGB(A).

alphafloat, default: None

The alpha blending value, between 0 (transparent) and 1 (opaque).

linewidthsfloat or array-like, default: rcParams["lines.linewidth"] (default: 1.5)

The linewidth of the marker edges. Note: The default edgecolors is 'face'. You may want to change this as well.

edgecolors{'face', 'none', None} or color or sequence of color, default: rcParams["scatter.edgecolors"] (default: 'face')

The edge color of the marker. Possible values:

  • 'face': The edge color will always be the same as the face color.

  • 'none': No patch boundary will be drawn.

  • A color or sequence of colors.

For non-filled markers, edgecolors is ignored. Instead, the color is determined like with 'face', i.e. from c, colors, or facecolors.

plotnonfinitebool, default: False

Whether to plot points with nonfinite c (i.e. inf, -inf or nan). If True the points are drawn with the bad colormap color (see Colormap.set_bad).

Returns:
PathCollection
Other Parameters:
dataindexable object, optional

If given, the following parameters also accept a string s, which is interpreted as data[s] (unless this raises an exception):

x, y, s, linewidths, edgecolors, c, facecolor, facecolors, color

**kwargsCollection properties

See also

plot

To plot scatter plots when markers are identical in size and color.

Notes

  • The plot function will be faster for scatterplots where markers don't vary in size or color.

  • Any or all of x, y, s, and c may be masked arrays, in which case all masks will be combined and only unmasked points will be plotted.

  • Fundamentally, scatter works with 1D arrays; x, y, s, and c may be input as N-D arrays, but within scatter they will be flattened. The exception is c, which will be flattened only if its size matches the size of x and y.

Examples using matplotlib.axes.Axes.scatter#

Scatter plots with custom symbols

Scatter plots with custom symbols

Scatter plots with custom symbols
Scatter Demo2

Scatter Demo2

Scatter Demo2
Scatter plot with histograms

Scatter plot with histograms

Scatter plot with histograms
Scatter plots with a legend

Scatter plots with a legend

Scatter plots with a legend
Advanced quiver and quiverkey functions

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Advanced quiver and quiverkey functions
Axes box aspect

Axes box aspect

Axes box aspect
Axis Label Position

Axis Label Position

Axis Label Position
Plot a confidence ellipse of a two-dimensional dataset

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Violin plot customization

Violin plot customization

Violin plot customization
Scatter plot on polar axis

Scatter plot on polar axis

Scatter plot on polar axis
Legend Demo

Legend Demo

Legend Demo
Scatter Histogram (Locatable Axes)

Scatter Histogram (Locatable Axes)

Scatter Histogram (Locatable Axes)
``floating_axes`` features

floating_axes features

``floating_axes`` features
Rain simulation

Rain simulation

Rain simulation
Animated scatter saved as GIF

Animated scatter saved as GIF

Animated scatter saved as GIF
Pick event demo

Pick event demo

Pick event demo
Zoom Window

Zoom Window

Zoom Window
Plotting with keywords

Plotting with keywords

Plotting with keywords
Zorder Demo

Zorder Demo

Zorder Demo
Plot 2D data on 3D plot

Plot 2D data on 3D plot

Plot 2D data on 3D plot
3D scatterplot

3D scatterplot

3D scatterplot
Asinh Demo

Asinh Demo

Asinh Demo
Automatically setting tick positions

Automatically setting tick positions

Automatically setting tick positions
Unit handling

Unit handling

Unit handling
Select indices from a collection using polygon selector

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Annotate Text Arrow

Annotate Text Arrow

Annotate Text Arrow
Quick start guide

Quick start guide

Quick start guide
Animations using Matplotlib

Animations using Matplotlib

Animations using Matplotlib
Choosing Colormaps in Matplotlib

Choosing Colormaps in Matplotlib

Choosing Colormaps in Matplotlib
Annotations

Annotations

Annotations
scatter(x, y)

scatter(x, y)

scatter(x, y)
3D scatterplot

3D scatterplot

3D scatterplot