.. _pgf-tutorial:

Typesetting With XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX

Using the ``pgf`` backend, matplotlib can export figures as pgf drawing commands

that can be processed with pdflatex, xelatex or lualatex. XeLaTeX and LuaLaTeX

have full unicode support and can use any fonts installed in the operating

system, making use of advanced typographic features of OpenType, AAT and

Graphite. Pgf pictures created by ``plt.savefig('figure.pgf')`` can be

embedded as raw commands in LaTeX documents. Figures can also be directly

compiled and saved to PDF with ``plt.savefig('figure.pdf')``.

Matplotlib's pgf support requires a working LaTeX_ installation (such as

TeXLive_), preferably including XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX. If pdftocairo or

ghostscript is installed, figures can optionally be saved to PNG images.

The executables for all applications must be located on your :envvar:`PATH`.

Rc parameters that control the behavior of the pgf backend:

Parameter Documentation

pgf.preamble Lines to be included in the LaTeX preamble

pgf.rcfonts Setup fonts from rc params using the fontspec package

pgf.texsystem Either "xelatex", "lualatex" or "pdflatex"

.. note::

TeX defines a set of secial characters, such as::

Generally, these characters must be escaped correctly. For convenience,

some characters (_,^,%) are automatically escaped outside of math

environments.

.. _pgf-rcfonts:

Font specification

The fonts used for obtaining the size of text elements or when compiling

figures to PDF are usually defined in the matplotlib rc parameters. You can

also use the LaTeX default Computer Modern fonts by clearing the lists for

``font.serif``, ``font.sans-serif`` or ``font.monospace``. Please note that

the glyph coverage of these fonts is very limited. For extended unicode support

the `Computer Modern Unicode <http://sourceforge.net/projects/cm-unicode/>`_

fonts "CMU Serif", "CMU Sans Serif" are recommended.

.. literalinclude:: plotting/examples/pgf_fonts.py

:end-before: plt.savefig

.. image:: plotting/examples/pgf_fonts.*

.. _pgf-preamble:

Custom preamble

Full customization is possible by adding your own commands to the preamble.

Use the ``pgf.preamble`` parameter if you want to configure the math fonts or

for loading additional packages. Also, if you want to do the font configuration

yourself instead of using the fonts specified in the rc parameters, make sure

to disable ``pgf.rcfonts``.

.. htmlonly::

.. literalinclude:: plotting/examples/pgf_preamble.py

:end-before: plt.savefig

.. latexonly::

.. literalinclude:: plotting/examples/pgf_preamble.py

:end-before: import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

.. image:: plotting/examples/pgf_preamble.*

.. _pgf-texsystem:

Choosing the TeX system

The TeX system to be used by matplotlib is chosen by the ``pgf.texsystem``

parameter. Possible values are ``'xelatex'`` (default), ``'lualatex'`` and

``'pdflatex'``. Please note that when selecting pdflatex the fonts and

unicode handling must be configured in the preamble.

.. literalinclude:: plotting/examples/pgf_texsystem.py

:end-before: plt.savefig

.. image:: plotting/examples/pgf_texsystem.*

.. _pgf-hangups:

Possible hangups

* On Windows, the :envvar:`PATH` environment variable may need to be modified

to include the directories containing the latex, dvipng and ghostscript

executables. See :ref:`environment-variables` and

:ref:`setting-windows-environment-variables` for details.

* Sometimes the font rendering in figures that are saved to png images is

very bad. This happens when the pdftocairo tool is not available and

ghostscript is used for the pdf to png conversion.

.. _pgf-troubleshooting:

Troubleshooting

* Make sure what you are trying to do is possible in a LaTeX document,

that your LaTeX syntax is valid and that you are using raw strings

if necessary to avoid unintended escape sequences.

* The ``pgf.preamble`` rc setting provides lots of flexibility, and lots of

ways to cause problems. When experiencing problems, try to minimalize or

disable the custom preamble before reporting problems.

* If you still need help, please see :ref:`reporting-problems`

.. _LaTeX: http://www.tug.org

.. _TeXLive: http://www.tug.org/texlive/

import matplotlib as mpl

mpl.use("pgf")

pgf_with_rc_fonts = {

"font.family": "serif",

"font.serif": [], # use latex default serif font

"font.sans-serif": ["DejaVu Sans"], # use a specific sans-serif font

}

mpl.rcParams.update(pgf_with_rc_fonts)

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.figure(figsize=(4.5,2.5))

plt.plot(range(5))

plt.text(0.5, 3., "serif")

plt.text(0.5, 2., "monospace", family="monospace")

plt.text(2.5, 2., "sans-serif", family="sans-serif")

plt.text(2.5, 1., "comic sans", family="Comic Sans MS")

plt.xlabel(u"µ is not $\\mu$")

plt.tight_layout(.5)

plt.savefig("pgf_fonts.pdf")

plt.savefig("pgf_fonts.png")

import matplotlib as mpl

mpl.use("pgf")

pgf_with_custom_preamble = {

"font.family": "serif", # use serif/main font for text elements

"text.usetex": True, # use inline math for ticks

"pgf.rcfonts": False, # don't setup fonts from rc parameters

"pgf.preamble": [

r"\usepackage{units}", # load additional packages

r"\usepackage{metalogo}", # load additional packages

r"\usepackage{unicode-math}", # unicode math setup

r"\setmathfont{XITS Math}",

r"\setmainfont{DejaVu Serif}", # font setup via preamble

]

}

mpl.rcParams.update(pgf_with_custom_preamble)

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.figure(figsize=(4.5,2.5))

plt.plot(range(5))

plt.xlabel(u"unicode text: я, ψ, €, ü, \\unitfrac[10]{°}{µm}")

plt.ylabel(u"\\XeLaTeX")

plt.legend([u"unicode math: $λ=∑_i^∞ μ_i^2$"])

plt.tight_layout(.5)

plt.savefig("pgf_preamble.pdf")

plt.savefig("pgf_preamble.png")