matplotedit 1.0.0

Save Matplotlib figures as editable .mpe desktop files.

MatPlotEdit

Editable MATLAB .fig-style desktop files for Matplotlib.

matplotedit.save(fig, "plot.mpe") stores the Matplotlib figure as a portable JSON schema. matplotedit open plot.mpe launches a PyQt6 desktop editor where you can pan/zoom, edit titles, labels, limits, scales, trace colors, visibility, and export to PNG/SVG/PDF.

Install

From PyPI:

pip install matplotedit

From this folder:

pip install -e .

If PyQt6 is not already installed, the command above installs it with the package dependencies.

Save A Figure

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotedit

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(8, 5))
ax.plot([1, 2, 3, 4], [2, 4, 1, 6], label="Series A", color="#e94560")
ax.scatter([1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 3, 5, 2], label="Points", color="#0f8fff")
ax.set_title("Demo")
ax.set_xlabel("X")
ax.set_ylabel("Y")
ax.legend()
ax.grid(True)

matplotedit.save(fig, "demo.mpe", open_after=True)

Open A File

matplotedit open demo.mpe

or:

import matplotedit
matplotedit.open_viewer("demo.mpe")

Inspect Metadata

matplotedit info demo.mpe

Desktop Editor Features

• Matplotlib navigation toolbar: pan, zoom, reset, configure, save image.
• Figure editor: title, size, DPI, background color.
• Figure size controls include numeric inputs and sliders for width, height, and DPI.
• Selected plot box controls let you resize/reposition the active subplot and change that subplot's background color independently. The active plot is shown and selectable directly in the Figure tab.
• Axes editor: title, X/Y labels, X/Y limits, linear/log scales, grid toggle, font family, tick font size, title font size, label font size, and explicit X/Y tick values.
• Axis label position controls let you move the X/Y labels in axes coordinates.
• Grid editor: major grid, minor grid, color, alpha, line style, and line width.
• Legend editor: visibility, title, font family, font size, frame, location, and X/Y anchor. Legends are also draggable inside the figure. A dragged legend keeps priority across redraws and figure-size edits until you choose Use Code Location.
• Trace editor: label, color, line width, alpha, visibility.
• Marker editor: marker type, size, fill color, edge color, edge width, and marker alpha for line/scatter plots.
• Line/patch editor: line style, draw style, line width, bar edge color, and bar hatch where those properties apply.
• Text editor: add/delete custom text with data-position, font family, font size, color, rotation, visibility, and direct dragging in the plot.
• Default text styling is Times New Roman, 18 pt for generic Matplotlib fonts.
• Data inspector: hover near a point to read X/Y values, click near a point to pin a callout on the figure. Line, scatter, and bar data are supported.
• Zoom out: use the toolbar Home button, the toolbar Back button, or View > Reset View / Zoom Back.
• Direct editing: double-click an axes title, X label, Y label, tick label, or legend to jump to the matching editor field.
• Figure-layout pan: View > Pan Figure Layout moves all axes boxes together.
• File menu: open, save, save as, export PNG/SVG/PDF.

Test Everything

python test_all_plots.py
python test_plot_types_separate.py
matplotedit open MatPlotEdit_all_plots.mpe
matplotedit open MatPlotEdit_matlab_style.mpe

Backward Compatibility

Older .mpe files created as self-contained HTML still load. The new default format is JSON because it is better suited to a desktop app.

To keep generating the old browser file:

matplotedit.save_html(fig, "demo.html")
# or
matplotedit.save(fig, "demo.mpe", legacy_html=True)

Supported Plot Types

Matplotlib call	Desktop rendering
ax.plot()	Line
ax.scatter()	Scatter
ax.bar()	Bar
ax.imshow()	Image
ax.annotate()	Annotation
Multiple axes	Multiple Matplotlib axes

Build A Windows App

Install PyInstaller:

pip install pyinstaller

Build an executable launcher:

python -m PyInstaller --name MatPlotEdit --windowed --collect-all PyQt6 --collect-all matplotlib matplotedit\__main__.py

The executable will be created under dist\matplotedit.