my-mpl-style

Two small helpers that give matplotlib figures a publication-ready look: plot_rc() sets a consistent rcParams preset (serif fonts, Computer Modern math, a MATLAB-like colour cycle, optional grid and inward ticks), and ax_setting3D() turns a 3D axes into a clean orthographic box.

Installation

pip install my-mpl-style

Requires Python 3.10+ and matplotlib 3.5+.

Quick start

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from my_mpl_style import plot_rc

plot_rc(grid=True)

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot([0, 1, 2], [0, 1, 4], label="data")
ax.set(xlabel="$x$", ylabel="$y$")
ax.legend(frameon=False)
plt.show()

3D axes

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
from my_mpl_style import ax_setting3D

a = np.linspace(-1, 1, 200)
x, y = np.meshgrid(a, a)
z = np.sin(np.pi * x) * np.exp(y)

fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection="3d")
ax.plot_surface(x, y, z, linewidth=0, antialiased=True)
ax_setting3D(ax, (-1, 1), (-1, 1), (z.min(), z.max()), box_aspect=(1, 1, 1))
plt.show()

API

plot_rc(grid=False, tick_direction="out", tick_right=False, tick_top=False)

Updates the global matplotlib.rcParams, so it affects every figure created afterwards.

ax_setting3D(ax, xlim, ylim, zlim, aspect="equal", box_aspect=None, xticks_pad=-5, yticks_pad=-5, zticks_pad=0)

Makes the panes transparent, thins the grid and tick marks, aligns the tick labels next to their axes, and draws the grey back edge of the box.

Development

python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\activate          # Windows
pip install -e ".[dev]"

pytest
python examples/demo.py          # regenerate docs/images/demo.png
python -m build
twine check dist/*

License

MIT © 2026 chengtau