pysvgchart 0.0.10

Creates svg based charts in python

A Python package for creating and rendering SVG charts, including line charts, axes, legends, and text labels. This package supports both simple and complex chart structures and is highly customisable for various types of visualizations.

Why did I make this project

This project is designed for charts that are easily embedded into python web applications (or other web applications) with minimum fuss.

Many charting libraries rely on JavaScript-driven client-side rendering, often requiring an intermediate canvas before producing a polished visual. This package takes a different approach: it generates clean, standalone SVG charts entirely within Python. By leveraging SVG’s inherent scalability and styling flexibility, it eliminates the need for JavaScript dependencies, client-side rendering, or post-processing steps. The result is a lightweight, backend-friendly solution for producing high-quality, resolution-independent charts without sacrificing control or maintainability.

While many popular Python charting libraries focus on image-based rendering, and those that support SVG output often produce cumbersome, hard-to-customise files, this library is built with customisation at its core. Every chart element is designed to be easily modified, giving developers precise control over appearance and structure. As such, all of the lower level elements are accessible via properties of the charts.

Installation

pip install pysvgchart

Alternatively, you can clone this repository and install it locally:

git clone https://github.com/arowley-ai/py-svg-chart.git
cd py-svg-chart
pip install .

Usage

Usage depends on which chart you had in mind but each one follows similar principles.

Simple donut chart

Create a simple donut chart:

import pysvgchart as psc

values = [10, 20, 30, 40]
donut_chart = psc.DonutChart(values)
svg_string = donut_chart.render()

The following is the output of this code

Simple line chart

Create a simple line chart:

import pysvgchart as psc

 x_values = list(range(100))
 y_values = [4000]
 for i in range(99):
     y_values.append(y_values[-1] + 100 * random.randint(0, 1))

 line_chart = psc.SimpleLineChart(
     x_values=x_values,
     y_values=[y_values, [1000 + y for y in y_values]],
     y_names=['predicted', 'actual'],
     x_max_ticks=20,
     y_zero=True,
 )
 line_chart.add_grids(minor_y_ticks=4, minor_x_ticks=4)
 line_chart.add_legend()

 svg_string = line_chart.render()

The following is the output of this code

More stylised example

The following code demonstrates a heavily customised line chart example

import pysvgchart as psc

def y_labels(num):
    num = float('{:.3g}'.format(num))
    magnitude = 0
    while abs(num) >= 1000:
        magnitude += 1
        num /= 1000.0
    rtn = '{}{}'.format('{:f}'.format(num).rstrip('0').rstrip('.'), ['', 'K', 'M', 'B', 'T'][magnitude])
    return rtn.replace('.00', '').replace('.0', '')

def x_labels(date):
    return date.strftime('%b')

dates = [dt.date.today() - dt.timedelta(days=i) for i in range(500) if (dt.date.today() + dt.timedelta(days=i)).weekday() == 0]
actual = [(1 + math.sin(d.timetuple().tm_yday / 183 * math.pi)) * 50000 + 1000 * i + random.randint(-10000, 10000) for i, d in enumerate(dates)]
expected = [a + random.randint(-10000, 10000) for a in actual]
line_chart = psc.SimpleLineChart(x_values=dates, y_values=[actual, expected], y_names=['Actual sales', 'Predicted sales'], x_max_ticks=30, x_label_format=x_labels, y_label_format=y_labels, width=1200)
line_chart.series['Actual sales'].styles = {'stroke': "#DB7D33", 'stroke-width': '3'}
line_chart.series['Predicted sales'].styles = {'stroke': '#2D2D2D', 'stroke-width': '3', 'stroke-dasharray': '4,4'}
line_chart.add_legend(x_position=700, element_x=200, line_length=35, line_text_gap=20)
line_chart.add_y_grid(minor_ticks=0, major_grid_style={'stroke': '#E9E9DE'})
line_chart.x_axis.tick_lines, line_chart.y_axis.tick_lines = [], []
line_chart.x_axis.axis_line = None
line_chart.y_axis.axis_line.styles['stroke'] = '#E9E9DE'
line_end = line_chart.legend.lines[0].end
styles = {'fill': '#FFFFFF', 'stroke': '#DB7D33', 'stroke-width': '3'}
line_chart.add_custom_element(psc.Circle(x_position=line_end.x, y_position=line_end.y, radius=4, styles=styles))
line_end = line_chart.legend.lines[1].end
styles = {'fill': '#2D2D2D', 'stroke': '#2D2D2D', 'stroke-width': '3'}
line_chart.add_custom_element(psc.Circle(x_position=line_end.x, y_position=line_end.y, radius=4, styles=styles))
for limit, tick in zip(line_chart.x_axis.limits, line_chart.x_axis.tick_text):
    if tick.content == 'Jan':
        line_chart.add_custom_element(psc.Text(x_position=tick.position.x, y_position=tick.position.y + 15, content=str(limit.year), styles=tick.styles))

The following is the output of this code

Contributing

We welcome contributions! If you’d like to contribute to the project, please follow these steps:

• Fork this repository.

• Optionally, create a new branch (eg. git checkout -b feature-branch).

• Commit your changes (git commit -am ‘Add feature’).

• Push to the branch (eg. git push origin feature-branch).

• Open a pull request.

Created a neat chart?

All of the charts in the showcase folder are generated by pytest. If you create something neat that you’d like to share then see if it can be added to the test suite and it will be generated alongside other showcase examples.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.