Configuring the Font Family in Matplotlib

Introduction

In Matplotlib, it is possible to configure the font family and style used in plots and visualizations. This is useful for ensuring consistency in the appearance of text across multiple plots and for ensuring that text is legible and easy to read. In this lab, we will explore how to configure the font family and style in Matplotlib.

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Skills Graph

Choose Default Sans-Serif Font

The default font family in Matplotlib is sans-serif. We can choose to use the default font family by setting the font.family parameter to 'sans-serif'. To do this, we can use the following code:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.rcParams["font.family"] = "sans-serif"

Choose Specific Sans-Serif Font

If we want to use a specific sans-serif font, we can set the font.sans-serif parameter to a list of font names. Matplotlib will attempt to use the first font in the list that is available on the user's system. To do this, we can use the following code:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.rcParams["font.family"] = "sans-serif"
plt.rcParams["font.sans-serif"] = ["Nimbus Sans"]

Choose Default Monospace Font

The default monospace font in Matplotlib is determined by the operating system. We can choose to use the default monospace font by setting the font.family parameter to 'monospace'. To do this, we can use the following code:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.rcParams["font.family"] = "monospace"

Choose Specific Monospace Font

If we want to use a specific monospace font, we can set the font.monospace parameter to a list of font names. Matplotlib will attempt to use the first font in the list that is available on the user's system. To do this, we can use the following code:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.rcParams["font.family"] = "monospace"
plt.rcParams["font.monospace"] = ["FreeMono"]

Summary

In this lab, we learned how to configure the font family and style in Matplotlib. We explored how to choose the default sans-serif and monospace fonts, as well as how to specify specific fonts for each family. By setting these parameters, we can ensure that our plots and visualizations are legible and consistent in appearance.