Plot Types

SpectroChemPy provides several plotting methods. ds.plot() chooses automatically, but explicit methods give you control.

Line Plot

For spectra and time-series:

[1]:

import spectrochempy as scp

ds = scp.read("irdata/nh4y-activation.spg")
ds = ds[:, 4000.0:650.0]  # We keep only the region that we want to display
ds.y -= ds.y[0]  # Set y coordinates as relative time  for better visualization
ds.y.ito("hour")
ds.y.title = "Time on stream"  # Update y-axis title accordingly
ds[:, 1290.0:920.0] = scp.MASKED  # We also mask a region that we do not want to display
ds1 = ds[0]  # Single spectrum

[2]:

_ = ds1.plot()

../../_images/userguide_plotting_plot_types_3_0.png

Or using plot_lines() explicitly (canonical form):

[3]:

_ = ds.plot_lines()

../../_images/userguide_plotting_plot_types_5_0.png

Image Plot

For 2D data where both axes are numerical:

[4]:

_ = ds.plot_image()

../../_images/userguide_plotting_plot_types_7_0.png

Image plots automatically include a colorbar:

[5]:

_ = ds.plot_image(colorbar=True)

../../_images/userguide_plotting_plot_types_9_0.png

Hide the colorbar if needed:

[6]:

_ = ds.plot_image(colorbar=False)

../../_images/userguide_plotting_plot_types_11_0.png

Contour Plot

For continuous data with smooth transitions:

[7]:

_ = ds.plot_contour()

../../_images/userguide_plotting_plot_types_13_0.png

Contour plots also support colorbars:

[8]:

_ = ds.plot_contour(colorbar=True)

../../_images/userguide_plotting_plot_types_15_0.png

Decision Guide

Method	Use When
`plot()` / `plot_lines()`	Showing spectra, time series, or stacked traces
`plot_image()`	2D field with spatial x/y axes
`plot_contour()`	Smooth visualization of continuous 2D data
`plot_surface()`	3D perspective view of 2D data
`plot_waterfall()`	3D-style waterfall representation

Surface Plot

For a 3D perspective view of 2D data:

[9]:

_ = ds.plot_surface(y_reverse=True, linewidth=0)

../../_images/userguide_plotting_plot_types_18_0.png

Waterfall Plot

For a waterfall-style representation:

[10]:

_ = ds.plot_waterfall(y_reverse=True, figsize=(6, 5))

../../_images/userguide_plotting_plot_types_20_0.png

Combining with Options

All plot methods accept the same customization options:

[11]:

_ = ds.plot_image(
    cmap="plasma",
    xlim=(2000, 1300),
    ylim=(1, 5),
)

../../_images/userguide_plotting_plot_types_22_0.png

The appropriate method is chosen automatically when you call ds.plot(), but explicit methods make your intent clear and provide specific functionality.

Deprecated Method Names

The following method names are deprecated but still work:

Deprecated	Current (Canonical)
`plot_stack()`	`plot_lines()`
`plot_map()`	`plot_contour()`
`plot(method="image")`	`plot_image()` or `plot_contourf()`

Using the canonical names is recommended for new code.