[Tex/LaTex] Is there a common pgfplots styles/templates repository

pgfplotstemplates

I (try to) use the same plot layout in pgfplots everytime. I keep having to input the same details and although I do my best to cut and paste, it would be great if there were a simple set of chart types that could be used over and over again.

I know the value of pgfplots and pgfplottables is the ability to change everything and anything but most people use the same simple plots each time.

Basically, is there a simple repository/ set of templates for eg scatter plot, line plots, area charts, (no pie charts;) ), pareto plots, linked axes (like in a previous question of mine how to have linked axes on plots) and similar to this question on how to generate chart templates.

I am not requesting Excel Templates but more simpler pgfplots styles which can be selected out of the box with minimal user adjustment/interaction. By all means have the user change titles, legend, marks etc but the overall layout can be a style.

Should this be a community wiki question?

Or for some hardliners out there should it be closed immediately and removed!

EDIT:
Following the comments from @JosephWright and @ChristianFeuersaenger I have decided to add the following:

Would pgfplots users post some code of their favourite plot styles, giving the type of plot (Scatter, Bode, Pareto, Histogram, etc) and maybe a picture of it. (or at least an MWE so people can check it out themselves)

Best Answer

A template library for different plots styles would not work, because there a to many different kinds of data and ways to present the data. Futhermore the style depends on the personal taste. For example I prefer to have the ticks outside of the plot, other find it more elegant to have them inside of the plot. Next question is if the opposide axis should have ticks or not.

Coming back to your question, you do not have to repeat yourself by "copy and paste". You can define your own styles and reuse them. Hence if you change your mind or your supervisor you only have to change it in one place. Here is one example:

\documentclass{standalone}

\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.5}
\usepackage{siunitx}
\SendSettingsToPgf

% define a general plot style
\pgfplotsset{general plot/.style={ 
        xtick pos=left,
        ytick pos=left,
        enlarge x limits=false,
        minor x tick num=1,
        every x tick/.style={color=black, thin},
        every y tick/.style={color=black, thin},
        tick align=outside,
        xlabel near ticks,
        ylabel near ticks,
    } 
}

% define a plot style for absorbance
\pgfplotsset{ir absorbance/.style={
        general plot, % reuse the general plot style
        x dir= reverse,
        ytick = \empty,
        % insteed of hard coding the unit you could also use
        % the pgfplots unit library
        xlabel=Wavenumber (\si{\per\centi\metre}),
        ylabel=Absorbance (a.\,u.),
    }
}

\pgfplotsset{ir absorbance data/.style={mark=none}}

\begin{document}
    \begin{tikzpicture}
        \begin{axis}[ir absorbance,
            domain=2000:2200, samples=100 % only needed for the function plottiong
        ]
            \addplot[ir absorbance data] { % here you would have: table[...] {mydata.txt}
                exp(-((x-2080)^2/40))
            };
        \end{axis}
    \end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Example

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Draw Pareto chart with pgfplots

You can add a new plot with a different plot type by using \addplot [<plot type>] ...;.

If you want to add a line plot to a column plot, you would use \addplot [sharp plot] ...;.

If you want to keep the current color cycle uninterrupted, add a + in front of the options: \addplot +[sharp plot] ...;

To calculate the cumulated sums automatically, you can make use of the PGFplotstable package that ships with PGFplots. It allows you to save data into tables which can then be fed to PGFplots using \addplot table {<\tablemacro>}. You create the table using

\pgfplotstableread{
Answer Count
no 7
yes 3
undecided 1
}\results

where the first data line is the header that assigns the column names, and the \results is the macro the table is saved to. To create a new column that contains the cumulated results, you issue

\pgfplotstableset{
    create on use/Cumulated/.style={
        create col/expr={
            \pgfmathaccuma + \thisrow{Count}
        }
    }
}

which tells PGFplotstable that whenever you access the column Cumulated (which does not exist yet), it will automatically create a new column consisting of the sum of \pgfmathaccuma (initially empty) and the current value of Count.

In your plot, you would then just say

\addplot [sharp plot] table [y=Cumulated] {\results};

Here's the complete code:

\documentclass[11pt]{amsart}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable}

\begin{document}

\pgfplotstableread{
Answer Count
no 7
yes 3
undecided 1
}\results

\pgfplotstableset{
    create on use/Cumulated/.style={
        create col/expr={
            \pgfmathaccuma + \thisrow{Count}
        }
    }
}

\begin{tikzpicture}
  \begin{axis}[
    ybar, ymin=0,
    ylabel={\#participants},
    symbolic x coords={no,yes,undecided},
    xtick=data
    ]
    \addplot [fill=gray!30, nodes near coords] table {\results};
    \addplot [sharp plot,mark=*] table [y=Cumulated] {\results};
  \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

[Tex/LaTex] Using pgfplots, is there a way to overlay multiple stacked plots with different ranges

You can use two different axis, if you make sure they have the same xmin/xmax/ymin/ymax. As Jake pointed out, the second (and all that probably follow) axis should use the hide axis key. I would recommend adding it only when you're otherwise done, it should overlay nicely, but will probably cause artifacts for certain zoom levels of your PDF viewer or when printing.

Code

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{fullpage}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable}

\pgfplotstableread{
0 10 12
1 10 11
2 8  9
3 15 16
4 13 15
5 20 21
}\tableA

\pgfplotstableread{
2 20 23
3 19 21
4 20 22
}\tableB

\begin{document}
    \begin{center}
        \begin{tikzpicture}
            \begin{axis}
            [   stack plots=y,
                area style,
                enlarge x limits=false,
                xmin=0,
                xmax=5,
                ymin=0,
                ymax=25,
            ]
                \addplot[fill=none,draw=none] table[y expr={\thisrowno{1}}] {\tableA} \closedcycle;
                \addplot[fill=blue!30!,draw=none] table[y expr={\thisrowno{2}-\thisrowno{1}}] {\tableA} \closedcycle;

            \end{axis}
            \begin{axis}
            [   stack plots=y,
                area style,
                enlarge x limits=false,
                xmin=0,
                xmax=5,
                ymin=0,
                ymax=25,
                hide axis,
            ]
                \addplot[fill=none,draw=none] table[y expr={\thisrowno{1}}] {\tableB} \closedcycle;
                \addplot[fill=blue!30!,draw=none] table[y expr={\thisrowno{2}-\thisrowno{1}}] {\tableB} \closedcycle;

            \end{axis}
        \end{tikzpicture}
    \end{center}
\end{document}

Result

enter image description here