format.md

File format

One important rule at the beginning: always use vector formats for your plots. What possibilities we have (among others)?

• EPS - Often seen in tutorials, however, it has some considerable disadvantages. If using eps for a document which is intended to be compiled into pdf, then the tool (pdftex, pdflatex, xelatex) must first do a conversion and this is not without problems.
• SVG - Good vector format, but suitable for web pages and similar use cases.
• PDF - Portable and widely used binary format which supports vector graphics. Straightforward integration with PDF generating tools (such a surprise!). Good choice.
• PGF - A low-level language for describing vector graphics, well-supported in LaTeX. Although with complex figures, compilation can go slow, this can be a good option as it better integrates with LaTeX compilation (fonts, etc.). And subjectively, it feels more cleaner to include a graphics script than a binary file.

PDF

Figure script:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.rcParams({'text.usetex': True, 'text.latex.unicode': True}) # optionally font of your document

fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1)
ax.plot([1, 3, 1])
ax.set_xlabel(r'$x_i$')  # `r` prefix is used to preserve escape sequences to be processed by LaTeX itself
fig.savefig('image.pdf')

LaTeX source:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{graphicx}

\begin{document}
  \begin{figure}
    \includegraphics{image}
    \caption{Image}
  \end{figure}
\end{document}

See further

• Documentation

PGF

Figure script:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# rcParams: pgf.texsystem defaults to 'xelatex', you might want to set it to 'luatex' or 'pdflatex'

fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1)
ax.plot([1, 3, 1])
ax.set_xlabel(r'$x_i$')  # `r` prefix is used to preserve escape sequences to be processed by LaTeX itself
fig.savefig('image.pgf')

LaTeX source:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{pgf}

\begin{document}
  \begin{figure}
    \input{image.pgf}
    \caption{Image}
  \end{figure}
\end{document}

See further

• Documentation

Notes

These basic templates work for basic usage. If you need something more advanced (like specific LaTeX packages), you need to appropriately set text.latex.preamble or pgf.preamble, respectively.