Getting xkcd plots using matplotlib

Question

The current version of matplotlib (1.3.1) supports xkcd-style plotting, but when I follow the basic instructions for generating such a plot (in iPython 1.1.0),

%pylab
plt.xkcd()
plt.plot(sin(linspace(0, 10)))
plt.title('Whoo Hoo!!!')

I get

enter image description here

instead of

enter image description here

What am I doing wrong?

Relevant? "Also, if you want to have the font match above, be sure to download and install the Humor Sans font on your system. For matplotlib to recognize it, you may have to remove the font cache, found on your system" — jbabey
– jbabey, Commented Oct 29, 2013 at 16:33
@jabey: Doh! How did I miss that? Is there a current recommended version to get (the link is dead). Also, the missing font alone can't explain the lines, which don't seem to be xkcdified. — orome
– orome, Commented Oct 29, 2013 at 16:39
What backend are you using for matplotlib? You can check with plt.get_backend(). Try setting it to a *Agg backend, such as Qt4Agg if you have Qt4 installed. You can also use the 'inline' backend with pylab if you're in an ipython notebook. e: see this issue: github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/2269 — aganders3
– aganders3, Commented Oct 29, 2013 at 17:15
the plt.xkcd command takes a number of parameters to tune the amount of manipulation it performs. see it's docstring for more info. — Paul H
– Paul H, Commented Oct 29, 2013 at 17:19
@aganders3: MacOSX. I can't switch to qt because that leads me into all kinds of bugs trying to install sip. — orome
– orome, Commented Oct 29, 2013 at 17:28

Piotr Migdal · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-02 12:54:16Z

20

To get it working, you need

matplotlib 1.3.1 (it won't work with matplotlib 1.3.0 or earlier)
- sudo pip install matplotlib --upgrade
font Humor Sans
- download from here or here, install (on OS X you open it and click Install)
remove the matplotlib font cache (as suggested by DanHickstein in matplotlib/issues/2269)
- rm ~/.matplotlib/fontList.cache

Now, execute the code and it should work.

You do not need to change backend to TkAgg, as some people suggest. For me it works perfectly fine on 'module://IPython.kernel.zmq.pylab.backend_inline' (you can check it by plt.get_backend()).

(I had the same problem and I've solved it, at least on OS X 10.8.5, with matplotlib 1.3.1 and IPython 2.0.0; removing font cache was necessary to get the font running.)

answered Apr 2, 2014 at 12:54

Piotr Migdal

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6 Comments

Mark Over a year ago

For matplotlib 1.3.1 on Ubuntu 14.04, the cache is in ~/.cache/matplotlib (not sure when that changed) and deleting it is indeed vital.

dranxo Over a year ago

Same is true for matplotlib 1.4.2 on Ubuntu 12.04

liuyang1 Over a year ago

maybe also /tmp/xdgcache/matplotlib directory in 1.4.2 version

bastelflp Over a year ago

matplotlib font cache on Win7: %userprofile%\.matplotlib\fontList.cache - source

Svaberg Over a year ago

I also had to delete fontList.py3k.cache.

|

Christoffer Möckelind · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-12 15:37:08Z

4

Using ubuntu 16.04 and python 3, with matplotlib 2.0.0 installed the following fixes the problem for me.

Install Comic sans: sudo apt install fonts-humor-sans
Remove matplotlib cache: rm ~/.cache/matplotlib -r

edited Jun 12, 2018 at 15:37

answered Mar 21, 2018 at 14:17

Christoffer Möckelind

613 bronze badges

Comments

Raimundo Jimenez · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-19 17:22:20Z

1

Make sure you have fonts-humor-sans installed.

In Ubuntu/Debian, you can install them with (from the command-line):

$ sudo apt install python3-xkcd fonts-humor-sans

Then the best option (instead of deleting the matplotlib cache) is to rebuild the font manager (from within the Python interpreter, script or Jupyter notebook):

import matplotlib
matplotlib.font_manager._rebuild()

edited Dec 19, 2020 at 17:22

answered Dec 19, 2020 at 16:58

Raimundo Jimenez

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Comments

jbabey · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-29 16:43:07Z

0

From the blog post you linked:

Also, if you want to have the font match above, be sure to download and install the Humor Sans font on your system. For matplotlib to recognize it, you may have to remove the font cache...

As far as which version of the font to download, I would try the most current.

answered Oct 29, 2013 at 16:43

jbabey

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5 Comments

orome Over a year ago

See edited comment above: I've got the font now, but the lines are still not xkcdified.

jbabey Over a year ago

@raxacoricofallapatorius are you using the right version of matplotlib?

orome Over a year ago

I think so: added version number to question.

jbabey Over a year ago

@raxacoricofallapatorius no idea then, never written anything in python before, just thought it might be the missing font :P

bastelflp Over a year ago

@raxacoricofallapatorius: The matplptlib font cache has to be cleared after the font is installed: stackoverflow.com/questions/26085867/matplotlib-font-not-found/…

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