Markers
You can use the keyword argument marker
to emphasize each point with a specified marker:
Example
Mark each point with a circle:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])
plt.plot(ypoints, marker = ‘o’)
plt.show()
Result:

Example
Mark each point with a star:
…
plt.plot(ypoints, marker = ‘*’)
…
Result:

Marker Reference
You can choose any of these markers:
Marker | Description |
---|---|
‘o’ | Circle |
‘*’ | Star |
‘.’ | Point |
‘,’ | Pixel |
‘x’ | X |
‘X’ | X (filled) |
‘+’ | Plus |
‘P’ | Plus (filled) |
‘s’ | Square |
‘D’ | Diamond |
‘d’ | Diamond (thin) |
‘p’ | Pentagon |
‘H’ | Hexagon |
‘h’ | Hexagon |
‘v’ | Triangle Down |
‘^’ | Triangle Up |
‘<‘ | Triangle Left |
‘>’ | Triangle Right |
‘1’ | Tri Down |
‘2’ | Tri Up |
‘3’ | Tri Left |
‘4’ | Tri Right |
‘|’ | Vline |
‘_’ | Hline |
Format Strings fmt
You can use also use the shortcut string notation parameter to specify the marker.
This parameter is also called fmt
, and is written with this syntax:marker|line|color
Example
Mark each point with a circle:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])
plt.plot(ypoints, ‘o:r’)
plt.show()
Result:

The marker value can be anything from the Marker Reference above.
The line value can be one of the following:
Line Reference
Line Syntax | Description |
---|---|
‘-‘ | Solid line |
‘:’ | Dotted line |
‘–‘ | Dashed line |
‘-.’ | Dashed/dotted line |
Note: If you leave out the line value in the fmt parameter, no line will be plotted.
The short color value can be one of the following:
Color Reference
Color Syntax | Description |
---|---|
‘r’ | Red |
‘g’ | Green |
‘b’ | Blue |
‘c’ | Cyan |
‘m’ | Magenta |
‘y’ | Yellow |
‘k’ | Black |
‘w’ | White |
Marker Size
You can use the keyword argument markersize
or the shorter version, ms
to set the size of the markers:
Example
Set the size of the markers to 20:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])
plt.plot(ypoints, marker = ‘o’, ms = 20)
plt.show()
Result:

Marker Color
You can use the keyword argument markeredgecolor
or the shorter mec
to set the color of the edge of the markers:
Example
Set the EDGE color to red:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])
plt.plot(ypoints, marker = ‘o’, ms = 20, mec = ‘r’)
plt.show()
Result:

You can use the keyword argument markerfacecolor
or the shorter mfc
to set the color inside the edge of the markers:
Example
Set the FACE color to red:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])
plt.plot(ypoints, marker = ‘o’, ms = 20, mfc = ‘r’)
plt.show()
Result:

Use both the mec
and mfc
arguments to color of the entire marker:
Example
Set the color of both the edge and the face to red:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ypoints = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])
plt.plot(ypoints, marker = ‘o’, ms = 20, mec = ‘r’, mfc = ‘r’)
plt.show()
Result:

You can also use Hexadecimal color values:
Example
Mark each point with a beautiful green color:
…
plt.plot(ypoints, marker = ‘o’, ms = 20, mec = ‘#4CAF50’, mfc = ‘#4CAF50’)
…
Result:

Or any of the 140 supported color names.
Example
Mark each point with the color named “hotpink”:
…
plt.plot(ypoints, marker = ‘o’, ms = 20, mec = ‘hotpink’, mfc = ‘hotpink’)
…
Result:
