install.md

Install

First, add the package:

import Pkg
Pkg.add("Plots")

# if you want the latest features:
Pkg.pkg"add Plots#master"

The GR [backend](@ref backends) is included by default, but you can install additional plotting packages if you need a different backend.

Tier 1 support backends (in alphabetical order):

Pkg.add("GR")
# You do not need to add this package because it is the default backend and
# therefore it is automatically installed with Plots.jl. Note that you might
# need to install additional system packages if you are on Linux, see
# https://gr-framework.org/julia.html#installation

Pkg.add("PGFPlotsX")
# You need to have LaTeX installed on your system

Pkg.add("PlotlyJS"); Pkg.add("PlotlyBase")
# Note that you only need to add this if you need Electron windows and
# additional output formats, otherwise `plotly()` comes shipped with Plots.jl.
# In order to have a good experience with Jupyter, refer to Plotly-specific
# Jupyter installation (https://github.com/plotly/plotly.py#installation)

Pkg.add("PythonPlot")
# Depends only on PythonPlot package

Pkg.add("UnicodePlots")

Tier 2 support backends:

Pkg.add("InspectDR")
Pkg.add("Gaston")

Learn more about backends here.

Finally, you may wish to add some extensions from the [Plots ecosystem](@ref ecosystem):

Pkg.add("StatsPlots")
Pkg.add("GraphRecipes")

---

Initialize

using Plots # or StatsPlots
# using GraphRecipes  # if you wish to use GraphRecipes package too

Optionally, [choose a backend](@ref backends) and/or override default settings at the same time:

gr(size = (300, 300), legend = false)  # provide optional defaults
pgfplotsx()
plotly(ticks=:native)                  # plotlyjs for richer saving options
pythonplot()                           # backends are selected with lowercase names
unicodeplots()                         # plot in terminal

!!! tip Plots will use the GR backend by default. You can override this choice by setting an environment variable in your ~/.julia/config/startup.jl file (if the file does not exist, create it). To do this, add e.g. the following line of code: ENV["PLOTS_DEFAULT_BACKEND"] = "PlotlyJS".

!!! tip You can override standard default values in your ~/.julia/config/startup.jl file, for example PLOTS_DEFAULTS = Dict(:markersize => 10, :legend => false, :warn_on_unsupported => false).