# Scientific Figure Making

Makes publication-ready matplotlib figures with house style and vector export.

- Repository: https://github.com/ChenLiu-1996/figures4papers (9437 stars)
- Category: Data and ML
- License: see repository
- Last updated: 2026-10-19
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add ChenLiu-1996/figures4papers --skill scientific-figure-making -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add ChenLiu-1996/figures4papers --skill scientific-figure-making -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add ChenLiu-1996/figures4papers --skill scientific-figure-making -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add ChenLiu-1996/figures4papers --skill scientific-figure-making -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Covers publication-ready matplotlib figures for academic papers, slides, and reports, bars, trends, scatter, heatmaps, and multi-panel layouts, with this repository’s house style, print/vector export conventions, and parity with figures4papers demos. Use when the user is finalizing or creating such figures in matplotlib. Do not use for interactive dashboards or web viz (Plotly, Altair, Bokeh), exploratory-only plots without a publication target, dominant 3D or geographic mapping, or Illustrator/Figma-first infographic workflows.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Scientific figure making

Open `references/` only as needed; do not preload every file. Start from the table below, then follow links inside the document you opened (and into `figure_*` code via [references/demos.md](references/demos.md)) instead of loading the full reference set up front.

## When to load this skill

- Matplotlib figures for **papers, slides, or reports** that must match **this repo’s publication look** (fonts, palette, spines, legends, export).
- Requests involving **grouped bars, trend lines, heatmaps, multi-panel grids**, or **PDF/SVG/high-DPI** output in a scientific-figure context.
- References to **figures4papers** `figure_*` projects or “same style as the repo figures.”

## When not to load

- **Plotly, Altair, Bokeh**, or other interactive / web-first plotting.
- **EDA-only** plots where seaborn or pandas is enough until there is a publication target.
- Primary workflow is **3D, GIS**, or **non-matplotlib** tooling.
- **Illustrator / Figma, first** layout or infographic (not matplotlib data plots).

## Related files

| File | Open when |
|------|-----------|
| [references/tutorials.md](references/tutorials.md) | End-to-end walkthroughs (bar, trends, heatmap) |
| [references/api.md](references/api.md) | Function signatures, `PALETTE`, validation rules |
| [references/common-patterns.md](references/common-patterns.md) | Layout patterns, legend panel, print-safe bars |
| [references/design-theory.md](references/design-theory.md) | Typography, export policy, palette rationale |
| [references/demos.md](references/demos.md) | Canonical `figure_*` demo links in figures4papers |