snaplot: record your plot process

snaplot is here to help your record your (matplotlib) plotting process, without having to think about it, and do things like:

Why

By nature, data visualization is an iterative process: no one creates the final, perfectly polished version of a graph on the first try. It always takes plenty of trial and error. And interestingly, visualizing this process can be quite insightful. That's where snaplot comes in.

How to use

1 - Create a camera2 - make a first plot3 - a second one4 - another one5 - Stop recording

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from snaplot import Camera

camera = Camera()

plt.plot([1,2,3], [1,2,3])

camera.snap()

plt.plot([1,2,3], [1,2,3], color="red")

camera.snap()

plt.plot([1,2,3], [1,2,3], color="red", lw=3)

camera.snap()

camera.stop("my_file.gif")

All together

Highlighted lines are those that need to be modified to improve your graph iteratively:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from snaplot import Camera

camera = Camera()

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot([1,2,3], [1,2,3])

camera.snap()

# Run this when you're done with your chart
# camera.stop("my_file.gif")

Some cool things

• You can run Camera() multiple times without any issues. Unless you set force_new=True, it will automatically recognize that you're still recording.
• Even after calling camera.stop("file.gif"), you can keep recording. If you want to save the intermediate GIF, just use a different filename like camera.stop("file2.gif").