Save figure as file from iPython notebook using Matplotlib

To save a figure as a file from iPython notebook using Matplotlib, we can use the savefig() method. This method allows you to export plots in various formats like PNG, PDF, SVG, and more.

Basic Steps

To save a figure as a file from iPython, we can take the following steps ?

• Create a new figure or activate an existing figure
• Add an axes to the figure using add_axes() method
• Plot the data
• Save the plot using savefig() method

Example

Here's how to create and save a simple plot ?

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.rcParams["figure.figsize"] = [7.00, 3.50]
plt.rcParams["figure.autolayout"] = True

fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_axes([0.1, 0.1, 0.8, 0.8])
plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 4, 2, 3])
plt.title("Sample Plot")
plt.xlabel("X-axis")
plt.ylabel("Y-axis")
plt.savefig('test.png', bbox_inches='tight')
plt.show()

Different File Formats

You can save plots in various formats by changing the file extension ?

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Create a simple plot
plt.figure(figsize=(8, 4))
plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4], [10, 20, 15, 25], marker='o')
plt.title("Sales Data")

# Save in different formats
plt.savefig('plot.png', dpi=300, bbox_inches='tight')    # PNG
plt.savefig('plot.pdf', bbox_inches='tight')             # PDF  
plt.savefig('plot.svg', bbox_inches='tight')             # SVG
plt.savefig('plot.jpg', dpi=300, bbox_inches='tight')    # JPEG

plt.show()

Common savefig() Parameters

Advanced Example with Customization

Here's how to save a plot with custom settings ?

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# Generate sample data
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
y = np.sin(x)

# Create and customize plot
plt.figure(figsize=(10, 6))
plt.plot(x, y, 'b-', linewidth=2, label='sin(x)')
plt.title('Sine Wave', fontsize=16)
plt.xlabel('X values', fontsize=12)
plt.ylabel('Y values', fontsize=12)
plt.grid(True, alpha=0.3)
plt.legend()

# Save with high quality settings
plt.savefig('sine_wave.png', 
            dpi=300,                    # High resolution
            bbox_inches='tight',        # Remove extra whitespace
            facecolor='white',          # White background
            edgecolor='none',           # No border
            transparent=False)          # Solid background

plt.show()

Conclusion

Use plt.savefig() to export Matplotlib plots from iPython notebooks. Specify the desired format through file extension and use parameters like dpi=300 and bbox_inches='tight' for high-quality output with minimal whitespace.