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Add custom fonts directly to Matplotlib #129

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2 changes: 0 additions & 2 deletions .github/workflows/main.yaml
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Expand Up @@ -55,8 +55,6 @@ jobs:
sudo sed -i '/disable ghostscript format types/,+6d' /etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml
#
make -C fonts/
cp -r fonts/ /usr/share/fonts/
fc-cache
make all
- name: Run checks
run: |
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1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions .gitignore
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Expand Up @@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ handout-*.png
# ----------------------------------
figures/*.pdf
fonts/**/*.[ot]tf
scripts/__pycache__/

# html build
docs/_build/*
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3 changes: 2 additions & 1 deletion Makefile
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@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
SRC := $(wildcard *.tex)
SCRIPTS := $(filter-out _%, $(notdir $(wildcard scripts/*.py)))
CONVERTFLAGS = -density 150 -alpha remove -depth 8

.PHONY: default
Expand All @@ -10,7 +11,7 @@ all: figures cheatsheets handouts docs
.PHONY: figures
figures:
# generate the figures
cd scripts && for script in *.py; do echo $$script; MPLBACKEND="agg" python $$script; done
cd scripts && for script in $(SCRIPTS); do echo $$script; MPLBACKEND="agg" python $$script; done
# crop some of the figures
cd figures && pdfcrop adjustments.pdf adjustments.pdf
cd figures && pdfcrop annotate.pdf annotate.pdf
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13 changes: 1 addition & 12 deletions README.md
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Expand Up @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ Beginner handout [(download pdf)](https://matplotlib.org/cheatsheets/handout-beg

## How to compile

1. You need to create a `fonts` repository with:
1. You need to fill the `fonts` directory with:

* `fonts/roboto/*` : See https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Roboto
or https://github.com/googlefonts/roboto/tree/master/src/hinted
Expand All @@ -34,17 +34,6 @@ On Linux, with `make` installed, the fonts can be set up with the following comm
make -C fonts
```

The fonts can be made discoverable by `matplotlib` (through `fontconfig`) by creating the following in `$HOME/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf` (see [here](https://www.freedesktop.org/software/fontconfig/fontconfig-user.html)):

```xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">
<fontconfig>
<dir>/path/to/cheatsheets/fonts/</dir>
...
</fontconfig>
```


2. You need to generate all the figures:

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9 changes: 9 additions & 0 deletions scripts/_custom_fonts.py
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@dstansby dstansby Jul 9, 2026

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To convey that this file does something on import, could it be renamed to setup_fonts.py?

@dstansby dstansby Jul 9, 2026

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Or, put the code in a function and then in all the files below have something like

import custom_fonts
custom_fonts.setup_fonts()

It's a bit more verbose, but more obvious that code is being run to setup the fonts. I'm not too bothered either way, just a suggestion.

@QuLogic QuLogic Jul 11, 2026

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Sure, done.

Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
from pathlib import Path

from matplotlib.font_manager import fontManager


def setup():
root_dir = Path(__file__).parent.parent.resolve()
for font in root_dir.glob('fonts/*/*.[ot]tf'):
fontManager.addfont(font)
3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/adjustements.py
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Expand Up @@ -10,9 +10,12 @@
import matplotlib.patches as mpatches
from matplotlib.collections import PatchCollection

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent

_custom_fonts.setup()
mpl.style.use([
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/base.mplstyle',
])
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/advanced-plots.py
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Expand Up @@ -10,9 +10,12 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent

_custom_fonts.setup()
mpl.style.use([
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/base.mplstyle',
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/plotlet.mplstyle',
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/anatomy.py
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Expand Up @@ -10,9 +10,12 @@
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.ticker import AutoMinorLocator, MultipleLocator, FuncFormatter

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent

_custom_fonts.setup()
mpl.style.use([
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/base.mplstyle',
])
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/annotate.py
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Expand Up @@ -8,8 +8,11 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()

fig = plt.figure(figsize=(6, 1))
# ax = plt.subplot(111, frameon=False, aspect=.1)
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/annotation-arrow-styles.py
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Expand Up @@ -3,8 +3,11 @@
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.patches as mpatches

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()

styles = mpatches.ArrowStyle.get_styles()

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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/annotation-connection-styles.py
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Expand Up @@ -3,9 +3,12 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent

_custom_fonts.setup()
mpl.style.use([
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/base.mplstyle',
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/plotlet-grid.mplstyle',
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/basic-plots.py
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Expand Up @@ -10,9 +10,12 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent

_custom_fonts.setup()
mpl.style.use([
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/base.mplstyle',
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/plotlet.mplstyle',
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/colorbar.py
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Expand Up @@ -9,8 +9,11 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()

fig = plt.figure(figsize=(6, .65))
# ax = plt.subplot(111, frameon=False, aspect=.1)
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/colormaps.py
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Expand Up @@ -3,8 +3,11 @@
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()

figsize = 4.0, 0.25
fig = plt.figure(figsize=figsize)
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/colornames.py
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Expand Up @@ -10,9 +10,12 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent

_custom_fonts.setup()
mpl.style.use([
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/base.mplstyle',
])
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/colors.py
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Expand Up @@ -9,8 +9,11 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()

figsize = 4.0, 0.25
fig = plt.figure(figsize=figsize)
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/extents.py
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Expand Up @@ -8,9 +8,12 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent

_custom_fonts.setup()
mpl.style.use([
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/base.mplstyle',
])
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/fonts.py
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Expand Up @@ -6,8 +6,11 @@

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()

fig = plt.figure(figsize=(4.25, 3.8))
ax = fig.add_axes([0, 0, 1, 1], frameon=False, xticks=[], yticks=[],
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/interpolations.py
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Expand Up @@ -4,9 +4,12 @@
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent

_custom_fonts.setup()
mpl.style.use([
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/base.mplstyle',
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/plotlet-grid.mplstyle',
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/layouts.py
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Expand Up @@ -9,8 +9,11 @@
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from mpl_toolkits.axes_grid1 import make_axes_locatable

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()

fig = plt.figure(figsize=(0.4, 0.4))
margin = 0.01
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/legend.py
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Expand Up @@ -8,9 +8,12 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent

_custom_fonts.setup()
mpl.style.use([
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/base.mplstyle',
])
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/linestyles.py
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Expand Up @@ -7,8 +7,11 @@
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()

fig = plt.figure(figsize=(4.25, 2*.55))
ax = fig.add_axes([0, 0, 1, 1], xlim=[0.75, 10.25], ylim=[0.5, 2.5], frameon=False,
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/markers.py
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Expand Up @@ -7,8 +7,11 @@
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()

# Markers
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/plot-variations.py
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Expand Up @@ -9,9 +9,12 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent

_custom_fonts.setup()
mpl.style.use([
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/base.mplstyle',
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/plotlet.mplstyle',
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/projections.py
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Expand Up @@ -9,9 +9,12 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent

_custom_fonts.setup()
mpl.style.use([
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/base.mplstyle',
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/plotlet.mplstyle',
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/scales.py
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Expand Up @@ -3,8 +3,11 @@
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()

fig = plt.figure(figsize=(0.4, 2/3*0.4))
ax = fig.add_axes([0, 0, 1, 1], frameon=False)
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/sine.py
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Expand Up @@ -8,9 +8,12 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent

_custom_fonts.setup()
mpl.style.use([
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/base.mplstyle',
ROOT_DIR / 'styles/sine-plot.mplstyle',
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/styles.py
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Expand Up @@ -8,8 +8,11 @@
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()

for style in ['default'] + plt.style.available:
with plt.style.context(style):
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/text-alignments.py
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Expand Up @@ -7,8 +7,11 @@
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()

dpi = 100
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(4.25, 1.5), dpi=dpi)
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/tick-formatters.py
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Expand Up @@ -8,8 +8,11 @@
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.ticker as ticker

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()


# Setup a plot such that only the bottom spine is shown
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions scripts/tick-locators.py
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Expand Up @@ -9,8 +9,11 @@
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.ticker as ticker

import _custom_fonts


ROOT_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
_custom_fonts.setup()


# Setup a plot such that only the bottom spine is shown
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