#####
Plots
#####

The **Plots** pane shows the static figures and images created during your session.
It will show you plots from the :doc:`ipythonconsole`, produced by your code in the :doc:`editor` or generated by the :doc:`variableexplorer` allowing you to interact with them in several ways.

.. image:: /images/plots/plots-execution.gif
   :alt: Spyder main window showing execution for the Plots pane

The figures shown in the Plots pane are those associated with the currently active :guilabel:`Console` tab; if you switch consoles, the list of plots displayed (or none at all, if a new console) will change accordingly.

.. image:: /images/plots/plots-switch.gif
   :alt: Spyder's plots pane and console showing switching consoles



============
Options menu
============

The options menu in the top right of the :guilabel:`Plots` pane offers several ways to customize how your plots are displayed.


Mute inline plotting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The :guilabel:`Mute inline plotting` option is enabled by default, preventing your plots from appearing in the Console.
If you deactivate this option, figures will display in both the Plots pane and the Console.

.. image:: /images/plots/plots-inline-plotting.gif
   :alt: Spyder's plots pane and console showing plots in the console


Show plot outline
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The :guilabel:`Show plot outline` option, off by default, shows a thin stroke surrounding the area of the figure area, which will also appear in the exported images.

.. image:: /images/plots/plots-outline.gif
   :alt: Spyder's plots pane showing a plot's outline


Fit plots to window
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The :guilabel:`Fit plots to Window` option, also enabled by default, sizes the figures to match the pane.
Disabling it will display plots at their native size, and allow you use the zoom buttons at the top of the pane to scale them manually.

.. image:: /images/plots/plots-zoom.gif
   :alt: Spyder main window showing plots zoom



===============
Toolbar options
===============

The toolbar at the top of the Plots pane provides several useful features that allow you to interact with your figures.
For example, you can cycle sequentially through the plot list with the forward and back arrows.

.. image:: /images/plots/plots-arrows.gif
   :alt: Spyder main window showing plot navigation using arrows.

You can also save one or all the plots in the pane to file(s) by clicking the respective "save"/"save all" icons in the toolbar.
Plots are rendered and saved as PNG by default, but SVG can be selected as an option under :menuselection:`Preferences --> IPython console --> Graphics --> Inline backend --> Format`.

.. image:: /images/plots/plots-save.gif
   :alt: Spyder plots pane showing saving a plot.

Additionally, if you want to use a figure in another document, you can click the "copy to clipboard" button and paste your plot wherever you want, such as a word processor.

.. image:: /images/plots/plots-copy.gif
   :alt: Spyder Plots pane showing pasting plot in LibreOffice.

Finally, you can use the "remove" and "remove all" buttons in the toolbar to clear plots from the list.

.. image:: /images/plots/plots-remove.gif
   :alt: Spyder plots pane showing pasting plot in LibreOffice.



=============
Related panes
=============

* :doc:`ipythonconsole`
* :doc:`variableexplorer`