Save Multiple Plots in a Single Pdf File

Save Multiple Plots in a Single Pdf File

plotting module

def plotGraph(X,Y):
    fignum = random.randint(0,sys.maxint)
    plt.figure(fignum)
    ### Plotting arrangements ###
    return fignum

main module

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
### tempDLStats, tempDLlabels are the argument
plot1 = plotGraph(tempDLstats, tempDLlabels)
plot2 = plotGraph(tempDLstats_1, tempDLlabels_1)
plot3 = plotGraph(tempDLstats_2, tempDLlabels_2)
plt.show()

I want to save all the graphs plot1, plot2, plot3 to a single PDF file. Is there any way to achieve it? I can't include the plotGraph function in the main module.

There's a function named pyplot.savefig but that seems to work only with a single figure. Is there any other way to accomplish it?

1

4 Answers

If someone ends up here from google, looking to convert a single figure to a .pdf (that was what I was looking for):

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

f = plt.figure()
plt.plot(range(10), range(10), "o")
plt.show()

f.savefig("foo.pdf", bbox_inches='tight')
0

For multiple plots in a single pdf file you can use PdfPages

In the plotGraph function you should return the figure and than call savefig of the figure object.

------ plotting module ------

def plotGraph(X,Y):
      fig = plt.figure()
      ### Plotting arrangements ###
      return fig

------ plotting module ------

----- mainModule ----

from matplotlib.backends.backend_pdf import PdfPages

plot1 = plotGraph(tempDLstats, tempDLlabels)
plot2 = plotGraph(tempDLstats_1, tempDLlabels_1)
plot3 = plotGraph(tempDLstats_2, tempDLlabels_2)

pp = PdfPages('foo.pdf')
pp.savefig(plot1)
pp.savefig(plot2)
pp.savefig(plot3)
pp.close()
2
import datetime
import numpy as np
from matplotlib.backends.backend_pdf import PdfPages
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Create the PdfPages object to which we will save the pages:
# The with statement makes sure that the PdfPages object is closed properly at
# the end of the block, even if an Exception occurs.
with PdfPages('multipage_pdf.pdf') as pdf:
    plt.figure(figsize=(3, 3))
    plt.plot(range(7), [3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9, 2], 'r-o')
    plt.title('Page One')
    pdf.savefig()  # saves the current figure into a pdf page
    plt.close()

    plt.rc('text', usetex=True)
    plt.figure(figsize=(8, 6))
    x = np.arange(0, 5, 0.1)
    plt.plot(x, np.sin(x), 'b-')
    plt.title('Page Two')
    pdf.savefig()
    plt.close()

    plt.rc('text', usetex=False)
    fig = plt.figure(figsize=(4, 5))
    plt.plot(x, x*x, 'ko')
    plt.title('Page Three')
    pdf.savefig(fig)  # or you can pass a Figure object to pdf.savefig
    plt.close()

    # We can also set the file's metadata via the PdfPages object:
    d = pdf.infodict()
    d['Title'] = 'Multipage PDF Example'
    d['Author'] = u'Jouni K. Sepp\xe4nen'
    d['Subject'] = 'How to create a multipage pdf file and set its metadata'
    d['Keywords'] = 'PdfPages multipage keywords author title subject'
    d['CreationDate'] = datetime.datetime(2009, 11, 13)
    d['ModDate'] = datetime.datetime.today()
1

Never mind got the way to do it.

def plotGraph(X,Y):
     fignum = random.randint(0,sys.maxint)
     fig = plt.figure(fignum)
     ### Plotting arrangements ###
     return fig

------ plotting module ------

----- mainModule ----

 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 ### tempDLStats, tempDLlabels are the argument
 plot1 = plotGraph(tempDLstats, tempDLlabels)
 plot2 = plotGraph(tempDLstats_1, tempDLlabels_1)
 plot3 = plotGraph(tempDLstats_2, tempDLlabels_2)
 plt.show()
 plot1.savefig('plot1.png')
 plot2.savefig('plot2.png')
 plot3.savefig('plot3.png')

----- mainModule -----

3

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David Miller
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David Miller

David Miller brings 15 years of experience in global economics, personal finance strategy, and market dynamics. He specializes in turning complex economic trends into actionable insights for everyday readers.