Nature Figure Making Skill
A complete guide for producing publication-quality matplotlib figures matching Nature journal standards.
Derived from the figures4papers repository
(papers published in Nature Machine Intelligence and top ML venues).
Quick-start: Mandatory rcParams
Always apply these at the top of every script:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.rcParams['font.family'] = 'sans-serif'
plt.rcParams['font.sans-serif'] = ['Arial']
plt.rcParams['svg.fonttype'] = 'none' # editable text in SVG/PDF
plt.rcParams['font.size'] = 16 # 24 for large bar panels
plt.rcParams['axes.spines.right'] = False
plt.rcParams['axes.spines.top'] = False
plt.rcParams['axes.linewidth'] = 2.5 # 3 for big bars, 2 for compact
plt.rcParams['legend.frameon'] = False
Use text.usetex = True only when LaTeX is installed and math-rich labels are required.
When to load this skill
- Matplotlib figures for papers, slides, or reports targeting Nature, NeurIPS, ICLR, or similar venues.
- Requests involving grouped bars, trend lines, heatmaps, radar plots, multi-panel grids, or PDF/SVG/high-DPI output.
- Any mention of "Nature style", "publication figure", "paper figure", or "high-quality scientific plot".
When NOT to load
- Plotly, Altair, Bokeh, or other interactive/web-first plotting.
- EDA-only plots without a publication target.
- Primary workflow is 3D, GIS, or non-matplotlib tooling.
- Illustrator / Figma–first layout.
Related files
| File |
Open when |
| references/design-theory.md |
Typography, color theory, layout rationale, export policy |
| references/api.md |
PALETTE, helper function signatures, validation rules |
| references/common-patterns.md |
Ultra-wide panels, legend-only axes, print-safe bars |
| references/tutorials.md |
End-to-end walkthroughs: bars, trends, heatmaps |
| references/chart-types.md |
Radar, 3D sphere, fill_between, scatter patterns |
1---2name: nature-figure3description: Publication-ready matplotlib figures for Nature/high-impact journals and academic papers. Covers bar charts, grouped bars, heatmaps, line/trend plots, radar plots, and multi-panel layouts with Nature-style typography (Arial/sans-serif), semantic color palettes, and PDF/PNG export conventions. Use when creating scientific figures that must match Nature publication standards. Do NOT use for interactive dashboards (Plotly, Bokeh) or Illustrator/Figma-first infographic workflows.4---56# Nature Figure Making Skill78A complete guide for producing publication-quality matplotlib figures matching Nature journal standards.9Derived from the [figures4papers](https://github.com/ChenLiu-1996/figures4papers) repository10(papers published in *Nature Machine Intelligence* and top ML venues).1112## Quick-start: Mandatory rcParams1314Always apply these at the top of every script:1516```python17import matplotlib.pyplot as plt1819plt.rcParams['font.family'] = 'sans-serif'20plt.rcParams['font.sans-serif'] = ['Arial']21plt.rcParams['svg.fonttype'] = 'none' # editable text in SVG/PDF22plt.rcParams['font.size'] = 16 # 24 for large bar panels23plt.rcParams['axes.spines.right'] = False24plt.rcParams['axes.spines.top'] = False25plt.rcParams['axes.linewidth'] = 2.5 # 3 for big bars, 2 for compact26plt.rcParams['legend.frameon'] = False27```2829Use `text.usetex = True` only when LaTeX is installed and math-rich labels are required.3031## When to load this skill3233- Matplotlib figures for **papers, slides, or reports** targeting Nature, NeurIPS, ICLR, or similar venues.34- Requests involving **grouped bars, trend lines, heatmaps, radar plots, multi-panel grids**, or **PDF/SVG/high-DPI** output.35- Any mention of "Nature style", "publication figure", "paper figure", or "high-quality scientific plot".3637## When NOT to load3839- Plotly, Altair, Bokeh, or other interactive/web-first plotting.40- EDA-only plots without a publication target.41- Primary workflow is 3D, GIS, or non-matplotlib tooling.42- Illustrator / Figma–first layout.4344## Related files4546| File | Open when |47|------|-----------|48| [references/design-theory.md](references/design-theory.md) | Typography, color theory, layout rationale, export policy |49| [references/api.md](references/api.md) | PALETTE, helper function signatures, validation rules |50| [references/common-patterns.md](references/common-patterns.md) | Ultra-wide panels, legend-only axes, print-safe bars |51| [references/tutorials.md](references/tutorials.md) | End-to-end walkthroughs: bars, trends, heatmaps |52| [references/chart-types.md](references/chart-types.md) | Radar, 3D sphere, fill_between, scatter patterns |
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