Scientific Figure Pro

Workflow

1. Identify the figure family (bar, trend, heatmap, scatter, multi-panel, conceptual illustration).
2. Load helper APIs from

   scripts/scientific_figure_pro.py

   .
3. Apply style first with

   apply_publication_style(...)

   .
4. Build the figure using

   make_*

   helpers.
5. Export with

   finalize_figure(...)

   to keep layout and output defaults consistent.

Use The Helper Module

import importlib.util
from pathlib import Path
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

module_path = Path("skills/scientific-figure-pro/scripts/scientific_figure_pro.py")
spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("scientific_figure_pro", module_path)
mod = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
spec.loader.exec_module(mod)

Core APIs

• FigureStyle(...)

  : Configure typography and axis linewidth.

• apply_publication_style(style=None)

  : Apply global rcParams.

• create_subplots(nrows, ncols, figsize, **kwargs)

  : Create flattened axes.

• make_grouped_bar(...)

  : Build grouped bars with publication defaults.

• make_trend(...)

  : Build trend lines with optional confidence shadow.

• make_heatmap(...)

  : Build heatmaps with optional labels and annotations.

• make_scatter(...)

  : Build clean scatter plots.

• make_sphere_illustration(...)

  : Build conceptual shaded sphere panels.

• finalize_figure(fig, out_path, formats=None, dpi=300, pad=0.05)

  : Save outputs consistently.

Style Policy

• Use Helvetica/Arial-like sans-serif families.
• Remove top/right spines.
• Keep legends frameless.
• Use semantic palette mapping:
  • blue for target/proposed method,
  • green for improvements,
  • red for contrasts/baselines,
  • neutral for support categories.
• Use

  dpi=300

  by default and

  dpi=600

  for dense bar panels.

Practical Defaults

• Dense benchmark bars:

  FigureStyle(font_size=24, axes_linewidth=3)

  and wide canvas.
• Compact analysis charts:

  FigureStyle(font_size=15 or 16, axes_linewidth=2)

  .
• Finalize every figure through

  finalize_figure(...)

  instead of direct

  plt.savefig(...)

  .

Dependencies

• Python 3.8+

• matplotlib

• numpy

References

• Read

  references/design_theory.md

  when you need style rationale and reproduction rules.