Filled curves shade the area between two curves (or between a curve and an axis), which makes differences, ranges, and uncertainty bands visible at a glance. f(x) = sin(x) + 0.6 g(x) = sin(x) – 0.6 set xrange [-pi:pi] set yrange [-2:2] set title “Band Between sin(x) + 0.6 and sin(x) – 0.6” set xlabel…
Smoothing draws a gentle curve through noisy measurements so the underlying trend is visible, while the raw points stay on the same figure to keep the smoothing honest. $DATA << EOD 0 1.0 1 2.2 2 1.8 3 3.1 4 2.7 5 4.0 6 3.6 7 4.8 8 4.4 9 5.5 10 5.2 EOD set…
Plotting built-in and user-defined functions is gnuplot’s oldest job — this page collects three small, complete function-plot examples that between them cover most everyday needs. set title “sin(x) and cos(x)” set xlabel “x” set ylabel “y” set xrange [-2*pi:2*pi] set grid plot sin(x) with lines linewidth 2 title “sin(x)”, \ cos(x) with lines linewidth 2…
A bar chart compares a handful of categories by height, and in gnuplot it is one data block, the boxes style, and category labels taken straight from the data. $DATA << EOD Apples 42 Oranges 35 Pears 28 Plums 19 Grapes 31 EOD set title “Fruit Sold This Week” set ylabel “Units sold” set boxwidth…
An animated GIF turns a sequence of gnuplot frames into a short looping movie, which is the simplest way to show how a curve evolves over time. set terminal gif animate delay 10 size 640,480 set output “wave.gif” set xrange [-2*pi:2*pi] set yrange [-1.4:1.4] set xlabel “x” set ylabel “sin(x + phase)” do for [frame=0:24]…
A pm3d surface plot colors a 3D surface by height, so peaks and valleys are visible both from the shape and from the color at the same time. set pm3d at s set palette rgbformulae 33,13,10 set hidden3d set isosamples 50, 50 set xrange [-3:3] set yrange [-3:3] set xlabel “x” set ylabel “y” set…
A vector field attaches a small arrow to each point of a grid, showing the direction and strength of a flow, a force, or a gradient at a glance. $FIELD << EOD -2 -1 0.3 -0.6 -1 -1 0.3 -0.3 0 -1 0.3 0.0 1 -1 0.3 0.3 2 -1 0.3 0.6 -2 0 0.0…
A contour plot connects points of equal value with lines, turning a two-variable function into a flat map of level curves like the elevation lines on a topographic map. set xrange [-3:3] set yrange [-3:3] set isosamples 60, 60 set contour base set cntrparam levels 12 unset surface set view map set title “Contour Map…
A polar plot places each point by angle and distance from the center instead of by x and y, which is the natural way to draw periodic patterns, antenna patterns, and rose curves. set polar set trange [0:2*pi] set size square set title “Polar Plot: r = sin(3t)” unset key plot sin(3*t) with lines linewidth…
A candlestick chart summarizes price movement over a series of periods, showing for each period where the price opened, where it closed, and how far it ranged in between. $DATA << EOD 1 100 97 104 103 2 103 101 108 106 3 106 100 107 101 4 101 99 105 104 5 104 102…
