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Kuva provides extensive styling options to customize the appearance of your plots, from colors and markers to complete themes and color palettes.

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Themes

Themes control the overall visual style of your plots, including background, axes, grid, and text colors.

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Built-in Themes

Kuva includes four built-in themes:

Light

Default theme with white background and black text

Dark

Dark background (#1e1e1e) with light text for night viewing

Solarized

Ethan Schoonover’s Solarized color scheme

Minimal

Clean, publication-ready style with no grid

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Using Themes (Library)

use kuva::prelude::*;

let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_theme(Theme::dark());

let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_theme(Theme::light());

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Using Themes (CLI)

kuva scatter data.csv --x 0 --y 1 --theme dark
kuva scatter data.csv --x 0 --y 1 --theme solarized
kuva scatter data.csv --x 0 --y 1 --theme minimal

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Theme Structure

The Theme struct controls all chrome colors: 
pub struct Theme {
    pub background: String,        // Plot background
    pub axis_color: String,        // Axis lines
    pub grid_color: String,        // Grid lines
    pub tick_color: String,        // Tick marks
    pub text_color: String,        // Labels and titles
    pub legend_bg: String,         // Legend background
    pub legend_border: String,     // Legend border
    pub pie_leader: String,        // Pie chart leader lines
    pub box_median: String,        // Box plot median line
    pub violin_border: String,     // Violin plot borders
    pub colorbar_border: String,   // Colorbar border
    pub font_family: Option<String>,
    pub show_grid: bool,
}
See src/render/theme.rs:1 for the complete implementation.

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Background Color Override

// Library
let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_theme(Theme::dark())
    .with_background("#2d2d2d");

# CLI
kuva scatter data.csv --x 0 --y 1 --theme dark --background "#2d2d2d"

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Color Palettes

Palettes provide consistent color schemes for multi-series plots.

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Available Palettes

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Colorblind-Safe Palettes

These palettes are designed to be distinguishable for people with color vision deficiency:
  • wong - Bang Wong, Nature Methods 2011 (8 colors)
  • okabe_ito - Alias for Wong palette (widely known name)
  • tol_bright - Paul Tol qualitative bright (7 colors)
  • tol_muted - Paul Tol qualitative muted (10 colors)
  • tol_light - Paul Tol qualitative light (9 colors)

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General-Purpose Palettes

  • category10 - Tableau 10 / D3 Category10 (10 colors, default)
  • pastel - Softer pastel version (10 colors)
  • bold - High-saturation vivid colors (10 colors)
  • ibm - IBM Design Language (5 colors)

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Using Palettes (Library)

use kuva::prelude::*;

let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_palette(Palette::wong());

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Using Palettes (CLI)

# Apply to color-coded groups
kuva scatter data.csv --x 0 --y 1 --color-by species --palette wong
kuva scatter data.csv --x 0 --y 1 --color-by species --palette tol-bright

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Color Vision Deficiency (CVD) Palettes

Dedicated palettes for specific types of color blindness: 
// Library
let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_palette(Palette::deuteranopia());  // Red-green, most common

# CLI
kuva scatter data.csv --x 0 --y 1 --color-by group --cvd-palette deuteranopia
kuva scatter data.csv --x 0 --y 1 --color-by group --cvd-palette protanopia
kuva scatter data.csv --x 0 --y 1 --color-by group --cvd-palette tritanopia

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Custom Palettes

use kuva::prelude::*;

let custom = Palette::custom(
    "my_palette",
    vec![
        "#e63946".into(),
        "#f1faee".into(),
        "#a8dadc".into(),
        "#457b9d".into(),
        "#1d3557".into(),
    ]
);

let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_palette(custom);

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Cycling Through Palette Colors

use kuva::prelude::*;

let palette = Palette::category10();
let plots: Vec<Plot> = data_groups
    .into_iter()
    .enumerate()
    .map(|(i, (name, data))| {
        ScatterPlot::new()
            .with_data(data)
            .with_color(&palette[i])  // Automatically wraps
            .with_legend(name)
            .into()
    })
    .collect();
See src/render/palette.rs:1 for palette definitions.

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Plot-Specific Styling

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Scatter Plots

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Colors and Sizes

use kuva::prelude::*;

let scatter = ScatterPlot::new()
    .with_data(vec![(1.0, 2.0), (3.0, 4.0)])
    .with_color("steelblue")  // CSS color string
    .with_size(5.0);          // Point radius in pixels

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Marker Shapes

Six marker shapes are available: 
use kuva::prelude::*;

let scatter = ScatterPlot::new()
    .with_data(data)
    .with_marker(MarkerShape::Circle);    // Default
    // .with_marker(MarkerShape::Square);
    // .with_marker(MarkerShape::Triangle);
    // .with_marker(MarkerShape::Diamond);
    // .with_marker(MarkerShape::Cross);
    // .with_marker(MarkerShape::Plus);

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Bubble Plots (Variable Sizes)

use kuva::prelude::*;

let data = vec![(1.0, 3.0), (2.5, 6.5), (4.0, 4.0)];
let sizes = vec![5.0, 14.0, 9.0];  // Different size for each point

let bubble = ScatterPlot::new()
    .with_data(data)
    .with_sizes(sizes)
    .with_color("steelblue");
See examples/scatter.rs:189 for the bubble plot example.

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Line Plots

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Line Styles

use kuva::prelude::*;

let line = LinePlot::new()
    .with_data(data)
    .with_color("crimson")
    .with_stroke_width(2.0)
    .with_line_style(LineStyle::Solid);     // Default
    // .with_line_style(LineStyle::Dashed);
    // .with_line_style(LineStyle::Dotted);
    // .with_line_style(LineStyle::DashDot);
Convenience methods: 
let line = LinePlot::new()
    .with_data(data)
    .with_dashed();  // Same as .with_line_style(LineStyle::Dashed)

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Custom Dash Patterns

use kuva::prelude::*;

let line = LinePlot::new()
    .with_data(data)
    .with_line_style(LineStyle::Custom("10 5 2 5".into()));  // SVG dasharray

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Fill Under Line

use kuva::prelude::*;

let line = LinePlot::new()
    .with_data(data)
    .with_color("steelblue")
    .with_fill()              // Fill to zero
    .with_fill_opacity(0.3);  // Transparent fill
See examples/line.rs:57 for line style examples.

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Bar Plots

use kuva::prelude::*;

let bar = BarPlot::new()
    .with_data(categories, values)
    .with_color("steelblue")
    .with_horizontal()  // Horizontal bars instead of vertical
    .with_bar_width(0.8);  // Width as fraction of available space

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Box Plots

use kuva::prelude::*;

let boxplot = BoxPlot::new()
    .with_data(values)
    .with_color("steelblue")
    .with_median_color("white")  // Override median line color
    .with_width(0.6);  // Box width as fraction of space

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Violin Plots

use kuva::prelude::*;

let violin = ViolinPlot::new()
    .with_data(values)
    .with_color("steelblue")
    .with_border_color("black")  // Outline color
    .with_bandwidth(0.5);  // KDE bandwidth parameter

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Layout Customization

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Canvas Size

let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_width(1200.0)
    .with_height(800.0);

kuva scatter data.csv --x 0 --y 1 --width 1200 --height 800

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Titles and Labels

let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_title("Experiment Results")
    .with_x_label("Temperature (°C)")
    .with_y_label("Pressure (kPa)");

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Grid Control

// Disable grid
let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_show_grid(false);

// Grid is controlled by the theme by default
let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_theme(Theme::minimal());  // Minimal theme has no grid

kuva scatter data.csv --x 0 --y 1 --no-grid

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Tick Control

let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_ticks(10);  // Target number of tick marks (hint, not guarantee)

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Tick Formats

use kuva::prelude::*;

let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_tick_format(TickFormat::Auto);       // Default
    // .with_tick_format(TickFormat::Fixed(2));  // 2 decimal places
    // .with_tick_format(TickFormat::Percent);   // Multiply by 100, append %
    // .with_tick_format(TickFormat::Sci);       // Scientific notation
See examples/layout.rs:59 for tick format examples.

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Log Scale

let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_log_x()     // Log₁₀ X axis
    .with_log_y();    // Log₁₀ Y axis

// Or both at once
let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_log_scale();  // Both axes

kuva scatter data.csv --x 0 --y 1 --log-x --log-y

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Legends

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Adding Legend Labels

use kuva::prelude::*;

let plot1 = ScatterPlot::new()
    .with_data(data1)
    .with_color("steelblue")
    .with_legend("Control");

let plot2 = ScatterPlot::new()
    .with_data(data2)
    .with_color("crimson")
    .with_legend("Treatment");

let plots: Vec<Plot> = vec![plot1.into(), plot2.into()];

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Legend Position

use kuva::prelude::*;

let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_legend_position(LegendPosition::TopRight);     // Default
    // .with_legend_position(LegendPosition::TopLeft);
    // .with_legend_position(LegendPosition::BottomRight);
    // .with_legend_position(LegendPosition::BottomLeft);

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Best Practices

Use wong, okabe_ito, or the tol_* palettes for maximum accessibility.
let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots)
    .with_palette(Palette::wong());
  • Use minimal theme for publications and papers
  • Use dark theme for presentations in dark rooms
  • Use light theme for print materials and reports
let series1 = ScatterPlot::new()
    .with_data(data1)
    .with_marker(MarkerShape::Circle)
    .with_color("steelblue");

let series2 = ScatterPlot::new()
    .with_data(data2)
    .with_marker(MarkerShape::Square)
    .with_color("crimson");
  • Use larger sizes (5-8 pixels) for sparse data
  • Use smaller sizes (2-4 pixels) for dense data or large datasets

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Next Steps

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