Colorbar Creation

The colorbar in legendkit is similar to matplotlib’s colorbar, you can change the shape of the colorbar.

>>> from legendkit import colorbar
>>> _, ax = plt.subplots()
>>> m = np.random.randn(10, 10)
>>> mappable = ax.pcolormesh(m, cmap="Wistia")
>>> colorbar(mappable, loc="out right upper", shape="ellipse")
>>> colorbar(mappable, ax=ax, orientation="horizontal", loc="out upper center")
>>> colorbar(mappable, ax=ax, loc="out right lower", shape="triangle")

When to use colorart vs colorbar

Both produce a colorbar-like element, but they differ in one important way:

• colorbar — wraps matplotlib’s built-in Colorbar and is drawn on a dedicated inset axes. Use it when you want a standalone colorbar without needing to group it with other legends.

• colorart — is a pure Artist (no inset axes). Because it is an Artist, it can be passed directly to vstack() / hstack() together with legends. Use it when you need to arrange multiple colorbars and legends into a single composite layout.

Quick rule: If you only need a colorbar → use colorbar. If you need to stack it with legends → use colorart.

Legendkit also provides the colorart Artist-based implementation of colorbar, useful when laying out multiple legends and colorbars together.

>>> from legendkit import colorart
>>> _, ax = plt.subplots()
>>> m = np.random.randn(10, 10)
>>> mappable = ax.pcolormesh(m, cmap="cool")
>>> colorart(mappable, ax=ax, loc="out right center")