Save charts (export)
Matplotlib Basics
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Published Oct 5 2025, updated Aug 17 2026
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Guide Sections
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ChartsGraphsMatplotlibNumPyPandasPythonVisualisation
Basic saving command
You save any Matplotlib figure with:
plt.savefig('filename.png')Common file formats supported
Matplotlib supports raster and vector formats — depending on what you need (for screen display vs. print).
Raster file formats supported:
.png.jpg/.jpeg.tif/.tiff.bmp
Vector file formats supported:
.pdf.svg.eps.ps
Useful parameters
You can control image size, quality, and layout:
plt.savefig( # filename + extension decides format 'chart.svg', # dots per inch (resolution) dpi=300, # trims extra whitespace bbox_inches='tight', # transparent background transparent=True, # background color facecolor='white')