pgfplots Graphs and Plots in LaTeX

Getting Started

Add \usepackage{pgfplots} to your preamble and set the compatibility level with \pgfplotsset{compat=1.18}. Then wrap your plot in a tikzpicture and an axis environment. Key options explained:

• title—Text displayed above the plot frame
• xlabel / ylabel—Axis labels; math mode is supported
• grid—major, minor, or both — draws grid lines at ticks
• domain=a:b—The x range over which the function is evaluated
• samples—Number of evaluation points — higher = smoother curve
• \addplot[opts] {expr};—Draws a plot; options include color, thick, dashed

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.18}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
  \begin{axis}[
    title={$f(x) = x^{2}$},
    xlabel={$x$},
    ylabel={$f(x)$},
    grid=major,
    width=8cm,
    height=6cm,
  ]
    \addplot[blue, thick, domain=-3:3, samples=100] {x^2};
  \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

Axis Environment Options

All options are passed inside the square brackets of the \begin{axis}[…] command. They can be combined freely.

Multiple Plots & Legends

Add multiple \addplot commands inside the same axis environment to overlay curves. Follow each with \addlegendentry{label} to populate the legend automatically. The legend pos option controls placement — use outer north east to place the legend outside the axis frame and avoid overlapping your data.

Custom tick labels with xticklabels accept math-mode fractions such as $\frac{\pi}{2}$. The minor tick num=1 option inserts one minor tick between each pair of major ticks.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.18}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
  \begin{axis}[
    title={Trigonometric Functions},
    xlabel={$x$ (radians)},
    ylabel={$y$},
    xmin=0, xmax=6.2832,
    ymin=-1.3, ymax=1.3,
    xtick={0,1.5708,3.1416,4.7124,6.2832},
    xticklabels={$0$, $\frac{\pi}{2}$, $\pi$, $\frac{3\pi}{2}$, $2\pi$},
    grid=both,
    minor tick num=1,
    legend pos=outer north east,
    width=10cm,
    height=6cm,
  ]
    \addplot[blue, thick, domain=0:6.2832, samples=200] {sin(deg(x))};
    \addlegendentry{$\sin(x)$}
    \addplot[red,  thick, domain=0:6.2832, samples=200] {cos(deg(x))};
    \addlegendentry{$\cos(x)$}
  \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

Plot Types

pgfplots supports several plot handlers through the \addplot command. The handler is selected via plot options or coordinate syntax.

\addplot[color, thick, domain=a:b] {expr};

\addplot[only marks] coordinates { (x1,y1) (x2,y2) };

\addplot[ybar] coordinates { (1,3) (2,5) (3,2) };

\addplot table {data.csv};

Customizing Axis Styles

Three common style adjustments that make plots look polished in academic documents.

colormap/cool

tick label style={font=\small}

grid style={dashed, gray!40}

Multiple Subfigures

To place two or more plots side by side in a single figure, combine pgfplots with the subcaption package. Each plot lives inside a subfigure environment. Set width=\linewidth inside the axis options so each plot fills its column. Use \hfill between subfigures to distribute horizontal space evenly.

The outer \caption on the figure environment provides the overall caption, while each subfigure gets its own sub-caption labeled (a), (b), etc. automatically.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usepackage{subcaption}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.18}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering
  \begin{subfigure}{0.48\textwidth}
    \begin{tikzpicture}
      \begin{axis}[width=\linewidth, title={$\sin(x)$}, grid=major]
        \addplot[blue, thick, domain=0:6.2832, samples=100] {sin(deg(x))};
      \end{axis}
    \end{tikzpicture}
    \caption{Sine function}
  \end{subfigure}
  \hfill
  \begin{subfigure}{0.48\textwidth}
    \begin{tikzpicture}
      \begin{axis}[width=\linewidth, title={$\cos(x)$}, grid=major]
        \addplot[red, thick, domain=0:6.2832, samples=100] {cos(deg(x))};
      \end{axis}
    \end{tikzpicture}
    \caption{Cosine function}
  \end{subfigure}
  \caption{Trigonometric functions side by side}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

Frequently Asked Questions