legend.md

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jupytext kernelspec language_info plotly notebook_metadata_filter text_representation all extension format_name format_version jupytext_version .md markdown 1.1 1.1.6 display_name language name Python 3 python python3 codemirror_mode file_extension mimetype name nbconvert_exporter pygments_lexer version name version ipython 3 .py text/x-python python python ipython3 3.7.3 description display_as has_thumbnail ipynb language layout name order permalink thumbnail title v4upgrade How to configure and style the legend in Plotly with Python. file_settings true ~notebook_demo/14 python user-guide Legends 13 python/legend/ thumbnail/legends.gif Legends | plotly true

Show Legend

By default the legend is displayed on Plotly charts with multiple traces.

import plotly.graph_objects as go

fig = go.Figure()

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
))

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[5, 4, 3, 2, 1],
))

fig.show()

Add showlegend=True to the layout object to display the legend on a plot with a single trace.

import plotly.graph_objects as go

fig = go.Figure()

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
))

fig.update_layout(showlegend=True)

fig.show()

Hide Legend

import plotly.graph_objects as go

fig = go.Figure()

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
))

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[5, 4, 3, 2, 1],
))

fig.update_layout(showlegend=False)

fig.show()

Hide Legend Entries

import plotly.graph_objects as go

fig = go.Figure()

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    showlegend=False
))


fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[5, 4, 3, 2, 1],
))

fig.update_layout(showlegend=True)

fig.show()

Legend Names

import plotly.graph_objects as go

fig = go.Figure()

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    name="Positive"
))

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[5, 4, 3, 2, 1],
    name="Negative"
))

fig.show()

Horizontal Legend

import plotly.graph_objects as go

fig = go.Figure()

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
))

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[5, 4, 3, 2, 1],
))

fig.update_layout(legend_orientation="h")

fig.show()

Legend Position

import plotly.graph_objects as go

fig = go.Figure()

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
))

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[5, 4, 3, 2, 1],
))

fig.update_layout(legend=dict(x=-.1, y=1.2))

fig.show()

Style Legend

import plotly.graph_objects as go

fig = go.Figure()

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
))

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    y=[5, 4, 3, 2, 1],
))

fig.update_layout(
    legend=go.layout.Legend(
        x=0,
        y=1,
        traceorder="normal",
        font=dict(
            family="sans-serif",
            size=12,
            color="black"
        ),
        bgcolor="LightSteelBlue",
        bordercolor="Black",
        borderwidth=2
    )
)

fig.show()

Grouped Legend

import plotly.graph_objects as go

fig = go.Figure()

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3],
    y=[2, 1, 3],
    legendgroup="group",  # this can be any string, not just "group"
    name="first legend group",
    mode="markers",
    marker=dict(color="Crimson", size=10)
))

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3],
    y=[2, 2, 2],
    legendgroup="group",
    name="first legend group - average",
    mode="lines",
    line=dict(color="Crimson")
))

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3],
    y=[4, 9, 2],
    legendgroup="group2",
    name="second legend group",
    mode="markers",
    marker=dict(color="MediumPurple", size=10)
))

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3],
    y=[5, 5, 5],
    legendgroup="group2",
    name="second legend group - average",
    mode="lines",
    line=dict(color="MediumPurple")
))

fig.show()

You can also hide entries in grouped legends:

import plotly.graph_objects as go

fig = go.Figure()

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3],
    y=[2, 1, 3],
    legendgroup="group",  # this can be any string, not just "group"
    name="first legend group",
    mode="markers",
    marker=dict(color="Crimson", size=10)
))

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3],
    y=[2, 2, 2],
    legendgroup="group",
    name="first legend group - average",
    mode="lines",
    line=dict(color="Crimson"),
    showlegend=False,
))

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3],
    y=[4, 9, 2],
    legendgroup="group2",
    name="second legend group",
    mode="markers",
    marker=dict(color="MediumPurple", size=10)
))

fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=[1, 2, 3],
    y=[5, 5, 5],
    legendgroup="group2",
    name="second legend group - average",
    mode="lines",
    line=dict(color="MediumPurple"),
    showlegend=False,
))

fig.show()

Reference

See https://plot.ly/python/reference/#layout-legend for more information!