A GUI tool for researchers to create publication-quality seaborn/matplotlib plots — no coding required.
ktfigure is a desktop GUI application that lets researchers visually design and export figures built on top of seaborn and matplotlib. You drag plot regions onto an A4 artboard, load your CSV/TSV data, configure plot types and aesthetics through point-and-click dialogs, and export to PNG, PDF, or SVG — all without writing a single line of code.
scatter · line · bar · barh · box · violin · strip · swarm · histogram · kde · heatmap · count · regression
- Drag-to-create plot regions on an A4 canvas (794 × 1123 px at 96 DPI)
- Live plot preview while configuring data columns and aesthetics
- Column mapping for X, Y, Hue (color grouping), and Size (scatter)
- Shape and text annotation tools (lines, rectangles, circles, free text)
- Multi-object selection with alignment and distribution tools
- Undo / Redo (50-level history)
- Light / dark theme (auto-switches by time of day, or toggle manually)
- Export to PNG, PDF (vector), and SVG (vector)
Requirements: Python 3.10 or higher
git clone https://github.com/tuonglab/ktfigure.git
cd ktfigure
pip install .Note: On some systems, Tkinter must be installed separately.
- Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt-get install python3-tk- Fedora:
sudo dnf install python3-tkinter- macOS/Windows: Tkinter is included with the standard Python installer from python.org.
After installation, run either of the following commands:
ktfigure
# or
plotOr run directly from source:
python -m ktfigure- In the toolbar, click Plot mode.
- Click and drag on the white artboard to define the plot region.
- A configuration dialog will open — go to the Data tab and load a CSV or TSV file.
- Switch to the Plot tab, select your plot type, and map your data columns to X, Y, and (optionally) Hue.
- Click Apply to render the plot on the canvas.
Data format: ktfigure only accepts tabular data stored in CSV or TSV files. Each column should represent a variable and each row an observation. Other formats (Excel, JSON, databases, etc.) are not supported.
Use the Shape and Text toolbar modes to add lines, rectangles, circles, or text labels to your figure.
Go to File → Export and choose PNG, PDF, or SVG.
| Action | macOS | Windows / Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Undo | Cmd Z |
Ctrl Z |
| Redo | Cmd Shift Z |
Ctrl Y |
| Cut / Copy / Paste | Cmd X/C/V |
Ctrl X/C/V |
| Select All | Cmd A |
Ctrl A |
| Delete selected | Delete / Backspace |
Delete / Backspace |
Contributions are welcome and appreciated. If you encounter a bug, have a feature request, or want to improve the code:
- Bug reports & feature requests: Open an issue and describe the problem or idea with as much detail as possible.
- Pull requests: Fork the repository, make your changes on a new branch, and submit a PR against
master. Please include a clear description of what the change does and why.
MIT License — see LICENSE for details.