Overview

The color system has one rule: the name is a family, and n picks the form. Use the same family name as a token, a discrete list, or a colormap depending on the matplotlib surface you are filling.

Tip

New to color? Start with the beginner Colors and Colormaps usage guide to choose between a token, palette, colormap, and custom Color workflow.

Modeled relative CIE Y (relative_y) is calculated from nominal D65 sRGB; it is not a measurement of a particular display, perceived brightness, or OKLab L.

you want to

you write

catalog

color one thing

color="dc.blue6"

Colors

color N series

dm.set_colors("vivid") / dm.colors("vivid", n=6)

Palettes

color a field

cmap="dc.aurora"

Colormaps

build your own

dm.color(), dm.oklch(), dm.cspace()

Color class

The catalog has five kinds: sequential, multi-hue, diverging, cyclic, and qualitative. Most families have a continuous form for cmap= and a designed discrete form for dm.colors(name, n=...); qualitative families are discrete sets that also register as qualitative colormaps. dm.list_colors() returns the 56 family records that make those forms explicit.

Colors

Use this catalog to color one mark, line, or area with color="...". It shows the generated dc.* ramps, semantic aliases, and the six bundled third-party design systems.

Colors
Palettes

Use this catalog to give separate series or categories distinct colors. It shows Octave, curated qualitative sets, family samples, and diverging/sequential lists for dm.set_colors() and dm.colors(name, n=...).

Palettes
Colormaps

Use this catalog to turn numeric values into colors with cmap=. It contains 43 perceptually-designed colormaps, plus 13 qualitative colormaps for class data: 56 family records in all. Continuous construction is topology-specific: single-hue, continuous-gray, multi-hue, and twilight paths use the applicable ΔEOK resampling, while diverging maps and hue use their own symmetric-arm or equal-angle rules. Explicit checks then confirm the required modeled-relative-Y direction or shape rather than claiming perfect uniformity; _r reverses control direction.

Colormaps
Color class

Use this optional guide when you need to create or adjust a color yourself. The programmatic color engine can construct, convert, modify, interpolate, and register custom colormaps in OKLab / OKLCH.

Color class
Fonts

20 publication-ready fonts (262 files across 22 file groups), auto-registered with matplotlib and wired into the style presets.

Fonts
Design rationale

The evidence page for the design system: perceptual color theory today, with typography rationale reserved for the fonts overhaul.

Design rationale