Font Families

dartwork-mpl bundles 9 professional font families with a total of 130 font variants. Each family is optimized for different use cases in data visualization.

Roboto (Default)

Google’s flagship sans-serif typeface and the default font in dartwork-mpl. Roboto features friendly, open curves while maintaining a mechanical skeleton, making it highly legible at all sizes.

Variants: 15 (Thin, Light, Regular, Medium, Bold, Black + Italics)

Best For:

• General-purpose body text

• Axis labels and tick marks

• Legends and annotations

Usage:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.rcParams['font.family'] = 'Roboto'
plt.rcParams['font.weight'] = 300  # Light weight (dartwork default)

---

Inter

A modern sans-serif typeface designed specifically for computer screens. Inter features a tall x-height for improved readability at small sizes and includes many OpenType features.

Variants: 20 (Thin through Black, with Italics)

Best For:

• UI-style visualizations

• Presentations and slides

• Screen-first publications

Usage:

plt.rcParams['font.family'] = 'Inter'

---

InterDisplay

The display variant of Inter, optimized for larger sizes. Features tighter letter-spacing and refined details that shine at headline sizes.

Variants: 20 (Thin through Black, with Italics)

Best For:

• Figure titles

• Section headings

• Large callout text

Usage:

ax.set_title("Main Title", fontfamily='Inter Display', fontsize=24)

---

Noto Sans

Google’s Noto Sans provides harmonious typography across hundreds of languages. The name “Noto” comes from “No Tofu”—the goal of eliminating the blank boxes (tofu) that appear when a font lacks a glyph.

Variants: 15 (ExtraLight through Black, with Italics)

Best For:

• Multi-language documents

• International publications

• Unicode-heavy content

Usage:

plt.rcParams['font.family'] = 'Noto Sans'

---

Noto Sans Condensed

The condensed variant of Noto Sans, providing the same excellent character coverage in a narrower form factor.

Variants: 20 (Thin through Black, with Italics)

Best For:

• Tables with many columns

• Dense data visualizations

• Space-constrained layouts

Usage:

plt.rcParams['font.family'] = 'Noto Sans Condensed'

---

Noto Sans SemiCondensed

A middle ground between regular Noto Sans and the fully condensed variant. Offers good space efficiency while maintaining excellent readability.

Variants: 20 (Thin through Black, with Italics)

Best For:

• Legends with many entries

• Compact labels

• Moderate space savings

Usage:

plt.rcParams['font.family'] = 'Noto Sans SemiCondensed'

---

Noto Sans ExtraCondensed

The most condensed variant in the Noto Sans family. Use when space is at an absolute premium.

Variants: 20 (Thin through Black, with Italics)

Best For:

• Very tight axis labels

• Narrow figure margins

• Maximum information density

Usage:

plt.rcParams['font.family'] = 'Noto Sans ExtraCondensed'

---

Noto Sans Math

A dedicated font for mathematical typesetting. Noto Sans Math provides comprehensive coverage of mathematical symbols, operators, and special characters used in scientific notation.

Variants: 1 (Regular only)

Best For:

• Scientific equations

• Mathematical notation

• Greek letters and symbols

Usage in dartwork-mpl:

Noto Sans Math is automatically configured for mathtext rendering:

# These settings are applied by dartwork-mpl styles
plt.rcParams['mathtext.fontset'] = 'custom'
plt.rcParams['mathtext.rm'] = 'Noto Sans Math'
plt.rcParams['mathtext.it'] = 'Noto Sans Math:italic'
plt.rcParams['mathtext.bf'] = 'Noto Sans Math:bold'

Example:

ax.set_xlabel(r'$\alpha = \frac{\Delta x}{\Delta t}$')
ax.set_ylabel(r'$\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_i^2$')

---

Paperlogy

A clean, professional typeface designed specifically for documents and papers. Paperlogy offers excellent readability in dense text environments typical of academic and business publications.

Variants: 9 (Light through Black)

Best For:

• Academic papers

• Technical reports

• Professional documents

Usage:

plt.rcParams['font.family'] = 'Paperlogy'

---

Font Weight Reference

All font families (except Noto Sans Math) include multiple weights:

Weight Name	Numeric Value	Description
Thin	100	Extremely light
ExtraLight	200	Very light
Light	300	Light (dartwork default)
Regular	400	Normal
Medium	500	Slightly bold
SemiBold	600	Semi-bold
Bold	700	Bold
ExtraBold	800	Extra bold
Black	900	Maximum weight

Using Weights:

# Direct weight specification
ax.set_title("Title", fontweight=700)

# Or use the fw() helper for relative weights
ax.set_title("Title", fontweight=dm.fw(2))  # base + 200