Histogram2dcontour

Overview

The histogram2dcontour trace type is used to create 2D contour plots that represent the density of data points across two dimensions. Similar to a 2D histogram, this plot type bins data along the x and y axes but visualizes the density using contour lines instead of filled colors.

You can customize the binning along both axes, contour lines, and the color mapping to suit your data. This trace type is useful for visualizing patterns and clusters in bivariate data.

Common Uses

• Density Contours: Showing how data points are distributed and clustered.
• Joint Distribution Analysis: Visualizing the relationship between two variables with density contours.
• Bivariate Statistical Analysis: Analyzing two variables and their joint behavior.

Check out the Attributes for the full set of configuration options

Examples

Common Configurations

Simple 2D Contour Histogram2D Contour Histogram with Filled Contours2D Contour Histogram with Custom Bins

Here's a simple histogram2dcontour plot showing the density of data points using contour lines:

You can copy this code below to create this chart in your project:

models:
  - name: histogram2dcontour-data
    args:
      - echo
      - |
        x,y
        1,1
        2,3
        3,4
        4,5
        2,1
        3,2
        5,6
        4,2
        5,3
traces:
  - name: Simple 2D Contour Histogram
    model: ${ref(histogram2dcontour-data)}
    props:
      type: histogram2dcontour
      x: ?{x}
      y: ?{y}
      colorscale: "Viridis"
      contours:
        coloring: "none"
charts:
  - name: Simple 2D Contour Histogram
    traces:
      - ${ref(Simple 2D Contour Histogram)}
    layout:
      title:
        text: Simple 2D Contour Histogram<br><sub>Density Contours of Bivariate Data</sub>
      xaxis:
        title:
          text: "X Axis"
      yaxis:
        title:
          text: "Y Axis"

This example demonstrates a histogram2dcontour plot with filled contour regions to better visualize data density:

Here's the code:

models:
  - name: histogram2dcontour-data-filled
    args:
      - echo
      - |
        x,y
        2,1
        3,2
        4,3
        5,4
        6,5
        3,1
        4,2
        5,3
        6,4
traces:
  - name: 2D Contour Histogram with Filled Contours
    model: ${ref(histogram2dcontour-data-filled)}
    props:
      type: histogram2dcontour
      x: ?{x}
      y: ?{y}
      colorscale: "Blues"
      contours:
        coloring: "heatmap"
charts:
  - name: 2D Contour Histogram with Filled Contours
    traces:
      - ${ref(2D Contour Histogram with Filled Contours)}
    layout:
      title:
        text: 2D Contour Histogram with Filled Contours<br><sub>Filled Density Contours</sub>
      xaxis:
        title:
          text: "X Axis"
      yaxis:
        title:
          text: "Y Axis"

Here's a histogram2dcontour plot with custom bin sizes for both the x and y axes, allowing more control over the granularity of the plot:

Here's the code:

models:
  - name: histogram2dcontour-data-bins
    args:
      - echo
      - |
        x,y
        1,5
        2,6
        3,7
        2,4
        3,5
        4,6
        5,8
        4,3
        5,4
traces:
  - name: 2D Contour Histogram with Custom Bins
    model: ${ref(histogram2dcontour-data-bins)}
    props:
      type: histogram2dcontour
      x: ?{x}
      y: ?{y}
      xbins:
        size: 1
      ybins:
        size: 1
      colorscale: "Jet"
charts:
  - name: 2D Contour Histogram with Custom Bins
    traces:
      - ${ref(2D Contour Histogram with Custom Bins)}
    layout:
      title:
        text: 2D Contour Histogram with Custom Bins<br><sub>Custom Bin Sizes for X and Y</sub>
      xaxis:
        title:
          text: "X Axis"
      yaxis:
        title:
          text: "Y Axis"

A schema to validate plotly trace properties

Attributes

These attributes apply to traces where trace.props.type is set to histogram2dcontour. You would configure these attributes on the trace with the trace.props object.

autobinx: boolean
autobiny: boolean
autocolorscale: boolean
autocontour: boolean
bingroup: 'string' #(1)!
coloraxis: string
colorbar:
  bgcolor: any
  bordercolor: any
  borderwidth: number
  exponentformat: any
  len: number
  lenmode: any
  minexponent: number
  nticks: integer
  orientation: any
  outlinecolor: any
  outlinewidth: number
  separatethousands: boolean
  showexponent: any
  showticklabels: boolean
  showtickprefix: any
  showticksuffix: any
  thickness: number
  thicknessmode: any
  tickangle: number
  tickcolor: any
  tickfont:
    color: any
    family: 'string' #(2)!
    lineposition: any
    shadow: 'string' #(3)!
    size: number
    style: any
    textcase: any
    variant: any
    weight: integer
  tickformat: 'string' #(4)!
  tickformatstops: array
  ticklabeloverflow: any
  ticklabelposition: any
  ticklabelstep: integer
  ticklen: number
  tickmode: any
  tickprefix: 'string' #(5)!
  ticks: any
  ticksuffix: 'string' #(6)!
  ticktext: array
  ticktextsrc: 'string' #(7)!
  tickvals: array
  tickvalssrc: 'string' #(8)!
  tickwidth: number
  title:
    font:
      color: any
      family: 'string' #(9)!
      lineposition: any
      shadow: 'string' #(10)!
      size: number
      style: any
      textcase: any
      variant: any
      weight: integer
    side: any
    text: 'string' #(11)!
  x: number
  xanchor: any
  xpad: number
  xref: any
  y: number
  yanchor: any
  ypad: number
  yref: any
colorscale: any
contours:
  coloring: any
  end: number
  impliedEdits: any
  labelfont:
    color: any
    family: 'string' #(12)!
    lineposition: any
    shadow: 'string' #(13)!
    size: number
    style: any
    textcase: any
    variant: any
    weight: integer
  labelformat: 'string' #(14)!
  operation: any
  showlabels: boolean
  showlines: boolean
  size: number
  start: number
  type: any
customdata: array
customdatasrc: 'string' #(15)!
histfunc: any
histnorm: any
hoverinfo: array
hoverinfosrc: 'string' #(16)!
hoverlabel:
  align: array
  alignsrc: 'string' #(17)!
  bgcolor: array
  bgcolorsrc: 'string' #(18)!
  bordercolor: array
  bordercolorsrc: 'string' #(19)!
  font:
    color: array
    colorsrc: 'string' #(20)!
    family: 'string | array' #(21)!
    familysrc: 'string' #(22)!
    lineposition: array
    linepositionsrc: 'string' #(23)!
    shadow: 'string | array' #(24)!
    shadowsrc: 'string' #(25)!
    size: array
    sizesrc: 'string' #(26)!
    style: array
    stylesrc: 'string' #(27)!
    textcase: array
    textcasesrc: 'string' #(28)!
    variant: array
    variantsrc: 'string' #(29)!
    weight: array
    weightsrc: 'string' #(30)!
  namelength: array
  namelengthsrc: 'string' #(31)!
hovertemplate: 'string | array' #(32)!
hovertemplatesrc: 'string' #(33)!
ids: array
idssrc: 'string' #(34)!
legend: string
legendgroup: 'string' #(35)!
legendgrouptitle:
  font:
    color: any
    family: 'string' #(36)!
    lineposition: any
    shadow: 'string' #(37)!
    size: number
    style: any
    textcase: any
    variant: any
    weight: integer
  text: 'string' #(38)!
legendrank: number
legendwidth: number
line:
  color: any
  dash: 'string' #(39)!
  smoothing: number
  width: number
marker:
  color: array
  colorsrc: 'string' #(40)!
metasrc: 'string' #(41)!
name: 'string' #(42)!
nbinsx: integer
nbinsy: integer
ncontours: integer
opacity: number
reversescale: boolean
showlegend: boolean
showscale: boolean
stream:
  maxpoints: number
  token: 'string' #(43)!
textfont:
  color: any
  family: 'string' #(44)!
  lineposition: any
  shadow: 'string' #(45)!
  size: number
  style: any
  textcase: any
  variant: any
  weight: integer
texttemplate: 'string' #(46)!
type: histogram2dcontour
uid: 'string' #(47)!
visible: any
x: array
xaxis: string
xbingroup: 'string' #(48)!
xbins: {}
xcalendar: any
xhoverformat: 'string' #(49)!
xsrc: 'string' #(50)!
y: array
yaxis: string
ybingroup: 'string' #(51)!
ybins: {}
ycalendar: any
yhoverformat: 'string' #(52)!
ysrc: 'string' #(53)!
z: array
zauto: boolean
zhoverformat: 'string' #(54)!
zmax: number
zmid: number
zmin: number
zsrc: 'string' #(55)!

1. Set the xbingroup and ybingroup default prefix For example, setting a bingroup of 1 on two histogram2d traces will make them their x-bins and y-bins match separately.
2. HTML font family - the typeface that will be applied by the web browser. The web browser can only apply a font if it is available on the system where it runs. Provide multiple font families, separated by commas, to indicate the order in which to apply fonts if they aren't available.
3. Sets the shape and color of the shadow behind text. auto places minimal shadow and applies contrast text font color. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/text-shadow for additional options.
4. Sets the tick label formatting rule using d3 formatting mini-languages which are very similar to those in Python. For numbers, see: https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format. And for dates see: https://github.com/d3/d3-time-format/tree/v2.2.3#locale_format. We add two items to d3's date formatter: %h for half of the year as a decimal number as well as %{n}f for fractional seconds with n digits. For example, 2016-10-13 09:15:23.456 with tickformat %H~%M~%S.%2f would display 09~15~23.46
5. Sets a tick label prefix.
6. Sets a tick label suffix.
7. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for ticktext.
8. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for tickvals.
9. HTML font family - the typeface that will be applied by the web browser. The web browser can only apply a font if it is available on the system where it runs. Provide multiple font families, separated by commas, to indicate the order in which to apply fonts if they aren't available.
10. Sets the shape and color of the shadow behind text. auto places minimal shadow and applies contrast text font color. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/text-shadow for additional options.
11. Sets the title of the color bar.
12. HTML font family - the typeface that will be applied by the web browser. The web browser can only apply a font if it is available on the system where it runs. Provide multiple font families, separated by commas, to indicate the order in which to apply fonts if they aren't available.
13. Sets the shape and color of the shadow behind text. auto places minimal shadow and applies contrast text font color. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/text-shadow for additional options.
14. Sets the contour label formatting rule using d3 formatting mini-languages which are very similar to those in Python. For numbers, see: https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format.
15. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for customdata.
16. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for hoverinfo.
17. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for align.
18. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for bgcolor.
19. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for bordercolor.
20. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for color.
21. HTML font family - the typeface that will be applied by the web browser. The web browser can only apply a font if it is available on the system where it runs. Provide multiple font families, separated by commas, to indicate the order in which to apply fonts if they aren't available.
22. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for family.
23. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for lineposition.
24. Sets the shape and color of the shadow behind text. auto places minimal shadow and applies contrast text font color. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/text-shadow for additional options.
25. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for shadow.
26. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for size.
27. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for style.
28. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for textcase.
29. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for variant.
30. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for weight.
31. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for namelength.
32. Template string used for rendering the information that appear on hover box. Note that this will override hoverinfo. Variables are inserted using %{variable}, for example "y: %{y}" as well as %{xother}, {%xother}, {%_xother}, {%xother_}. When showing info for several points, xother will be added to those with different x positions from the first point. An underscore before or after (x|y)other will add a space on that side, only when this field is shown. Numbers are formatted using d3-format's syntax %{variable:d3-format}, for example "Price: %{y:$.2f}". https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format for details on the formatting syntax. Dates are formatted using d3-time-format's syntax %{variable|d3-time-format}, for example "Day: %{2019-01-01|%A}". https://github.com/d3/d3-time-format/tree/v2.2.3#locale_format for details on the date formatting syntax. The variables available in hovertemplate are the ones emitted as event data described at this link https://plotly.com/javascript/plotlyjs-events/#event-data. Additionally, every attributes that can be specified per-point (the ones that are arrayOk: true) are available. Finally, the template string has access to variable z Anything contained in tag <extra> is displayed in the secondary box, for example "{fullData.name}". To hide the secondary box completely, use an empty tag <extra></extra>.
33. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for hovertemplate.
34. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for ids.
35. Sets the legend group for this trace. Traces and shapes part of the same legend group hide/show at the same time when toggling legend items.
36. HTML font family - the typeface that will be applied by the web browser. The web browser can only apply a font if it is available on the system where it runs. Provide multiple font families, separated by commas, to indicate the order in which to apply fonts if they aren't available.
37. Sets the shape and color of the shadow behind text. auto places minimal shadow and applies contrast text font color. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/text-shadow for additional options.
38. Sets the title of the legend group.
39. Sets the dash style of lines. Set to a dash type string (solid, dot, dash, longdash, dashdot, or longdashdot) or a dash length list in px (eg 5px,10px,2px,2px).
40. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for color.
41. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for meta.
42. Sets the trace name. The trace name appears as the legend item and on hover.
43. The stream id number links a data trace on a plot with a stream. See https://chart-studio.plotly.com/settings for more details.
44. HTML font family - the typeface that will be applied by the web browser. The web browser can only apply a font if it is available on the system where it runs. Provide multiple font families, separated by commas, to indicate the order in which to apply fonts if they aren't available.
45. Sets the shape and color of the shadow behind text. auto places minimal shadow and applies contrast text font color. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/text-shadow for additional options.
46. For this trace it only has an effect if coloring is set to heatmap. Template string used for rendering the information text that appear on points. Note that this will override textinfo. Variables are inserted using %{variable}, for example "y: %{y}". Numbers are formatted using d3-format's syntax %{variable:d3-format}, for example "Price: %{y:$.2f}". https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format for details on the formatting syntax. Dates are formatted using d3-time-format's syntax %{variable|d3-time-format}, for example "Day: %{2019-01-01|%A}". https://github.com/d3/d3-time-format/tree/v2.2.3#locale_format for details on the date formatting syntax. Every attributes that can be specified per-point (the ones that are arrayOk: true) are available. Finally, the template string has access to variables x, y, z and text.
47. Assign an id to this trace, Use this to provide object constancy between traces during animations and transitions.
48. Set a group of histogram traces which will have compatible x-bin settings. Using xbingroup, histogram2d and histogram2dcontour traces (on axes of the same axis type) can have compatible x-bin settings. Note that the same xbingroup value can be used to set (1D) histogram bingroup
49. Sets the hover text formatting rulefor x using d3 formatting mini-languages which are very similar to those in Python. For numbers, see: https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format. And for dates see: https://github.com/d3/d3-time-format/tree/v2.2.3#locale_format. We add two items to d3's date formatter: %h for half of the year as a decimal number as well as %{n}f for fractional seconds with n digits. For example, 2016-10-13 09:15:23.456 with tickformat %H~%M~%S.%2f would display 09~15~23.46By default the values are formatted using xaxis.hoverformat.
50. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for x.
51. Set a group of histogram traces which will have compatible y-bin settings. Using ybingroup, histogram2d and histogram2dcontour traces (on axes of the same axis type) can have compatible y-bin settings. Note that the same ybingroup value can be used to set (1D) histogram bingroup
52. Sets the hover text formatting rulefor y using d3 formatting mini-languages which are very similar to those in Python. For numbers, see: https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format. And for dates see: https://github.com/d3/d3-time-format/tree/v2.2.3#locale_format. We add two items to d3's date formatter: %h for half of the year as a decimal number as well as %{n}f for fractional seconds with n digits. For example, 2016-10-13 09:15:23.456 with tickformat %H~%M~%S.%2f would display 09~15~23.46By default the values are formatted using yaxis.hoverformat.
53. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for y.
54. Sets the hover text formatting rulefor z using d3 formatting mini-languages which are very similar to those in Python. For numbers, see: https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format.By default the values are formatted using generic number format.
55. Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for z.