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Plotto

Plotto is a plot library, 100% Elixir, that's focused on generating beautiful SVG charts and exporting the same chart to PNG when it's needed — including the PNG rasterizer and TrueType font renderer, no external binaries or NIFs required.

It is very useful when you are developing a website and need to integrate SVG charts. Chart data items accept arbitrary HTML/SVG attributes (phx-click, data-*, etc.), so if you are using Phoenix LiveView you can attach events, actions, and feedback to individual bars/points — without Plotto depending on Phoenix or LiveView in any way.

If you need to export or generate PNG charts for email, PDF, or sending via Telegram, Slack, Mattermost, etc., Plotto.to_png/1 renders the same chart to a PNG binary, anti-aliased and with full Unicode text support (including accented characters like á, é, ñ) via a bundled DejaVu Sans font.

Charts can also show an optional title and a legend (one swatch + name row per series, rendering square swatches for bars/candles and line segments with solid/dashed/dotted styles for lines). The legend can be positioned in 12 directional positions (top, bottom, left, right — with left, center/middle, and right alignments) and can be oriented vertically (default) or horizontally (legend_orientation: :horizontal) when positioned at the top or bottom. Negative values and mixed positive/negative domains are fully supported with an automatic zero baseline.

Usage

# Bar chart
chart =
  Plotto.BarChart.new!(
    [%{name: "Sales", data: [%{label: "Jan", value: 10}, %{label: "Feb", value: 25}]}],
    title: "Sales"
  )

svg = Plotto.to_svg!(chart)
png = Plotto.to_png!(chart)

# Multi-line chart with dashed/dotted lines and lateral legend
line_chart =
  Plotto.LineChart.new!(
    [
      %{name: "Series A", data: [%{label: "Jan", value: 10}, %{label: "Feb", value: 30}]},
      %{name: "Series B", dashed: true, data: [%{label: "Jan", value: 5}, %{label: "Feb", value: 45}]}
    ],
    legend: :right_top,
    stroke_width: 2
  )

Plotto.LineChart supports both flat data lists ([%{label: "Jan", value: 10}, ...]) for single series and multi-series lists. See Plotto.BarChart and Plotto.LineChart for the full data/options shape.

Examples

examples/bar_chart.exs generates the chart below (mix run examples/bar_chart.exs), with two series ("Revenue" and "Net Profit"), mixed positive/negative values with a zero baseline, and a top-right legend:

data = [
  %{
    name: "Revenue",
    data: [
      %{label: "Jan", value: 42},
      %{label: "Feb", value: 58},
      %{label: "Mar", value: 33},
      %{label: "Apr", value: 71},
      %{label: "May", value: 65},
      %{label: "Jun", value: 90}
    ]
  },
  %{
    name: "Net Profit",
    data: [
      %{label: "Jan", value: 12},
      %{label: "Feb", value: 25},
      %{label: "Mar", value: -15},
      %{label: "Apr", value: 30},
      %{label: "May", value: -8},
      %{label: "Jun", value: 40}
    ]
  }
]

chart = Plotto.BarChart.new!(data, title: "Monthly Performance", legend: :top_right)
svg = Plotto.to_svg!(chart)
png = Plotto.to_png!(chart)

File.write!(Path.join(__DIR__, "bar_chart.svg"), svg)
File.write!(Path.join(__DIR__, "bar_chart.png"), png)

Bar chart example

examples/stacked_bar_chart.exs generates a stacked bar chart (mix run examples/stacked_bar_chart.exs with mode: :stacked):

data = [
  %{
    name: "Hardware",
    data: [
      %{label: "Q1", value: 45},
      %{label: "Q2", value: 50},
      %{label: "Q3", value: 40},
      %{label: "Q4", value: 65}
    ]
  },
  %{
    name: "Software",
    data: [
      %{label: "Q1", value: 30},
      %{label: "Q2", value: 35},
      %{label: "Q3", value: 45},
      %{label: "Q4", value: 55}
    ]
  },
  %{
    name: "Services",
    data: [
      %{label: "Q1", value: 20},
      %{label: "Q2", value: 25},
      %{label: "Q3", value: 30},
      %{label: "Q4", value: 40}
    ]
  }
]

chart =
  Plotto.BarChart.new!(
    data,
    mode: :stacked,
    title: "Quarterly Revenue Breakdown",
    legend: :top_right
  )

svg = Plotto.to_svg!(chart)
png = Plotto.to_png!(chart)

File.write!(Path.join(__DIR__, "stacked_bar_chart.svg"), svg)
File.write!(Path.join(__DIR__, "stacked_bar_chart.png"), png)

Stacked bar chart example

examples/line_chart.exs generates a line chart with temperatures crossing negative values (mix run examples/line_chart.exs), with a bottom-left legend:

data = [
  %{
    name: "Temperature",
    data: [
      %{label: "Jan", value: -5},
      %{label: "Feb", value: -2},
      %{label: "Mar", value: 8},
      %{label: "Apr", value: 15},
      %{label: "May", value: 22},
      %{label: "Jun", value: 28}
    ]
  }
]

chart = Plotto.LineChart.new!(data, title: "Monthly Temperatures (°C)", legend: :bottom_left)
svg = Plotto.to_svg!(chart)
png = Plotto.to_png!(chart)

File.write!(Path.join(__DIR__, "line_chart.svg"), svg)
File.write!(Path.join(__DIR__, "line_chart.png"), png)

Line chart example

examples/candlestick_chart.exs generates a candlestick (OHLC) financial chart (mix run examples/candlestick_chart.exs):

data = [
  %{label: "09:30", open: 180.5, high: 182.0, low: 179.8, close: 181.6},
  %{label: "10:00", open: 181.6, high: 183.4, low: 181.0, close: 182.9},
  %{label: "10:30", open: 182.9, high: 184.5, low: 182.2, close: 184.1},
  %{label: "11:00", open: 184.1, high: 185.0, low: 183.0, close: 183.2},
  %{label: "11:30", open: 183.2, high: 183.8, low: 181.5, close: 182.0},
  %{label: "12:00", open: 182.0, high: 183.5, low: 181.8, close: 183.0},
  %{label: "12:30", open: 183.0, high: 184.8, low: 182.7, close: 184.5},
  %{label: "13:00", open: 184.5, high: 186.2, low: 184.0, close: 185.8}
]

chart = Plotto.CandlestickChart.new!(data, title: "AAPL Intraday (30m)")
svg = Plotto.to_svg!(chart)
png = Plotto.to_png!(chart)

File.write!(Path.join(__DIR__, "candlestick_chart.svg"), svg)
File.write!(Path.join(__DIR__, "candlestick_chart.png"), png)

Candlestick chart example

examples/server_metrics_chart.exs generates a multi-series line chart with horizontal and vertical guidelines, percentage suffix, target threshold line, and a bottom horizontal legend (mix run examples/server_metrics_chart.exs):

data = [
  %{
    name: "CPU Utilization",
    color: "#E74C3C",
    data: [
      %{label: "00:00", value: 24},
      %{label: "04:00", value: 18},
      %{label: "08:00", value: 55},
      %{label: "12:00", value: 88},
      %{label: "16:00", value: 76},
      %{label: "20:00", value: 42}
    ]
  },
  %{
    name: "Memory Usage",
    color: "#3498DB",
    dashed: true,
    data: [
      %{label: "00:00", value: 60},
      %{label: "04:00", value: 62},
      %{label: "08:00", value: 68},
      %{label: "12:00", value: 85},
      %{label: "16:00", value: 82},
      %{label: "20:00", value: 70}
    ]
  },
  %{
    name: "Disk I/O",
    color: "#2ECC71",
    dotted: true,
    data: [
      %{label: "00:00", value: 10},
      %{label: "04:00", value: 15},
      %{label: "08:00", value: 35},
      %{label: "12:00", value: 65},
      %{label: "16:00", value: 40},
      %{label: "20:00", value: 20}
    ]
  }
]

chart =
  Plotto.LineChart.new!(
    data,
    title: "Server Performance (24h)",
    suffix: "%",
    y_max: 100,
    y_max_guide: {:dashed, "#C0392B"},
    y_guidelines: true,
    x_guidelines: true,
    legend: :bottom_center,
    legend_orientation: :horizontal,
    stroke_width: 3,
    width: 700,
    height: 450
  )

svg = Plotto.to_svg!(chart)
png = Plotto.to_png!(chart)

File.write!(Path.join(__DIR__, "server_metrics_chart.svg"), svg)
File.write!(Path.join(__DIR__, "server_metrics_chart.png"), png)

Server metrics chart example

examples/sales_targets_chart.exs generates a grouped bar chart with currency prefix, magnitude suffix, target budget guideline, value labels, and a top horizontal legend (mix run examples/sales_targets_chart.exs):

data = [
  %{
    name: "Actual Revenue",
    data: [
      %{label: "Q1", value: 65},
      %{label: "Q2", value: 82},
      %{label: "Q3", value: 95},
      %{label: "Q4", value: 110}
    ]
  },
  %{
    name: "Target Budget",
    data: [
      %{label: "Q1", value: 70},
      %{label: "Q2", value: 85},
      %{label: "Q3", value: 90},
      %{label: "Q4", value: 100}
    ]
  }
]

chart =
  Plotto.BarChart.new!(
    data,
    title: "Quarterly Revenue vs Target ($k)",
    prefix: "$",
    suffix: "k",
    y_max: 120,
    y_max_guide: {:dashed, "#27AE60"},
    y_guidelines: true,
    label: :value,
    legend: :top_center,
    legend_orientation: :horizontal,
    width: 700,
    height: 450
  )

svg = Plotto.to_svg!(chart)
png = Plotto.to_png!(chart)

File.write!(Path.join(__DIR__, "sales_targets_chart.svg"), svg)
File.write!(Path.join(__DIR__, "sales_targets_chart.png"), png)

Sales targets chart example

Tooltips, Labels and CSS Styling

Plotto charts generate clean SVG elements with standard semantic CSS classes (plotto-chart, plotto-bar, plotto-candle, plotto-candle-bullish, plotto-candle-bearish, plotto-point, plotto-line, plotto-axis, plotto-label, plotto-label-bar, plotto-label-point, plotto-legend), making it easy to style them with Tailwind, CSS variables, or dark mode themes.

Tooltips

All charts support the :tooltip option:

:data (default): Injects data-title="..." attributes onto bars, candles, and points for modern, instant JS/LiveView tooltips.
:native (or :title): Injects <title>...</title> child elements for zero-JS browser tooltips and accessibility.
false / nil: Disables automatic tooltip injection.
fn item -> ... end or fn item, series_name -> ... end: Formats the tooltip text using a custom callback.

Top Labels on Bars and Points

Plotto.BarChart and Plotto.LineChart support placing labels immediately above bars and line points via the :label option:

true (or :label): Displays each point's category label (or stacked column category) above the element.
:value: Displays formatted numeric values above each bar/point.
fn item -> ... end or fn item, series_name -> ... end: Custom callback returning the string to display (e.g. fn item -> "#{item.value}%" end). Returning nil or false skips the label for that item.
false (default): No labels rendered above elements.

Legend Positions and Orientation

Plotto supports flexible legend positioning via :legend:

Top: :top_left, :top_center, :top_right, or :top (alias for :top_center).
Bottom: :bottom_left, :bottom_center, :bottom_right, or :bottom (alias for :bottom_center).
Left: :left_top, :left_middle, :left_bottom.
Right: :right_top, :right_middle, :right_bottom.

When positioned at the top or bottom, the layout can be configured using :legend_orientation:

:vertical (default): stacked items vertically in a column.
:horizontal: items displayed side by side horizontally in a row.

Y-Axis Bounds and Guide Lines

Charts allow specifying minimum and maximum target bounds for the Y axis:

:y_max: target maximum value for the Y axis.
:y_min: target minimum value for the Y axis.
:y_max_soft: boolean (default true). When true, if data points exceed :y_max, the Y axis dynamically expands to fit the data. When false, the axis is strictly capped at :y_max.
:y_min_soft: boolean (default false). When true, if data points fall below :y_min, the Y axis dynamically expands downwards. When false, the axis is strictly bounded at :y_min.
:y_max_guide: reference guideline drawn horizontally across the plot at :y_max. Can be false (default), true (dashed with theme axis color), a color string ("#FF0000"), or a tuple {:solid | :dashed | :dotted, color} (e.g. {:dashed, "#FF0000"}).
:y_min_guide: reference guideline drawn horizontally across the plot at :y_min. Follows the same format as :y_max_guide.

Value Prefix and Suffix

Charts support adding prefixes and suffixes to numeric values across Y-axis tick labels, point/bar tooltips (<title> and data-title), and value labels (label: :value):

:value_suffix (or :suffix): string appended to numeric values (e.g. suffix: "%" or suffix: " USD"). Negative numbers are formatted properly (e.g. "-25%"). Defaults to nil.
:value_prefix (or :prefix): string prepended to numeric values (e.g. prefix: "$" or prefix: "€"). Negative numbers format with the minus sign preceding the prefix (e.g. "-$25"). Defaults to nil.

Grid Lines and Guidelines

Charts support drawing horizontal and vertical guidelines (grid lines) behind data points and series:

:y_guidelines: horizontal guidelines drawn across the plot at each Y-axis tick mark. Can be false (default), true (dotted with theme grid color), a color string ("#E0E0E0"), or a tuple {:dotted | :dashed | :solid, color} (e.g. {:dashed, "#CCCCCC"}).
:x_guidelines: vertical guidelines drawn across the plot at each category along the X axis. Follows the same format as :y_guidelines. Defaults to false.

Installation

The package can be installed by adding plotto to your list of dependencies in mix.exs:

def deps do
  [
    {:plotto, "~> 0.6.0"}
  ]
end

Documentation can be generated with ExDoc and published on HexDocs. Once published, the docs can be found at https://hexdocs.pm/plotto.

License

Plotto is licensed under the MIT License.

Enjoy!