JavaScript > Basic Charts > Line Charts
Suggest an edit to this page

Line Charts in JavaScript

How to make D3.js-based line charts in JavaScript.


New to Plotly?

Plotly is a free and open-source graphing library for JavaScript. We recommend you read our Getting Started guide for the latest installation or upgrade instructions, then move on to our Plotly Fundamentals tutorials or dive straight in to some Basic Charts tutorials.

Basic Line Plot 

var trace1 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4],
  y: [10, 15, 13, 17],
  type: 'scatter'
};

var trace2 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4],
  y: [16, 5, 11, 9],
  type: 'scatter'
};

var data = [trace1, trace2];

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data);

Line and Scatter Plot 

var trace1 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4],
  y: [10, 15, 13, 17],
  mode: 'markers'
};

var trace2 = {
  x: [2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [16, 5, 11, 9],
  mode: 'lines'
};

var trace3 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4],
  y: [12, 9, 15, 12],
  mode: 'lines+markers'
};

var data = [ trace1, trace2, trace3 ];

var layout = {
  title: {text: 'Line and Scatter Plot'}
};

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Adding Names to Line and Scatter Plot 

var trace1 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4],
  y: [10, 15, 13, 17],
  mode: 'markers',
  name: 'Scatter'
};

var trace2 = {
  x: [2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [16, 5, 11, 9],
  mode: 'lines',
  name: 'Lines'
};

var trace3 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4],
  y: [12, 9, 15, 12],
  mode: 'lines+markers',
  name: 'Scatter + Lines'
};

var data = [ trace1, trace2, trace3 ];

var layout = {
  title: {text: 'Adding Names to Line and Scatter Plot'}
};

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Line and Scatter Styling 

var trace1 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4],
  y: [10, 15, 13, 17],
  mode: 'markers',
  marker: {
    color: 'rgb(219, 64, 82)',
    size: 12
  }
};

var trace2 = {
  x: [2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [16, 5, 11, 9],
  mode: 'lines',
  line: {
    color: 'rgb(55, 128, 191)',
    width: 3
  }
};

var trace3 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4],
  y: [12, 9, 15, 12],
  mode: 'lines+markers',
  marker: {
    color: 'rgb(128, 0, 128)',
    size: 8
  },
  line: {
    color: 'rgb(128, 0, 128)',
    width: 1
  }
};

var data = [trace1, trace2, trace3];

var layout = {
  title: {
    text: 'Line and Scatter Styling'
  }
};

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Styling Line Plot 

trace1 = {
  type: 'scatter',
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4],
  y: [10, 15, 13, 17],
  mode: 'lines',
  name: 'Red',
  line: {
    color: 'rgb(219, 64, 82)',
    width: 3
  }
};

trace2 = {
  type: 'scatter',
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4],
  y: [12, 9, 15, 12],
  mode: 'lines',
  name: 'Blue',
  line: {
    color: 'rgb(55, 128, 191)',
    width: 1
  }
};

var layout = {
  width: 500,
  height: 500
};

var data = [trace1, trace2];

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Colored and Styled Scatter Plot 

var trace1 = {
  x: [52698, 43117],
  y: [53, 31],
  mode: 'markers',
  name: 'North America',
  text: ['United States', 'Canada'],
  marker: {
    color: 'rgb(164, 194, 244)',
    size: 12,
    line: {
      color: 'white',
      width: 0.5
    }
  },
  type: 'scatter'
};

var trace2 = {
  x: [39317, 37236, 35650, 30066, 29570, 27159, 23557, 21046, 18007],
  y: [33, 20, 13, 19, 27, 19, 49, 44, 38],
  mode: 'markers',
  name: 'Europe',
  text: ['Germany', 'Britain', 'France', 'Spain', 'Italy', 'Czech Rep.', 'Greece', 'Poland'],
  marker: {
    color: 'rgb(255, 217, 102)',
    size: 12
  },
  type: 'scatter'
};

var trace3 = {
  x: [42952, 37037, 33106, 17478, 9813, 5253, 4692, 3899],
  y: [23, 42, 54, 89, 14, 99, 93, 70],
  mode: 'markers',
  name: 'Asia/Pacific',
  text: ['Australia', 'Japan', 'South Korea', 'Malaysia', 'China', 'Indonesia', 'Philippines', 'India'],
  marker: {
    color: 'rgb(234, 153, 153)',
    size: 12
  },
  type: 'scatter'
};

var trace4 = {
  x: [19097, 18601, 15595, 13546, 12026, 7434, 5419],
  y: [43, 47, 56, 80, 86, 93, 80],
  mode: 'markers',
  name: 'Latin America',
  text: ['Chile', 'Argentina', 'Mexico', 'Venezuela', 'Venezuela', 'El Salvador', 'Bolivia'],
  marker: {
    color: 'rgb(142, 124, 195)',
    size: 12
  },
  type: 'scatter'
};

var data = [trace1, trace2, trace3, trace4];

var layout = {
  title: {
    text: 'Quarter 1 Growth'
  },
  xaxis: {
    title: {
      text: 'GDP per Capita'
    },
    showgrid: false,
    zeroline: false
  },
  yaxis: {
    title: {
      text: 'Percent'
    },
    showline: false
  }
};

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Line Shape Options for Interpolation 

var trace1 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [1, 3, 2, 3, 1],
  mode: 'lines+markers',
  name: 'linear',
  line: {shape: 'linear'},
  type: 'scatter'
};

var trace2 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [6, 8, 7, 8, 6],
  mode: 'lines+markers',
  name: 'spline',
  text: ['tweak line smoothness<br>with "smoothing" in line object', 'tweak line smoothness<br>with "smoothing" in line object', 'tweak line smoothness<br>with "smoothing" in line object', 'tweak line smoothness<br>with "smoothing" in line object', 'tweak line smoothness<br>with "smoothing" in line object', 'tweak line smoothness<br>with "smoothing" in line object'],
  line: {shape: 'spline'},
  type: 'scatter'
};

var trace3 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [11, 13, 12, 13, 11],
  mode: 'lines+markers',
  name: 'vhv',
  line: {shape: 'vhv'},
  type: 'scatter'
};

var trace4 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [16, 18, 17, 18, 16],
  mode: 'lines+markers',
  name: 'hvh',
  line: {shape: 'hvh'},
  type: 'scatter'
};

var trace5 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [21, 23, 22, 23, 21],
  mode: 'lines+markers',
  name: 'vh',
  line: {shape: 'vh'},
  type: 'scatter'
};

var trace6 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [26, 28, 27, 28, 26],
  mode: 'lines+markers',
  name: 'hv',
  line: {shape: 'hv'},
  type: 'scatter'
};

var data = [trace1, trace2, trace3, trace4, trace5, trace6];

var layout = {
  legend: {
    y: 0.5,
    traceorder: 'reversed',
    font: {size: 16},
    yref: 'paper'
  }};

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Graph and Axes Titles 

var trace1 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4],
  y: [10, 15, 13, 17],
  mode: 'markers',
  name: 'Scatter'
};

var trace2 = {
  x: [2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [16, 5, 11, 9],
  mode: 'lines',
  name: 'Lines'
};

var trace3 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4],
  y: [12, 9, 15, 12],
  mode: 'lines+markers',
  name: 'Scatter and Lines'
};

var data = [trace1, trace2, trace3];

var layout = {
  title: {
    text: 'Title of the Graph'
  },
  xaxis: {
    title: {
      text: 'x-axis title'
    }
  },
  yaxis: {
    title: {
      text: 'y-axis title'
    }
  }
};

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Line Dash 

var trace1 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [1, 3, 2, 3, 1],
  mode: 'lines',
  name: 'Solid',
  line: {
    dash: 'solid',
    width: 4
  }
};

var trace2 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [6, 8, 7, 8, 6],
  mode: 'lines',
  name: 'dashdot',
  line: {
    dash: 'dashdot',
    width: 4
  }
};

var trace3 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [11, 13, 12, 13, 11],
  mode: 'lines',
  name: 'Solid',
  line: {
    dash: 'solid',
    width: 4
  }
};

var trace4 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
  y: [16, 18, 17, 18, 16],
  mode: 'lines',
  name: 'dot',
  line: {
    dash: 'dot',
    width: 4
  }
};

var data = [trace1, trace2, trace3, trace4];

var layout = {
  title: {
    text: 'Line Dash'
  },
  xaxis: {
    range: [0.75, 5.25],
    autorange: false
  },
  yaxis: {
    range: [0, 18.5],
    autorange: false
  },
  legend: {
    y: 0.5,
    traceorder: 'reversed',
    font: {
      size: 16
    }
  }
};

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Connect Gaps Between Data 

var trace1 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8],
  y: [10, 15, null, 17, 14, 12, 10, null, 15],
  mode: 'lines+markers',
  connectgaps: true
};

var trace2 = {
  x: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8],
  y: [16, null, 13, 10, 8, null, 11, 12],
  mode: 'lines',
  connectgaps: true
};

var data = [trace1, trace2];

var layout = {
  title: {
    text: 'Connect the Gaps Between Data'
  },
  showlegend: false
};

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Labelling Lines with Annotations 

var xData = [
  [2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013],
  [2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013],
  [2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013],
  [2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013]
];

var yData = [
  [74, 82, 80, 74, 73, 72, 74, 70, 70, 66, 66, 69],
  [45, 42, 50, 46, 36, 36, 34, 35, 32, 31, 31, 28],
  [13, 14, 20, 24, 20, 24, 24, 40, 35, 41, 43, 50],
  [18, 21, 18, 21, 16, 14, 13, 18, 17, 16, 19, 23]
];

var colors = ['rgba(67,67,67,1)', 'rgba(115,115,115,1)', 'rgba(49,130,189, 1)',
  'rgba(189,189,189,1)'
];

var lineSize = [2, 2, 4, 2];

var labels = ['Television', 'Newspaper', 'Internet', 'Radio'];

var data = [];

for ( var i = 0 ; i < xData.length ; i++ ) {
  var result = {
    x: xData[i],
    y: yData[i],
    type: 'scatter',
    mode: 'lines',
    line: {
      color: colors[i],
      width: lineSize[i]
    }
  };
  var result2 = {
    x: [xData[i][0], xData[i][11]],
    y: [yData[i][0], yData[i][11]],
    type: 'scatter',
    mode: 'markers',
    marker: {
      color: colors[i],
      size: 12
    }
  };
  data.push(result, result2);
}

var layout = {
  showlegend: false,
  height: 600,
  width: 600,
  xaxis: {
    showline: true,
    showgrid: false,
    showticklabels: true,
    linecolor: 'rgb(204,204,204)',
    linewidth: 2,
    tickmode: 'linear',
    ticks: 'outside',
    tickcolor: 'rgb(204,204,204)',
    tickwidth: 2,
    ticklen: 5,
    tickfont: {
      family: 'Arial',
      size: 12,
      color: 'rgb(82, 82, 82)'
    }
  },
  yaxis: {
    showgrid: false,
    zeroline: false,
    showline: false,
    showticklabels: false
  },
  autosize: false,
  margin: {
    autoexpand: false,
    l: 100,
    r: 20,
    t: 100
  },
  annotations: [
    {
      xref: 'paper',
      yref: 'paper',
      x: 0.0,
      y: 1.05,
      xanchor: 'left',
      yanchor: 'bottom',
      text: 'Main Source for News',
      font:{
        family: 'Arial',
        size: 30,
        color: 'rgb(37,37,37)'
      },
      showarrow: false
    },
    {
      xref: 'paper',
      yref: 'paper',
      x: 0.5,
      y: -0.1,
      xanchor: 'center',
      yanchor: 'top',
      text: 'Source: Pew Research Center & Storytelling with data',
      showarrow: false,
      font: {
        family: 'Arial',
        size: 12,
        color: 'rgb(150,150,150)'
      }
    }
  ]
};

for( var i = 0 ; i < xData.length ; i++ ) {
  var result = {
    xref: 'paper',
    x: 0.05,
    y: yData[i][0],
    xanchor: 'right',
    yanchor: 'middle',
    text: labels[i] + ' ' + yData[i][0] +'%',
    showarrow: false,
    font: {
      family: 'Arial',
      size: 16,
      color: 'black'
    }
  };
  var result2 = {
    xref: 'paper',
    x: 0.95,
    y: yData[i][11],
    xanchor: 'left',
    yanchor: 'middle',
    text: yData[i][11] +'%',
    font: {
      family: 'Arial',
      size: 16,
      color: 'black'
    },
    showarrow: false
  };

  layout.annotations.push(result, result2);
}

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);