Themes & Styling

Themes & Styling#

ARGscape includes four built-in themes designed for different use cases: interactive exploration, presentations, and publication figures. Each theme defines colors for all visualization elements including nodes, edges, mutations, and text.

Available Themes#

Theme

Best For

Description

tskit

Interactive exploration

Dark theme with cyan and green accents. The original ARGscape look.

liquid

General use, presentations

Light Apple-inspired theme with glass effects. Clean and modern.

grayscale

Publications (print)

No colors, high contrast. Reproduces well in black-and-white.

paper

Publications (color)

Optimized for print figures with distinct, accessible colors.

Theme Details#

tskit#

The tskit theme is a dark theme inspired by the original ARGscape web application. It features cyan and green accents on a dark teal background.

viz = argscape.visualize(ts, theme="tskit")

When to use: Interactive data exploration, presentations in dark environments, matching the ARGscape web application aesthetic.

Color Palette:

Element

Color

Hex

Background

Dark teal

#03303E

Sample nodes

Pale green

#14E2A8

Internal nodes

Light blue

#60A0B7

Root nodes

Cyan

#38BDF8

Edges

Gray

#999999

Text

White

#ffffff

Mutations

Indigo

#4F46E5

liquid#

The liquid theme is a light, Apple-inspired theme with a clean, modern aesthetic. It is the default theme.

viz = argscape.visualize(ts, theme="liquid")  # Default

When to use: General purpose, presentations with light backgrounds, screen-based viewing.

Color Palette:

Element

Color

Hex

Background

Light gray

#f5f5f7

Sample nodes

ARGscape green

#14E2A8

Internal nodes

Slate

#94A3B8

Root nodes

ARGscape green

#14E2A8

Edges

Slate

#94A3B8

Text

Near-black

#1d1d1f

Mutations

Indigo

#4F46E5

grayscale#

The grayscale theme uses only shades of gray, making it ideal for publications that may be printed in black-and-white.

viz = argscape.visualize(ts, theme="grayscale")

When to use: Publications requiring black-and-white compatibility, print figures where color reproduction is uncertain, accessibility.

Color Palette:

Element

Color

Hex

Background

White

#ffffff

Sample nodes

Dark gray

#464646

Internal nodes

Medium gray

#646464

Root nodes

Dark gray

#323232

Edges

Light gray

#8C8C8C

Text

Near-black

#212529

Mutations

Gray

#4a4a4a

Tip

When using the grayscale theme, consider increasing node sizes slightly to maintain visibility without color differentiation.

paper#

The paper theme is optimized for publication figures with distinct, print-friendly colors that maintain their appearance in both digital and print formats.

viz = argscape.visualize(ts, theme="paper")

When to use: Academic publications, journal figures, posters, any print media where color is available.

Color Palette:

Element

Color

Hex

Background

White

#ffffff

Sample nodes

Blue

#2563eb

Internal nodes

Gray

#6b7280

Root nodes

Red

#dc2626

Edges

Dark gray

#374151

Text

Near-black

#111827

Mutations

Orange

#ea580c

Note

The paper theme uses blue for samples and red for roots, providing clear visual distinction between node types that works well for colorblind readers.

Theme Comparison#

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of key colors across all themes:

Element

tskit

liquid

grayscale

paper

Background

#03303E (dark teal)

#f5f5f7 (light gray)

#ffffff (white)

#ffffff (white)

Sample nodes

#14E2A8 (green)

#14E2A8 (green)

#464646 (gray)

#2563eb (blue)

Root nodes

#38BDF8 (cyan)

#14E2A8 (green)

#323232 (gray)

#dc2626 (red)

Edges

#999999 (gray)

#94A3B8 (slate)

#8C8C8C (gray)

#374151 (dark gray)

Using Themes#

Basic Usage#

import argscape

# Use any theme by name
viz = argscape.visualize(ts, theme="tskit")
viz = argscape.visualize(ts, theme="liquid")
viz = argscape.visualize(ts, theme="grayscale")
viz = argscape.visualize(ts, theme="paper")

List Available Themes#

from argscape.viz.themes import list_themes

print(list_themes())
# Output: ['tskit', 'liquid', 'grayscale', 'paper']

Invalid Theme Names#

If you specify an unknown theme name, a ValueError is raised:

viz = argscape.visualize(ts, theme="unknown")
# Raises: ValueError: Unknown theme: unknown. Available: tskit, liquid, grayscale, paper

Recommendations by Use Case#

Use Case

Recommended Theme

Data exploration

tskit or liquid

Conference presentation (dark room)

tskit

Conference presentation (lit room)

liquid

Journal figure (color)

paper

Journal figure (black-and-white)

grayscale

Poster

paper

Documentation/tutorial

liquid

Web embedding

liquid

Example: Export with Different Themes#

import argscape
import tskit

ts = tskit.load("example.trees")

# Create the same visualization with different themes
for theme_name in ["tskit", "liquid", "grayscale", "paper"]:
    viz = argscape.visualize(ts, theme=theme_name, max_samples=50)
    viz.export(f"figure_{theme_name}.png", dpi=300)

See Also#