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I am trying to color a simple 2D plot (using ListLinePlot) based on data in the form of 3-vectors.

ListLinePlot[data[[All, {1, 2}]]]

I would like to use one of the ColorData color schemes (like "Temperature") for the line color, depending on this third value in my table 3-vectors. That is,Data[[All, 3]] will be the source of the color-coding values.

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    $\begingroup$ Perhaps supply some sample data? $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 8, 2014 at 22:55
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    $\begingroup$ Think of using ListContourPlot. it may help you viewing the data more efficiently $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 8, 2014 at 23:51
  • $\begingroup$ Related question here $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 9, 2014 at 1:10

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I think something like this is what you're after (I created some data for this example):

data = Range@20; tbl = Transpose[{data, data^3, data/25}]; ListLinePlot[tbl[[All, {1, 2}]], ColorFunction -> Function[{x, y}, Darker[ColorData["Temperature"][tbl[[Round[x], 3]]], .2]], ColorFunctionScaling -> False]

enter image description here

Setting the ColorFunctionScaling to False gets you the X value which is then used to index back into your data to get the desired index of the color scheme. Note that if your actual X values are not integers, you'll need to use other means (lookup, or an incrementing counter) to index into the desired color. Here's an example of that:

colors = tbl[[All, 3]]l cnt = 1; ListLinePlot[tbl[[All, {1, 2}]], ColorFunction -> Function[{x, y}, Darker[ColorData["Temperature"][colors[[cnt++]]], .2]]]
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    $\begingroup$ This is how it should work (+1), but there is one pesky issue: as soon as VertexColors appear in the plot (which this approach uses behind the scenes), the output is no longer anti-aliased. This can make the lines appear ugly and jagged if you look closely. This has been addressed in How can I prevent ColorFunction from disabling antialiasing in graphics where I wrap the plot output in a function removeVertexCol to get rid of the VertexColors. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 9, 2014 at 17:49
  • $\begingroup$ @Jens:Ah! Thanks for the addition - bookmarked your linked post! $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 9, 2014 at 20:45
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data = Table[{Cos[k 2 Pi/7.], Sin[k 2 Pi/7.], k/21.}, {k, 0, 21, 3}]; colors = VertexColors -> (Hue /@ Last /@ data) plot = ListLinePlot[Most /@ data, AspectRatio -> 1, ColorFunction -> Function[{x, y}, Hue@y]]; plot[[1, 2, 3]] = colors; plot

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ For me this doesn't work (version 8). It's a little more robust if you use a replacement rule to look directly for VertexColors: for example, plot /. HoldPattern[VertexColors -> Automatic] :> colors works for me. But you do lose the anti-aliasing as I mentioned below @Kuba's answer, too. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 9, 2014 at 20:35
  • $\begingroup$ @Jens - In 9.01 it works, but my example is, of course, more than ugly. Meanwhile I learnt by self-teaching, how to plug in complicated functions via ColorFunction into a ParametricPlot to color it , for example, according to its curvature. Only being 50% satisfied with my results so far, I'll ask a similar question to SE in a couple of days. Hopefully, you will read it. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 9, 2014 at 21:14

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