Python matplotlib: Change axis labels/legend from bold to regular weight

Question

I\'m trying to make some publication-quality plots, but I have encountered a small problem. It seems by default that matplotlib axis labels and legend entries are weighted heavi

Answer 1

How about:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

plt.rc('text',usetex=True)
font = {'family':'serif','size':16}
plt.rc('font',**font)
plt.rc('legend',**{'fontsize':14})

x = np.linspace(0,2*np.pi,100)
y = np.sin(x)

fig = plt.figure(figsize=(5,5))
p1, = plt.plot(x,y)
p2, = plt.plot(x,x**2)
plt.xlabel('$\mathrm{This is the }x\mathrm{-axis}$'.replace(' ','\: '))
plt.ylabel('$y\mathrm{-axis}$')
plt.legend([p1,p2],['$\sin(x)$','$x^2$'], loc='best')
fig.subplots_adjust(left=0.2, bottom=0.15)
plt.savefig('Test.eps',bbox_inches='tight',format='eps')
plt.show()

This uses

plt.xlabel('$\mathrm{This is the }x\mathrm{-axis}$'.replace(' ','\: '))

to replace spaces with '\: '. TeX gurus may object to this however. You may want to ask on TeX stackexchange if there is a better way.