plotly / plotly/plotly.py

Make marker size absolute in scatterplot

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feature P3
Dominant language
Python
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Description

It seems that when creating a scatterplot, the marker sizes are always in pixels. The result is that when zooming into the plot, the points remain small. Is there a way to have them dynamically resize? Or set the size to be absolute instead of pixel?

A code snippet to showcase the point

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import plotly.express as px


some_data = pd.DataFrame({"id":list(range(50_000)), "x":np.random.normal(size=50_000), "y":np.random.normal(size=50_000)})
some_data["c"] = pd.Categorical(np.random.randint(low=0,high=2,size=50_000))


fig = px.scatter(some_data, x="x", y="y", color="c")

fig.update_traces(marker=dict(size=3, opacity=0.5),
                  selector=dict(mode='markers'))

fig.update_layout({
    'plot_bgcolor': 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)',
    'paper_bgcolor': 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)',
})

fig.update_yaxes(matches=None, showticklabels=False, visible=False)
fig.update_xaxes(matches=None, showticklabels=False, visible=False)


config = dict({'scrollZoom': True})

fig.show(config=config)

Zoomed out, this is a nice graph that shows the distribution clearly, but when zooming in, the points are so small it's nearly impossible to interact with any individual one.

https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/22605641/147709359-34eb5036-d96e-4feb-a32f-f9076a7f3b4d.mov

Is there a way for those points to have absolute sizes instead of fixed ones? Such that zooming in would cause them to increase (as would be intuitive naturally)?

Thanks!

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Research direction

Start with the supplied Python reproduction using plotly.express.scatter and scrollZoom, then trace how scatter marker size behaves during zooming. Done means establishing a supported absolute or dynamically resizing marker behavior so points remain interactable when zoomed in, with the expected behavior demonstrated by the reproduction.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
data-visualization
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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