kuva scatter3d

Render a 3D scatter plot from a tabular file. Points are projected orthographically; depth ordering uses the painter's algorithm.

Input format

Tab- or comma-separated file with at least three numeric columns for X, Y, and Z.

x	y	z	group
1.2	3.4	2.1	A
2.5	1.8	4.3	B
3.1	4.2	1.5	A

Basic examples

# Basic 3D scatter
kuva scatter3d data.tsv --x x --y y --z z -o scatter3d.svg

# Color points by group
kuva scatter3d data.tsv --x x --y y --z z --color-by group -o groups.svg

# Color by Z value using a colormap
kuva scatter3d data.tsv --x x --y y --z z \
    --z-color viridis --title "Z-colored scatter" -o zcolor.svg

# Custom view angle
kuva scatter3d data.tsv --x x --y y --z z \
    --azimuth -45 --elevation 40 -o angled.svg

# Depth shading + no bounding box
kuva scatter3d data.tsv --x x --y y --z z \
    --depth-shade --no-box -o depth.svg

All flags

Data selection

FlagDefaultDescription
--x <COL>0X column (name or 0-based index)
--y <COL>1Y column
--z <COL>2Z column
--color-by <COL>—Group by column; one color per unique value

View and rendering

FlagDefaultDescription
--azimuth <DEG>-60Azimuth viewing angle
--elevation <DEG>30Elevation viewing angle
--z-color <MAP>—Z-colormap (viridis, inferno, grayscale)
--depth-shade—Fade distant points for depth cue
--z-axis-left—Place Z-axis on the left side
--no-grid—Hide grid lines on back walls
--no-box—Hide wireframe bounding box
--color <CSS>palettePoint color (overridden by --color-by or --z-color)
--size <PX>—Point radius in pixels

Axis labels

FlagDescription
--x-label <TEXT>X-axis label
--y-label <TEXT>Y-axis label
--z-label <TEXT>Z-axis label

Output / appearance

FlagDescription
-o <FILE>Output file (.svg, .png, .pdf; default: stdout)
--title <TEXT>Chart title
--width <PX>Canvas width
--height <PX>Canvas height
--theme <NAME>Visual theme