diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 00ffc174..727fdaaf 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ StatsBase = "2913bbd2-ae8a-5f71-8c99-4fb6c76f3a91"
 UUIDs = "cf7118a7-6976-5b1a-9a39-7adc72f591a4"
 
 [compat]
-ColorSchemes = "3.6"
+ColorSchemes = "3.7"
 Contour = "0.5"
 FFMPEG = "0.2, 0.3"
 FixedPointNumbers = "0.6, 0.7, 0.8"
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ JSON = "0.21"
 Measures = "0.3"
 NaNMath = "0.3"
 PGFPlotsX = "1.2.0"
-PlotThemes = "1"
-PlotUtils = "0.6.5"
+PlotThemes = "2"
+PlotUtils = "0.7"
 RecipesBase = "1"
-RecipesPipeline = "0.1.1"
+RecipesPipeline = "0.1.3"
 Reexport = "0.2"
 Requires = "0.5, 1"
 Showoff = "0.3.1"
diff --git a/src/args.jl b/src/args.jl
index 47574cd0..88b1638c 100644
--- a/src/args.jl
+++ b/src/args.jl
@@ -1522,7 +1522,13 @@ function get_series_color(c::AbstractArray, sp::Subplot, n::Int, seriestype)
 end
 
 function ensure_gradient!(plotattributes::AKW, csym::Symbol, asym::Symbol)
-    if typeof(plotattributes[csym]) ∉ (ColorGradient, ColorPalette)
+    if plotattributes[csym] isa ColorPalette
+        α = nothing
+        if !(plotattributes[asym] isa AbstractVector)
+            α = plotattributes[asym]
+        end
+        plotattributes[csym] = cgrad(plotattributes[csym], categorical = true, alpha = α)
+    elseif !(plotattributes[csym] isa ColorGradient)
         plotattributes[csym] = typeof(plotattributes[asym]) <: AbstractVector ? cgrad() : cgrad(alpha = plotattributes[asym])
     end
 end
diff --git a/src/backends/gr.jl b/src/backends/gr.jl
index 0af5fc06..04166e3f 100644
--- a/src/backends/gr.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gr.jl
@@ -1333,7 +1333,6 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
         end
 
         xticks, yticks, xspine_segs, yspine_segs, xtick_segs, ytick_segs, xgrid_segs, ygrid_segs, xminorgrid_segs, yminorgrid_segs, xborder_segs, yborder_segs = axis_drawing_info(sp)
-        # @show xticks yticks #spine_segs grid_segs
 
         # draw the grid lines
         if xaxis[:grid]
@@ -1661,14 +1660,14 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
                     # pdf output, and also supports alpha values.
                     # Note that drawimage draws uniformly spaced data correctly
                     # even on log scales, where it is visually non-uniform.
-                    colors = plot_color.(nan_get(fillgrad, z, clims), series[:fillalpha])
+                    colors = plot_color.(get(fillgrad, z, clims), series[:fillalpha])
                     rgba = gr_color.(colors)
                     GR.drawimage(first(x), last(x), last(y), first(y), w, h, rgba)
                 else
                     if something(series[:fillalpha],1) < 1 || any(_gr_gradient_alpha .< 1)
                         @warn "GR: transparency not supported in non-uniform heatmaps. Alpha values ignored."
                     end
-                    colors = nan_get(fillgrad, z, clims)
+                    colors = get(fillgrad, z, clims)
                     z_normalized = map(c -> c == invisible() ? 256/255 : getinverse(fillgrad, c), colors)
                     rgba = Int32[round(Int32, 1000 + _i * 255) for _i in z_normalized]
                     GR.nonuniformcellarray(x, y, w, h, rgba)
@@ -1685,7 +1684,7 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
                 if series[:y][end] != ny
                     @warn "Right now only the maximum value of y (r) is taken into account."
                 end
-                colors = nan_get(fillgrad, z, clims)
+                colors = get(fillgrad, z, clims)
                 z_normalized = map(c -> c == invisible() ? 256/255 : getinverse(fillgrad.colors, c), colors)
                 rgba = Int32[round(Int32, 1000 + _i * 255) for _i in z_normalized]
                 # GR.polarcellarray(0, 0, phimin, phimax, ymin, ymax, nx, ny, colors)
diff --git a/src/backends/pgfplotsx.jl b/src/backends/pgfplotsx.jl
index 24ac5080..ca6f1d61 100644
--- a/src/backends/pgfplotsx.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pgfplotsx.jl
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ function (pgfx_plot::PGFPlotsXPlot)(plt::Plot{PGFPlotsXBackend})
                             "colorbar" => nothing,
                             "colormap name" => "plots$(sp.attr[:subplot_index])",
                         )
-                        if cg isa ColorPalette
+                        if cg isa PlotUtils.CategoricalColorGradient
                             push!(
                                 axis_opt,
                                 "colormap access" => "piecewise const",
@@ -690,6 +690,12 @@ function pgfx_colormap(v::Vector{<:Colorant})
         @sprintf("rgb=(%.8f,%.8f,%.8f)", red(c), green(c), blue(c))
     end, "\n")
 end
+function pgfx_colormap(cg::ColorGradient)
+    join(map(1:length(cg)) do i
+        @sprintf("rgb(%.8fcm)=(%.8f,%.8f,%.8f)", cg.values[i], red(cg.colors[i]), green(cg.colors[i]), blue(cg.colors[i]))
+    end, "\n")
+end
+
 
 function pgfx_framestyle(style::Symbol)
     if style in _pgfx_framestyles
diff --git a/src/backends/plotly.jl b/src/backends/plotly.jl
index d12d845b..65eb2561 100644
--- a/src/backends/plotly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/plotly.jl
@@ -350,23 +350,29 @@ function plotly_layout_json(plt::Plot)
 end
 
 
-plotly_colorscale(cg::ColorGradient, α = nothing) = plotly_colorscale(PlotUtils.color_list(cg), α)
-plotly_colorscale(c::Colorant,α) = plotly_colorscale(_as_gradient(c), α = nothing)
+plotly_colorscale(cg::ColorGradient, α = nothing) =
+    [[v, rgba_string(plot_color(cg.colors[v], α))] for v in cg.values]
 function plotly_colorscale(c::AbstractVector{<:Colorant}, α = nothing)
     if length(c) == 1
-        return [[0.0, rgba_string(plot_color(c[1], α))], [1.0, rgba_string(plot_color(c[1], α))]]
+        return [
+            [0.0, rgba_string(plot_color(c[1], α))],
+            [1.0, rgba_string(plot_color(c[1], α))],
+        ]
     else
-        vals = range(0.0, stop=1.0, length=length(c))
+        vals = range(0.0, stop = 1.0, length = length(c))
         return [[vals[i], rgba_string(plot_color(c[i], α))] for i in eachindex(c)]
     end
 end
-function plotly_colorscale(cp::ColorPalette, α = nothing)
-    n = length(cp)
-    inds = repeat(1:n, inner = 2)
-    vals = vcat((i-1:i for i in 1:n)...) ./ n
-    return [[vals[i], rgba_string(plot_color(cp[ind], α))] for (i, ind) in enumerate(inds)]
+function plotly_colorscale(cg::PlotUtils.CategoricalColorGradient, α = nothing)
+    n = length(cg)
+    cinds = repeat(1:n, inner = 2)
+    vinds = vcat((i:(i + 1) for i in 1:n)...)
+    return [
+        [cg.values[vinds[i]], rgba_string(plot_color(color_list(cg)[cinds[i]], α))]
+        for i in eachindex(cinds)
+    ]
 end
-# plotly_colorscale(c, alpha = nothing) = plotly_colorscale(cgrad(), alpha)
+plotly_colorscale(c, α = nothing) = plotly_colorscale(_as_gradient(c), α)
 
 
 const _plotly_markers = KW(
diff --git a/src/backends/pyplot.jl b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
index bbb02336..7f986a50 100644
--- a/src/backends/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
@@ -68,20 +68,19 @@ py_color(grad::PlotUtils.AbstractColorList) = py_color(color_list(grad))
 py_color(c::Colorant, α) = py_color(plot_color(c, α))
 
 function py_colormap(cg::ColorGradient)
-    n = length(cg)
-    pyvals = collect(zip(range(0, 1, length = n), py_color(PlotUtils.color_list(cg))))
+    pyvals = collect(zip(cg.values, py_color(PlotUtils.color_list(cg))))
     cm = pycolors."LinearSegmentedColormap"."from_list"("tmp", pyvals)
     cm."set_bad"(color=(0,0,0,0.0), alpha=0.0)
     cm
 end
-function py_colormap(cp::ColorPalette)
-    n = length(cp)
-    pyvals = collect(zip(range(0, 1, length = n), py_color(PlotUtils.color_list(cp))))
-    cm = pycolors."LinearSegmentedColormap"."from_list"("tmp", pyvals, n)
+function py_colormap(cg::PlotUtils.CategoricalColorGradient)
+    r = range(0, 1, length = 256)
+    pyvals = collect(zip(r, py_color(cg[r])))
+    cm = pycolors."LinearSegmentedColormap"."from_list"("tmp", pyvals)
     cm."set_bad"(color=(0,0,0,0.0), alpha=0.0)
     cm
 end
-py_colormap(c::Colorant) = py_colormap(_as_gradient(c))
+py_colormap(c) = py_colormap(_as_gradient(c))
 
 
 function py_shading(c, z)
diff --git a/src/utils.jl b/src/utils.jl
index 43a759d3..46b40e32 100644
--- a/src/utils.jl
+++ b/src/utils.jl
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ _cycle(cl::PlotUtils.AbstractColorList, idx::Int) = cl[mod1(idx, end)]
 _cycle(cl::PlotUtils.AbstractColorList, idx::AVec{Int}) = cl[mod1.(idx, end)]
 
 _as_gradient(grad) = grad
+_as_gradient(cp::ColorPalette) = cgrad(cp, categorical = true)
 _as_gradient(c::Colorant) = ColorGradient([c,c])
 
 makevec(v::AVec) = v
@@ -521,7 +522,7 @@ for comp in (:line, :fill, :marker)
             if z === nothing
                 isa(c, ColorGradient) ? c : plot_color(_cycle(c, i))
             else
-                nan_get(get_gradient(c), z[i], (cmin, cmax))
+                get(get_gradient(c), z[i], (cmin, cmax))
             end
         end
 
@@ -559,26 +560,7 @@ single_color(grad::ColorGradient, v = 0.5) = grad[v]
 
 get_gradient(c) = cgrad()
 get_gradient(cg::ColorGradient) = cg
-get_gradient(cp::ColorPalette) = cp
-
-function nan_get(cs, x, range)
-    if !isfinite(x)
-        return invisible()
-    elseif range isa Tuple && range[1] == range[2]
-        return plot_color(cs[1])
-    else
-        plot_color(get(cs, x, range))
-    end
-end
-function nan_get(cs, v::AbstractVector, range)
-    colors = fill(invisible(), length(v))
-    for (i, x) in enumerate(v)
-        if isfinite(x)
-            colors[i] = get(cs, x, range)
-        end
-    end
-    return colors
-end
+get_gradient(cp::ColorPalette) = cgrad(cp, categorical = true)
 
 function get_linewidth(series, i::Int = 1)
     _cycle(series[:linewidth], i)
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 04426ec3..488faf8f 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ img_tol = is_ci() ? 1e-2 : Sys.islinux() ? 1e-3 : 0.1
 
 ## Uncomment the following lines to update reference images for different backends
 
-#=
 @testset "GR" begin
     image_comparison_facts(:gr, tol=img_tol, skip = Plots._backend_skips[:gr])
 end
@@ -66,7 +65,9 @@ pgfplotsx()
 @testset "PGFPlotsX" begin
     image_comparison_facts(:pgfplotsx, tol=img_tol, skip = Plots._backend_skips[:pgfplotsx])
 end
-=#
+
+# 10 Histogram2D
+
 ##
 
 @testset "Backends" begin