diff --git a/src/Plots.jl b/src/Plots.jl
index 33d58d19..840be7d2 100644
--- a/src/Plots.jl
+++ b/src/Plots.jl
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ export
   title!,
   xlabel!,
   ylabel!,
+  xlims!,
+  ylims!,
+  xticks!,
+  yticks!,
 
   savepng,
   gui,
@@ -95,10 +99,18 @@ ohlc!(args...; kw...)      = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :ohlc)
 title!(s::AbstractString) = plot!(title = s)
 xlabel!(s::AbstractString) = plot!(xlabel = s)
 ylabel!(s::AbstractString) = plot!(ylabel = s)
+xlims!{T<:Real,S<:Real}(s::Tuple{T,S}) = plot!(xlims = s)
+ylims!{T<:Real,S<:Real}(s::Tuple{T,S}) = plot!(ylims = s)
+xticks!{T<:Real}(s::AVec{T}) = plot!(xticks = s)
+yticks!{T<:Real}(s::AVec{T}) = plot!(yticks = s)
 
 title!(plt::Plot, s::AbstractString) = plot!(plt; title = s)
 xlabel!(plt::Plot, s::AbstractString) = plot!(plt; xlabel = s)
 ylabel!(plt::Plot, s::AbstractString) = plot!(plt; ylabel = s)
+xlims!{T<:Real,S<:Real}(plt::Plot, s::Tuple{T,S}) = plot!(plt; xlims = s)
+ylims!{T<:Real,S<:Real}(plt::Plot, s::Tuple{T,S}) = plot!(plt; ylims = s)
+xticks!{T<:Real}(plt::Plot, s::AVec{T}) = plot!(plt; xticks = s)
+yticks!{T<:Real}(plt::Plot, s::AVec{T}) = plot!(plt; yticks = s)
 
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/args.jl b/src/args.jl
index 77dcd87c..183166ed 100644
--- a/src/args.jl
+++ b/src/args.jl
@@ -201,7 +201,11 @@ const _keyAliases = Dict(
     :fg_color     => :foreground_color,
     :foreground   => :foreground_color,
     :xlim         => :xlims,
+    :xlimit       => :xlims,
+    :xlimits      => :xlims,
     :ylim         => :ylims,
+    :ylimit       => :ylims,
+    :ylimits      => :ylims,
     :xtick        => :xticks,
     :ytick        => :yticks,
     :windowsize   => :size,
diff --git a/src/backends/gadfly.jl b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
index 254ba5f0..36f5b9c3 100644
--- a/src/backends/gadfly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ export gadfly!
 gadfly!() = plotter!(:gadfly)
 
 
-supportedArgs(::GadflyPackage) = setdiff(_allArgs, [:heatmap_c, :pos])
+supportedArgs(::GadflyPackage) = setdiff(_allArgs, [:heatmap_c, :pos, :screen, :yrightlabel])
 supportedAxes(::GadflyPackage) = setdiff(_allAxes, [:right])
 supportedTypes(::GadflyPackage) = [:none, :line, :path, :steppost, :sticks, :scatter, :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :bar, :hline, :vline, :ohlc]
 supportedStyles(::GadflyPackage) = [:auto, :solid, :dash, :dot, :dashdot, :dashdotdot]
@@ -162,9 +162,6 @@ function addGadflySeries!(gplt, d::Dict, initargs::Dict)
       (:ymin, Float64[min(y, fillto[mod1(i,n)]) for (i,y) in enumerate(d[:y])]),
       (:ymax, Float64[max(y, fillto[mod1(i,n)]) for (i,y) in enumerate(d[:y])])
     ]
-    # push!(d[:kwargs], (:ymin, Float64[min(y, fillto[mod1(i,n)]) for (i,y) in enumerate(d[:y])]))
-    # push!(d[:kwargs], (:ymax, Float64[max(y, fillto[mod1(i,n)]) for (i,y) in enumerate(d[:y])]))
-    # push!(d[:kwargs], (:ymax, Float64[max(y, fillto) for y in d[:y]]))
     push!(gfargs, Gadfly.Geom.ribbon)
   end
   
@@ -193,38 +190,11 @@ function addGadflySeries!(gplt, d::Dict, initargs::Dict)
 
 
   # add the layer to the Gadfly.Plot
-  # @show d[:kwargs]
   # prepend!(gplt.layers, Gadfly.layer(unique(gfargs)..., d[:args]...; x = x, y = d[:y], d[:kwargs]...))
   prepend!(gplt.layers, Gadfly.layer(unique(gfargs)...; x = x, y = d[:y], yminmax...))
-  # prepend!(gplt.layers, Gadfly.layer(unique(gfargs)...; x = x, y = d[:y]))
   nothing
 end
 
-# function addTicksGuideOrScale(gplt, ticks, isx::Bool)
-#   ticks == :auto && return
-#   ttype = ticksType(ticks)
-#   if ttype == :limits
-#     minvalue = min(ticks...)
-#     maxvalue = max(ticks...)
-#     scale = (isx ? Gadfly.Scale.x_continuous : Gadfly.Scale.y_continuous)(minvalue=minvalue, maxvalue=maxvalue)
-#     push!(gplt.scales, scale)
-#   elseif ttype == :ticks
-#     # if isx
-#     #   ticks = map(Compose.x_measure, sort(collect(ticks)))
-#     #   push!(gplt.statistics, Gadfly.Stat.xticks(ticks=ticks))
-#     # else
-#     #   ticks = map(Compose.y_measure, sort(collect(ticks)))
-#     #   push!(gplt.statistics, Gadfly.Stat.yticks(ticks=ticks))
-#     # end
-#     ticks = sort(ticks)
-#     guide = (isx ? Gadfly.Guide.xticks : Gadfly.Guide.yticks)(ticks=ticks)
-#     push!(gplt.guides, guide)
-#     # stat = (isx ? Gadfly.Stat.xticks : Gadfly.Stat.yticks)(ticks=ticks)
-#     # push!(gplt.statistics, stat)
-#   else
-#     error("Invalid input for $(isx ? "xticks" : "yticks"): ", ticks)
-#   end
-# end
 
 function addTicksGuide(gplt, ticks, isx::Bool)
   ticks == :auto && return
@@ -238,13 +208,16 @@ function addTicksGuide(gplt, ticks, isx::Bool)
   end
 end
 
+isContinuousScale(scale, isx::Bool) = isa(scale, Gadfly.Scale.ContinuousScale) && scale.vars[1] == (isx ? :x : :y)
+
 function addLimitsScale(gplt, lims, isx::Bool)
   lims == :auto && return
   ltype = limsType(lims)
   if ltype == :limits
-    gtype = isx ? Gadfly.Scale.x_continuous : Gadfly.Scale.y_continuous
-    filter!(x -> !isa(x, gtype), gplt.scales)
-    push!(gplt.scales, gtype(minvalue = min(lims...), maxvalue = max(lims...)))
+    # remove any existing scales, then add a new one
+    gfunc = isx ? Gadfly.Scale.x_continuous : Gadfly.Scale.y_continuous
+    filter!(scale -> !isContinuousScale(scale,isx), gplt.scales)
+    push!(gplt.scales, gfunc(minvalue = min(lims...), maxvalue = max(lims...)))
   else
     error("Invalid input for $(isx ? "xlims" : "ylims"): ", lims)
   end
diff --git a/src/backends/pyplot.jl b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
index 8ff8d914..f7f422d5 100644
--- a/src/backends/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ pyplot!() = plotter!(:pyplot)
 
 # -------------------------------
 
-supportedArgs(::PyPlotPackage) = setdiff(_allArgs, [:reg, :heatmap_c, :fillto, :pos])
+supportedArgs(::PyPlotPackage) = setdiff(_allArgs, [:reg, :heatmap_c, :fillto, :pos, :xlims, :ylims, :xticks, :yticks])
 supportedAxes(::PyPlotPackage) = _allAxes
 supportedTypes(::PyPlotPackage) = [:none, :line, :path, :step, :stepinverted, :sticks, :scatter, :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :bar]
 supportedStyles(::PyPlotPackage) = [:auto, :solid, :dash, :dot, :dashdot]
diff --git a/src/backends/qwt.jl b/src/backends/qwt.jl
index 9854a27d..5b7cfb32 100644
--- a/src/backends/qwt.jl
+++ b/src/backends/qwt.jl
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ immutable QwtPackage <: PlottingPackage end
 export qwt!
 qwt!() = plotter!(:qwt)
 
+supportedArgs(::QwtPackage) = setdiff(_allArgs, [:xlims, :ylims, :xticks, :yticks])
 supportedTypes(::QwtPackage) = [:none, :line, :path, :steppre, :steppost, :sticks, :scatter, :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :bar]
 supportedMarkers(::QwtPackage) = [:none, :auto, :rect, :ellipse, :diamond, :utriangle, :dtriangle, :cross, :xcross, :star1, :star2, :hexagon]
 
diff --git a/src/backends/unicodeplots.jl b/src/backends/unicodeplots.jl
index fefb9989..54be4cd5 100644
--- a/src/backends/unicodeplots.jl
+++ b/src/backends/unicodeplots.jl
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ unicodeplots!() = plotter!(:unicodeplots)
 
 # -------------------------------
 
-supportedArgs(::UnicodePlotsPackage) = setdiff(_allArgs, [:reg, :heatmap_c, :fillto, :pos])
+supportedArgs(::UnicodePlotsPackage) = setdiff(_allArgs, [:reg, :heatmap_c, :fillto, :pos, :xlims, :ylims, :xticks, :yticks])
 supportedAxes(::UnicodePlotsPackage) = [:auto, :left]
 supportedTypes(::UnicodePlotsPackage) = [:none, :line, :path, :steppost, :sticks, :scatter, :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :bar]
 supportedStyles(::UnicodePlotsPackage) = [:auto, :solid]
diff --git a/src/backends/winston.jl b/src/backends/winston.jl
index 5b913ada..294e81ba 100644
--- a/src/backends/winston.jl
+++ b/src/backends/winston.jl
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ const winston_marker = Dict(:none=>".",
                            )
 
 
-supportedArgs(::WinstonPackage) = setdiff(_allArgs, [:heatmap_c, :fillto, :pos, :markercolor, :background_color])
+supportedArgs(::WinstonPackage) = setdiff(_allArgs, [:heatmap_c, :fillto, :pos, :markercolor, :background_color, :xlims, :ylims, :xticks, :yticks])
 supportedAxes(::WinstonPackage) = [:auto, :left]
 supportedTypes(::WinstonPackage) = [:none, :line, :path, :sticks, :scatter, :hist, :bar]
 supportedStyles(::WinstonPackage) = intersect(_allStyles, collect(keys(winston_linestyle)))