a bunch of refactors

more noinline
some more noinline
2019-08-24 03:54:02 -04:00 · 2019-08-24 01:17:47 -04:00 · 2019-08-24 01:08:14 -04:00 · 2019-08-24 00:59:19 -04:00 · 2019-08-24 00:30:23 -04:00 · 2019-08-21 13:05:29 -04:00
41 changed files with 2889 additions and 2084 deletions
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ examples/meetup/.ipynb_checkpoints/*
 deps/plotly-latest.min.js
 deps/build.log
 deps/deps.jl
+Manifest.toml
@@ -4,57 +4,17 @@ os:
  - linux
  # - osx
 julia:
-  # - 1.0
+  - 1.1
  - nightly
-# matrix:
-#   allow_failures:
-#     - julia: nightly
-
-# # before install:
-# #   - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "osx" ]]; then brew update          ; fi
-# #   - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "osx" ]]; then brew install wkhtmltopdf; fi
-
-# ref: http://askubuntu.com/a/556672 for the wkhtmltopdf apt repository info
+  
+matrix:
+  allow_failures:
+    - julia: nightly

 sudo: required
 before_install:
  - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ]]; then pwd ; fi
  - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ]]; then ./test/install_wkhtmltoimage.sh ; fi
-#   - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ]]; then  sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:pov/wkhtmltopdf  ; fi
-#   - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ]]; then  sudo apt-get -qq update                      ; fi
-#   - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ]]; then  sudo apt-get install -y wkhtmltopdf          ; fi
-#   - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ]]; then  wkhtmltopdf -V                               ; fi
-#   - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ]]; then  wkhtmltoimage -V                             ; fi
-#   echo 'exec xvfb-run -a -s "-screen 0 640x480x16" wkhtmltopdf "$@"' | sudo tee /usr/local/bin/wkhtmltopdf.sh >/dev/null
-# sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/wkhtmltopdf.sh
-
-# # borrowed from Blink.jl's travis file
-# matrix:
-#   include:
-#     - os: linux
-#       julia: 0.4
-#       env: TESTCMD="xvfb-run julia"
-#     - os: osx
-#       julia: 0.4
-#       env: TESTCMD="julia"
-
-

 notifications:
  email: true
-# uncomment the following lines to override the default test script
-# script:
- # - if [[ -a .git/shallow ]]; then git fetch --unshallow; fi
- # - julia -e 'import Pkg; Pkg.add(Pkg.PackageSpec(path=pwd())); Pkg.build("Plots")'
- # - julia test/travis_commands.jl
- # - julia -e 'Pkg.clone("ImageMagick"); Pkg.build("ImageMagick")'
- # - julia -e 'Pkg.clone("GR"); Pkg.build("GR")'
- # # - julia -e 'Pkg.clone("https://github.com/tbreloff/ImageMagick.jl.git"); Pkg.checkout("ImageMagick","tb_write"); Pkg.build("ImageMagick")'
- # - julia -e 'Pkg.clone("https://github.com/tbreloff/ExamplePlots.jl.git");'
- # # - julia -e 'Pkg.clone("https://github.com/JunoLab/Blink.jl.git"); Pkg.build("Blink"); import Blink; Blink.AtomShell.install()'
- # # - julia -e 'Pkg.clone("https://github.com/spencerlyon2/PlotlyJS.jl.git")'
- # - julia -e 'ENV["PYTHON"] = ""; Pkg.add("PyPlot"); Pkg.build("PyPlot")'
- #
- # # - $TESTCMD -e 'Pkg.test("Plots"; coverage=false)'
- # - julia -e 'Pkg.test("Plots"; coverage=false)'
- # # - julia -e 'cd(Pkg.dir("Plots")); Pkg.add("Coverage"); using Coverage; Coveralls.submit(process_folder()); Codecov.submit(process_folder())'
@@ -11,6 +11,98 @@
 ---
 ## (current master)

+## 0.26.2
+- improve empty animation build error
+- fix GR axis flip for heatmaps and images
+- fix ribbons specified as tuples
+- add Char recipe
+- fix Plotly plots with single-element series
+- rewrite PlotlyJS backend
+
+## 0.26.1
+- handle `Char`s as input data
+- fix html saving for Plotly
+- expand ~ in paths on UNIX systems
+- convertToAnyVector clean-up
+- fix color_palette grouping issue
+
+## 0.26.0
+- use FFMPEG.jl
+- add missing method for convertToAnyVector
+
+## 0.25.3
+- add areaplot
+- allow missing in z_color arguments
+- more general tuple recipe
+- stephist logscale improvements
+
+## 0.25.2
+- improvements to handle missings
+- pyplot: allow setting the color gradient for z values
+- document :colorbar_entry
+- limit number of automatic bins
+- fix ENV['PLOTS_DEFAULT_BACKEND']
+- don't let aspect_ratio impact subplot size
+- implement arrowstyle for GR
+- fix bug in plotly_convert_to_datetime
+- improve missing support
+- gr: polar heatmaps
+- make sure show returns nothing
+
+## 0.25.1
+- fix gr_display
+
+## 0.25.0
+- Replace StaticArrays with GeometryTypes
+- Contour fixes for GR
+
+## 0.24.0
+- Update to the new PyCall and PyPlot API
+- fix drawing of ticks
+- fix y label position with GR
+
+## 0.23.2
+- pyplot fixes
+- Add option :tex_output_standalone to set the 'include_preamble' argument in the PGFPlots backend.
+- fix ticks
+- support plotly json mime
+- fix image axis limits
+- default to radius 0 at center for polar plots
+
+## 0.23.1
+- slightly faster load time
+- fixed errant MethodError
+- fix bar plots with unicodeplots
+- better colorbars for contour
+- add volume seriestype for GR
+- fix passing a tuple to custom ticks
+- add vline to pgfplots
+- add tex output for pyplot
+- better 3d axis labels for GR
+
+## 0.23.0
+- compatible with StatPlots -> StatsPlots name shift
+- fix histograms for vectors with NaN and Inf
+- change gif behaviour (remove cache-busting)
+- improved docstrings for shorthands functions
+- fix font rotation for pyplot
+- fix greyscale images for pyplot
+- clamp greyscale images with values outside 0,1
+- support keyword argument for font options
+- allow vector of markers for pyplot scatter
+
+## 0.22.5
+- improve behaviour of plotlyjs backend
+
+## 0.22.4
+- Add support for discrete contourf plots with GR
+
+## 0.22.3
+- Fix the `showtheme` function
+
+## 0.22.2
+- Allow annotations to accept a Tuple instead of the result of a text call (making it possible to specify font characteristics in recipes). E.g. `annotations = (2, 4, ("test", :right, 8, :red))` is the same as `annotations = (2, 4, text("test", :right, 8, :red))`
+
 ## 0.22.1
 - push PlotsDisplay just after REPLDisplay

@@ -182,7 +274,7 @@ Many updates, min julia 1.0
 - add `reset_defaults()` function to reset plot defaults
 - update syntax to 0.6
 - make `fill = true` fill to 0 rather than to 1
- use new `@df` syntax in StatPlots examples
+- use new `@df` syntax in StatsPlots examples
 - allow changing the color of legend box
 - implement `title_location` for gr
 - add `hline` marker to pgfplots - fixes errorbars
@@ -334,7 +426,7 @@ Many updates, min julia 1.0
 - added dependency on PlotThemes
 - set_theme --> theme
 - remove Compat from REQUIRE
- warning for DataFrames without StatPlots
+- warning for DataFrames without StatsPlots
 - closeall exported and implemented for gr/pyplot
 - fix DateTime recipe
 - reset theme with theme(:none)
@@ -456,8 +548,8 @@ Many updates, min julia 1.0
 #### 0.8.0

 - added dependency on PlotUtils
- BREAKING: removed DataFrames support (now in StatPlots.jl)
- BREAKING: removed boxplot/violin/density recipes (now in StatPlots.jl)
+- BREAKING: removed DataFrames support (now in StatsPlots.jl)
+- BREAKING: removed boxplot/violin/density recipes (now in StatsPlots.jl)
 - GR:
    - inline iterm2 support
    - trisurface support
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+name = "Plots"
+uuid = "91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80"
+author = ["Tom Breloff (@tbreloff)"]
+version = "0.26.2"
+
+[deps]
+Base64 = "2a0f44e3-6c83-55bd-87e4-b1978d98bd5f"
+Contour = "d38c429a-6771-53c6-b99e-75d170b6e991"
+Dates = "ade2ca70-3891-5945-98fb-dc099432e06a"
+FFMPEG = "c87230d0-a227-11e9-1b43-d7ebe4e7570a"
+FixedPointNumbers = "53c48c17-4a7d-5ca2-90c5-79b7896eea93"
+GR = "28b8d3ca-fb5f-59d9-8090-bfdbd6d07a71"
+GeometryTypes = "4d00f742-c7ba-57c2-abde-4428a4b178cb"
+JSON = "682c06a0-de6a-54ab-a142-c8b1cf79cde6"
+LinearAlgebra = "37e2e46d-f89d-539d-b4ee-838fcccc9c8e"
+Measures = "442fdcdd-2543-5da2-b0f3-8c86c306513e"
+NaNMath = "77ba4419-2d1f-58cd-9bb1-8ffee604a2e3"
+Pkg = "44cfe95a-1eb2-52ea-b672-e2afdf69b78f"
+PlotThemes = "ccf2f8ad-2431-5c83-bf29-c5338b663b6a"
+PlotUtils = "995b91a9-d308-5afd-9ec6-746e21dbc043"
+Printf = "de0858da-6303-5e67-8744-51eddeeeb8d7"
+REPL = "3fa0cd96-eef1-5676-8a61-b3b8758bbffb"
+Random = "9a3f8284-a2c9-5f02-9a11-845980a1fd5c"
+RecipesBase = "3cdcf5f2-1ef4-517c-9805-6587b60abb01"
+Reexport = "189a3867-3050-52da-a836-e630ba90ab69"
+Requires = "ae029012-a4dd-5104-9daa-d747884805df"
+Showoff = "992d4aef-0814-514b-bc4d-f2e9a6c4116f"
+SparseArrays = "2f01184e-e22b-5df5-ae63-d93ebab69eaf"
+Statistics = "10745b16-79ce-11e8-11f9-7d13ad32a3b2"
+StatsBase = "2913bbd2-ae8a-5f71-8c99-4fb6c76f3a91"
+UUIDs = "cf7118a7-6976-5b1a-9a39-7adc72f591a4"
+
+[compat]
+FixedPointNumbers = "≥ 0.3.0"
+GR = "≥ 0.31.0"
+PlotThemes = "≥ 0.1.3"
+PlotUtils = "≥ 0.4.1"
+RecipesBase = "≥ 0.6.0"
+StatsBase = "≥ 0.14.0"
+julia = "≥ 1.0.0"
+
+[extras]
+FileIO = "5789e2e9-d7fb-5bc7-8068-2c6fae9b9549"
+ImageMagick = "6218d12a-5da1-5696-b52f-db25d2ecc6d1"
+Images = "916415d5-f1e6-5110-898d-aaa5f9f070e0"
+LaTeXStrings = "b964fa9f-0449-5b57-a5c2-d3ea65f4040f"
+Pkg = "44cfe95a-1eb2-52ea-b672-e2afdf69b78f"
+RDatasets = "ce6b1742-4840-55fa-b093-852dadbb1d8b"
+Random = "9a3f8284-a2c9-5f02-9a11-845980a1fd5c"
+StatsPlots = "f3b207a7-027a-5e70-b257-86293d7955fd"
+Test = "8dfed614-e22c-5e08-85e1-65c5234f0b40"
+UnicodePlots = "b8865327-cd53-5732-bb35-84acbb429228"
+VisualRegressionTests = "34922c18-7c2a-561c-bac1-01e79b2c4c92"
+BinaryProvider = "b99e7846-7c00-51b0-8f62-c81ae34c0232"
+
+[targets]
+test = ["BinaryProvider", "Pkg", "Test", "Random", "StatsPlots", "VisualRegressionTests", "LaTeXStrings", "Images", "ImageMagick", "RDatasets", "FileIO", "UnicodePlots"]
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@

 #### Created by Tom Breloff (@tbreloff)

-#### Maintained by the [JuliaPlot members](https://github.com/orgs/JuliaPlots/people)
+#### Maintained by the [JuliaPlots members](https://github.com/orgs/JuliaPlots/people)

 Plots is a plotting API and toolset.  My goals with the package are:

@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-julia 1.0
-
-RecipesBase 0.6.0
-PlotUtils 0.4.1
-PlotThemes 0.1.3
-Reexport
-StaticArrays 0.5
-FixedPointNumbers 0.3
-Measures
-Showoff
-StatsBase 0.14.0
-JSON
-NaNMath
-Requires
-Contour
-GR 0.37.0
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 module Plots

-_current_plots_version = v"0.20.6"
+_current_plots_version = v"0.26.1"

 using Reexport

-import StaticArrays
+import GeometryTypes
 using Dates, Printf, Statistics, Base64, LinearAlgebra, Random
 import SparseArrays: findnz

+using FFMPEG
+
@reexport using RecipesBase
 import RecipesBase: plot, plot!, animate
 using Base.Meta
@@ -84,7 +86,6 @@ export
    backends,
    backend_name,
    backend_object,
-    add_backend,
    aliases,

    Shape,
@@ -180,103 +181,15 @@ include("arg_desc.jl")
 include("plotattr.jl")
 include("backends.jl")
 include("output.jl")
+include("ijulia.jl")
+include("fileio.jl")
 include("init.jl")

 include("backends/plotly.jl")
 include("backends/gr.jl")
 include("backends/web.jl")

-# ---------------------------------------------------------
-
-@shorthands scatter
-@shorthands bar
-@shorthands barh
-@shorthands histogram
-@shorthands barhist
-@shorthands stephist
-@shorthands scatterhist
-@shorthands histogram2d
-@shorthands density
-@shorthands heatmap
-@shorthands plots_heatmap
-@shorthands hexbin
-@shorthands sticks
-@shorthands hline
-@shorthands vline
-@shorthands hspan
-@shorthands vspan
-@shorthands ohlc
-@shorthands contour
-@shorthands contourf
-@shorthands contour3d
-@shorthands surface
-@shorthands wireframe
-@shorthands path3d
-@shorthands scatter3d
-@shorthands boxplot
-@shorthands violin
-@shorthands quiver
-@shorthands curves
-
-"Plot a pie diagram"
-pie(args...; kw...)        = plot(args...; kw...,  seriestype = :pie, aspect_ratio = :equal, grid=false, xticks=nothing, yticks=nothing)
-pie!(args...; kw...)       = plot!(args...; kw..., seriestype = :pie, aspect_ratio = :equal, grid=false, xticks=nothing, yticks=nothing)
-
-"Plot with seriestype :path3d"
-plot3d(args...; kw...)     = plot(args...; kw...,  seriestype = :path3d)
-plot3d!(args...; kw...)    = plot!(args...; kw..., seriestype = :path3d)
-
-"Add title to an existing plot"
-title!(s::AbstractString; kw...)                 = plot!(; title = s, kw...)
-
-"Add xlabel to an existing plot"
-xlabel!(s::AbstractString; kw...)                = plot!(; xlabel = s, kw...)
-
-"Add ylabel to an existing plot"
-ylabel!(s::AbstractString; kw...)                = plot!(; ylabel = s, kw...)
-
-"Set xlims for an existing plot"
-xlims!(lims::Tuple{T,S}; kw...) where {T<:Real,S<:Real} = plot!(; xlims = lims, kw...)
-
-"Set ylims for an existing plot"
-ylims!(lims::Tuple{T,S}; kw...) where {T<:Real,S<:Real} = plot!(; ylims = lims, kw...)
-
-"Set zlims for an existing plot"
-zlims!(lims::Tuple{T,S}; kw...) where {T<:Real,S<:Real} = plot!(; zlims = lims, kw...)
-
-xlims!(xmin::Real, xmax::Real; kw...)                     = plot!(; xlims = (xmin,xmax), kw...)
-ylims!(ymin::Real, ymax::Real; kw...)                     = plot!(; ylims = (ymin,ymax), kw...)
-zlims!(zmin::Real, zmax::Real; kw...)                     = plot!(; zlims = (zmin,zmax), kw...)
-
-
-"Set xticks for an existing plot"
-xticks!(v::TicksArgs; kw...) where {T<:Real}                       = plot!(; xticks = v, kw...)
-
-"Set yticks for an existing plot"
-yticks!(v::TicksArgs; kw...) where {T<:Real}                       = plot!(; yticks = v, kw...)
-
-xticks!(
-ticks::AVec{T}, labels::AVec{S}; kw...) where {T<:Real,S<:AbstractString}     = plot!(; xticks = (ticks,labels), kw...)
-yticks!(
-ticks::AVec{T}, labels::AVec{S}; kw...) where {T<:Real,S<:AbstractString}     = plot!(; yticks = (ticks,labels), kw...)
-
-"Add annotations to an existing plot"
-annotate!(anns...; kw...)                                 = plot!(; annotation = anns, kw...)
-annotate!(anns::AVec{T}; kw...) where {T<:Tuple}                 = plot!(; annotation = anns, kw...)
-
-"Flip the current plots' x axis"
-xflip!(flip::Bool = true; kw...)                          = plot!(; xflip = flip, kw...)
-
-"Flip the current plots' y axis"
-yflip!(flip::Bool = true; kw...)                          = plot!(; yflip = flip, kw...)
-
-"Specify x axis attributes for an existing plot"
-xaxis!(args...; kw...)                                    = plot!(; xaxis = args, kw...)
-
-"Specify x axis attributes for an existing plot"
-yaxis!(args...; kw...)                                    = plot!(; yaxis = args, kw...)
-xgrid!(args...; kw...)                                    = plot!(; xgrid = args, kw...)
-ygrid!(args...; kw...)                                    = plot!(; ygrid = args, kw...)
+include("shorthands.jl")

 let PlotOrSubplot = Union{Plot, Subplot}
    global title!(plt::PlotOrSubplot, s::AbstractString; kw...)                  = plot!(plt; title = s, kw...)
@@ -307,6 +220,7 @@ end

 # ---------------------------------------------------------

-const CURRENT_BACKEND = CurrentBackend(:none)
+const CURRENT_BACKEND = Plots.CurrentBackend(:gr)
+gr()

 end # module
@@ -60,31 +60,36 @@ end

 file_extension(fn) = Base.Filesystem.splitext(fn)[2][2:end]

-gif(anim::Animation, fn = giffn(); kw...) = buildanimation(anim.dir, fn; kw...)
-mov(anim::Animation, fn = movfn(); kw...) = buildanimation(anim.dir, fn, false; kw...)
-mp4(anim::Animation, fn = mp4fn(); kw...) = buildanimation(anim.dir, fn, false; kw...)
+gif(anim::Animation, fn = giffn(); kw...) = buildanimation(anim, fn; kw...)
+mov(anim::Animation, fn = movfn(); kw...) = buildanimation(anim, fn, false; kw...)
+mp4(anim::Animation, fn = mp4fn(); kw...) = buildanimation(anim, fn, false; kw...)


-function buildanimation(animdir::AbstractString, fn::AbstractString,
+function buildanimation(anim::Animation, fn::AbstractString,
                        is_animated_gif::Bool=true;
                        fps::Integer = 20, loop::Integer = 0,
                        variable_palette::Bool=false,
                        show_msg::Bool=true)
-    fn = abspath(fn)
+    if length(anim.frames) == 0
+        throw(ArgumentError("Cannot build empty animations"))
+    end
+
+    fn = abspath(expanduser(fn))
+    animdir = anim.dir

    if is_animated_gif
        if variable_palette
            # generate a colorpalette for each frame for highest quality, but larger filesize
            palette="palettegen=stats_mode=single[pal],[0:v][pal]paletteuse=new=1"
-            run(`ffmpeg -v 0 -framerate $fps -loop $loop -i $(animdir)/%06d.png -lavfi "$palette" -y $fn`)
+            ffmpeg_exe(`-v 0 -framerate $fps -loop $loop -i $(animdir)/%06d.png -lavfi "$palette" -y $fn`)
        else
            # generate a colorpalette first so ffmpeg does not have to guess it
-            run(`ffmpeg -v 0 -i $(animdir)/%06d.png -vf "palettegen=stats_mode=diff" -y "$(animdir)/palette.bmp"`)
+            ffmpeg_exe(`-v 0 -i $(animdir)/%06d.png -vf "palettegen=stats_mode=diff" -y "$(animdir)/palette.bmp"`)
            # then apply the palette to get better results
-            run(`ffmpeg -v 0 -framerate $fps -loop $loop -i $(animdir)/%06d.png -i "$(animdir)/palette.bmp" -lavfi "paletteuse=dither=sierra2_4a" -y $fn`)
+            ffmpeg_exe(` -v 0 -framerate $fps -loop $loop -i $(animdir)/%06d.png -i "$(animdir)/palette.bmp" -lavfi "paletteuse=dither=sierra2_4a" -y $fn`)
        end
    else
-        run(`ffmpeg -v 0 -framerate $fps -loop $loop -i $(animdir)/%06d.png -pix_fmt yuv420p -y $fn`)
+        ffmpeg_exe(`-v 0 -framerate $fps -loop $loop -i $(animdir)/%06d.png -pix_fmt yuv420p -y $fn`)
    end

    show_msg && @info("Saved animation to ", fn)
@@ -93,16 +98,25 @@ end



-# write out html to view the gif... note the rand call which is a hack so the image doesn't get cached
+# write out html to view the gif
 function Base.show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/html", agif::AnimatedGif)
    ext = file_extension(agif.filename)
    write(io, if ext == "gif"
-        "<img src=\"$(relpath(agif.filename))?$(rand())>\" />"
+        "<img src=\"$(relpath(agif.filename))\" />"
    elseif ext in ("mov", "mp4")
-        "<video controls><source src=\"$(relpath(agif.filename))?$(rand())>\" type=\"video/$ext\"></video>"
+        "<video controls><source src=\"$(relpath(agif.filename)) type=\"video/$ext\"></video>"
    else
        error("Cannot show animation with extension $ext: $agif")
    end)
+    return nothing
+end
+
+
+# Only gifs can be shown via image/gif
+Base.showable(::MIME"image/gif", agif::AnimatedGif) = file_extension(agif.filename) == "gif"
+
+function Base.show(io::IO, ::MIME"image/gif", agif::AnimatedGif)
+    open(fio-> write(io, fio), agif.filename)
 end


@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@

-const _arg_desc = KW(
+const _arg_desc = Dict{Symbol,String}(

 # series args
-:label 				=> "String type. The label for a series, which appears in a legend.  If empty, no legend entry is added.",
+:label 			=> "String type. The label for a series, which appears in a legend.  If empty, no legend entry is added.",
 :seriescolor 		=> "Color Type. The base color for this series.  `:auto` (the default) will select a color from the subplot's `color_palette`, based on the order it was added to the subplot",
 :seriesalpha 		=> "Number in [0,1]. The alpha/opacity override for the series.  `nothing` (the default) means it will take the alpha value of the color.",
 :seriestype 		=> "Symbol. This is the identifier of the type of visualization for this series. Choose from $(_allTypes) or any series recipes which are defined.",
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const _arg_desc = KW(
 :linewidth         	=> "Number. Width of the line (in pixels)",
 :linecolor         	=> "Color Type. Color of the line (for path and bar stroke).  `:match` will take the value from `:seriescolor`, (though histogram/bar types use `:black` as a default).",
 :linealpha         	=> "Number in [0,1]. The alpha/opacity override for the line.  `nothing` (the default) means it will take the alpha value of linecolor.",
-:fillrange         	=> "Number or AbstractVector.  Fills area from this to y for line-types, sets the base for bar/stick types, and similar for other types.",
+:fillrange         	=> "Number or AbstractVector.  Fills area between fillrange and y for line-types, sets the base for bar/stick types, and similar for other types.",
 :fillcolor         	=> "Color Type. Color of the filled area of path or bar types.  `:match` will take the value from `:seriescolor`.",
 :fillalpha         	=> "Number in [0,1]. The alpha/opacity override for the fill area.  `nothing` (the default) means it will take the alpha value of fillcolor.",
 :markershape       	=> "Symbol, Shape, or AbstractVector. Choose from $(_allMarkers).",
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ const _arg_desc = KW(
 :markerstrokewidth 	=> "Number. Width of the marker stroke (border. in pixels)",
 :markerstrokecolor 	=> "Color Type. Color of the marker stroke (border).  `:match` will take the value from `:foreground_color_subplot`.",
 :markerstrokealpha 	=> "Number in [0,1]. The alpha/opacity override for the marker stroke (border).  `nothing` (the default) means it will take the alpha value of markerstrokecolor.",
-:bins              	=> "Integer, NTuple{2,Integer}, AbstractVector or Symbol. Default is :auto (the Freedman-Diaconis rule). For histogram-types, defines the approximate number of bins to aim for, or the auto-binning algorithm to use (:sturges, :sqrt, :rice, :scott or :fd). For fine-grained control pass a Vector of break values, e.g. `range(min(x), stop = extrema(x), length = 25)`",
+:bins              	=> "Integer, NTuple{2,Integer}, AbstractVector or Symbol. Default is :auto (the Freedman-Diaconis rule). For histogram-types, defines the approximate number of bins to aim for, or the auto-binning algorithm to use (:sturges, :sqrt, :rice, :scott or :fd). For fine-grained control pass a Vector of break values, e.g. `range(minimum(x), stop = maximum(x), length = 25)`",
 :smooth            	=> "Bool.  Add a regression line?",
 :group             	=> "AbstractVector. Data is split into a separate series, one for each unique value in `group`.",
 :x                 	=> "Various. Input data. First Dimension",
@@ -29,13 +29,13 @@ const _arg_desc = KW(
 :z                 	=> "Various. Input data. Third Dimension. May be wrapped by a `Surface` for surface and heatmap types.",
 :marker_z          	=> "AbstractVector, Function `f(x,y,z) -> z_value`, or Function `f(x,y) -> z_value`, or nothing. z-values for each series data point, which correspond to the color to be used from a markercolor gradient.",
 :line_z          	=> "AbstractVector, Function `f(x,y,z) -> z_value`, or Function `f(x,y) -> z_value`, or nothing. z-values for each series line segment, which correspond to the color to be used from a linecolor gradient.  Note that for N points, only the first N-1 values are used (one per line-segment).",
-:fill_z           => "Matrix{Float64} of the same size as z matrix, which specifies the color of the 3D surface; the default value is `nothing`.",
-:levels            	=> "Integer, NTuple{2,Integer}. Number of levels (or x-levels/y-levels) for a contour type.",
+:fill_z                 => "Matrix{Float64} of the same size as z matrix, which specifies the color of the 3D surface; the default value is `nothing`.",
+:levels            	=> "Integer, NTuple{2,Integer}, or AbstractVector. Levels or number of levels (or x-levels/y-levels) for a contour type.",
 :orientation       	=> "Symbol.  Horizontal or vertical orientation for bar types.  Values `:h`, `:hor`, `:horizontal` correspond to horizontal (sideways, anchored to y-axis), and `:v`, `:vert`, and `:vertical` correspond to vertical (the default).",
 :bar_position      	=> "Symbol.  Choose from `:overlay` (default), `:stack`.  (warning: May not be implemented fully)",
-:bar_width         	=> "nothing or Number. Width of bars in data coordinates. When nothing, chooses based on x (or y when `orientation = :h`).",
-:bar_edges         	=> "Bool.  Align bars to edges (true), or centers (the default)?",
-:xerror            	=> "AbstractVector or 2-Tuple of Vectors. x (horizontal) error relative to x-value.  If 2-tuple of vectors, the first vector corresponds to the left error (and the second to the right)",
+:bar_width              => "nothing or Number. Width of bars in data coordinates. When nothing, chooses based on x (or y when `orientation = :h`).",
+:bar_edges              => "Bool.  Align bars to edges (true), or centers (the default)?",
+:xerror                 => "AbstractVector or 2-Tuple of Vectors. x (horizontal) error relative to x-value.  If 2-tuple of vectors, the first vector corresponds to the left error (and the second to the right)",
 :yerror            	=> "AbstractVector or 2-Tuple of Vectors. y (vertical) error relative to y-value.  If 2-tuple of vectors, the first vector corresponds to the bottom error (and the second to the top)",
 :ribbon            	=> "Number or AbstractVector.  Creates a fillrange around the data points.",
 :quiver            	=> "AbstractVector or 2-Tuple of vectors.  The directional vectors U,V which specify velocity/gradient vectors for a quiver plot.",
@@ -43,12 +43,13 @@ const _arg_desc = KW(
 :normalize         	=> "Bool or Symbol. Histogram normalization mode. Possible values are: false/:none (no normalization, default), true/:pdf (normalize to a discrete Probability Density Function, where the total area of the bins is 1), :probability (bin heights sum to 1) and :density (the area of each bin, rather than the height, is equal to the counts - useful for uneven bin sizes).",
 :weights           	=> "AbstractVector. Used in histogram types for weighted counts.",
 :contours          	=> "Bool. Add contours to the side-grids of 3D plots?  Used in surface/wireframe.",
-:contour_labels     => "Bool. Show labels at the contour lines?",
+:contour_labels         => "Bool. Show labels at the contour lines?",
 :match_dimensions  	=> "Bool. For heatmap types... should the first dimension of a matrix (rows) correspond to the first dimension of the plot (x-axis)?  The default is false, which matches the behavior of Matplotlib, Plotly, and others.  Note: when passing a function for z, the function should still map `(x,y) -> z`.",
 :subplot           	=> "Integer (subplot index) or Subplot object.  The subplot that this series belongs to.",
-:series_annotations => "AbstractVector of String or PlotText.  These are annotations which are mapped to data points/positions.",
-:primary            => "Bool.  Does this count as a 'real series'?  For example, you could have a path (primary), and a scatter (secondary) as 2 separate series, maybe with different data (see sticks recipe for an example).  The secondary series will get the same color, etc as the primary.",
-:hover 				=> "nothing or vector of strings. Text to display when hovering over each data point.",
+:series_annotations     => "AbstractVector of String or PlotText.  These are annotations which are mapped to data points/positions.",
+:primary                => "Bool.  Does this count as a 'real series'?  For example, you could have a path (primary), and a scatter (secondary) as 2 separate series, maybe with different data (see sticks recipe for an example).  The secondary series will get the same color, etc as the primary.",
+:hover 	        	=> "nothing or vector of strings. Text to display when hovering over each data point.",
+:colorbar_entry   => "Bool.  Include this series in the color bar?  Set to `false` to exclude.",

 # plot args
 :plot_title               => "String. Title for the whole plot (not the subplots) (Note: Not currently implemented)",
@@ -63,11 +64,12 @@ const _arg_desc = KW(
 :link                     => "Symbol.  How/whether to link axis limits between subplots. Values: `:none`, `:x` (x axes are linked by columns), `:y` (y axes are linked by rows), `:both` (x and y are linked), `:all` (every subplot is linked together regardless of layout position).",
 :overwrite_figure         => "Bool.  Should we reuse the same GUI window/figure when plotting (true) or open a new one (false).",
 :html_output_format       => "Symbol.  When writing html output, what is the format?  `:png` and `:svg` are currently supported.",
-:inset_subplots 		  => "nothing or vector of 2-tuple (parent,bbox).  optionally pass a vector of (parent,bbox) tuples which are the parent layout and the relative bounding box of inset subplots",
-:dpi 					  => "Number.  Dots Per Inch of output figures",
+:tex_output_standalone    => "Bool. When writing tex output, should the source include a preamble for a standalone document class.",
+:inset_subplots           => "nothing or vector of 2-tuple (parent,bbox).  optionally pass a vector of (parent,bbox) tuples which are the parent layout and the relative bounding box of inset subplots",
+:dpi 			  => "Number.  Dots Per Inch of output figures",
 :thickness_scaling        => "Number. Scale for the thickness of all line elements like lines, borders, axes, grid lines, ... defaults to 1.",
-:display_type 			  => "Symbol (`:auto`, `:gui`, or `:inline`).  When supported, `display` will either open a GUI window or plot inline.",
-:extra_kwargs 			  => "KW (Dict{Symbol,Any}).  Pass a map of extra keyword args which may be specific to a backend.",
+:display_type             => "Symbol (`:auto`, `:gui`, or `:inline`).  When supported, `display` will either open a GUI window or plot inline.",
+:extra_kwargs 	          => "KW (Dict{Symbol,Any}).  Pass a map of extra keyword args which may be specific to a backend.",
 :fontfamily               => "String or Symbol.  Default font family for title, legend entries, tick labels and guides",

 # subplot args
@@ -98,7 +100,7 @@ const _arg_desc = KW(
 :legendfont               => "Font. Font of legend items.",
 :annotations              => "(x,y,text) tuple(s).  Can be a single tuple or a list of them.  Text can be String or PlotText (created with `text(args...)`)  Add one-off text annotations at the x,y coordinates.",
 :projection               => "Symbol or String.  '3d' or 'polar'",
-:aspect_ratio             => "Symbol (:equal) or Number. Plot area is resized so that 1 y-unit is the same size as `apect_ratio` x-units.",
+:aspect_ratio             => "Symbol (:equal) or Number. Plot area is resized so that 1 y-unit is the same size as `aspect_ratio` x-units.",
 :margin                   => "Measure (multiply by `mm`, `px`, etc). Base for individual margins... not directly used.  Specifies the extra padding around subplots.",
 :left_margin              => "Measure (multiply by `mm`, `px`, etc) or `:match` (matches `:margin`).  Specifies the extra padding to the left of the subplot.",
 :top_margin               => "Measure (multiply by `mm`, `px`, etc) or `:match` (matches `:margin`).  Specifies the extra padding on the top of the subplot.",
@@ -110,14 +112,14 @@ const _arg_desc = KW(
 :camera                   => "NTuple{2, Real}. Sets the view angle (azimuthal, elevation) for 3D plots",

 # axis args
-:guide     				  => "String. Axis guide (label).",
+:guide     		  => "String. Axis guide (label).",
 :guide_position		  => "Symbol. Position of axis guides: :top, :bottom, :left or :right",
-:lims      				  => "NTuple{2,Number} or Symbol. Force axis limits.  Only finite values are used (you can set only the right limit with `xlims = (-Inf, 2)` for example). `:round` widens the limit to the nearest round number ie. [0.1,3.6]=>[0.0,4.0]",
-:ticks     				  => "Vector of numbers (set the tick values), Tuple of (tickvalues, ticklabels), or `:auto`",
-:scale     				  => "Symbol. Scale of the axis: `:none`, `:ln`, `:log2`, `:log10`",
-:rotation  				  => "Number. Degrees rotation of tick labels.",
-:flip      				  => "Bool.  Should we flip (reverse) the axis?",
-:formatter 				  => "Function, :scientific, :plain or :auto. A method which converts a number to a string for tick labeling.",
+:lims      		  => "NTuple{2,Number} or Symbol. Force axis limits.  Only finite values are used (you can set only the right limit with `xlims = (-Inf, 2)` for example). `:round` widens the limit to the nearest round number ie. [0.1,3.6]=>[0.0,4.0]",
+:ticks     		  => "Vector of numbers (set the tick values), Tuple of (tickvalues, ticklabels), or `:auto`",
+:scale     		  => "Symbol. Scale of the axis: `:none`, `:ln`, `:log2`, `:log10`",
+:rotation  		  => "Number. Degrees rotation of tick labels.",
+:flip      		  => "Bool.  Should we flip (reverse) the axis?",
+:formatter                => "Function, :scientific, :plain or :auto. A method which converts a number to a string for tick labeling.",
 :tickfontfamily           => "String or Symbol. Font family of tick labels.",
 :tickfontsize             => "Integer. Font pointsize of tick labels.",
 :tickfonthalign           => "Symbol. Font horizontal alignment of tick labels: :hcenter, :left, :right or :center",
@@ -149,4 +151,5 @@ const _arg_desc = KW(
 :tick_direction           => "Symbol.  Direction of the ticks. `:in` or `:out`",
 :showaxis                 => "Bool, Symbol or String.  Show the axis. `true`, `false`, `:show`, `:hide`, `:yes`, `:no`, `:x`, `:y`, `:z`, `:xy`, ..., `:all`, `:off`",
 :widen                    => "Bool. Widen the axis limits by a small factor to avoid cut-off markers and lines at the borders. Defaults to `true`.",
+:draw_arrow               => "Bool. Draw arrow at the end of the axis.",
 )
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@

 const _keyAliases = Dict{Symbol,Symbol}()

-function add_aliases(sym::Symbol, aliases::Symbol...)
+@noinline function add_aliases(sym::Symbol, aliases::Symbol...)
    for alias in aliases
        if haskey(_keyAliases, alias)
            error("Already an alias $alias => $(_keyAliases[alias])... can't also alias $sym")
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ function add_aliases(sym::Symbol, aliases::Symbol...)
    end
 end

-function add_non_underscore_aliases!(aliases::Dict{Symbol,Symbol})
+@noinline function add_non_underscore_aliases!(aliases::Dict{Symbol,Symbol})
    for (k,v) in aliases
        s = string(k)
        if '_' in s
@@ -84,17 +84,17 @@ const _histogram_like = [:histogram, :barhist, :barbins]
 const _line_like = [:line, :path, :steppre, :steppost]
 const _surface_like = [:contour, :contourf, :contour3d, :heatmap, :surface, :wireframe, :image]

-like_histogram(seriestype::Symbol) = seriestype in _histogram_like
-like_line(seriestype::Symbol)      = seriestype in _line_like
-like_surface(seriestype::Symbol)   = seriestype in _surface_like
+@noinline like_histogram(seriestype::Symbol) = seriestype in _histogram_like
+@noinline like_line(seriestype::Symbol)      = seriestype in _line_like
+@noinline like_surface(seriestype::Symbol)   = seriestype in _surface_like

-is3d(seriestype::Symbol) = seriestype in _3dTypes
-is3d(series::Series) = is3d(series.plotattributes)
-is3d(plotattributes::KW) = trueOrAllTrue(is3d, Symbol(plotattributes[:seriestype]))
+@noinline is3d(seriestype::Symbol) = seriestype in _3dTypes
+@noinline is3d(series::Series) = is3d(series.plotattributes)
+@noinline is3d(plotattributes::KW) = trueOrAllTrue(is3d, Symbol(plotattributes[:seriestype]))

-is3d(sp::Subplot) = string(sp.attr[:projection]) == "3d"
-ispolar(sp::Subplot) = string(sp.attr[:projection]) == "polar"
-ispolar(series::Series) = ispolar(series.plotattributes[:subplot])
+@noinline is3d(sp::Subplot) = string(sp.attr[:projection]) == "3d"
+@noinline ispolar(sp::Subplot) = string(sp.attr[:projection]) == "polar"
+@noinline ispolar(series::Series) = ispolar(series.plotattributes[:subplot])

 # ------------------------------------------------------------

@@ -188,9 +188,9 @@ const _allGridSyms = [:x, :y, :z,
                    :all, :both, :on, :yes, :show,
                    :none, :off, :no, :hide]
 const _allGridArgs = [_allGridSyms; string.(_allGridSyms); nothing]
-hasgrid(arg::Nothing, letter) = false
-hasgrid(arg::Bool, letter) = arg
-function hasgrid(arg::Symbol, letter)
+@noinline hasgrid(arg::Nothing, letter) = false
+@noinline hasgrid(arg::Bool, letter) = arg
+@noinline function hasgrid(arg::Symbol, letter)
    if arg in _allGridSyms
        arg in (:all, :both, :on) || occursin(string(letter), string(arg))
    else
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ function hasgrid(arg::Symbol, letter)
        true
    end
 end
-hasgrid(arg::AbstractString, letter) = hasgrid(Symbol(arg), letter)
+@noinline hasgrid(arg::AbstractString, letter) = hasgrid(Symbol(arg), letter)

 const _allShowaxisSyms = [:x, :y, :z,
                    :xy, :xz, :yx, :yz, :zx, :zy,
@@ -206,9 +206,9 @@ const _allShowaxisSyms = [:x, :y, :z,
                    :all, :both, :on, :yes, :show,
                    :off, :no, :hide]
 const _allShowaxisArgs = [_allGridSyms; string.(_allGridSyms)]
-showaxis(arg::Nothing, letter) = false
-showaxis(arg::Bool, letter) = arg
-function showaxis(arg::Symbol, letter)
+@noinline showaxis(arg::Nothing, letter) = false
+@noinline showaxis(arg::Bool, letter) = arg
+@noinline function showaxis(arg::Symbol, letter)
    if arg in _allGridSyms
        arg in (:all, :both, :on, :yes) || occursin(string(letter), string(arg))
    else
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ function showaxis(arg::Symbol, letter)
        true
    end
 end
-showaxis(arg::AbstractString, letter) = hasgrid(Symbol(arg), letter)
+@noinline showaxis(arg::AbstractString, letter) = hasgrid(Symbol(arg), letter)

 const _allFramestyles = [:box, :semi, :axes, :origin, :zerolines, :grid, :none]
 const _framestyleAliases = Dict{Symbol, Symbol}(
@@ -232,6 +232,7 @@ const _bar_width = 0.8

 const _series_defaults = KW(
    :label             => "AUTO",
+    :colorbar_entry    => true,
    :seriescolor       => :auto,
    :seriesalpha       => nothing,
    :seriestype        => :path,
@@ -298,6 +299,7 @@ const _plot_defaults = KW(
    :link                        => :none,
    :overwrite_figure            => true,
    :html_output_format          => :auto,
+    :tex_output_standalone       => false,
    :inset_subplots              => nothing,   # optionally pass a vector of (parent,bbox) tuples which are
                                               # the parent layout and the relative bounding box of inset subplots
    :dpi                         => DPI,        # dots per inch for images, etc
@@ -390,6 +392,7 @@ const _axis_defaults = KW(
    :minorgrid                => false,
    :showaxis                 => true,
    :widen                    => true,
+    :draw_arrow               => false,
 )

 const _suppress_warnings = Set{Symbol}([
@@ -445,7 +448,7 @@ const _initial_defaults = deepcopy(_all_defaults)
 const _initial_axis_defaults = deepcopy(_axis_defaults)

 # to be able to reset font sizes to initial values
-const _initial_fontsizes = Dict(:titlefontsize  => _subplot_defaults[:titlefontsize],
+const _initial_fontsizes = Dict{Any,Any}(:titlefontsize  => _subplot_defaults[:titlefontsize],
                                :legendfontsize => _subplot_defaults[:legendfontsize],
                                :tickfontsize   => _axis_defaults[:tickfontsize],
                                :guidefontsize  => _axis_defaults[:guidefontsize])
@@ -456,15 +459,15 @@ RecipesBase.is_key_supported(k::Symbol) = is_attr_supported(k)

 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-makeplural(s::Symbol) = Symbol(string(s,"s"))
+@noinline makeplural(s::Symbol) = Symbol(string(s,"s"))

-autopick(arr::AVec, idx::Integer) = arr[mod1(idx,length(arr))]
-autopick(notarr, idx::Integer) = notarr
+@noinline autopick(arr::AVec, idx::Integer) = arr[mod1(idx,length(arr))]
+@noinline autopick(notarr, idx::Integer) = notarr

-autopick_ignore_none_auto(arr::AVec, idx::Integer) = autopick(setdiff(arr, [:none, :auto]), idx)
-autopick_ignore_none_auto(notarr, idx::Integer) = notarr
+@noinline autopick_ignore_none_auto(arr::AVec, idx::Integer) = autopick(setdiff(arr, [:none, :auto]), idx)
+@noinline autopick_ignore_none_auto(notarr, idx::Integer) = notarr

-function aliasesAndAutopick(plotattributes::KW, sym::Symbol, aliases::Dict{Symbol,Symbol}, options::AVec, plotIndex::Int)
+@noinline function aliasesAndAutopick(plotattributes::KW, sym::Symbol, aliases::Dict{Symbol,Symbol}, options::AVec, plotIndex::Int)
    if plotattributes[sym] == :auto
        plotattributes[sym] = autopick_ignore_none_auto(options, plotIndex)
    elseif haskey(aliases, plotattributes[sym])
@@ -472,7 +475,7 @@ function aliasesAndAutopick(plotattributes::KW, sym::Symbol, aliases::Dict{Symbo
    end
 end

-function aliases(aliasMap::Dict{Symbol,Symbol}, val)
+@noinline function aliases(aliasMap::Dict{Symbol,Symbol}, val)
    sortedkeys(filter((k,v)-> v==val, aliasMap))
 end

@@ -682,15 +685,15 @@ function processLineArg(plotattributes::KW, arg)
        plotattributes[:linestyle] = arg

    elseif typeof(arg) <: Stroke
-        arg.width == nothing || (plotattributes[:linewidth] = arg.width)
-        arg.color == nothing || (plotattributes[:linecolor] = arg.color == :auto ? :auto : plot_color(arg.color))
-        arg.alpha == nothing || (plotattributes[:linealpha] = arg.alpha)
-        arg.style == nothing || (plotattributes[:linestyle] = arg.style)
+        arg.width === nothing || (plotattributes[:linewidth] = arg.width)
+        arg.color === nothing || (plotattributes[:linecolor] = arg.color == :auto ? :auto : plot_color(arg.color))
+        arg.alpha === nothing || (plotattributes[:linealpha] = arg.alpha)
+        arg.style === nothing || (plotattributes[:linestyle] = arg.style)

    elseif typeof(arg) <: Brush
-        arg.size  == nothing || (plotattributes[:fillrange] = arg.size)
-        arg.color == nothing || (plotattributes[:fillcolor] = arg.color == :auto ? :auto : plot_color(arg.color))
-        arg.alpha == nothing || (plotattributes[:fillalpha] = arg.alpha)
+        arg.size  === nothing || (plotattributes[:fillrange] = arg.size)
+        arg.color === nothing || (plotattributes[:fillcolor] = arg.color == :auto ? :auto : plot_color(arg.color))
+        arg.alpha === nothing || (plotattributes[:fillalpha] = arg.alpha)

    elseif typeof(arg) <: Arrow || arg in (:arrow, :arrows)
        plotattributes[:arrow] = arg
@@ -721,20 +724,24 @@ function processMarkerArg(plotattributes::KW, arg)
        plotattributes[:markerstrokestyle] = arg

    elseif typeof(arg) <: Stroke
-        arg.width == nothing || (plotattributes[:markerstrokewidth] = arg.width)
-        arg.color == nothing || (plotattributes[:markerstrokecolor] = arg.color == :auto ? :auto : plot_color(arg.color))
-        arg.alpha == nothing || (plotattributes[:markerstrokealpha] = arg.alpha)
-        arg.style == nothing || (plotattributes[:markerstrokestyle] = arg.style)
+        arg.width === nothing || (plotattributes[:markerstrokewidth] = arg.width)
+        arg.color === nothing || (plotattributes[:markerstrokecolor] = arg.color == :auto ? :auto : plot_color(arg.color))
+        arg.alpha === nothing || (plotattributes[:markerstrokealpha] = arg.alpha)
+        arg.style === nothing || (plotattributes[:markerstrokestyle] = arg.style)

    elseif typeof(arg) <: Brush
-        arg.size  == nothing || (plotattributes[:markersize]  = arg.size)
-        arg.color == nothing || (plotattributes[:markercolor] = arg.color == :auto ? :auto : plot_color(arg.color))
-        arg.alpha == nothing || (plotattributes[:markeralpha] = arg.alpha)
+        arg.size  === nothing || (plotattributes[:markersize]  = arg.size)
+        arg.color === nothing || (plotattributes[:markercolor] = arg.color == :auto ? :auto : plot_color(arg.color))
+        arg.alpha === nothing || (plotattributes[:markeralpha] = arg.alpha)

    # linealpha
    elseif allAlphas(arg)
        plotattributes[:markeralpha] = arg

+    # bool
+    elseif typeof(arg) <: Bool
+        plotattributes[:markershape] = arg ? :circle : :none
+
    # markersize
    elseif allReals(arg)
        plotattributes[:markersize] = arg
@@ -750,9 +757,9 @@ end
 function processFillArg(plotattributes::KW, arg)
    # fr = get(plotattributes, :fillrange, 0)
    if typeof(arg) <: Brush
-        arg.size  == nothing || (plotattributes[:fillrange] = arg.size)
-        arg.color == nothing || (plotattributes[:fillcolor] = arg.color == :auto ? :auto : plot_color(arg.color))
-        arg.alpha == nothing || (plotattributes[:fillalpha] = arg.alpha)
+        arg.size  === nothing || (plotattributes[:fillrange] = arg.size)
+        arg.color === nothing || (plotattributes[:fillcolor] = arg.color == :auto ? :auto : plot_color(arg.color))
+        arg.alpha === nothing || (plotattributes[:fillalpha] = arg.alpha)

    elseif typeof(arg) <: Bool
        plotattributes[:fillrange] = arg ? 0 : nothing
@@ -786,10 +793,10 @@ function processGridArg!(plotattributes::KW, arg, letter)
        plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :gridstyle)] = arg

    elseif typeof(arg) <: Stroke
-        arg.width == nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :gridlinewidth)] = arg.width)
-        arg.color == nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :foreground_color_grid)] = arg.color in (:auto, :match) ? :match : plot_color(arg.color))
-        arg.alpha == nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :gridalpha)] = arg.alpha)
-        arg.style == nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :gridstyle)] = arg.style)
+        arg.width === nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :gridlinewidth)] = arg.width)
+        arg.color === nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :foreground_color_grid)] = arg.color in (:auto, :match) ? :match : plot_color(arg.color))
+        arg.alpha === nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :gridalpha)] = arg.alpha)
+        arg.style === nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :gridstyle)] = arg.style)

    # linealpha
    elseif allAlphas(arg)
@@ -815,10 +822,10 @@ function processMinorGridArg!(plotattributes::KW, arg, letter)
        plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :minorgrid)] = true

    elseif typeof(arg) <: Stroke
-        arg.width == nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :minorgridlinewidth)] = arg.width)
-        arg.color == nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :foreground_color_minor_grid)] = arg.color in (:auto, :match) ? :match : plot_color(arg.color))
-        arg.alpha == nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :minorgridalpha)] = arg.alpha)
-        arg.style == nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :minorgridstyle)] = arg.style)
+        arg.width === nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :minorgridlinewidth)] = arg.width)
+        arg.color === nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :foreground_color_minor_grid)] = arg.color in (:auto, :match) ? :match : plot_color(arg.color))
+        arg.alpha === nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :minorgridalpha)] = arg.alpha)
+        arg.style === nothing || (plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :minorgridstyle)] = arg.style)
        plotattributes[Symbol(letter, :minorgrid)] = true

    # linealpha
@@ -872,9 +879,9 @@ function processFontArg!(plotattributes::KW, fontname::Symbol, arg)
    end
 end

-_replace_markershape(shape::Symbol) = get(_markerAliases, shape, shape)
-_replace_markershape(shapes::AVec) = map(_replace_markershape, shapes)
-_replace_markershape(shape) = shape
+@noinline _replace_markershape(shape::Symbol) = get(_markerAliases, shape, shape)
+@noinline _replace_markershape(shapes::AVec) = map(_replace_markershape, shapes)
+@noinline _replace_markershape(shape) = shape

 function _add_markershape(plotattributes::KW)
    # add the markershape if it needs to be added... hack to allow "m=10" to add a shape,
@@ -1023,7 +1030,7 @@ function preprocessArgs!(plotattributes::KW)
            arrow()
        elseif a in (false, nothing, :none)
            nothing
-        elseif !(typeof(a) <: Arrow)
+        elseif !(typeof(a) <: Arrow || typeof(a) <: AbstractArray{Arrow})
            arrow(wraptuple(a)...)
        else
            a
@@ -1050,8 +1057,8 @@ function preprocessArgs!(plotattributes::KW)

    # warnings for moved recipes
    st = get(plotattributes, :seriestype, :path)
-    if st in (:boxplot, :violin, :density) && !isdefined(Main, :StatPlots)
-        @warn("seriestype $st has been moved to StatPlots.  To use: \`Pkg.add(\"StatPlots\"); using StatPlots\`")
+    if st in (:boxplot, :violin, :density) && !isdefined(Main, :StatsPlots)
+        @warn("seriestype $st has been moved to StatsPlots.  To use: \`Pkg.add(\"StatsPlots\"); using StatsPlots\`")
    end

    return
@@ -1067,7 +1074,7 @@ end


 # this is when given a vector-type of values to group by
-function extractGroupArgs(v::AVec, args...; legendEntry = string)
+@noinline function extractGroupArgs(v::AVec, args...; legendEntry = string)
    groupLabels = sort(collect(unique(v)))
    n = length(groupLabels)
    if n > 100
@@ -1077,17 +1084,17 @@ function extractGroupArgs(v::AVec, args...; legendEntry = string)
    GroupBy(map(legendEntry, groupLabels), groupIds)
 end

-legendEntryFromTuple(ns::Tuple) = join(ns, ' ')
+@noinline legendEntryFromTuple(ns::Tuple) = join(ns, ' ')

 # this is when given a tuple of vectors of values to group by
-function extractGroupArgs(vs::Tuple, args...)
+@noinline function extractGroupArgs(vs::Tuple, args...)
    isempty(vs) && return GroupBy([""], [1:size(args[1],1)])
    v = map(tuple, vs...)
    extractGroupArgs(v, args...; legendEntry = legendEntryFromTuple)
 end

 # allow passing NamedTuples for a named legend entry
-legendEntryFromTuple(ns::NamedTuple) =
+@noinline legendEntryFromTuple(ns::NamedTuple) =
    join(["$k = $v" for (k, v) in pairs(ns)], ", ")

 function extractGroupArgs(vs::NamedTuple, args...)
@@ -1097,24 +1104,24 @@ function extractGroupArgs(vs::NamedTuple, args...)
 end

 # expecting a mapping of "group label" to "group indices"
-function extractGroupArgs(idxmap::Dict{T,V}, args...) where {T, V<:AVec{Int}}
+@noinline function extractGroupArgs(idxmap::Dict{T,V}, args...) where {T, V<:AVec{Int}}
    groupLabels = sortedkeys(idxmap)
    groupIds = Vector{Int}[collect(idxmap[k]) for k in groupLabels]
    GroupBy(groupLabels, groupIds)
 end

-filter_data(v::AVec, idxfilter::AVec{Int}) = v[idxfilter]
-filter_data(v, idxfilter) = v
+@noinline filter_data(v::AVec, idxfilter::AVec{Int}) = v[idxfilter]
+@noinline filter_data(v, idxfilter) = v

-function filter_data!(plotattributes::KW, idxfilter)
+@noinline function filter_data!(plotattributes::KW, idxfilter)
    for s in (:x, :y, :z)
        plotattributes[s] = filter_data(get(plotattributes, s, nothing), idxfilter)
    end
 end

-function _filter_input_data!(plotattributes::KW)
+@noinline function _filter_input_data!(plotattributes::KW)
    idxfilter = pop!(plotattributes, :idxfilter, nothing)
-    if idxfilter != nothing
+    if idxfilter !== nothing
        filter_data!(plotattributes, idxfilter)
    end
 end
@@ -1175,21 +1182,21 @@ end

 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-function convertLegendValue(val::Symbol)
+@noinline function convertLegendValue(val::Symbol)
    if val in (:both, :all, :yes)
        :best
    elseif val in (:no, :none)
        :none
-    elseif val in (:right, :left, :top, :bottom, :inside, :best, :legend, :topright, :topleft, :bottomleft, :bottomright, :outertopright)
+    elseif val in (:right, :left, :top, :bottom, :inside, :best, :legend, :topright, :topleft, :bottomleft, :bottomright, :outertopright, :outertopleft, :outertop, :outerright, :outerleft, :outerbottomright, :outerbottomleft, :outerbottom)
        val
    else
        error("Invalid symbol for legend: $val")
    end
 end
-convertLegendValue(val::Bool) = val ? :best : :none
-convertLegendValue(val::Nothing) = :none
-convertLegendValue(v::Tuple{S,T}) where {S<:Real, T<:Real} = v
-convertLegendValue(v::AbstractArray) = map(convertLegendValue, v)
+@noinline convertLegendValue(val::Bool) = val ? :best : :none
+@noinline convertLegendValue(val::Nothing) = :none
+@noinline convertLegendValue(v::Tuple{S,T}) where {S<:Real, T<:Real} = v
+@noinline convertLegendValue(v::AbstractArray) = map(convertLegendValue, v)

 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

@@ -1198,12 +1205,12 @@ convertLegendValue(v::AbstractArray) = map(convertLegendValue, v)
 # multi-row matrices will give a column
 # InputWrapper just gives the contents
 # anything else is returned as-is
-function slice_arg(v::AMat, idx::Int)
+@noinline function slice_arg(v::AMat, idx::Int)
    c = mod1(idx, size(v,2))
    size(v,1) == 1 ? v[1,c] : v[:,c]
 end
-slice_arg(wrapper::InputWrapper, idx) = wrapper.obj
-slice_arg(v, idx) = v
+@noinline slice_arg(wrapper::InputWrapper, idx) = wrapper.obj
+@noinline slice_arg(v, idx) = v


 # given an argument key (k), we want to extract the argument value for this index.
@@ -1230,7 +1237,7 @@ end
 #     v = plotattributes[k]
 #     plotattributes[k] = if v == :match
 #         match_color
-#     elseif v == nothing
+#     elseif v === nothing
 #         plot_color(RGBA(0,0,0,0))
 #     else
 #         v
@@ -1239,7 +1246,7 @@ end

 function color_or_nothing!(plotattributes::KW, k::Symbol)
    v = plotattributes[k]
-    plotattributes[k] = if v == nothing || v == false
+    plotattributes[k] = if v === nothing || v == false
        RGBA{Float64}(0,0,0,0)
    elseif v != :match
        plot_color(v)
@@ -1502,25 +1509,25 @@ end

 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-has_black_border_for_default(st) = error("The seriestype attribute only accepts Symbols, you passed the $(typeof(st)) $st.")
-has_black_border_for_default(st::Function) = error("The seriestype attribute only accepts Symbols, you passed the function $st.")
-function has_black_border_for_default(st::Symbol)
+@noinline has_black_border_for_default(st) = error("The seriestype attribute only accepts Symbols, you passed the $(typeof(st)) $st.")
+@noinline has_black_border_for_default(st::Function) = error("The seriestype attribute only accepts Symbols, you passed the function $st.")
+@noinline function has_black_border_for_default(st::Symbol)
    like_histogram(st) || st in (:hexbin, :bar, :shape)
 end

-
-# converts a symbol or string into a colorant (Colors.RGB), and assigns a color automatically
-function getSeriesRGBColor(c, sp::Subplot, n::Int)
+# converts a symbol or string into a Colorant or ColorGradient
+# and assigns a color automatically
+function get_series_color(c, sp::Subplot, n::Int, seriestype)
    if c == :auto
-        c = autopick(sp[:color_palette], n)
+        c = like_surface(seriestype) ? cgrad() : autopick(sp[:color_palette], n)
    elseif isa(c, Int)
        c = autopick(sp[:color_palette], c)
    end
    plot_color(c)
 end

-function getSeriesRGBColor(c::AbstractArray, sp::Subplot, n::Int)
-    map(x->getSeriesRGBColor(x, sp, n), c)
+function get_series_color(c::AbstractArray, sp::Subplot, n::Int, seriestype)
+    map(x->get_series_color(x, sp, n, seriestype), c)
 end

 function ensure_gradient!(plotattributes::KW, csym::Symbol, asym::Symbol)
@@ -1556,30 +1563,32 @@ function _update_series_attributes!(plotattributes::KW, plt::Plot, sp::Subplot)

    # update alphas
    for asym in (:linealpha, :markeralpha, :fillalpha)
-        if plotattributes[asym] == nothing
+        if plotattributes[asym] === nothing
            plotattributes[asym] = plotattributes[:seriesalpha]
        end
    end
-    if plotattributes[:markerstrokealpha] == nothing
+    if plotattributes[:markerstrokealpha] === nothing
        plotattributes[:markerstrokealpha] = plotattributes[:markeralpha]
    end

    # update series color
-    plotattributes[:seriescolor] = getSeriesRGBColor(plotattributes[:seriescolor], sp, plotIndex)
+    scolor = plotattributes[:seriescolor]
+    stype = plotattributes[:seriestype]
+    plotattributes[:seriescolor] = scolor = get_series_color(scolor, sp, plotIndex, stype)

    # update other colors
    for s in (:line, :marker, :fill)
        csym, asym = Symbol(s,:color), Symbol(s,:alpha)
        plotattributes[csym] = if plotattributes[csym] == :auto
-            plot_color(if has_black_border_for_default(plotattributes[:seriestype]) && s == :line
+            plot_color(if has_black_border_for_default(stype) && s == :line
                sp[:foreground_color_subplot]
            else
-                plotattributes[:seriescolor]
+                scolor
            end)
        elseif plotattributes[csym] == :match
-            plot_color(plotattributes[:seriescolor])
+            plot_color(scolor)
        else
-            getSeriesRGBColor(plotattributes[csym], sp, plotIndex)
+            get_series_color(plotattributes[csym], sp, plotIndex, stype)
        end
    end

@@ -1587,19 +1596,19 @@ function _update_series_attributes!(plotattributes::KW, plt::Plot, sp::Subplot)
    plotattributes[:markerstrokecolor] = if plotattributes[:markerstrokecolor] == :match
        plot_color(sp[:foreground_color_subplot])
    elseif plotattributes[:markerstrokecolor] == :auto
-        getSeriesRGBColor(plotattributes[:markercolor], sp, plotIndex)
+        get_series_color(plotattributes[:markercolor], sp, plotIndex, stype)
    else
-        getSeriesRGBColor(plotattributes[:markerstrokecolor], sp, plotIndex)
+        get_series_color(plotattributes[:markerstrokecolor], sp, plotIndex, stype)
    end

    # if marker_z, fill_z or line_z are set, ensure we have a gradient
-    if plotattributes[:marker_z] != nothing
+    if plotattributes[:marker_z] !== nothing
        ensure_gradient!(plotattributes, :markercolor, :markeralpha)
    end
-    if plotattributes[:line_z] != nothing
+    if plotattributes[:line_z] !== nothing
        ensure_gradient!(plotattributes, :linecolor, :linealpha)
    end
-    if plotattributes[:fill_z] != nothing
+    if plotattributes[:fill_z] !== nothing
        ensure_gradient!(plotattributes, :fillcolor, :fillalpha)
    end

@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ function process_axis_arg!(plotattributes::KW, arg, letter = "")
    elseif T <: AVec
        plotattributes[Symbol(letter,:ticks)] = arg

-    elseif arg == nothing
+    elseif arg === nothing
        plotattributes[Symbol(letter,:ticks)] = []

    elseif T <: Bool || arg in _allShowaxisArgs
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ end

 # -------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Base.show(io::IO, axis::Axis) = dumpdict(axis.plotattributes, "Axis", true)
+Base.show(io::IO, axis::Axis) = dumpdict(io, axis.plotattributes, "Axis", true)
 # Base.getindex(axis::Axis, k::Symbol) = getindex(axis.plotattributes, k)
 Base.setindex!(axis::Axis, v, ks::Symbol...) = setindex!(axis.plotattributes, v, ks...)
 Base.haskey(axis::Axis, k::Symbol) = haskey(axis.plotattributes, k)
@@ -152,8 +152,8 @@ scalefunc(scale::Symbol) = x -> get(_scale_funcs, scale, identity)(Float64(x))
 invscalefunc(scale::Symbol) = x -> get(_inv_scale_funcs, scale, identity)(Float64(x))
 labelfunc(scale::Symbol, backend::AbstractBackend) = get(_label_func, scale, string)

-function optimal_ticks_and_labels(axis::Axis, ticks = nothing)
-    amin,amax = axis_limits(axis)
+function optimal_ticks_and_labels(sp::Subplot, axis::Axis, ticks = nothing)
+    amin, amax = axis_limits(sp, axis[:letter])

    # scale the limits
    scale = axis[:scale]
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ function optimal_ticks_and_labels(axis::Axis, ticks = nothing)
    # or DateTime) is chosen based on the time span between amin and amax
    # rather than on the input format
    # TODO: maybe: non-trivial scale (:ln, :log2, :log10) for date/datetime
-    if ticks == nothing && scale == :identity
+    if ticks === nothing && scale == :identity
        if axis[:formatter] == dateformatter
            # optimize_datetime_ticks returns ticks and labels(!) based on
            # integers/floats corresponding to the DateTime type. Thus, the axes
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ function optimal_ticks_and_labels(axis::Axis, ticks = nothing)
    end

    # get a list of well-laid-out ticks
-    if ticks == nothing
+    if ticks === nothing
        scaled_ticks = optimize_ticks(
            sf(amin),
            sf(amax);
@@ -238,9 +238,9 @@ function optimal_ticks_and_labels(axis::Axis, ticks = nothing)
 end

 # return (continuous_values, discrete_values) for the ticks on this axis
-function get_ticks(axis::Axis)
+function get_ticks(sp::Subplot, axis::Axis)
    ticks = _transform_ticks(axis[:ticks])
-    ticks in (nothing, false) && return nothing
+    ticks in (:none, nothing, false) && return nothing

    # treat :native ticks as :auto
    ticks = ticks == :native ? :auto : ticks
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ function get_ticks(axis::Axis)
            # discrete ticks...
            n = length(dvals)
            rng = if ticks == :auto
-                Int[round(Int,i) for i in range(1, stop=n, length=15)]
+                Int[round(Int,i) for i in range(1, stop=n, length=min(n,15))]
            else # if ticks == :all
                1:n
            end
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ function get_ticks(axis::Axis)
            (collect(0:pi/4:7pi/4), string.(0:45:315))
        else
            # compute optimal ticks and labels
-            optimal_ticks_and_labels(axis)
+            optimal_ticks_and_labels(sp, axis)
        end
    elseif typeof(ticks) <: Union{AVec, Int}
        if !isempty(dvals) && typeof(ticks) <: Int
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ function get_ticks(axis::Axis)
            axis[:continuous_values][rng], dvals[rng]
        else
            # override ticks, but get the labels
-            optimal_ticks_and_labels(axis, ticks)
+            optimal_ticks_and_labels(sp, axis, ticks)
        end
    elseif typeof(ticks) <: NTuple{2, Any}
        # assuming we're passed (ticks, labels)
@@ -286,12 +286,12 @@ _transform_ticks(ticks) = ticks
 _transform_ticks(ticks::AbstractArray{T}) where T <: Dates.TimeType = Dates.value.(ticks)
 _transform_ticks(ticks::NTuple{2, Any}) = (_transform_ticks(ticks[1]), ticks[2])

-function get_minor_ticks(axis,ticks)
-    axis[:minorticks] in (nothing, false) && !axis[:minorgrid] && return nothing
+function get_minor_ticks(sp, axis, ticks)
+    axis[:minorticks] in (:none, nothing, false) && !axis[:minorgrid] && return nothing
    ticks = ticks[1]
    length(ticks) < 2 && return nothing

-    amin, amax = axis_limits(axis)
+    amin, amax = axis_limits(sp, axis[:letter])
    #Add one phantom tick either side of the ticks to ensure minor ticks extend to the axis limits
    if length(ticks) > 2
        ratio = (ticks[3] - ticks[2])/(ticks[2] - ticks[1])
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ function expand_extrema!(sp::Subplot, plotattributes::KW)
                data = plotattributes[letter] = Surface(Matrix{Float64}(data.surf))
            end
            expand_extrema!(axis, data)
-        elseif data != nothing
+        elseif data !== nothing
            # TODO: need more here... gotta track the discrete reference value
            #       as well as any coord offset (think of boxplot shape coords... they all
            #       correspond to the same x-value)
@@ -399,10 +399,10 @@ function expand_extrema!(sp::Subplot, plotattributes::KW)

    # expand for fillrange
    fr = plotattributes[:fillrange]
-    if fr == nothing && plotattributes[:seriestype] == :bar
+    if fr === nothing && plotattributes[:seriestype] == :bar
        fr = 0.0
    end
-    if fr != nothing && !all3D(plotattributes)
+    if fr !== nothing && !all3D(plotattributes)
        axis = sp.attr[vert ? :yaxis : :xaxis]
        if typeof(fr) <: Tuple
            for fri in fr
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ function expand_extrema!(sp::Subplot, plotattributes::KW)
        data = plotattributes[dsym]

        bw = plotattributes[:bar_width]
-        if bw == nothing
+        if bw === nothing
            bw = plotattributes[:bar_width] = _bar_width * ignorenan_minimum(filter(x->x>0,diff(sort(data))))
        end
        axis = sp.attr[Symbol(dsym, :axis)]
@@ -479,11 +479,13 @@ function round_limits(amin,amax)
 end

 # using the axis extrema and limit overrides, return the min/max value for this axis
-function axis_limits(axis::Axis, should_widen::Bool = default_should_widen(axis))
+function axis_limits(sp, letter, should_widen = default_should_widen(sp[Symbol(letter, :axis)]), consider_aspect = true)
+    axis = sp[Symbol(letter, :axis)]
    ex = axis[:extrema]
    amin, amax = ex.emin, ex.emax
    lims = axis[:lims]
-    if (isa(lims, Tuple) || isa(lims, AVec)) && length(lims) == 2
+    has_user_lims = (isa(lims, Tuple) || isa(lims, AVec)) && length(lims) == 2
+    if has_user_lims
        if isfinite(lims[1])
            amin = lims[1]
        end
@@ -497,12 +499,12 @@ function axis_limits(axis::Axis, should_widen::Bool = default_should_widen(axis)
    if !isfinite(amin) && !isfinite(amax)
        amin, amax = 0.0, 1.0
    end
-    if ispolar(axis.sps[1])
+    amin, amax = if ispolar(axis.sps[1])
        if axis[:letter] == :x
            amin, amax = 0, 2pi
        elseif lims == :auto
            #widen max radius so ticks dont overlap with theta axis
-            amin, amax + 0.1 * abs(amax - amin)
+            0, amax + 0.1 * abs(amax - amin)
        else
            amin, amax
        end
@@ -513,6 +515,32 @@ function axis_limits(axis::Axis, should_widen::Bool = default_should_widen(axis)
    else
        amin, amax
    end
+
+    if !has_user_lims && consider_aspect && letter in (:x, :y) && !(sp[:aspect_ratio] in (:none, :auto) || is3d(:sp))
+        aspect_ratio = isa(sp[:aspect_ratio], Number) ? sp[:aspect_ratio] : 1
+        plot_ratio = height(plotarea(sp)) / width(plotarea(sp))
+        dist = amax - amin
+
+        if letter == :x
+            yamin, yamax = axis_limits(sp, :y, default_should_widen(sp[:yaxis]), false)
+            ydist = yamax - yamin
+            axis_ratio = aspect_ratio * ydist / dist
+            factor = axis_ratio / plot_ratio
+        else
+            xamin, xamax = axis_limits(sp, :x, default_should_widen(sp[:xaxis]), false)
+            xdist = xamax - xamin
+            axis_ratio = aspect_ratio * dist / xdist
+            factor = plot_ratio / axis_ratio
+        end
+
+        if factor > 1
+            center = (amin + amax) / 2
+            amin = center + factor * (amin - center)
+            amax = center + factor * (amax - center)
+        end
+    end
+
+    return amin, amax
 end

 # -------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -586,12 +614,12 @@ end
 # compute the line segments which should be drawn for this axis
 function axis_drawing_info(sp::Subplot)
    xaxis, yaxis = sp[:xaxis], sp[:yaxis]
-    xmin, xmax = axis_limits(xaxis)
-    ymin, ymax = axis_limits(yaxis)
-    xticks = get_ticks(xaxis)
-    yticks = get_ticks(yaxis)
-    xminorticks = get_minor_ticks(xaxis,xticks)
-    yminorticks = get_minor_ticks(yaxis,yticks)
+    xmin, xmax = axis_limits(sp, :x)
+    ymin, ymax = axis_limits(sp, :y)
+    xticks = get_ticks(sp, xaxis)
+    yticks = get_ticks(sp, yaxis)
+    xminorticks = get_minor_ticks(sp, xaxis, xticks)
+    yminorticks = get_minor_ticks(sp, yaxis, yticks)
    xaxis_segs = Segments(2)
    yaxis_segs = Segments(2)
    xtick_segs = Segments(2)
@@ -614,14 +642,14 @@ function axis_drawing_info(sp::Subplot)
                end
                push!(xaxis_segs, (xmin, y1), (xmax, y1))
                # don't show the 0 tick label for the origin framestyle
-                if sp[:framestyle] == :origin && !(xticks in (nothing,false)) && length(xticks) > 1
+                if sp[:framestyle] == :origin && !(xticks in (:none, nothing, false)) && length(xticks) > 1
                    showticks = xticks[1] .!= 0
                    xticks = (xticks[1][showticks], xticks[2][showticks])
                end
            end
            sp[:framestyle] in (:semi, :box) && push!(xborder_segs, (xmin, y2), (xmax, y2)) # top spine
        end
-        if !(xaxis[:ticks] in (nothing, false))
+        if !(xaxis[:ticks] in (:none, nothing, false))
            f = scalefunc(yaxis[:scale])
            invf = invscalefunc(yaxis[:scale])
            ticks_in = xaxis[:tick_direction] == :out ? -1 : 1
@@ -642,7 +670,7 @@ function axis_drawing_info(sp::Subplot)
                xaxis[:grid] && push!(xgrid_segs, (xtick, ymin), (xtick, ymax)) # vertical grid
            end
        end
-        if !(xaxis[:minorticks] in (nothing, false)) || xaxis[:minorgrid]
+        if !(xaxis[:minorticks] in (:none, nothing, false)) || xaxis[:minorgrid]
            f = scalefunc(yaxis[:scale])
            invf = invscalefunc(yaxis[:scale])
            ticks_in = xaxis[:tick_direction] == :out ? -1 : 1
@@ -675,14 +703,14 @@ function axis_drawing_info(sp::Subplot)
                end
                push!(yaxis_segs, (x1, ymin), (x1, ymax))
                # don't show the 0 tick label for the origin framestyle
-                if sp[:framestyle] == :origin && !(yticks in (nothing,false)) && length(yticks) > 1
+                if sp[:framestyle] == :origin && !(yticks in (:none, nothing,false)) && length(yticks) > 1
                    showticks = yticks[1] .!= 0
                    yticks = (yticks[1][showticks], yticks[2][showticks])
                end
            end
            sp[:framestyle] in (:semi, :box) && push!(yborder_segs, (x2, ymin), (x2, ymax)) # right spine
        end
-        if !(yaxis[:ticks] in (nothing, false))
+        if !(yaxis[:ticks] in (:none, nothing, false))
            f = scalefunc(xaxis[:scale])
            invf = invscalefunc(xaxis[:scale])
            ticks_in = yaxis[:tick_direction] == :out ? -1 : 1
@@ -703,7 +731,7 @@ function axis_drawing_info(sp::Subplot)
                yaxis[:grid] && push!(ygrid_segs, (xmin, ytick), (xmax, ytick)) # horizontal grid
            end
        end
-        if !(yaxis[:minorticks] in (nothing, false)) || yaxis[:minorgrid]
+        if !(yaxis[:minorticks] in (:none, nothing, false)) || yaxis[:minorgrid]
            f = scalefunc(xaxis[:scale])
            invf = invscalefunc(xaxis[:scale])
            ticks_in = yaxis[:tick_direction] == :out ? -1 : 1
@@ -726,5 +754,5 @@ function axis_drawing_info(sp::Subplot)
        end
    end

-    xticks, yticks, xaxis_segs, yaxis_segs, xtick_segs, ytick_segs, xgrid_segs, ygrid_segs, xminorgrid_segs, yminorgrid_segs, xborder_segs, yborder_segs
+    Any[xticks, yticks, xaxis_segs, yaxis_segs, xtick_segs, ytick_segs, xgrid_segs, ygrid_segs, xminorgrid_segs, yminorgrid_segs, xborder_segs, yborder_segs]
 end
@@ -7,16 +7,20 @@ const _backendSymbol = Dict{DataType, Symbol}(NoBackend => :none)
 const _backends = Symbol[]
 const _initialized_backends = Set{Symbol}()
 const _default_backends = (:none, :gr, :plotly)
-const _backendPackage = Dict{Symbol, Symbol}()
+
+const _backend_packages = Dict{Symbol, Symbol}()

 "Returns a list of supported backends"
 backends() = _backends

 "Returns the name of the current backend"
 backend_name() = CURRENT_BACKEND.sym
-_backend_instance(sym::Symbol) = haskey(_backendType, sym) ? _backendType[sym]() : error("Unsupported backend $sym")
-backend_package(pkg::Symbol) = pkg in _default_backends ? :Plots : Symbol("Plots", _backendPackage[pkg])
-backend_package_name(sym::Symbol) = sym in _default_backends ? :Plots : _backendPackage[sym]
+
+function _backend_instance(sym::Symbol)::AbstractBackend
+    haskey(_backendType, sym) ? _backendType[sym]() : error("Unsupported backend $sym")
+end
+
+backend_package_name(sym::Symbol) = _backend_packages[sym]

 macro init_backend(s)
    package_str = string(s)
@@ -26,13 +30,13 @@ macro init_backend(s)
    esc(quote
        struct $T <: AbstractBackend end
        export $sym
-        $sym(; kw...) = (default(; kw...); backend(Symbol($str)))
+        $sym(; kw...) = (default(; kw...); backend($T()))
        backend_name(::$T) = Symbol($str)
        backend_package_name(pkg::$T) = backend_package_name(Symbol($str))
        push!(_backends, Symbol($str))
        _backendType[Symbol($str)] = $T
        _backendSymbol[$T] = Symbol($str)
-        _backendPackage[Symbol($str)] = Symbol($package_str)
+        _backend_packages[Symbol($str)] = Symbol($package_str)
        # include("backends/" * $str * ".jl")
    end)
 end
@@ -42,24 +46,18 @@ end

 # ---------------------------------------------------------

-function add_backend(pkg::Symbol)
-    @info("To do a standard install of $pkg, copy and run this:\n\n")
-    println(add_backend_string(_backend_instance(pkg)))
-    println()
-end
-
 # don't do anything as a default
-_create_backend_figure(plt::Plot) = nothing
-_prepare_plot_object(plt::Plot) = nothing
-_initialize_subplot(plt::Plot, sp::Subplot) = nothing
+@noinline _create_backend_figure(plt::Plot) = nothing
+@noinline _prepare_plot_object(plt::Plot) = nothing
+@noinline _initialize_subplot(plt::Plot, sp::Subplot) = nothing

-_series_added(plt::Plot, series::Series) = nothing
-_series_updated(plt::Plot, series::Series) = nothing
+@noinline _series_added(plt::Plot, series::Series) = nothing
+@noinline _series_updated(plt::Plot, series::Series) = nothing

-_before_layout_calcs(plt::Plot) = nothing
+@noinline _before_layout_calcs(plt::Plot) = nothing

-title_padding(sp::Subplot) = sp[:title] == "" ? 0mm : sp[:titlefontsize] * pt
-guide_padding(axis::Axis) = axis[:guide] == "" ? 0mm : axis[:guidefontsize] * pt
+@noinline title_padding(sp::Subplot) = sp[:title] == "" ? 0mm : sp[:titlefontsize] * pt
+@noinline guide_padding(axis::Axis) = axis[:guide] == "" ? 0mm : axis[:guidefontsize] * pt

 "Returns the (width,height) of a text label."
 function text_size(lablen::Int, sz::Number, rot::Number = 0)
@@ -77,9 +75,9 @@ end
 text_size(lab::AbstractString, sz::Number, rot::Number = 0) = text_size(length(lab), sz, rot)

 # account for the size/length/rotation of tick labels
-function tick_padding(axis::Axis)
-    ticks = get_ticks(axis)
-    if ticks == nothing
+function tick_padding(sp::Subplot, axis::Axis)
+    ticks = get_ticks(sp, axis)
+    if ticks === nothing
        0mm
    else
        vals, labs = ticks
@@ -108,10 +106,10 @@ end
 # to fit ticks, tick labels, guides, colorbars, etc.
 function _update_min_padding!(sp::Subplot)
    # TODO: something different when `is3d(sp) == true`
-    leftpad   = tick_padding(sp[:yaxis]) + sp[:left_margin]   + guide_padding(sp[:yaxis])
+    leftpad   = tick_padding(sp, sp[:yaxis]) + sp[:left_margin]   + guide_padding(sp[:yaxis])
    toppad    = sp[:top_margin]    + title_padding(sp)
    rightpad  = sp[:right_margin]
-    bottompad = tick_padding(sp[:xaxis]) + sp[:bottom_margin] + guide_padding(sp[:xaxis])
+    bottompad = tick_padding(sp, sp[:xaxis]) + sp[:bottom_margin] + guide_padding(sp[:xaxis])

    # switch them?
    if sp[:xaxis][:mirror]
@@ -125,46 +123,47 @@ function _update_min_padding!(sp::Subplot)
    sp.minpad = (leftpad, toppad, rightpad, bottompad)
 end

-_update_plot_object(plt::Plot) = nothing
+@noinline _update_plot_object(plt::Plot) = nothing

 # ---------------------------------------------------------


-mutable struct CurrentBackend
-  sym::Symbol
-  pkg::AbstractBackend
+mutable struct CurrentBackend{sym,T}
+  pkg::T
+end
+function CurrentBackend(sym::Symbol)
+    bkend = _backend_instance(sym)
+    CurrentBackend{sym,typeof(bkend)}(bkend)
+end
+
+function Base.getproperty(bkend::CurrentBackend{sym,T},x::Symbol) where {sym,T}
+    if x === :sym
+        return sym
+    elseif x === :pkg
+        return getfield(bkend,:pkg)
+    else
+        error("Must be sym or pkg")
+    end
 end
-CurrentBackend(sym::Symbol) = CurrentBackend(sym, _backend_instance(sym))

 # ---------------------------------------------------------

-function pickDefaultBackend()
+@noinline _fallback_default_backend() = backend(GRBackend())
+
+function _pick_default_backend()
    env_default = get(ENV, "PLOTS_DEFAULT_BACKEND", "")
    if env_default != ""
        sym = Symbol(lowercase(env_default))
        if sym in _backends
-            if sym in _initialized_backends
-                return backend(sym)
-            else
-                @warn("You have set `PLOTS_DEFAULT_BACKEND=$env_default` but `$(backend_package_name(sym))` is not loaded.")
-            end
+            backend(sym)
        else
            @warn("You have set PLOTS_DEFAULT_BACKEND=$env_default but it is not a valid backend package.  Choose from:\n\t" *
                 join(sort(_backends), "\n\t"))
+            _fallback_default_backend()
        end
+    else
+        _fallback_default_backend()
    end
-
-    # the ordering/inclusion of this package list is my semi-arbitrary guess at
-    # which one someone will want to use if they have the package installed...accounting for
-    # features, speed, and robustness
-    # for pkgstr in ("GR", "PyPlot", "PlotlyJS", "PGFPlots", "UnicodePlots", "InspectDR")
-    #     if pkgstr in keys(Pkg.installed())
-    #         return backend(Symbol(lowercase(pkgstr)))
-    #     end
-    # end
-
-    # the default if nothing else is installed
-    backend(:gr)
 end


@@ -174,13 +173,11 @@ end
 Returns the current plotting package name.  Initializes package on first call.
 """
 function backend()
+    if CURRENT_BACKEND.sym == :none
+        _pick_default_backend()
+    end

-  global CURRENT_BACKEND
-  if CURRENT_BACKEND.sym == :none
-    pickDefaultBackend()
-  end
-
-  CURRENT_BACKEND.pkg
+    CURRENT_BACKEND.pkg
 end

 """
@@ -188,20 +185,12 @@ Set the plot backend.
 """
 function backend(pkg::AbstractBackend)
    sym = backend_name(pkg)
-    if sym in _initialized_backends
-        CURRENT_BACKEND.sym = backend_name(pkg)
-        CURRENT_BACKEND.pkg = pkg
-    else
-        # try
-            _initialize_backend(pkg)
-            push!(_initialized_backends, sym)
-            CURRENT_BACKEND.sym = backend_name(pkg)
-            CURRENT_BACKEND.pkg = pkg
-        # catch
-        #     add_backend(sym)
-        # end
+    if !(sym in _initialized_backends)
+        _initialize_backend(pkg)
+        push!(_initialized_backends, sym)
    end
-    backend()
+    CURRENT_BACKEND = Plots.CurrentBackend(sym)
+    pkg
 end

 function backend(sym::Symbol)
@@ -209,8 +198,8 @@ function backend(sym::Symbol)
        backend(_backend_instance(sym))
    else
        @warn("`:$sym` is not a supported backend.")
+        backend()
    end
-    backend()
 end

 const _deprecated_backends = [:qwt, :winston, :bokeh, :gadfly, :immerse, :glvisualize]
@@ -316,13 +305,9 @@ function _initialize_backend(pkg::AbstractBackend)
    end
 end

-function add_backend_string(pkg::AbstractBackend)
-    sym = backend_package_name(pkg)
-    """
-    using Pkg
-    Pkg.add("$sym")
-    """
-end
+@noinline _initialize_backend(pkg::GRBackend) = nothing
+@noinline _initialize_backend(pkg::PlotlyBackend) = nothing
+

 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # gr
@@ -352,7 +337,7 @@ const _gr_attr = merge_with_base_supported([
    :guidefontfamily, :guidefontsize, :guidefonthalign, :guidefontvalign,
    :guidefontrotation, :guidefontcolor,
    :grid, :gridalpha, :gridstyle, :gridlinewidth,
-    :legend, :legendtitle, :colorbar, :colorbar_title,
+    :legend, :legendtitle, :colorbar, :colorbar_title, :colorbar_entry,
    :fill_z, :line_z, :marker_z, :levels,
    :ribbon, :quiver,
    :orientation,
@@ -371,7 +356,7 @@ const _gr_attr = merge_with_base_supported([
 const _gr_seriestype = [
    :path, :scatter, :straightline,
    :heatmap, :pie, :image,
-    :contour, :path3d, :scatter3d, :surface, :wireframe,
+    :contour, :path3d, :scatter3d, :surface, :wireframe, :volume,
    :shape
 ]
 const _gr_style = [:auto, :solid, :dash, :dot, :dashdot, :dashdotdot]
@@ -379,13 +364,6 @@ const _gr_marker = _allMarkers
 const _gr_scale = [:identity, :log10]
 is_marker_supported(::GRBackend, shape::Shape) = true

-function add_backend_string(::GRBackend)
-    """
-    Pkg.add("GR")
-    Pkg.build("GR")
-    """
-end
-
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # plotly

@@ -413,7 +391,7 @@ const _plotly_attr = merge_with_base_supported([
    :guide, :lims, :ticks, :scale, :flip, :rotation,
    :tickfont, :guidefont, :legendfont,
    :grid, :gridalpha, :gridlinewidth,
-    :legend, :colorbar, :colorbar_title,
+    :legend, :colorbar, :colorbar_title, :colorbar_entry,
    :marker_z, :fill_z, :line_z, :levels,
    :ribbon, :quiver,
    :orientation,
@@ -444,17 +422,11 @@ const _plotly_marker = [
 ]
 const _plotly_scale = [:identity, :log10]

+defaultOutputFormat(plt::Plot{Plots.PlotlyBackend}) = "html"
+
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # pgfplots

-function add_backend_string(::PGFPlotsBackend)
-    """
-    using Pkg
-    Pkg.add("PGFPlots")
-    Pkg.build("PGFPlots")
-    """
-end
-
 const _pgfplots_attr = merge_with_base_supported([
    :annotations,
    :background_color_legend,
@@ -492,29 +464,19 @@ const _pgfplots_attr = merge_with_base_supported([
 ])
 const _pgfplots_seriestype = [:path, :path3d, :scatter, :steppre, :stepmid, :steppost, :histogram2d, :ysticks, :xsticks, :contour, :shape, :straightline,]
 const _pgfplots_style = [:auto, :solid, :dash, :dot, :dashdot, :dashdotdot]
-const _pgfplots_marker = [:none, :auto, :circle, :rect, :diamond, :utriangle, :dtriangle, :cross, :xcross, :star5, :pentagon, :hline] #vcat(_allMarkers, Shape)
+const _pgfplots_marker = [:none, :auto, :circle, :rect, :diamond, :utriangle, :dtriangle, :cross, :xcross, :star5, :pentagon, :hline, :vline] #vcat(_allMarkers, Shape)
 const _pgfplots_scale = [:identity, :ln, :log2, :log10]

 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # plotlyjs

 function _initialize_backend(pkg::PlotlyJSBackend)
-    sym = backend_package_name(pkg)
    @eval Main begin
        import PlotlyJS, ORCA
        export PlotlyJS
    end
 end

-function add_backend_string(::PlotlyJSBackend)
-    """
-    using Pkg
-    Pkg.add(["PlotlyJS", "Blink", "ORCA"])
-    import Blink
-    Blink.AtomShell.install()
-    """
-end
-
 const _plotlyjs_attr        = _plotly_attr
 const _plotlyjs_seriestype  = _plotly_seriestype
 const _plotlyjs_style       = _plotly_style
@@ -535,16 +497,6 @@ function _initialize_backend(::PyPlotBackend)
    end
 end

-function add_backend_string(::PyPlotBackend)
-    """
-    using Pkg
-    withenv("PYTHON" => "") do
-        Pkg.add("PyPlot")
-        Pkg.build("PyPlot")
-    end
-    """
-end
-
 const _pyplot_attr = merge_with_base_supported([
    :annotations,
    :background_color_legend, :background_color_inside, :background_color_outside,
@@ -564,7 +516,7 @@ const _pyplot_attr = merge_with_base_supported([
    :tickfontfamily, :tickfontsize, :tickfontcolor,
    :guidefontfamily, :guidefontsize, :guidefontcolor,
    :grid, :gridalpha, :gridstyle, :gridlinewidth,
-    :legend, :legendtitle, :colorbar,
+    :legend, :legendtitle, :colorbar, :colorbar_title, :colorbar_entry,
    :marker_z, :line_z, :fill_z,
    :levels,
    :ribbon, :quiver, :arrow,
@@ -577,7 +529,6 @@ const _pyplot_attr = merge_with_base_supported([
    :clims,
    :inset_subplots,
    :dpi,
-    :colorbar_title,
    :stride,
    :framestyle,
    :tick_direction,
@@ -598,14 +549,6 @@ const _pyplot_scale = [:identity, :ln, :log2, :log10]
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # unicodeplots

-function add_backend_string(::UnicodePlotsBackend)
-    """
-    using Pkg
-    Pkg.add("UnicodePlots")
-    Pkg.build("UnicodePlots")
-    """
-end
-
 const _unicodeplots_attr = merge_with_base_supported([
    :label,
    :legend,
@@ -121,9 +121,9 @@ function _create_backend_figure(plt::Plot{InspectDRBackend})
    gplot = _inspectdr_getgui(plt.o)

    #:overwrite_figure: want to reuse current figure
-    if plt[:overwrite_figure] && mplot != nothing
+    if plt[:overwrite_figure] && mplot !== nothing
        mplot.subplots = [] #Reset
-        if gplot != nothing #Ensure still references current plot
+        if gplot !== nothing #Ensure still references current plot
            gplot.src = mplot
        end
    else #want new one:
@@ -294,8 +294,8 @@ function _inspectdr_setupsubplot(sp::Subplot{InspectDRBackend})

        plot.xscale = _inspectdr_getscale(xaxis[:scale], false)
        strip.yscale = _inspectdr_getscale(yaxis[:scale], true)
-        xmin, xmax  = axis_limits(xaxis)
-        ymin, ymax  = axis_limits(yaxis)
+        xmin, xmax  = axis_limits(sp, :x)
+        ymin, ymax  = axis_limits(sp, :y)
        if ispolar(sp)
            #Plots.jl appears to give (xmin,xmax) ≜ (Θmin,Θmax) & (ymin,ymax) ≜ (rmin,rmax)
            rmax = NaNMath.max(abs(ymin), abs(ymax))
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ const _pgfplots_markers = KW(
    :star6 => "asterisk",
    :diamond => "diamond*",
    :pentagon => "pentagon*",
-    :hline => "-"
+    :hline => "-",
+    :vline => "|"
 )

 const _pgfplots_legend_pos = KW(
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ pgf_thickness_scaling(series) = pgf_thickness_scaling(series[:subplot])
 function pgf_fillstyle(plotattributes, i = 1)
    cstr,a = pgf_color(get_fillcolor(plotattributes, i))
    fa = get_fillalpha(plotattributes, i)
-    if fa != nothing
+    if fa !== nothing
        a = fa
    end
    "fill = $cstr, fill opacity=$a"
@@ -170,7 +171,7 @@ function pgf_series(sp::Subplot, series::Series)
    elseif st == :shape
        shape_data(series)
    elseif ispolar(sp)
-        theta, r = filter_radial_data(plotattributes[:x], plotattributes[:y], axis_limits(sp[:yaxis]))
+        theta, r = plotattributes[:x], plotattributes[:y]
        rad2deg.(theta), r
    else
        plotattributes[:x], plotattributes[:y]
@@ -215,12 +216,12 @@ function pgf_series(sp::Subplot, series::Series)

            # add to legend?
            if i == 1 && sp[:legend] != :none && should_add_to_legend(series)
-                if plotattributes[:fillrange] != nothing
+                if plotattributes[:fillrange] !== nothing
                    push!(style, "forget plot")
                    push!(series_collection, pgf_fill_legend_hack(plotattributes, args))
                else
                    kw[:legendentry] = plotattributes[:label]
-                    if st == :shape # || plotattributes[:fillrange] != nothing
+                    if st == :shape # || plotattributes[:fillrange] !== nothing
                        push!(style, "area legend")
                    end
                end
@@ -237,7 +238,7 @@ function pgf_series(sp::Subplot, series::Series)
            kw[:style] = join(style, ',')

            # add fillrange
-            if series[:fillrange] != nothing && st != :shape
+            if series[:fillrange] !== nothing && st != :shape
                push!(series_collection, pgf_fillrange_series(series, i, _cycle(series[:fillrange], rng), seg_args...))
            end

@@ -360,13 +361,13 @@ function pgf_axis(sp::Subplot, letter)
    # limits
    # TODO: support zlims
    if letter != :z
-        lims = ispolar(sp) && letter == :x ? rad2deg.(axis_limits(axis)) : axis_limits(axis)
+        lims = ispolar(sp) && letter == :x ? rad2deg.(axis_limits(sp, :x)) : axis_limits(sp, letter)
        kw[Symbol(letter,:min)] = lims[1]
        kw[Symbol(letter,:max)] = lims[2]
    end

    if !(axis[:ticks] in (nothing, false, :none, :native)) && framestyle != :none
-        ticks = get_ticks(axis)
+        ticks = get_ticks(sp, axis)
        #pgf plot ignores ticks with angle below 90 when xmin = 90 so shift values
        tick_values = ispolar(sp) && letter == :x ? [rad2deg.(ticks[1])[3:end]..., 360, 405] : ticks[1]
        push!(style, string(letter, "tick = {", join(tick_values,","), "}"))
@@ -398,8 +399,12 @@ function pgf_axis(sp::Subplot, letter)
    # framestyle
    if framestyle in (:axes, :origin)
        axispos = framestyle == :axes ? "left" : "middle"
-        # the * after lines disables the arrows at the axes
-        push!(style, string("axis lines* = ", axispos))
+        if axis[:draw_arrow]
+            push!(style, string("axis ", letter, " line = ", axispos))
+        else
+            # the * after line disables the arrow at the axis
+            push!(style, string("axis ", letter, " line* = ", axispos))
+        end
    end

    if framestyle == :zerolines
@@ -563,7 +568,7 @@ end

 function _show(io::IO, mime::MIME"application/x-tex", plt::Plot{PGFPlotsBackend})
    fn = tempname()*".tex"
-    PGFPlots.save(fn, backend_object(plt), include_preamble=false)
+    PGFPlots.save(fn, backend_object(plt), include_preamble=plt.attr[:tex_output_standalone])
    write(io, read(open(fn), String))
 end

@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ function plotly_apply_aspect_ratio(sp::Subplot, plotarea, pcts)
        if aspect_ratio == :equal
            aspect_ratio = 1.0
        end
-        xmin,xmax = axis_limits(sp[:xaxis])
-        ymin,ymax = axis_limits(sp[:yaxis])
+        xmin,xmax = axis_limits(sp, :x)
+        ymin,ymax = axis_limits(sp, :y)
        want_ratio = ((xmax-xmin) / (ymax-ymin)) / aspect_ratio
        parea_ratio = width(plotarea) / height(plotarea)
        if want_ratio > parea_ratio
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ function plotly_axis(plt::Plot, axis::Axis, sp::Subplot)

    ax[:tickangle] = -axis[:rotation]
    ax[:type] = plotly_scale(axis[:scale])
-    lims = axis_limits(axis)
+    lims = axis_limits(sp, letter)

    if axis[:ticks] != :native || axis[:lims] != :auto
        ax[:range] = map(scalefunc(axis[:scale]), lims)
@@ -186,14 +186,9 @@ function plotly_axis(plt::Plot, axis::Axis, sp::Subplot)
        ax[:tickcolor] = framestyle in (:zerolines, :grid) || !axis[:showaxis] ? rgba_string(invisible()) : rgb_string(axis[:foreground_color_axis])
        ax[:linecolor] = rgba_string(axis[:foreground_color_axis])

-        # flip
-        if axis[:flip]
-            ax[:range] = reverse(ax[:range])
-        end
-
        # ticks
        if axis[:ticks] != :native
-            ticks = get_ticks(axis)
+            ticks = get_ticks(sp, axis)
            ttype = ticksType(ticks)
            if ttype == :ticks
                ax[:tickmode] = "array"
@@ -208,20 +203,24 @@ function plotly_axis(plt::Plot, axis::Axis, sp::Subplot)
        ax[:showgrid] = false
    end

+    # flip
+    if axis[:flip]
+        ax[:range] = reverse(ax[:range])
+    end

    ax
 end

-function plotly_polaraxis(axis::Axis)
+function plotly_polaraxis(sp::Subplot, axis::Axis)
    ax = KW(
        :visible => axis[:showaxis],
        :showline => axis[:grid],
    )

    if axis[:letter] == :x
-        ax[:range] = rad2deg.(axis_limits(axis))
+        ax[:range] = rad2deg.(axis_limits(sp, :x))
    else
-        ax[:range] = axis_limits(axis)
+        ax[:range] = axis_limits(sp, :y)
        ax[:orientation] = -90
    end

@@ -284,8 +283,8 @@ function plotly_layout(plt::Plot)
                ),
            )
        elseif ispolar(sp)
-            plotattributes_out[Symbol("angularaxis$(spidx)")] = plotly_polaraxis(sp[:xaxis])
-            plotattributes_out[Symbol("radialaxis$(spidx)")] = plotly_polaraxis(sp[:yaxis])
+            plotattributes_out[Symbol("angularaxis$(spidx)")] = plotly_polaraxis(sp, sp[:xaxis])
+            plotattributes_out[Symbol("radialaxis$(spidx)")] = plotly_polaraxis(sp, sp[:yaxis])
        else
            plotattributes_out[Symbol("xaxis$(x_idx)")] = plotly_axis(plt, sp[:xaxis], sp)
            # don't allow yaxis to be reupdated/reanchored in a linked subplot
@@ -348,14 +347,14 @@ function plotly_layout(plt::Plot)
 end

 function plotly_layout_json(plt::Plot)
-    JSON.json(plotly_layout(plt))
+    JSON.json(plotly_layout(plt), 4)
 end


 function plotly_colorscale(grad::ColorGradient, α)
    [[grad.values[i], rgba_string(plot_color(grad.colors[i], α))] for i in 1:length(grad.colors)]
 end
-plotly_colorscale(c, α) = plotly_colorscale(cgrad(alpha=α), α)
+plotly_colorscale(c::Colorant,α) = plotly_colorscale(_as_gradient(c),α)
 function plotly_colorscale(c::AbstractVector{<:RGBA}, α)
    if length(c) == 1
        return [[0.0, rgba_string(plot_color(c[1], α))], [1.0, rgba_string(plot_color(c[1], α))]]
@@ -404,7 +403,7 @@ end
 function plotly_data(series::Series, letter::Symbol, data)
    axis = series[:subplot][Symbol(letter, :axis)]

-    data = if axis[:ticks] == :native && data != nothing
+    data = if axis[:ticks] == :native && data !== nothing
        plotly_native_data(axis, data)
    else
       data
@@ -416,7 +415,7 @@ function plotly_data(series::Series, letter::Symbol, data)
        plotly_data(data)
    end
 end
-plotly_data(v) = v != nothing ? collect(v) : v
+plotly_data(v) = v !== nothing ? collect(v) : v
 plotly_data(surf::Surface) = surf.surf
 plotly_data(v::AbstractArray{R}) where {R<:Rational} = float(v)

@@ -437,7 +436,7 @@ plotly_native_data(axis::Axis, a::Surface) = Surface(plotly_native_data(axis, a.

 function plotly_convert_to_datetime(x::AbstractArray, formatter::Function)
    if formatter == datetimeformatter
-        map(xi -> replace(formatter(xi), "T", " "), x)
+        map(xi -> replace(formatter(xi), "T" => " "), x)
    elseif formatter == dateformatter
        map(xi -> string(formatter(xi), " 00:00:00"), x)
    elseif formatter == timeformatter
@@ -507,13 +506,13 @@ function plotly_series(plt::Plot, series::Series)
        plotattributes_out[:showscale] = hascolorbar(sp)

    elseif st == :contour
+        filled = isfilledcontour(series)
        plotattributes_out[:type] = "contour"
        plotattributes_out[:x], plotattributes_out[:y], plotattributes_out[:z] = x, y, z
-        # plotattributes_out[:showscale] = series[:colorbar] != :none
-        plotattributes_out[:ncontours] = series[:levels]
-        plotattributes_out[:contours] = KW(:coloring => series[:fillrange] != nothing ? "fill" : "lines", :showlabels => series[:contour_labels] == true)
+        plotattributes_out[:ncontours] = series[:levels] + 2
+        plotattributes_out[:contours] = KW(:coloring => filled ? "fill" : "lines", :showlabels => series[:contour_labels] == true)
        plotattributes_out[:colorscale] = plotly_colorscale(series[:linecolor], series[:linealpha])
-        plotattributes_out[:showscale] = hascolorbar(sp)
+        plotattributes_out[:showscale] = hascolorbar(sp) && hascolorbar(series)

    elseif st in (:surface, :wireframe)
        plotattributes_out[:type] = "surface"
@@ -530,7 +529,7 @@ function plotly_series(plt::Plot, series::Series)
        else
            plotattributes_out[:colorscale] = plotly_colorscale(series[:fillcolor], series[:fillalpha])
            plotattributes_out[:opacity] = series[:fillalpha]
-            if series[:fill_z] != nothing
+            if series[:fill_z] !== nothing
                plotattributes_out[:surfacecolor] = plotly_surface_data(series, series[:fill_z])
            end
            plotattributes_out[:showscale] = hascolorbar(sp)
@@ -612,11 +611,11 @@ function plotly_series_shapes(plt::Plot, series::Series, clims)
        plotly_hover!(plotattributes_out, _cycle(series[:hover], i))
        plotattributes_outs[i] = plotattributes_out
    end
-    if series[:fill_z] != nothing
+    if series[:fill_z] !== nothing
        push!(plotattributes_outs, plotly_colorbar_hack(series, plotattributes_base, :fill))
-    elseif series[:line_z] != nothing
+    elseif series[:line_z] !== nothing
        push!(plotattributes_outs, plotly_colorbar_hack(series, plotattributes_base, :line))
-    elseif series[:marker_z] != nothing
+    elseif series[:marker_z] !== nothing
        push!(plotattributes_outs, plotly_colorbar_hack(series, plotattributes_base, :marker))
    end
    plotattributes_outs
@@ -632,11 +631,9 @@ function plotly_series_segments(series::Series, plotattributes_base::KW, x, y, z
        (isa(series[:fillrange], AbstractVector) || isa(series[:fillrange], Tuple))

    segments = iter_segments(series)
-    plotattributes_outs = Vector{KW}(undef, (hasfillrange ? 2 : 1 ) * length(segments))
+    plotattributes_outs = fill(KW(), (hasfillrange ? 2 : 1 ) * length(segments))

    for (i,rng) in enumerate(segments)
-        !isscatter && length(rng) < 2 && continue
-
        plotattributes_out = deepcopy(plotattributes_base)
        plotattributes_out[:showlegend] = i==1 ? should_add_to_legend(series) : false
        plotattributes_out[:legendgroup] = series[:label]
@@ -736,11 +733,11 @@ function plotly_series_segments(series::Series, plotattributes_base::KW, x, y, z
        end
    end

-    if series[:line_z] != nothing
+    if series[:line_z] !== nothing
        push!(plotattributes_outs, plotly_colorbar_hack(series, plotattributes_base, :line))
-    elseif series[:fill_z] != nothing
+    elseif series[:fill_z] !== nothing
        push!(plotattributes_outs, plotly_colorbar_hack(series, plotattributes_base, :fill))
-    elseif series[:marker_z] != nothing
+    elseif series[:marker_z] !== nothing
        push!(plotattributes_outs, plotly_colorbar_hack(series, plotattributes_base, :marker))
    end

@@ -775,7 +772,7 @@ end
 function plotly_polar!(plotattributes_out::KW, series::Series)
    # convert polar plots x/y to theta/radius
    if ispolar(series[:subplot])
-        theta, r = filter_radial_data(pop!(plotattributes_out, :x), pop!(plotattributes_out, :y), axis_limits(series[:subplot][:yaxis]))
+        theta, r = pop!(plotattributes_out, :x), pop!(plotattributes_out, :y)
        plotattributes_out[:t] = rad2deg.(theta)
        plotattributes_out[:r] = r
    end
@@ -785,7 +782,7 @@ function plotly_hover!(plotattributes_out::KW, hover)
    # hover text
    if hover in (:none, false)
        plotattributes_out[:hoverinfo] = "none"
-    elseif hover != nothing
+    elseif hover !== nothing
        plotattributes_out[:hoverinfo] = "text"
        plotattributes_out[:text] = hover
    end
@@ -801,13 +798,16 @@ function plotly_series(plt::Plot)
 end

 # get json string for a list of dictionaries, each representing the series params
-plotly_series_json(plt::Plot) = JSON.json(plotly_series(plt))
+plotly_series_json(plt::Plot) = JSON.json(plotly_series(plt), 4)

 # ----------------------------------------------------------------

+html_head(plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend}) = plotly_html_head(plt)
+html_body(plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend}) = plotly_html_body(plt)
+
 const ijulia_initialized = Ref(false)

-function html_head(plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend})
+function plotly_html_head(plt::Plot)
    local_file = ("file://" * plotly_local_file_path)
    plotly = use_local_dependencies[] ? local_file : plotly_remote_file_path
    if isijulia() && !ijulia_initialized[]
@@ -823,13 +823,11 @@ function html_head(plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend})
        """)
        ijulia_initialized[] = true
    end
-    # IJulia just needs one initialization
-    isijulia() && return ""
    return "<script src=$(repr(plotly))></script>"
 end

-function html_body(plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend}, style = nothing)
-    if style == nothing
+function plotly_html_body(plt, style = nothing)
+    if style === nothing
        w, h = plt[:size]
        style = "width:$(w)px;height:$(h)px;"
    end
@@ -844,21 +842,34 @@ function html_body(plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend}, style = nothing)
    html
 end

-function js_body(plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend}, uuid)
+function js_body(plt::Plot, uuid)
    js = """
        PLOT = document.getElementById('$(uuid)');
        Plotly.plot(PLOT, $(plotly_series_json(plt)), $(plotly_layout_json(plt)));
    """
 end

+function plotly_show_js(io::IO, plot::Plot)
+    data = []
+    for series in plot.series_list
+        append!(data, plotly_series(plot, series))
+    end
+    layout = plotly_layout(plot)
+    JSON.print(io, Dict(:data => data, :layout => layout))
+end

 # ----------------------------------------------------------------

+function _show(io::IO, ::MIME"application/vnd.plotly.v1+json", plot::Plot{PlotlyBackend})
+    plotly_show_js(io, plot)
+end
+

 function _show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/html", plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend})
-    write(io, html_head(plt) * html_body(plt))
+    write(io, standalone_html(plt))
 end

+
 function _display(plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend})
    standalone_html_window(plt)
 end
@@ -1,86 +1,44 @@
+# https://github.com/sglyon/PlotlyJS.jl

-# https://github.com/spencerlyon2/PlotlyJS.jl
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-# --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
-function _create_backend_figure(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend})
-    if !isplotnull() && plt[:overwrite_figure] && isa(current().o, PlotlyJS.SyncPlot)
-        PlotlyJS.SyncPlot(PlotlyJS.Plot(), options = current().o.options)
-    else
-        PlotlyJS.plot()
+function plotlyjs_syncplot(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend})
+    plt[:overwrite_figure] && closeall()
+    plt.o = PlotlyJS.plot()
+    traces = PlotlyJS.GenericTrace[]
+    for series_dict in plotly_series(plt)
+        plotly_type = pop!(series_dict, :type)
+        push!(traces, PlotlyJS.GenericTrace(plotly_type; series_dict...))
    end
+    PlotlyJS.addtraces!(plt.o, traces...)
+    layout = plotly_layout(plt)
+    w, h = plt[:size]
+    PlotlyJS.relayout!(plt.o, layout, width = w, height = h)
+    return plt.o
 end

+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-function _series_added(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}, series::Series)
-    syncplot = plt.o
-    pdicts = plotly_series(plt, series)
-    for pdict in pdicts
-        typ = pop!(pdict, :type)
-        gt = PlotlyJS.GenericTrace(typ; pdict...)
-        PlotlyJS.addtraces!(syncplot, gt)
-    end
+const _plotlyjs_mimeformats = Dict(
+    "application/pdf" => "pdf",
+    "image/png"       => "png",
+    "image/svg+xml"   => "svg",
+    "image/eps"       => "eps",
+)
+
+for (mime, fmt) in _plotlyjs_mimeformats
+    @eval _show(io::IO, ::MIME{Symbol($mime)}, plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}) = PlotlyJS.savefig(io, plotlyjs_syncplot(plt), format = $fmt)
 end

-function _series_updated(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}, series::Series)
-    xsym, ysym = (ispolar(series) ? (:t,:r) : (:x,:y))
-    kw = KW(xsym => (series.plotattributes[:x],), ysym => (series.plotattributes[:y],))
-    z = series[:z]
-    if z != nothing
-        kw[:z] = (isa(z,Surface) ? transpose_z(series, series[:z].surf, false) : z,)
-    end
-    PlotlyJS.restyle!(
-        plt.o,
-        findfirst(isequal(series), plt.series_list),
-        kw
-    )
-end
+# Use the Plotly implementation for json and html:
+_show(io::IO, mime::MIME"application/vnd.plotly.v1+json", plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}) = plotly_show_js(io, plt)

+html_head(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}) = plotly_html_head(plt)
+html_body(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}) = plotly_html_body(plt)

-# ----------------------------------------------------------------
+_show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/html", plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}) = write(io, standalone_html(plt))

-function _update_plot_object(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend})
-    pdict = plotly_layout(plt)
-    syncplot = plt.o
-    w,h = plt[:size]
-    PlotlyJS.relayout!(syncplot, pdict, width = w, height = h)
-end
-
-
-# ----------------------------------------------------------------
-
-function _show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/html", plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend})
-    if isijulia() && !_use_remote[]
-        write(io, PlotlyJS.html_body(PlotlyJS.JupyterPlot(plt.o)))
-    else
-        show(io, MIME("text/html"), plt.o)
-    end
-end
-
-function plotlyjs_save_hack(io::IO, plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}, ext::String)
-    tmpfn = tempname() * "." * ext
-    PlotlyJS.savefig(plt.o, tmpfn)
-    write(io, read(open(tmpfn)))
-end
-_show(io::IO, ::MIME"image/svg+xml", plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}) = plotlyjs_save_hack(io, plt, "svg")
-_show(io::IO, ::MIME"image/png", plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}) = plotlyjs_save_hack(io, plt, "png")
-_show(io::IO, ::MIME"application/pdf", plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}) = plotlyjs_save_hack(io, plt, "pdf")
-_show(io::IO, ::MIME"image/eps", plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}) = plotlyjs_save_hack(io, plt, "eps")
-
-function write_temp_html(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend})
-    filename = string(tempname(), ".html")
-    savefig(plt, filename)
-    filename
-end
-
-function _display(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend})
-    if get(ENV, "PLOTS_USE_ATOM_PLOTPANE", true) in (true, 1, "1", "true", "yes")
-        display(plt.o)
-    else
-        standalone_html_window(plt)
-    end
-end
+_display(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}) = display(plotlyjs_syncplot(plt))

@require WebIO = "0f1e0344-ec1d-5b48-a673-e5cf874b6c29" begin
    function WebIO.render(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend})
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ pyfont = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.font_manager")
 pyticker = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.ticker")
 pycmap = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.cm")
 pynp = PyPlot.pyimport("numpy")
-pynp["seterr"](invalid="ignore")
+pynp."seterr"(invalid="ignore")
 pytransforms = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.transforms")
 pycollections = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.collections")
 pyart3d = PyPlot.art3D
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ else
    :set_facecolor
 end

+# PyCall API changes in v1.90.0
+if !isdefined(PyCall, :_setproperty!)
+    @warn "Plots no longer supports PyCall < 1.90.0 and PyPlot < 2.8.0. Either update PyCall and PyPlot or pin Plots to a version <= 0.23.2."
+end
+

 # # convert colorant to 4-tuple RGBA
 # py_color(c::Colorant, α=nothing) = map(f->float(f(convertColor(c,α))), (red, green, blue, alpha))
@@ -64,17 +69,17 @@ py_color(c::Colorant, α) = py_color(plot_color(c, α))

 function py_colormap(grad::ColorGradient)
    pyvals = [(z, py_color(grad[z])) for z in grad.values]
-    cm = pycolors["LinearSegmentedColormap"][:from_list]("tmp", pyvals)
-    cm[:set_bad](color=(0,0,0,0.0), alpha=0.0)
+    cm = pycolors."LinearSegmentedColormap"."from_list"("tmp", pyvals)
+    cm."set_bad"(color=(0,0,0,0.0), alpha=0.0)
    cm
 end
-py_colormap(c) = py_colormap(cgrad())
+py_colormap(c::Colorant) = py_colormap(_as_gradient(c))


 function py_shading(c, z)
    cmap = py_colormap(c)
-    ls = pycolors["LightSource"](270,45)
-    ls[:shade](z, cmap, vert_exag=0.1, blend_mode="soft")
+    ls = pycolors."LightSource"(270,45)
+    ls."shade"(z, cmap, vert_exag=0.1, blend_mode="soft")
 end

 # get the style (solid, dashed, etc)
@@ -97,7 +102,7 @@ function py_marker(marker::Shape)
        mat[i,2] = y[i]
    end
    mat[n+1,:] = mat[1,:]
-    pypath["Path"](mat)
+    pypath."Path"(mat)
 end

 const _path_MOVETO = UInt8(1)
@@ -182,7 +187,7 @@ end
 # end

 function get_locator_and_formatter(vals::AVec)
-    pyticker["FixedLocator"](1:length(vals)), pyticker["FixedFormatter"](vals)
+    pyticker."FixedLocator"(1:length(vals)), pyticker."FixedFormatter"(vals)
 end

 function add_pyfixedformatter(cbar, vals::AVec)
@@ -204,20 +209,22 @@ end

 function py_mask_nans(z)
    # pynp["ma"][:masked_invalid](z)))
-    PyCall.pycall(pynp["ma"][:masked_invalid], Any, z)
+    PyCall.pycall(pynp."ma"."masked_invalid", Any, z)
    # pynp["ma"][:masked_where](pynp["isnan"](z),z)
 end

 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 function fix_xy_lengths!(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
-    x, y = series[:x], series[:y]
-    nx, ny = length(x), length(y)
-    if !isa(get(series.plotattributes, :z, nothing), Surface) && nx != ny
-        if nx < ny
-            series[:x] = Float64[x[mod1(i,nx)] for i=1:ny]
-        else
-            series[:y] = Float64[y[mod1(i,ny)] for i=1:nx]
+    if series[:x] !== nothing
+        x, y = series[:x], series[:y]
+        nx, ny = length(x), length(y)
+        if !isa(get(series.plotattributes, :z, nothing), Surface) && nx != ny
+            if nx < ny
+                series[:x] = Float64[x[mod1(i,nx)] for i=1:ny]
+            else
+                series[:y] = Float64[y[mod1(i,ny)] for i=1:nx]
+            end
        end
    end
 end
@@ -248,26 +255,28 @@ py_fillcolormap(series::Series)       = py_colormap(series[:fillcolor])
 # Figure utils -- F*** matplotlib for making me work so hard to figure this crap out

 # the drawing surface
-py_canvas(fig) = fig[:canvas]
+py_canvas(fig) = fig."canvas"

 # the object controlling draw commands
-py_renderer(fig) = py_canvas(fig)[:get_renderer]()
+py_renderer(fig) = py_canvas(fig)."get_renderer"()

 # draw commands... paint the screen (probably updating internals too)
-py_drawfig(fig) = fig[:draw](py_renderer(fig))
+py_drawfig(fig) = fig."draw"(py_renderer(fig))
 # py_drawax(ax) = ax[:draw](py_renderer(ax[:get_figure]()))

 # get a vector [left, right, bottom, top] in PyPlot coords (origin is bottom-left!)
-py_extents(obj) = obj[:get_window_extent]()[:get_points]()
+py_extents(obj) = obj."get_window_extent"()."get_points"()


 # compute a bounding box (with origin top-left), however pyplot gives coords with origin bottom-left
 function py_bbox(obj)
-    fl, fr, fb, ft = py_extents(obj[:get_figure]())
+    fl, fr, fb, ft = py_extents(obj."get_figure"())
    l, r, b, t = py_extents(obj)
    BoundingBox(l*px, (ft-t)*px, (r-l)*px, (t-b)*px)
 end

+py_bbox(::Nothing) = BoundingBox(0mm, 0mm)
+
 # get the bounding box of the union of the objects
 function py_bbox(v::AVec)
    bbox_union = defaultbox
@@ -279,13 +288,13 @@ end

 # bounding box: union of axis tick labels
 function py_bbox_ticks(ax, letter)
-    labels = ax[Symbol("get_"*letter*"ticklabels")]()
+    labels = getproperty(ax, Symbol("get_"*letter*"ticklabels"))()
    py_bbox(labels)
 end

 # bounding box: axis guide
 function py_bbox_axislabel(ax, letter)
-    pyaxis_label = ax[Symbol("get_"*letter*"axis")]()[:label]
+    pyaxis_label = getproperty(ax, Symbol("get_"*letter*"axis"))().label
    py_bbox(pyaxis_label)
 end

@@ -301,11 +310,14 @@ end
 function py_bbox_title(ax)
    bb = defaultbox
    for s in (:title, :_left_title, :_right_title)
-        bb = bb + py_bbox(ax[s])
+        bb = bb + py_bbox(getproperty(ax, s))
    end
    bb
 end

+# bounding box: legend
+py_bbox_legend(ax) = py_bbox(ax."get_legend"())
+
 function py_thickness_scale(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, ptsz)
    ptsz * plt[:thickness_scaling]
 end
@@ -339,7 +351,7 @@ function py_init_subplot(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, sp::Subplot{PyPlotBackend})
    proj = (proj in (nothing,:none) ? nothing : string(proj))

    # add a new axis, and force it to create a new one by setting a distinct label
-    ax = fig[:add_axes](
+    ax = fig."add_axes"(
        [0,0,1,1],
        label = string(gensym()),
        projection = proj
@@ -371,6 +383,18 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
    elseif st == :shape
        x, y = shape_data(series)
    end
+
+    if ispolar(series)
+        # make negative radii positive and flip the angle
+        # (PyPlot ignores negative radii)
+        for i in eachindex(y)
+            if y[i] < 0
+                y[i] = -y[i]
+                x[i] -= π
+            end
+        end
+    end
+
    xyargs = (st in _3dTypes ? (x,y,z) : (x,y))

    # handle zcolor and get c/cmap
@@ -410,7 +434,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
        if maximum(series[:linewidth]) > 0
            segments = iter_segments(series)
            # TODO: check LineCollection alternative for speed
-            # if length(segments) > 1 && (any(typeof(series[attr]) <: AbstractVector for attr in (:fillcolor, :fillalpha)) || series[:fill_z] != nothing) && !(typeof(series[:linestyle]) <: AbstractVector)
+            # if length(segments) > 1 && (any(typeof(series[attr]) <: AbstractVector for attr in (:fillcolor, :fillalpha)) || series[:fill_z] !== nothing) && !(typeof(series[:linestyle]) <: AbstractVector)
            #     # multicolored line segments
            #     n = length(segments)
            #     # segments = Array(Any,n)
@@ -440,10 +464,10 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
            #     push!(handles, handle)
            # else
                for (i, rng) in enumerate(iter_segments(series))
-                    handle = ax[:plot]((arg[rng] for arg in xyargs)...;
+                    handle = ax."plot"((arg[rng] for arg in xyargs)...;
                        label = i == 1 ? series[:label] : "",
                        zorder = series[:series_plotindex],
-                        color = py_color(get_linecolor(series, clims, i), get_linealpha(series, i)),
+                        color = py_color(single_color(get_linecolor(series, clims, i)), get_linealpha(series, i)),
                        linewidth = py_thickness_scale(plt, get_linewidth(series, i)),
                        linestyle = py_linestyle(st, get_linestyle(series, i)),
                        solid_capstyle = "round",
@@ -454,7 +478,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
            # end

            a = series[:arrow]
-            if a != nothing && !is3d(st)  # TODO: handle 3d later
+            if a !== nothing && !is3d(st)  # TODO: handle 3d later
                if typeof(a) != Arrow
                    @warn("Unexpected type for arrow: $(typeof(a))")
                else
@@ -468,7 +492,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
                        :linestyle => py_linestyle(st, get_linestyle(series)),
                    )
                    add_arrows(x, y) do xyprev, xy
-                        ax[:annotate]("",
+                        ax."annotate"("",
                            xytext = (0.001xyprev[1] + 0.999xy[1], 0.001xyprev[2] + 0.999xy[2]),
                            xy = xy,
                            arrowprops = arrowprops,
@@ -484,7 +508,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
    if series[:markershape] != :none && st in (:path, :scatter, :path3d,
                                          :scatter3d, :steppre, :steppost,
                                          :bar)
-        markercolor = if any(typeof(series[arg]) <: AVec for arg in (:markercolor, :markeralpha)) || series[:marker_z] != nothing
+        markercolor = if any(typeof(series[arg]) <: AVec for arg in (:markercolor, :markeralpha)) || series[:marker_z] !== nothing
            # py_color(plot_color.(get_markercolor.(series, clims, eachindex(x)), get_markeralpha.(series, eachindex(x))))
            [py_color(plot_color(get_markercolor(series, clims, i), get_markeralpha(series, i))) for i in eachindex(x)]
        else
@@ -514,7 +538,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
            for i=1:length(y)
                extrakw[:c] = _cycle(markercolor, i)

-                push!(handle, ax[:scatter](_cycle(x,i), _cycle(y,i);
+                push!(handle, ax."scatter"(_cycle(x,i), _cycle(y,i);
                    label = series[:label],
                    zorder = series[:series_plotindex] + 0.5,
                    marker = py_marker(_cycle(shapes,i)),
@@ -524,10 +548,72 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
                    extrakw...
                ))
            end
+            push!(handles, handle)
+        elseif isa(series[:markershape], AbstractVector{Symbol})
+            handle = []
+            x,y = xyargs
+            shapes = series[:markershape]
+
+            prev_marker = py_marker(_cycle(shapes,1))
+
+            cur_x_list = []
+            cur_y_list = []
+
+            cur_color_list = []
+            cur_scale_list = []
+
+            delete!(extrakw, :c)
+
+            for i=1:length(y)
+                cur_marker = py_marker(_cycle(shapes,i))
+
+                if ( cur_marker == prev_marker )
+                  push!(cur_x_list, _cycle(x,i))
+                  push!(cur_y_list, _cycle(y,i))
+
+                  push!(cur_color_list, _cycle(markercolor, i))
+                  push!(cur_scale_list, py_thickness_scale(plt, _cycle(series[:markersize],i) .^ 2))
+
+                  continue
+                end
+
+                push!(handle, ax."scatter"(cur_x_list, cur_y_list;
+                  label = series[:label],
+                  zorder = series[:series_plotindex] + 0.5,
+                  marker = prev_marker,
+                  s = cur_scale_list,
+                  edgecolors = py_markerstrokecolor(series),
+                  linewidths = py_thickness_scale(plt, series[:markerstrokewidth]),
+                  facecolors = cur_color_list,
+                  extrakw...
+                ))
+
+                cur_x_list = [_cycle(x,i)]
+                cur_y_list = [_cycle(y,i)]
+
+                cur_color_list = [_cycle(markercolor, i)]
+                cur_scale_list = [py_thickness_scale(plt, _cycle(series[:markersize],i) .^ 2)]
+
+                prev_marker = cur_marker
+            end
+
+            if !isempty(cur_color_list)
+              push!(handle, ax."scatter"(cur_x_list, cur_y_list;
+                label = series[:label],
+                zorder = series[:series_plotindex] + 0.5,
+                marker = prev_marker,
+                s = cur_scale_list,
+                edgecolors = py_markerstrokecolor(series),
+                linewidths = py_thickness_scale(plt, series[:markerstrokewidth]),
+                facecolors = cur_color_list,
+                extrakw...
+              ))
+            end
+
            push!(handles, handle)
        else
            # do a normal scatter plot
-            handle = ax[:scatter](xyargs...;
+            handle = ax."scatter"(xyargs...;
                label = series[:label],
                zorder = series[:series_plotindex] + 0.5,
                marker = py_marker(series[:markershape]),
@@ -541,7 +627,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
    end

    if st == :hexbin
-        handle = ax[:hexbin](x, y;
+        handle = ax."hexbin"(x, y;
            label = series[:label],
            zorder = series[:series_plotindex],
            gridsize = series[:bins],
@@ -573,7 +659,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
        end

        # contour lines
-        handle = ax[:contour](x, y, z, levelargs...;
+        handle = ax."contour"(x, y, z, levelargs...;
            label = series[:label],
            zorder = series[:series_plotindex],
            linewidths = py_thickness_scale(plt, series[:linewidth]),
@@ -581,13 +667,13 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
            extrakw...
        )
        if series[:contour_labels] == true
-            PyPlot.clabel(handle, handle[:levels])
+            PyPlot."clabel"(handle, handle.levels)
        end
        push!(handles, handle)

        # contour fills
-        if series[:fillrange] != nothing
-            handle = ax[:contourf](x, y, z, levelargs...;
+        if series[:fillrange] !== nothing
+            handle = ax."contourf"(x, y, z, levelargs...;
                label = series[:label],
                zorder = series[:series_plotindex] + 0.5,
                extrakw...
@@ -605,7 +691,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
            end
            z = transpose_z(series, z)
            if st == :surface
-                if series[:fill_z] != nothing
+                if series[:fill_z] !== nothing
                    # the surface colors are different than z-value
                    extrakw[:facecolors] = py_shading(series[:fillcolor], transpose_z(series, series[:fill_z].surf))
                    extrakw[:shade] = false
@@ -613,7 +699,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
                    extrakw[:cmap] = py_fillcolormap(series)
                end
            end
-            handle = ax[st == :surface ? :plot_surface : :plot_wireframe](x, y, z;
+            handle = getproperty(ax, st == :surface ? :plot_surface : :plot_wireframe)(x, y, z;
                label = series[:label],
                zorder = series[:series_plotindex],
                rstride = series[:stride][1],
@@ -628,7 +714,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
            if series[:contours]
                for (zdir,mat) in (("x",x), ("y",y), ("z",z))
                    offset = (zdir == "y" ? ignorenan_maximum : ignorenan_minimum)(mat)
-                    handle = ax[:contourf](x, y, z, levelargs...;
+                    handle = ax."contourf"(x, y, z, levelargs...;
                        zdir = zdir,
                        cmap = py_fillcolormap(series),
                        offset = (zdir == "y" ? ignorenan_maximum : ignorenan_minimum)(mat)  # where to draw the contour plane
@@ -640,7 +726,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)

        elseif typeof(z) <: AbstractVector
            # tri-surface plot (http://matplotlib.org/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/tutorial.html#tri-surface-plots)
-            handle = ax[:plot_trisurf](x, y, z;
+            handle = ax."plot_trisurf"(x, y, z;
                label = series[:label],
                zorder = series[:series_plotindex],
                cmap = py_fillcolormap(series),
@@ -665,9 +751,9 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
        else
            z  # hopefully it's in a data format that will "just work" with imshow
        end
-        handle = ax[:imshow](z;
+        handle = ax."imshow"(z;
            zorder = series[:series_plotindex],
-            cmap = py_colormap([:black, :white]),
+            cmap = py_colormap(cgrad([:black, :white])),
            vmin = 0.0,
            vmax = 1.0,
            extent = (xmin, xmax, ymax, ymin)
@@ -675,7 +761,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
        push!(handles, handle)

        # expand extrema... handle is AxesImage object
-        xmin, xmax, ymax, ymin = handle[:get_extent]()
+        xmin, xmax, ymax, ymin = handle."get_extent"()
        expand_extrema!(sp, xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax)
        # sp[:yaxis].series[:flip] = true
    end
@@ -690,7 +776,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
            discrete_colorbar_values = dvals
        end

-        handle = ax[:pcolormesh](x, y, py_mask_nans(z);
+        handle = ax."pcolormesh"(x, y, py_mask_nans(z);
            label = series[:label],
            zorder = series[:series_plotindex],
            cmap = py_fillcolormap(series),
@@ -705,8 +791,8 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
        handle = []
        for (i, rng) in enumerate(iter_segments(series))
            if length(rng) > 1
-                path = pypath["Path"](hcat(x[rng], y[rng]))
-                patches = pypatches["PathPatch"](
+                path = pypath."Path"(hcat(x[rng], y[rng]))
+                patches = pypatches."PathPatch"(
                    path;
                    label = series[:label],
                    zorder = series[:series_plotindex],
@@ -716,14 +802,14 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
                    linestyle = py_linestyle(st, get_linestyle(series, i)),
                    fill = true
                )
-                push!(handle, ax[:add_patch](patches))
+                push!(handle, ax."add_patch"(patches))
            end
        end
        push!(handles, handle)
    end

    if st == :pie
-        handle = ax[:pie](y;
+        handle = ax."pie"(y;
            # colors = # a vector of colors?
            labels = pie_labels(sp, series)
        )[1]
@@ -744,7 +830,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)

    # handle area filling
    fillrange = series[:fillrange]
-    if fillrange != nothing && st != :contour
+    if fillrange !== nothing && st != :contour
        for (i, rng) in enumerate(iter_segments(series))
            f, dim1, dim2 = if isvertical(series)
                :fill_between, x[rng], y[rng]
@@ -758,7 +844,7 @@ function py_add_series(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}, series::Series)
                dim1, _cycle(fillrange[1], rng), _cycle(fillrange[2], rng)
            end

-            handle = ax[f](args..., trues(n), false, py_fillstepstyle(st);
+            handle = getproperty(ax, f)(args..., trues(n), false, py_fillstepstyle(st);
                zorder = series[:series_plotindex],
                facecolor = py_color(get_fillcolor(series, clims, i), get_fillalpha(series, i)),
                linewidths = 0
@@ -776,36 +862,36 @@ end

 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-function py_set_lims(ax, axis::Axis)
+function py_set_lims(ax, sp::Subplot, axis::Axis)
    letter = axis[:letter]
-    lfrom, lto = axis_limits(axis)
-    ax[Symbol("set_", letter, "lim")](lfrom, lto)
+    lfrom, lto = axis_limits(sp, letter)
+    getproperty(ax, Symbol("set_", letter, "lim"))(lfrom, lto)
 end

 function py_set_ticks(ax, ticks, letter)
    ticks == :auto && return
-    axis = ax[Symbol(letter,"axis")]
-    if ticks == :none || ticks == nothing || ticks == false
+    axis = getproperty(ax, Symbol(letter,"axis"))
+    if ticks == :none || ticks === nothing || ticks == false
        kw = KW()
        for dir in (:top,:bottom,:left,:right)
            kw[dir] = kw[Symbol(:label,dir)] = false
        end
-        axis[:set_tick_params](;which="both", kw...)
+        axis."set_tick_params"(;which="both", kw...)
        return
    end

    ttype = ticksType(ticks)
    if ttype == :ticks
-        axis[:set_ticks](ticks)
+        axis."set_ticks"(ticks)
    elseif ttype == :ticks_and_labels
-        axis[:set_ticks](ticks[1])
-        axis[:set_ticklabels](ticks[2])
+        axis."set_ticks"(ticks[1])
+        axis."set_ticklabels"(ticks[2])
    else
        error("Invalid input for $(letter)ticks: $ticks")
    end
 end

-function py_compute_axis_minval(axis::Axis)
+function py_compute_axis_minval(sp::Subplot, axis::Axis)
    # compute the smallest absolute value for the log scale's linear threshold
    minval = 1.0
    sps = axis.sps
@@ -819,17 +905,17 @@ function py_compute_axis_minval(axis::Axis)
    end

    # now if the axis limits go to a smaller abs value, use that instead
-    vmin, vmax = axis_limits(axis)
+    vmin, vmax = axis_limits(sp, axis[:letter])
    minval = NaNMath.min(minval, abs(vmin), abs(vmax))

    minval
 end

-function py_set_scale(ax, axis::Axis)
+function py_set_scale(ax, sp::Subplot, axis::Axis)
    scale = axis[:scale]
    letter = axis[:letter]
    scale in supported_scales() || return @warn("Unhandled scale value in pyplot: $scale")
-    func = ax[Symbol("set_", letter, "scale")]
+    func = getproperty(ax, Symbol("set_", letter, "scale"))
    kw = KW()
    arg = if scale == :identity
        "linear"
@@ -841,7 +927,7 @@ function py_set_scale(ax, axis::Axis)
        elseif scale == :log10
            10
        end
-        kw[Symbol(:linthresh,letter)] = NaNMath.min(1e-16, py_compute_axis_minval(axis))
+        kw[Symbol(:linthresh,letter)] = NaNMath.min(1e-16, py_compute_axis_minval(sp, axis))
        "symlog"
    end
    func(arg; kw...)
@@ -849,16 +935,16 @@ end


 function py_set_axis_colors(sp, ax, a::Axis)
-    for (loc, spine) in ax[:spines]
-        spine[:set_color](py_color(a[:foreground_color_border]))
+    for (loc, spine) in ax.spines
+        spine."set_color"(py_color(a[:foreground_color_border]))
    end
    axissym = Symbol(a[:letter], :axis)
-    if haskey(ax, axissym)
+    if PyCall.hasproperty(ax, axissym)
        tickcolor = sp[:framestyle] in (:zerolines, :grid) ? py_color(plot_color(a[:foreground_color_grid], a[:gridalpha])) : py_color(a[:foreground_color_axis])
-        ax[:tick_params](axis=string(a[:letter]), which="both",
+        ax."tick_params"(axis=string(a[:letter]), which="both",
                         colors=tickcolor,
                         labelcolor=py_color(a[:tickfontcolor]))
-        ax[axissym][:label][:set_color](py_color(a[:guidefontcolor]))
+        getproperty(ax, axissym).label.set_color(py_color(a[:guidefontcolor]))
    end
 end

@@ -870,14 +956,14 @@ function _before_layout_calcs(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend})
    # update the fig
    w, h = plt[:size]
    fig = plt.o
-    fig[:clear]()
+    fig."clear"()
    dpi = plt[:dpi]
-    fig[:set_size_inches](w/DPI, h/DPI, forward = true)
-    fig[set_facecolor_sym](py_color(plt[:background_color_outside]))
-    fig[:set_dpi](plt[:dpi])
+    fig."set_size_inches"(w/DPI, h/DPI, forward = true)
+    getproperty(fig, set_facecolor_sym)(py_color(plt[:background_color_outside]))
+    fig."set_dpi"(plt[:dpi])

    # resize the window
-    PyPlot.plt[:get_current_fig_manager]()[:resize](w, h)
+    PyPlot.plt."get_current_fig_manager"().resize(w, h)

    # initialize subplots
    for sp in plt.subplots
@@ -892,7 +978,7 @@ function _before_layout_calcs(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend})
    # update subplots
    for sp in plt.subplots
        ax = sp.o
-        if ax == nothing
+        if ax === nothing
            continue
        end

@@ -911,10 +997,10 @@ function _before_layout_calcs(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend})
            else
                :title
            end
-            ax[func][:set_text](sp[:title])
-            ax[func][:set_fontsize](py_thickness_scale(plt, sp[:titlefontsize]))
-            ax[func][:set_family](sp[:titlefontfamily])
-            ax[func][:set_color](py_color(sp[:titlefontcolor]))
+            getproperty(ax, func)."set_text"(sp[:title])
+            getproperty(ax, func)."set_fontsize"(py_thickness_scale(plt, sp[:titlefontsize]))
+            getproperty(ax, func)."set_family"(sp[:titlefontfamily])
+            getproperty(ax, func)."set_color"(py_color(sp[:titlefontcolor]))
            # ax[:set_title](sp[:title], loc = loc)
        end

@@ -932,31 +1018,32 @@ function _before_layout_calcs(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend})
                kw[:ticks] = locator
                kw[:format] = formatter
                kw[:boundaries] = vcat(0, kw[:values] + 0.5)
-            elseif any(colorbar_series[attr] != nothing for attr in (:line_z, :fill_z, :marker_z))
+            elseif any(colorbar_series[attr] !== nothing for attr in (:line_z, :fill_z, :marker_z))
                cmin, cmax = get_clims(sp)
-                norm = pycolors[:Normalize](vmin = cmin, vmax = cmax)
-                f = if colorbar_series[:line_z] != nothing
+                norm = pycolors."Normalize"(vmin = cmin, vmax = cmax)
+                f = if colorbar_series[:line_z] !== nothing
                    py_linecolormap
-                elseif colorbar_series[:fill_z] != nothing
+                elseif colorbar_series[:fill_z] !== nothing
                    py_fillcolormap
                else
                    py_markercolormap
                end
-                cmap = pycmap[:ScalarMappable](norm = norm, cmap = f(colorbar_series))
-                cmap[:set_array]([])
+                cmap = pycmap."ScalarMappable"(norm = norm, cmap = f(colorbar_series))
+                cmap."set_array"([])
                handle = cmap
            end
+            kw[:spacing] = "proportional"

            # create and store the colorbar object (handle) and the axis that it is drawn on.
            # note: the colorbar axis is positioned independently from the subplot axis
            fig = plt.o
-            cbax = fig[:add_axes]([0.8,0.1,0.03,0.8], label = string(gensym()))
-            cb = fig[:colorbar](handle; cax = cbax, kw...)
-            cb[:set_label](sp[:colorbar_title],size=py_thickness_scale(plt, sp[:yaxis][:guidefontsize]),family=sp[:yaxis][:guidefontfamily], color = py_color(sp[:yaxis][:guidefontcolor]))
-            for lab in cb[:ax][:yaxis][:get_ticklabels]()
-                  lab[:set_fontsize](py_thickness_scale(plt, sp[:yaxis][:tickfontsize]))
-                  lab[:set_family](sp[:yaxis][:tickfontfamily])
-                  lab[:set_color](py_color(sp[:yaxis][:tickfontcolor]))
+            cbax = fig."add_axes"([0.8,0.1,0.03,0.8], label = string(gensym()))
+            cb = fig."colorbar"(handle; cax = cbax, kw...)
+            cb."set_label"(sp[:colorbar_title],size=py_thickness_scale(plt, sp[:yaxis][:guidefontsize]),family=sp[:yaxis][:guidefontfamily], color = py_color(sp[:yaxis][:guidefontcolor]))
+            for lab in cb."ax"."yaxis"."get_ticklabels"()
+                  lab."set_fontsize"(py_thickness_scale(plt, sp[:yaxis][:tickfontsize]))
+                  lab."set_family"(sp[:yaxis][:tickfontfamily])
+                  lab."set_color"(py_color(sp[:yaxis][:tickfontcolor]))
            end
            sp.attr[:cbar_handle] = cb
            sp.attr[:cbar_ax] = cbax
@@ -964,28 +1051,28 @@ function _before_layout_calcs(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend})

        # framestyle
        if !ispolar(sp) && !is3d(sp)
-            ax[:spines]["left"][:set_linewidth](py_thickness_scale(plt, 1))
-            ax[:spines]["bottom"][:set_linewidth](py_thickness_scale(plt, 1))
+            ax.spines["left"]."set_linewidth"(py_thickness_scale(plt, 1))
+            ax.spines["bottom"]."set_linewidth"(py_thickness_scale(plt, 1))
            if sp[:framestyle] == :semi
                intensity = 0.5
-                ax[:spines]["right"][:set_alpha](intensity)
-                ax[:spines]["top"][:set_alpha](intensity)
-                ax[:spines]["right"][:set_linewidth](py_thickness_scale(plt, intensity))
-                ax[:spines]["top"][:set_linewidth](py_thickness_scale(plt, intensity))
+                ax.spines["right"]."set_alpha"(intensity)
+                ax.spines["top"]."set_alpha"(intensity)
+                ax.spines["right"]."set_linewidth"(py_thickness_scale(plt, intensity))
+                ax.spines["top"]."set_linewidth"(py_thickness_scale(plt, intensity))
            elseif sp[:framestyle] in (:axes, :origin)
-                ax[:spines]["right"][:set_visible](false)
-                ax[:spines]["top"][:set_visible](false)
+                ax.spines["right"]."set_visible"(false)
+                ax.spines["top"]."set_visible"(false)
                if sp[:framestyle] == :origin
-                    ax[:spines]["bottom"][:set_position]("zero")
-                    ax[:spines]["left"][:set_position]("zero")
+                    ax.spines["bottom"]."set_position"("zero")
+                    ax.spines["left"]."set_position"("zero")
                end
            elseif sp[:framestyle] in (:grid, :none, :zerolines)
-                for (loc, spine) in ax[:spines]
-                    spine[:set_visible](false)
+                for (loc, spine) in ax.spines
+                    spine."set_visible"(false)
                end
                if sp[:framestyle] == :zerolines
-                    ax[:axhline](y = 0, color = py_color(sp[:xaxis][:foreground_color_axis]), lw = py_thickness_scale(plt, 0.75))
-                    ax[:axvline](x = 0, color = py_color(sp[:yaxis][:foreground_color_axis]), lw = py_thickness_scale(plt, 0.75))
+                    ax."axhline"(y = 0, color = py_color(sp[:xaxis][:foreground_color_axis]), lw = py_thickness_scale(plt, 0.75))
+                    ax."axvline"(x = 0, color = py_color(sp[:yaxis][:foreground_color_axis]), lw = py_thickness_scale(plt, 0.75))
                end
            end
        end
@@ -993,51 +1080,51 @@ function _before_layout_calcs(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend})
        # axis attributes
        for letter in (:x, :y, :z)
            axissym = Symbol(letter, :axis)
-            haskey(ax, axissym) || continue
+            PyCall.hasproperty(ax, axissym) || continue
            axis = sp[axissym]
-            pyaxis = ax[axissym]
+            pyaxis = getproperty(ax, axissym)
            if axis[:mirror] && letter != :z
                pos = letter == :x ? "top" : "right"
-                pyaxis[:set_label_position](pos)     # the guides
-                pyaxis[:set_ticks_position]("both")  # the hash marks
-                pyaxis[Symbol(:tick_, pos)]()        # the tick labels
+                pyaxis."set_label_position"(pos)     # the guides
+                pyaxis."set_ticks_position"("both")  # the hash marks
+                getproperty(pyaxis, Symbol(:tick_, pos))()        # the tick labels
            end
            if axis[:guide_position] != :auto && letter != :z
-                pyaxis[:set_label_position](axis[:guide_position])
+                pyaxis."set_label_position"(axis[:guide_position])
            end
-            py_set_scale(ax, axis)
-            axis[:ticks] != :native ? py_set_lims(ax, axis) : nothing
+            py_set_scale(ax, sp, axis)
+            axis[:ticks] != :native ? py_set_lims(ax, sp, axis) : nothing
            if ispolar(sp) && letter == :y
-                ax[:set_rlabel_position](90)
+                ax."set_rlabel_position"(90)
            end
-            ticks = sp[:framestyle] == :none ? nothing : get_ticks(axis)
+            ticks = sp[:framestyle] == :none ? nothing : get_ticks(sp, axis)
            # don't show the 0 tick label for the origin framestyle
            if sp[:framestyle] == :origin && length(ticks) > 1
                ticks[2][ticks[1] .== 0] .= ""
            end
            axis[:ticks] != :native ? py_set_ticks(ax, ticks, letter) : nothing
-            pyaxis[:set_tick_params](direction = axis[:tick_direction] == :out ? "out" : "in")
-            ax[Symbol("set_", letter, "label")](axis[:guide])
+            pyaxis."set_tick_params"(direction = axis[:tick_direction] == :out ? "out" : "in")
+            getproperty(ax, Symbol("set_", letter, "label"))(axis[:guide])
            if get(axis.plotattributes, :flip, false)
-                ax[Symbol("invert_", letter, "axis")]()
+                getproperty(ax, Symbol("invert_", letter, "axis"))()
            end
-            pyaxis[:label][:set_fontsize](py_thickness_scale(plt, axis[:guidefontsize]))
-            pyaxis[:label][:set_family](axis[:guidefontfamily])
-            for lab in ax[Symbol("get_", letter, "ticklabels")]()
-                lab[:set_fontsize](py_thickness_scale(plt, axis[:tickfontsize]))
-                lab[:set_family](axis[:tickfontfamily])
-                lab[:set_rotation](axis[:rotation])
+            pyaxis."label"."set_fontsize"(py_thickness_scale(plt, axis[:guidefontsize]))
+            pyaxis."label"."set_family"(axis[:guidefontfamily])
+            for lab in getproperty(ax, Symbol("get_", letter, "ticklabels"))()
+                lab."set_fontsize"(py_thickness_scale(plt, axis[:tickfontsize]))
+                lab."set_family"(axis[:tickfontfamily])
+                lab."set_rotation"(axis[:rotation])
            end
            if axis[:grid] && !(ticks in (:none, nothing, false))
                fgcolor = py_color(axis[:foreground_color_grid])
-                pyaxis[:grid](true,
+                pyaxis."grid"(true,
                    color = fgcolor,
                    linestyle = py_linestyle(:line, axis[:gridstyle]),
                    linewidth = py_thickness_scale(plt, axis[:gridlinewidth]),
                    alpha = axis[:gridalpha])
-                ax[:set_axisbelow](true)
+                ax."set_axisbelow"(true)
            else
-                pyaxis[:grid](false)
+                pyaxis."grid"(false)
            end
            py_set_axis_colors(sp, ax, axis)
        end
@@ -1045,50 +1132,51 @@ function _before_layout_calcs(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend})
        # showaxis
        if !sp[:xaxis][:showaxis]
            kw = KW()
+            if ispolar(sp)
+                ax.spines["polar"].set_visible(false)
+            end
            for dir in (:top, :bottom)
-                if ispolar(sp)
-                    ax[:spines]["polar"][:set_visible](false)
-                else
-                    ax[:spines][string(dir)][:set_visible](false)
+                if !ispolar(sp)
+                    ax.spines[string(dir)].set_visible(false)
                end
                kw[dir] = kw[Symbol(:label,dir)] = false
            end
-            ax[:xaxis][:set_tick_params](; which="both", kw...)
+            ax."xaxis"."set_tick_params"(; which="both", kw...)
        end
        if !sp[:yaxis][:showaxis]
            kw = KW()
            for dir in (:left, :right)
                if !ispolar(sp)
-                    ax[:spines][string(dir)][:set_visible](false)
+                    ax.spines[string(dir)].set_visible(false)
                end
                kw[dir] = kw[Symbol(:label,dir)] = false
            end
-            ax[:yaxis][:set_tick_params](; which="both", kw...)
+            ax."yaxis"."set_tick_params"(; which="both", kw...)
        end

        # aspect ratio
        aratio = sp[:aspect_ratio]
        if aratio != :none
-            ax[:set_aspect](isa(aratio, Symbol) ? string(aratio) : aratio, anchor = "C")
+            ax."set_aspect"(isa(aratio, Symbol) ? string(aratio) : aratio, anchor = "C")
        end

        #camera/view angle
        if is3d(sp)
            #convert azimuthal to match GR behaviour
            #view_init(elevation, azimuthal) so reverse :camera args
-            ax[:view_init]((sp[:camera].-(90,0))[end:-1:1]...)
+            ax."view_init"((sp[:camera].-(90,0))[end:-1:1]...)
        end

        # legend
        py_add_legend(plt, sp, ax)

        # this sets the bg color inside the grid
-        ax[set_facecolor_sym](py_color(sp[:background_color_inside]))
+        getproperty(ax, set_facecolor_sym)(py_color(sp[:background_color_inside]))

        # link axes
        x_ax_link, y_ax_link = sp[:xaxis].sps[1].o, sp[:yaxis].sps[1].o
-        ax != x_ax_link && ax[:get_shared_x_axes]()[:join](ax, sp[:xaxis].sps[1].o)
-        ax != y_ax_link && ax[:get_shared_y_axes]()[:join](ax, sp[:yaxis].sps[1].o)
+        ax != x_ax_link && ax."get_shared_x_axes"()."join"(ax, sp[:xaxis].sps[1].o)
+        ax != y_ax_link && ax."get_shared_y_axes"()."join"(ax, sp[:yaxis].sps[1].o)
    end
    py_drawfig(fig)
 end
@@ -1098,7 +1186,7 @@ end
 # to fit ticks, tick labels, guides, colorbars, etc.
 function _update_min_padding!(sp::Subplot{PyPlotBackend})
    ax = sp.o
-    ax == nothing && return sp.minpad
+    ax === nothing && return sp.minpad
    plotbb = py_bbox(ax)

    # TODO: this should initialize to the margin from sp.attr
@@ -1108,7 +1196,7 @@ function _update_min_padding!(sp::Subplot{PyPlotBackend})
    toppad    = 0mm
    rightpad  = 0mm
    bottompad = 0mm
-    for bb in (py_bbox_axis(ax, "x"), py_bbox_axis(ax, "y"), py_bbox_title(ax))
+    for bb in (py_bbox_axis(ax, "x"), py_bbox_axis(ax, "y"), py_bbox_title(ax), py_bbox_legend(ax))
        if ispositive(width(bb)) && ispositive(height(bb))
            leftpad   = max(leftpad,   left(plotbb) - left(bb))
            toppad    = max(toppad,    top(plotbb)  - top(bb))
@@ -1119,7 +1207,7 @@ function _update_min_padding!(sp::Subplot{PyPlotBackend})

    # optionally add the width of colorbar labels and colorbar to rightpad
    if haskey(sp.attr, :cbar_ax)
-        bb = py_bbox(sp.attr[:cbar_handle][:ax][:get_yticklabels]())
+        bb = py_bbox(sp.attr[:cbar_handle]."ax"."get_yticklabels"())
        sp.attr[:cbar_width] = _cbar_width + width(bb) + 2.3mm + (sp[:colorbar_title] == "" ? 0px : 30px)
        rightpad = rightpad + sp.attr[:cbar_width]
    end
@@ -1140,19 +1228,19 @@ end

 function py_add_annotations(sp::Subplot{PyPlotBackend}, x, y, val)
    ax = sp.o
-    ax[:annotate](val, xy = (x,y), zorder = 999)
+    ax."annotate"(val, xy = (x,y), zorder = 999)
 end


 function py_add_annotations(sp::Subplot{PyPlotBackend}, x, y, val::PlotText)
    ax = sp.o
-    ax[:annotate](val.str,
+    ax."annotate"(val.str,
        xy = (x,y),
        family = val.font.family,
        color = py_color(val.font.color),
        horizontalalignment = val.font.halign == :hcenter ? "center" : string(val.font.halign),
        verticalalignment = val.font.valign == :vcenter ? "center" : string(val.font.valign),
-        rotation = val.font.rotation * 180 / π,
+        rotation = val.font.rotation,
        size = py_thickness_scale(sp.plt, val.font.pointsize),
        zorder = 999
    )
@@ -1171,6 +1259,34 @@ const _pyplot_legend_pos = KW(
    :topleft => "upper left"
  )

+const _pyplot_legend_pos_outer = KW(
+    :outerright => "center left",
+    :outerleft => "right",
+    :outertop => "lower center",
+    :outerbottom => "upper center",
+    :outerbottomleft => "lower right",
+    :outerbottomright => "lower left",
+    :outertopright => "upper left",
+    :outertopleft => "upper right"
+)
+
+py_legend_pos(pos::Symbol) = get(_pyplot_legend_pos, pos, get(_pyplot_legend_pos_outer, pos, "best"))
+py_legend_pos(pos) = "lower left"
+
+const _pyplot_legend_bbox_outer = KW(
+    :outerright => (1.0, 0.5, 0.0, 0.0),
+    :outerleft => (-0.15, 0.5, 0.0, 0.0),
+    :outertop => (0.5, 1.0, 0.0, 0.0),
+    :outerbottom => (0.5, -0.15, 0.0, 0.0),
+    :outerbottomleft => (-0.15, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0),
+    :outerbottomright => (1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0),
+    :outertopright => (1.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0.0),
+    :outertopleft => (-0.15, 1.0, 0.0, 0.0)
+)
+
+py_legend_bbox(pos::Symbol) = get(_pyplot_legend_bbox_outer, pos, (0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 1.0))
+py_legend_bbox(pos) = pos
+
 function py_add_legend(plt::Plot, sp::Subplot, ax)
    leg = sp[:legend]
    clims = get_clims(sp)
@@ -1181,21 +1297,21 @@ function py_add_legend(plt::Plot, sp::Subplot, ax)
        for series in series_list(sp)
            if should_add_to_legend(series)
                # add a line/marker and a label
-                push!(handles, if series[:seriestype] == :shape || series[:fillrange] != nothing
-                    pypatches[:Patch](
-                        edgecolor = py_color(get_linecolor(series, clims), get_linealpha(series)),
-                        facecolor = py_color(get_fillcolor(series, clims), get_fillalpha(series)),
+                push!(handles, if series[:seriestype] == :shape || series[:fillrange] !== nothing
+                    pypatches."Patch"(
+                        edgecolor = py_color(single_color(get_linecolor(series, clims)), get_linealpha(series)),
+                        facecolor = py_color(single_color(get_fillcolor(series, clims)), get_fillalpha(series)),
                        linewidth = py_thickness_scale(plt, clamp(get_linewidth(series), 0, 5)),
                        linestyle = py_linestyle(series[:seriestype], get_linestyle(series))
                    )
-                elseif series[:seriestype] in (:path, :straightline)
-                    PyPlot.plt[:Line2D]((0,1),(0,0),
-                        color = py_color(get_linecolor(series, clims), get_linealpha(series)),
+                elseif series[:seriestype] in (:path, :straightline, :scatter)
+                    PyPlot.plt."Line2D"((0,1),(0,0),
+                        color = py_color(single_color(get_linecolor(series, clims)), get_linealpha(series)),
                        linewidth = py_thickness_scale(plt, clamp(get_linewidth(series), 0, 5)),
                        linestyle = py_linestyle(:path, get_linestyle(series)),
-                        marker = py_marker(series[:markershape]),
-                        markeredgecolor = py_color(get_markerstrokecolor(series), get_markerstrokealpha(series)),
-                        markerfacecolor = series[:marker_z] == nothing ? py_color(get_markercolor(series, clims), get_markeralpha(series)) : py_color(series[:markercolor][0.5])
+                        marker = py_marker(first(series[:markershape])),
+                        markeredgecolor = py_color(single_color(get_markerstrokecolor(series)), get_markerstrokealpha(series)),
+                        markerfacecolor = py_color(single_color(get_markercolor(series, clims)), get_markeralpha(series))
                    )
                else
                    series[:serieshandle][1]
@@ -1206,22 +1322,23 @@ function py_add_legend(plt::Plot, sp::Subplot, ax)

        # if anything was added, call ax.legend and set the colors
        if !isempty(handles)
-            leg = ax[:legend](handles,
+            leg = ax."legend"(handles,
                labels,
-                loc = get(_pyplot_legend_pos, leg, "best"),
+                loc = py_legend_pos(leg),
+                bbox_to_anchor = py_legend_bbox(leg),
                scatterpoints = 1,
                fontsize = py_thickness_scale(plt, sp[:legendfontsize]),
                facecolor = py_color(sp[:background_color_legend]),
                edgecolor = py_color(sp[:foreground_color_legend]),
                framealpha = alpha(plot_color(sp[:background_color_legend])),
            )
-            frame = leg[:get_frame]()
-            frame[:set_linewidth](py_thickness_scale(plt, 1))
-            leg[:set_zorder](1000)
-            sp[:legendtitle] != nothing && leg[:set_title](sp[:legendtitle])
+            frame = leg."get_frame"()
+            frame."set_linewidth"(py_thickness_scale(plt, 1))
+            leg."set_zorder"(1000)
+            sp[:legendtitle] !== nothing && leg."set_title"(sp[:legendtitle])

-            for txt in leg[:get_texts]()
-                PyPlot.plt[:setp](txt, color = py_color(sp[:legendfontcolor]), family = sp[:legendfontfamily])
+            for txt in leg."get_texts"()
+                PyPlot.plt."setp"(txt, color = py_color(sp[:legendfontcolor]), family = sp[:legendfontfamily])
            end
        end
    end
@@ -1235,11 +1352,11 @@ end
 function _update_plot_object(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend})
    for sp in plt.subplots
        ax = sp.o
-        ax == nothing && return
+        ax === nothing && return
        figw, figh = sp.plt[:size]
        figw, figh = figw*px, figh*px
        pcts = bbox_to_pcts(sp.plotarea, figw, figh)
-        ax[:set_position](pcts)
+        ax."set_position"(pcts)

        # set the cbar position if there is one
        if haskey(sp.attr, :cbar_ax)
@@ -1249,7 +1366,7 @@ function _update_plot_object(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend})
            has_toplabel = !(1e-7 < max(abs(ex.emax), abs(ex.emin)) < 1e7)
            cb_bbox = BoundingBox(right(sp.bbox)-cbw+1mm, top(sp.bbox) +  (has_toplabel ? 4mm : 2mm), _cbar_width-1mm, height(sp.bbox) - (has_toplabel ? 6mm : 4mm))
            pcts = bbox_to_pcts(cb_bbox, figw, figh)
-            sp.attr[:cbar_ax][:set_position](pcts)
+            sp.attr[:cbar_ax]."set_position"(pcts)
        end
    end
    PyPlot.draw()
@@ -1258,9 +1375,7 @@ end
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------
 # display/output

-function _display(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend})
-    plt.o[:show]()
-end
+_display(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend}) = plt.o."show"()



@@ -1270,23 +1385,24 @@ const _pyplot_mimeformats = Dict(
    "application/pdf"         => "pdf",
    "image/png"               => "png",
    "application/postscript"  => "ps",
-    "image/svg+xml"           => "svg"
+    "image/svg+xml"           => "svg",
+    "application/x-tex"       => "pgf"
 )


 for (mime, fmt) in _pyplot_mimeformats
    @eval function _show(io::IO, ::MIME{Symbol($mime)}, plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend})
        fig = plt.o
-        fig[:canvas][:print_figure](
+        fig."canvas"."print_figure"(
            io,
            format=$fmt,
            # bbox_inches = "tight",
            # figsize = map(px2inch, plt[:size]),
-            facecolor = fig[:get_facecolor](),
+            facecolor = fig."get_facecolor"(),
            edgecolor = "none",
            dpi = plt[:dpi]
        )
    end
 end

-closeall(::PyPlotBackend) = PyPlot.plt[:close]("all")
+closeall(::PyPlotBackend) = PyPlot.plt."close"("all")
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ function rebuildUnicodePlot!(plt::Plot, width, height)
    for sp in plt.subplots
        xaxis = sp[:xaxis]
        yaxis = sp[:yaxis]
-        xlim =  axis_limits(xaxis)
-        ylim =  axis_limits(yaxis)
+        xlim =  axis_limits(sp, :x)
+        ylim =  axis_limits(sp, :y)

        # make vectors
        xlim = [xlim[1], xlim[2]]
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ function addUnicodeSeries!(o, plotattributes::KW, addlegend::Bool, xlim, ylim)
    x, y = if st == :straightline
        straightline_data(plotattributes)
    elseif st == :shape
-        shape_data(series)
+        shape_data(plotattributes)
    else
        [collect(float(plotattributes[s])) for s in (:x, :y)]
    end
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@


-const P2 = StaticArrays.SVector{2,Float64}
-const P3 = StaticArrays.SVector{3,Float64}
+const P2 = GeometryTypes.Point2{Float64}
+const P3 = GeometryTypes.Point3{Float64}

 nanpush!(a::AbstractVector{P2}, b) = (push!(a, P2(NaN,NaN)); push!(a, b))
 nanappend!(a::AbstractVector{P2}, b) = (push!(a, P2(NaN,NaN)); append!(a, b))
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ const _shape_keys = Symbol[
  :x,
 ]

-const _shapes = KW(
+const _shapes = Dict{Symbol,Shape}(
    :circle    => makeshape(20),
    :rect       => makeshape(4, offset=-0.25),
    :diamond    => makeshape(4),
@@ -256,8 +256,24 @@ mutable struct Font
  color::Colorant
 end

-"Create a Font from a list of unordered features"
-function font(args...)
+"""
+    font(args...)
+Create a Font from a list of features. Values may be specified either as
+arguments (which are distinguished by type/value) or as keyword arguments.
+# Arguments
+- `family`: AbstractString. "serif" or "sans-serif" or "monospace"
+- `pointsize`: Integer. Size of font in points
+- `halign`: Symbol. Horizontal alignment (:hcenter, :left, or :right)
+- `valign`: Symbol. Vertical aligment (:vcenter, :top, or :bottom)
+- `rotation`: Real. Angle of rotation for text in degrees (use a non-integer type)
+- `color`: Colorant or Symbol
+# Examples
+```julia-repl
+julia> font(8)
+julia> font(family="serif",halign=:center,rotation=45.0)
+```
+"""
+function font(args...;kw...)

  # defaults
  family = "sans-serif"
@@ -301,6 +317,32 @@ function font(args...)
    end
  end

+  for symbol in keys(kw)
+    if symbol == :family
+      family = kw[:family]
+    elseif symbol == :pointsize
+      pointsize = kw[:pointsize]
+    elseif symbol == :halign
+      halign = kw[:halign]
+      if halign == :center
+        halign = :hcenter
+      end
+      @assert halign in (:hcenter, :left, :right)
+    elseif symbol == :valign
+      valign = kw[:valign]
+      if valign == :center
+        valign = :vcenter
+      end
+      @assert valign in (:vcenter, :top, :bottom)
+    elseif symbol == :rotation
+      rotation = kw[:rotation]
+    elseif symbol == :color
+      color = parse(Colorant, kw[:color])
+    else
+      @warn("Unused font kwarg: $symbol")
+    end
+  end
+
  Font(family, pointsize, halign, valign, rotation, color)
 end

@@ -344,15 +386,16 @@ end
 PlotText(str) = PlotText(string(str), font())

 """
-    text(string, args...)
+    text(string, args...; kw...)

-Create a PlotText object wrapping a string with font info, for plot annotations
+Create a PlotText object wrapping a string with font info, for plot annotations.
+`args` and `kw` are passed to `font`.
 """
 text(t::PlotText) = t
 text(t::PlotText, font::Font) = PlotText(t.str, font)
 text(str::AbstractString, f::Font) = PlotText(str, f)
-function text(str, args...)
-  PlotText(string(str), font(args...))
+function text(str, args...;kw...)
+  PlotText(string(str), font(args...;kw...))
 end

 Base.length(t::PlotText) = length(t.str)
@@ -486,7 +529,7 @@ function series_annotations_shapes!(series::Series, scaletype::Symbol = :pixels)
    # end

    # @show msw msh
-    if anns != nothing && anns.baseshape != nothing
+    if anns !== nothing && anns.baseshape !== nothing
        # we use baseshape to overwrite the markershape attribute
        # with a list of custom shapes for each
        msw,msh = anns.scalefactor
@@ -525,7 +568,7 @@ mutable struct EachAnn
 end

 function Base.iterate(ea::EachAnn, i = 1)
-    if ea.anns == nothing || isempty(ea.anns.strs) || i > length(ea.y)
+    if ea.anns === nothing || isempty(ea.anns.strs) || i > length(ea.y)
        return nothing
    end

@@ -736,7 +779,7 @@ end

 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 "create a BezierCurve for plotting"
-mutable struct BezierCurve{T <: StaticArrays.SVector}
+mutable struct BezierCurve{T <: GeometryTypes.Point}
    control_points::Vector{T}
 end

@@ -749,9 +792,6 @@ function (bc::BezierCurve)(t::Real)
    p
 end

-# mean(x::Real, y::Real) = 0.5*(x+y) #commented out as I cannot see this used anywhere and it overwrites a Base method with different functionality
-# mean{N,T<:Real}(ps::StaticArrays.SVector{N,T}...) = sum(ps) / length(ps) # I also could not see this used anywhere, and it's type piracy - implementing a NaNMath version for this would just involve converting to a standard array
-
@deprecate curve_points coords

 coords(curve::BezierCurve, n::Integer = 30; range = [0,1]) = map(curve, range(range..., stop=n, length=50))
@@ -86,8 +86,9 @@ yaxis!("YLABEL", :log10)
 PlotExample("Images",
    "Plot an image.  y-axis is set to flipped",
    [:(begin
-    import FileIO, PlotReferenceImages
-    img = FileIO.load(joinpath(dirname(pathof(PlotReferenceImages)), "..", "Plots","pyplot","0.7.0","ref1.png"))
+    import FileIO
+    path = download("http://juliaplots.org/PlotReferenceImages.jl/Plots/pyplot/0.7.0/ref1.png")
+    img = FileIO.load(path)
        plot(img)
    end)]
 ),
@@ -495,7 +496,7 @@ function test_examples(pkgname::Symbol; debug = false, disp = true, sleep = noth
  Plots._debugMode.on = debug
  plts = Dict()
  for i in 1:length(_examples)
-    only != nothing && !(i in only) && continue
+    only !== nothing && !(i in only) && continue
    i in skip && continue
    try
      plt = test_examples(pkgname, i, debug=debug, disp=disp)
@@ -504,7 +505,7 @@ function test_examples(pkgname::Symbol; debug = false, disp = true, sleep = noth
      # TODO: put error info into markdown?
      @warn("Example $pkgname:$i:$(_examples[i].header) failed with: $ex")
    end
-    if sleep != nothing
+    if sleep !== nothing
        Base.sleep(sleep)
    end
  end
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# ---------------------------------------------------------
+# A backup, if no PNG generation is defined, is to try to make a PDF and use FileIO to convert
+
+_fileio_load(@nospecialize(filename::AbstractString)) = FileIO.load(filename::AbstractString)
+_fileio_save(@nospecialize(filename::AbstractString), @nospecialize(x)) = FileIO.save(filename::AbstractString, x)
+
+function _show_pdfbackends(io::IO, ::MIME"image/png", plt::Plot)
+    fn = tempname()
+
+    # first save a pdf file
+    pdf(plt, fn)
+
+    # load that pdf into a FileIO Stream
+    s = _fileio_load(fn * ".pdf")
+
+    # save a png
+    pngfn = fn * ".png"
+    _fileio_save(pngfn, s)
+
+    # now write from the file
+    write(io, read(open(pngfn), String))
+end
+
+const PDFBackends = Union{PGFPlotsBackend,PlotlyJSBackend,PyPlotBackend,InspectDRBackend,GRBackend}
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+const use_local_dependencies = Ref(false)
+const use_local_plotlyjs = Ref(false)
+
+
+function _init_ijulia_plotting()
+    # IJulia is more stable with local file
+    use_local_plotlyjs[] = isfile(plotly_local_file_path)
+
+    ENV["MPLBACKEND"] = "Agg"
+end
+
+
+"""
+Add extra jupyter mimetypes to display_dict based on the plot backed.
+
+The default is nothing, except for plotly based backends, where it
+adds data for `application/vnd.plotly.v1+json` that is used in
+frontends like jupyterlab and nteract.
+"""
+_ijulia__extra_mime_info!(plt::Plot, out::Dict) = out
+
+function _ijulia__extra_mime_info!(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}, out::Dict)
+    out["application/vnd.plotly.v1+json"] = Dict(
+        :data => plotly_series(plt),
+        :layout => plotly_layout(plt)
+    )
+    out
+end
+
+function _ijulia__extra_mime_info!(plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend}, out::Dict)
+    out["application/vnd.plotly.v1+json"] = Dict(
+        :data => plotly_series(plt),
+        :layout => plotly_layout(plt)
+    )
+    out
+end
+
+
+function _ijulia_display_dict(plt::Plot)
+    output_type = Symbol(plt.attr[:html_output_format])
+    if output_type == :auto
+        output_type = get(_best_html_output_type, backend_name(plt.backend), :svg)
+    end
+    out = Dict()
+    if output_type == :txt
+        mime = "text/plain"
+        out[mime] = sprint(show, MIME(mime), plt)
+    elseif output_type == :png
+        mime = "image/png"
+        out[mime] = base64encode(show, MIME(mime), plt)
+    elseif output_type == :svg
+        mime = "image/svg+xml"
+        out[mime] = sprint(show, MIME(mime), plt)
+    elseif output_type == :html
+        mime = "text/html"
+        out[mime] = sprint(show, MIME(mime), plt)
+    else
+        error("Unsupported output type $output_type")
+    end
+    _ijulia__extra_mime_info!(plt, out)
+    out
+end
@@ -1,16 +1,22 @@
 using REPL

-const use_local_dependencies = Ref(false)
+
+function _plots_defaults()
+    if isdefined(Main, :PLOTS_DEFAULTS)
+        Dict{Symbol,Any}(Main.PLOTS_DEFAULTS)
+    else
+        Dict{Symbol,Any}()
+    end
+end
+

 function __init__()
-
-    if isdefined(Main, :PLOTS_DEFAULTS)
-        if haskey(Main.PLOTS_DEFAULTS, :theme)
-            theme(Main.PLOTS_DEFAULTS[:theme])
-        end
-        for (k,v) in Main.PLOTS_DEFAULTS
-            k == :theme || default(k, v)
-        end
+    user_defaults = _plots_defaults()
+    if haskey(user_defaults, :theme)
+        theme(user_defaults[:theme])
+    end
+    for (k,v) in user_defaults
+        k == :theme || default(k, v)
    end

    insert!(Base.Multimedia.displays, findlast(x -> x isa Base.TextDisplay || x isa REPL.REPLDisplay, Base.Multimedia.displays) + 1, PlotsDisplay())
@@ -29,95 +35,26 @@ function __init__()
    @require PyPlot = "d330b81b-6aea-500a-939a-2ce795aea3ee" include(joinpath(@__DIR__, "backends", "pyplot.jl"))
    @require UnicodePlots = "b8865327-cd53-5732-bb35-84acbb429228" include(joinpath(@__DIR__, "backends", "unicodeplots.jl"))

-    # ---------------------------------------------------------
-    # IJulia
-    # ---------------------------------------------------------
-    use_local = false
    @require IJulia = "7073ff75-c697-5162-941a-fcdaad2a7d2a" begin
        if IJulia.inited
-            # IJulia is more stable with local file
-            use_local = isfile(plotly_local_file_path)
-            """
-            Add extra jupyter mimetypes to display_dict based on the plot backed.
+            _init_ijulia_plotting()

-            The default is nothing, except for plotly based backends, where it
-            adds data for `application/vnd.plotly.v1+json` that is used in
-            frontends like jupyterlab and nteract.
-            """
-            _extra_mime_info!(plt::Plot, out::Dict) = out
-            function _extra_mime_info!(plt::Plot{PlotlyJSBackend}, out::Dict)
-                out["application/vnd.plotly.v1+json"] = JSON.lower(plt.o)
-                out
-            end
-
-            function _extra_mime_info!(plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend}, out::Dict)
-                out["application/vnd.plotly.v1+json"] = Dict(
-                    :data => plotly_series(plt),
-                    :layout => plotly_layout(plt)
-                )
-                out
-            end
-
-            function IJulia.display_dict(plt::Plot)
-                output_type = Symbol(plt.attr[:html_output_format])
-                if output_type == :auto
-                    output_type = get(_best_html_output_type, backend_name(plt.backend), :svg)
-                end
-                out = Dict()
-                if output_type == :txt
-                    mime = "text/plain"
-                    out[mime] = sprint(show, MIME(mime), plt)
-                elseif output_type == :png
-                    mime = "image/png"
-                    out[mime] = base64encode(show, MIME(mime), plt)
-                elseif output_type == :svg
-                    mime = "image/svg+xml"
-                    out[mime] = sprint(show, MIME(mime), plt)
-                elseif output_type == :html
-                    mime = "text/html"
-                    out[mime] = sprint(show, MIME(mime), plt)
-                else
-                    error("Unsupported output type $output_type")
-                end
-                _extra_mime_info!(plt, out)
-                out
-            end
-
-            ENV["MPLBACKEND"] = "Agg"
+            IJulia.display_dict(plt::Plot) = _ijulia_display_dict(plt)
        end
    end

    if haskey(ENV, "PLOTS_HOST_DEPENDENCY_LOCAL")
-        use_local = ENV["PLOTS_HOST_DEPENDENCY_LOCAL"] == "true"
-        use_local_dependencies[] = isfile(plotly_local_file_path) && use_local
-        if use_local && !isfile(plotly_local_file_path)
+        use_local_plotlyjs[] = ENV["PLOTS_HOST_DEPENDENCY_LOCAL"] == "true"
+        use_local_dependencies[] = isfile(plotly_local_file_path) && use_local_plotlyjs[]
+        if use_local_plotlyjs[] && !isfile(plotly_local_file_path)
            @warn("PLOTS_HOST_DEPENDENCY_LOCAL is set to true, but no local plotly file found. run Pkg.build(\"Plots\") and make sure PLOTS_HOST_DEPENDENCY_LOCAL is set to true")
        end
    else
-        use_local_dependencies[] = use_local
+        use_local_dependencies[] = use_local_plotlyjs[]
    end


-
-    # ---------------------------------------------------------
-    # A backup, if no PNG generation is defined, is to try to make a PDF and use FileIO to convert
    @require FileIO = "5789e2e9-d7fb-5bc7-8068-2c6fae9b9549" begin
-        PDFBackends = Union{PGFPlotsBackend,PlotlyJSBackend,PyPlotBackend,InspectDRBackend,GRBackend}
-        function _show(io::IO, ::MIME"image/png", plt::Plot{<:PDFBackends})
-            fn = tempname()
-
-            # first save a pdf file
-            pdf(plt, fn)
-
-            # load that pdf into a FileIO Stream
-            s = FileIO.load(fn * ".pdf")
-
-            # save a png
-            pngfn = fn * ".png"
-            FileIO.save(pngfn, s)
-
-            # now write from the file
-            write(io, read(open(pngfn), String))
-        end
+        _show(io::IO, mime::MIME"image/png", plt::Plot{<:PDFBackends}) = _show_pdfbackends(io, mime, plt)
    end
 end
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ function resolve_mixed(mix::MixedMeasures, sp::Subplot, letter::Symbol)
        pct += mix.len / totlen
    end
    if pct != 0
-        amin, amax = axis_limits(sp[Symbol(letter,:axis)])
+        amin, amax = axis_limits(sp, letter)
        xy += pct * (amax-amin)
    end
    xy
@@ -188,29 +188,29 @@ parent_bbox(layout::AbstractLayout) = bbox(parent(layout))
 # padding_h(layout::AbstractLayout) = bottom_padding(layout) + top_padding(layout)
 # padding(layout::AbstractLayout) = (padding_w(layout), padding_h(layout))

-update_position!(layout::AbstractLayout) = nothing
-update_child_bboxes!(layout::AbstractLayout, minimum_perimeter = [0mm,0mm,0mm,0mm]) = nothing
+@noinline update_position!(layout::AbstractLayout) = nothing
+@noinline update_child_bboxes!(layout::AbstractLayout, minimum_perimeter = [0mm,0mm,0mm,0mm]) = nothing

-left(layout::AbstractLayout) = left(bbox(layout))
-top(layout::AbstractLayout) = top(bbox(layout))
-right(layout::AbstractLayout) = right(bbox(layout))
-bottom(layout::AbstractLayout) = bottom(bbox(layout))
-width(layout::AbstractLayout) = width(bbox(layout))
-height(layout::AbstractLayout) = height(bbox(layout))
+@noinline left(layout::AbstractLayout) = left(bbox(layout))
+@noinline top(layout::AbstractLayout) = top(bbox(layout))
+@noinline right(layout::AbstractLayout) = right(bbox(layout))
+@noinline bottom(layout::AbstractLayout) = bottom(bbox(layout))
+@noinline width(layout::AbstractLayout) = width(bbox(layout))
+@noinline height(layout::AbstractLayout) = height(bbox(layout))

 # pass these through to the bbox methods if there's no plotarea
-plotarea(layout::AbstractLayout) = bbox(layout)
-plotarea!(layout::AbstractLayout, bb::BoundingBox) = bbox!(layout, bb)
+@noinline plotarea(layout::AbstractLayout) = bbox(layout)
+@noinline plotarea!(layout::AbstractLayout, bb::BoundingBox) = bbox!(layout, bb)

-attr(layout::AbstractLayout, k::Symbol) = layout.attr[k]
-attr(layout::AbstractLayout, k::Symbol, v) = get(layout.attr, k, v)
-attr!(layout::AbstractLayout, v, k::Symbol) = (layout.attr[k] = v)
-hasattr(layout::AbstractLayout, k::Symbol) = haskey(layout.attr, k)
+@noinline attr(layout::AbstractLayout, k::Symbol) = layout.attr[k]
+@noinline attr(layout::AbstractLayout, k::Symbol, v) = get(layout.attr, k, v)
+@noinline attr!(layout::AbstractLayout, v, k::Symbol) = (layout.attr[k] = v)
+@noinline hasattr(layout::AbstractLayout, k::Symbol) = haskey(layout.attr, k)

-leftpad(layout::AbstractLayout)   = 0mm
-toppad(layout::AbstractLayout)    = 0mm
-rightpad(layout::AbstractLayout)  = 0mm
-bottompad(layout::AbstractLayout) = 0mm
+@noinline leftpad(layout::AbstractLayout)   = 0mm
+@noinline toppad(layout::AbstractLayout)    = 0mm
+@noinline rightpad(layout::AbstractLayout)  = 0mm
+@noinline bottompad(layout::AbstractLayout) = 0mm

 # -----------------------------------------------------------
 # RootLayout
@@ -227,8 +227,8 @@ bbox(::RootLayout) = defaultbox

 # contains blank space
 mutable struct EmptyLayout <: AbstractLayout
-    parent::AbstractLayout
-    bbox::BoundingBox
+    parent
+    bbox#::BoundingBox
    attr::KW  # store label, width, and height for initialization
    # label  # this is the label that the subplot will take (since we create a layout before initialization)
 end
@@ -245,12 +245,12 @@ _update_min_padding!(layout::EmptyLayout) = nothing

 # nested, gridded layout with optional size percentages
 mutable struct GridLayout <: AbstractLayout
-    parent::AbstractLayout
-    minpad::Tuple # leftpad, toppad, rightpad, bottompad
-    bbox::BoundingBox
-    grid::Matrix{AbstractLayout} # Nested layouts. Each position is a AbstractLayout, which allows for arbitrary recursion
-    widths::Vector{Measure}
-    heights::Vector{Measure}
+    parent
+    minpad::Tuple{AbsoluteLength,AbsoluteLength,AbsoluteLength,AbsoluteLength} # leftpad, toppad, rightpad, bottompad
+    bbox#::BoundingBox
+    grid::Matrix{Any} # Nested layouts. Each position is a AbstractLayout, which allows for arbitrary recursion
+    widths::Vector{Any}
+    heights::Vector{Any}
    attr::KW
 end

@@ -268,14 +268,14 @@ function GridLayout(dims...;
                    widths = zeros(dims[2]),
                    heights = zeros(dims[1]),
                    kw...)
-    grid = Matrix{AbstractLayout}(undef, dims...)
+    grid = Matrix{Any}(undef, dims...)
    layout = GridLayout(
        parent,
        (20mm, 5mm, 2mm, 10mm),
        defaultbox,
        grid,
-        Measure[w*pct for w in widths],
-        Measure[h*pct for h in heights],
+        Any[w*pct for w in widths],
+        Any[h*pct for h in heights],
        # convert(Vector{Float64}, widths),
        # convert(Vector{Float64}, heights),
        KW(kw))
@@ -349,18 +349,18 @@ function update_child_bboxes!(layout::GridLayout, minimum_perimeter = [0mm,0mm,0
    # # create a matrix for each minimum padding direction
    # _update_min_padding!(layout)

-    minpad_left   = map(leftpad,   layout.grid)
-    minpad_top    = map(toppad,    layout.grid)
-    minpad_right  = map(rightpad,  layout.grid)
-    minpad_bottom = map(bottompad, layout.grid)
+    minpad_left::Matrix{AbsoluteLength}   = map(leftpad,   layout.grid)
+    minpad_top::Matrix{AbsoluteLength}    = map(toppad,    layout.grid)
+    minpad_right::Matrix{AbsoluteLength}  = map(rightpad,  layout.grid)
+    minpad_bottom::Matrix{AbsoluteLength} = map(bottompad, layout.grid)

    # get the max horizontal (left and right) padding over columns,
    # and max vertical (bottom and top) padding over rows
    # TODO: add extra padding here
-    pad_left   = maximum(minpad_left,   dims = 1)
-    pad_top    = maximum(minpad_top,    dims = 2)
-    pad_right  = maximum(minpad_right,  dims = 1)
-    pad_bottom = maximum(minpad_bottom, dims = 2)
+    pad_left::Matrix{AbsoluteLength}   = maximum(minpad_left,   dims = 1)
+    pad_top::Matrix{AbsoluteLength}    = maximum(minpad_top,    dims = 2)
+    pad_right::Matrix{AbsoluteLength}  = maximum(minpad_right,  dims = 1)
+    pad_bottom::Matrix{AbsoluteLength} = maximum(minpad_bottom, dims = 2)

    # make sure the perimeter match the parent
    pad_left[1]     = max(pad_left[1], minimum_perimeter[1])
@@ -389,14 +389,14 @@ function update_child_bboxes!(layout::GridLayout, minimum_perimeter = [0mm,0mm,0
        child = layout[r,c]

        # get the top-left corner of this child... the first one is top-left of the parent (i.e. layout)
-        child_left = (c == 1 ? left(layout.bbox) : right(layout[r, c-1].bbox))
-        child_top  = (r == 1 ? top(layout.bbox) : bottom(layout[r-1, c].bbox))
+        child_left::AbsoluteLength  = (c == 1 ? left(layout.bbox) : right(layout[r, c-1].bbox))
+        child_top::AbsoluteLength   = (r == 1 ? top(layout.bbox) : bottom(layout[r-1, c].bbox))

        # compute plot area
-        plotarea_left   = child_left + pad_left[c]
-        plotarea_top    = child_top + pad_top[r]
-        plotarea_width  = total_plotarea_horizontal * layout.widths[c]
-        plotarea_height = total_plotarea_vertical * layout.heights[r]
+        plotarea_left::AbsoluteLength    = child_left + pad_left[c]
+        plotarea_top::AbsoluteLength     = child_top + pad_top[r]
+        plotarea_width::AbsoluteLength   = total_plotarea_horizontal * layout.widths[c]
+        plotarea_height::AbsoluteLength  = total_plotarea_vertical * layout.heights[r]
        plotarea!(child, BoundingBox(plotarea_left, plotarea_top, plotarea_width, plotarea_height))

        # compute child bbox
@@ -512,14 +512,14 @@ end

 # # just a single subplot
 # function build_layout(sp::Subplot, n::Integer)
-#     sp, Subplot[sp], SubplotMap(gensym() => sp)
+#     sp, Subplot[sp], KW(gensym() => sp)
 # end

 # n is the number of subplots... build a grid and initialize the inner subplots recursively
 function build_layout(layout::GridLayout, n::Integer)
    nr, nc = size(layout)
-    subplots = Subplot[]
-    spmap = SubplotMap()
+    subplots = Any[]
+    spmap = KW()
    i = 0
    for r=1:nr, c=1:nc
        l = layout[r,c]
@@ -560,8 +560,8 @@ end
 # TODO... much of the logic overlaps with the method above... can we merge?
 function build_layout(layout::GridLayout, numsp::Integer, plts::AVec{Plot})
    nr, nc = size(layout)
-    subplots = Subplot[]
-    spmap = SubplotMap()
+    subplots = Any[]
+    spmap = KW()
    i = 0
    for r=1:nr, c=1:nc
        l = layout[r,c]
@@ -55,9 +55,7 @@ tex(fn::AbstractString) = tex(current(), fn)
 function html(plt::Plot, fn::AbstractString)
    fn = addExtension(fn, "html")
    io = open(fn, "w")
-    _use_remote[] = true
    show(io, MIME("text/html"), plt)
-    _use_remote[] = false
    close(io)
 end
 html(fn::AbstractString) = html(current(), fn)
@@ -105,7 +103,7 @@ type is inferred from the file extension. All backends support png and pdf
 file types, some also support svg, ps, eps, html and tex.
 """
 function savefig(plt::Plot, fn::AbstractString)
-
+  fn = abspath(expanduser(fn))
  # get the extension
  local ext
  try
@@ -131,29 +129,29 @@ savefig(fn::AbstractString) = savefig(current(), fn)

 Display a plot using the backends' gui window
 """
-gui(plt::Plot = current()) = display(PlotsDisplay(), plt)
+@noinline gui(plt::Plot = current()) = display(PlotsDisplay(), plt)

 # IJulia only... inline display
-function inline(plt::Plot = current())
+@noinline function inline(plt::Plot = current())
    isijulia() || error("inline() is IJulia-only")
    Main.IJulia.clear_output(true)
    display(Main.IJulia.InlineDisplay(), plt)
 end

-function Base.display(::PlotsDisplay, plt::Plot)
+@noinline function Base.display(::PlotsDisplay, plt::Plot)
    prepare_output(plt)
    _display(plt)
 end

-_do_plot_show(plt, showval::Bool) = showval && gui(plt)
-function _do_plot_show(plt, showval::Symbol)
+@noinline _do_plot_show(plt, showval::Bool) = showval && gui(plt)
+@noinline function _do_plot_show(plt, showval::Symbol)
    showval == :gui && gui(plt)
    showval in (:inline,:ijulia) && inline(plt)
 end

 # ---------------------------------------------------------

-const _best_html_output_type = KW(
+const _best_html_output_type = Dict{Symbol,Symbol}(
    :pyplot => :png,
    :unicodeplots => :txt,
    :plotlyjs => :html,
@@ -161,7 +159,7 @@ const _best_html_output_type = KW(
 )

 # a backup for html... passes to svg or png depending on the html_output_format arg
-function _show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/html", plt::Plot)
+@noinline function _show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/html", plt::Plot)
    output_type = Symbol(plt.attr[:html_output_format])
    if output_type == :auto
        output_type = get(_best_html_output_type, backend_name(plt.backend), :svg)
@@ -180,18 +178,18 @@ function _show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/html", plt::Plot)
 end

 # delegate showable to _show instead
-function Base.showable(m::M, plt::P) where {M<:MIME, P<:Plot}
+@noinline function Base.showable(m::M, plt::P) where {M<:MIME, P<:Plot}
    return hasmethod(_show, Tuple{IO, M, P})
 end

-function _display(plt::Plot)
+@noinline function _display(plt::Plot)
    @warn("_display is not defined for this backend.")
 end

 # for writing to io streams... first prepare, then callback
 for mime in ("text/plain", "text/html", "image/png", "image/eps", "image/svg+xml",
             "application/eps", "application/pdf", "application/postscript",
-             "application/x-tex")
+             "application/x-tex", "application/vnd.plotly.v1+json")
    @eval function Base.show(io::IO, m::MIME{Symbol($mime)}, plt::Plot)
        if haskey(io, :juno_plotsize)
          showjuno(io, m, plt)
@@ -199,11 +197,12 @@ for mime in ("text/plain", "text/html", "image/png", "image/eps", "image/svg+xml
          prepare_output(plt)
          _show(io, m, plt)
        end
+        return nothing
    end
 end

 # default text/plain for all backends
-_show(io::IO, ::MIME{Symbol("text/plain")}, plt::Plot) = show(io, plt)
+@noinline _show(io::IO, ::MIME{Symbol("text/plain")}, plt::Plot) = show(io, plt)

 "Close all open gui windows of the current backend"
 closeall() = closeall(backend())
@@ -229,7 +228,7 @@ closeall() = closeall(backend())
 # ---------------------------------------------------------
 # Atom PlotPane
 # ---------------------------------------------------------
-function showjuno(io::IO, m, plt)
+@noinline function showjuno(io::IO, m, plt)
    sz = plt[:size]
    dpi = plt[:dpi]
    thickness_scaling = plt[:thickness_scaling]
@@ -251,7 +250,7 @@ function showjuno(io::IO, m, plt)
    end
 end

-function _showjuno(io::IO, m::MIME"image/svg+xml", plt)
+@noinline function _showjuno(io::IO, m::MIME"image/svg+xml", plt)
  if Symbol(plt.attr[:html_output_format]) ≠ :svg
    throw(MethodError(show, (typeof(m), typeof(plt))))
  else
@@ -259,4 +258,4 @@ function _showjuno(io::IO, m::MIME"image/svg+xml", plt)
  end
 end

-_showjuno(io::IO, m, plt) = _show(io, m, plt)
+@noinline _showjuno(io::IO, m, plt) = _show(io, m, plt)
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------
 # preprocessing

-function command_idx(kw_list::AVec{KW}, kw::KW)
+@noinline function command_idx(kw_list::AVec{KW}, kw::KW)
    Int(kw[:series_plotindex]) - Int(kw_list[1][:series_plotindex]) + 1
 end

-function _expand_seriestype_array(plotattributes::KW, args)
+@noinline function _expand_seriestype_array(plotattributes::KW, args)
    sts = get(plotattributes, :seriestype, :path)
    if typeof(sts) <: AbstractArray
        delete!(plotattributes, :seriestype)
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ function _expand_seriestype_array(plotattributes::KW, args)
    end
 end

-function _preprocess_args(plotattributes::KW, args, still_to_process::Vector{RecipeData})
+@noinline function _preprocess_args(plotattributes::KW, args, still_to_process::Vector{RecipeData})
    # the grouping mechanism is a recipe on a GroupBy object
    # we simply add the GroupBy object to the front of the args list to allow
    # the recipe to be applied
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ end
 # user recipes


-function _process_userrecipes(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, args)
+@noinline function _process_userrecipes(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, args)
    still_to_process = RecipeData[]
    args = _preprocess_args(plotattributes, args, still_to_process)

@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ function _process_userrecipes(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, args)
    kw_list
 end

-function _process_userrecipe(plt::Plot, kw_list::Vector{KW}, recipedata::RecipeData)
+@noinline function _process_userrecipe(plt::Plot, kw_list::Vector{KW}, recipedata::RecipeData)
    # when the arg tuple is empty, that means there's nothing left to recursively
    # process... finish up and add to the kw_list
    kw = recipedata.plotattributes
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ function _process_userrecipe(plt::Plot, kw_list::Vector{KW}, recipedata::RecipeD
    return
 end

-function _preprocess_userrecipe(kw::KW)
+@noinline function _preprocess_userrecipe(kw::KW)
    _add_markershape(kw)

    # if there was a grouping, filter the data here
@@ -126,17 +126,17 @@ function _preprocess_userrecipe(kw::KW)
    end

    # convert a ribbon into a fillrange
-    if get(kw, :ribbon, nothing) != nothing
+    if get(kw, :ribbon, nothing) !== nothing
        make_fillrange_from_ribbon(kw)
    end
    return
 end

-function _add_errorbar_kw(kw_list::Vector{KW}, kw::KW)
+@noinline function _add_errorbar_kw(kw_list::Vector{KW}, kw::KW)
    # handle error bars by creating new recipedata data... these will have
    # the same recipedata index as the recipedata they are copied from
    for esym in (:xerror, :yerror)
-        if get(kw, esym, nothing) != nothing
+        if get(kw, esym, nothing) !== nothing
            # we make a copy of the KW and apply an errorbar recipe
            errkw = copy(kw)
            errkw[:seriestype] = esym
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ function _add_errorbar_kw(kw_list::Vector{KW}, kw::KW)
    end
 end

-function _add_smooth_kw(kw_list::Vector{KW}, kw::KW)
+@noinline function _add_smooth_kw(kw_list::Vector{KW}, kw::KW)
    # handle smoothing by adding a new series
    if get(kw, :smooth, false)
        x, y = kw[:x], kw[:y]
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ end
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------
 # setup plot and subplot

-function _plot_setup(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, kw_list::Vector{KW})
+function _plot_setup(plt::Plot{T}, plotattributes::KW, kw_list::Vector{KW}) where {T}
    # merge in anything meant for the Plot
    for kw in kw_list, (k,v) in kw
        haskey(_plot_defaults, k) && (plotattributes[k] = pop!(kw, k))
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ function _plot_setup(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, kw_list::Vector{KW})

    # handle inset subplots
    insets = plt[:inset_subplots]
-    if insets != nothing
+    if insets !== nothing
        if !(typeof(insets) <: AVec)
            insets = [insets]
        end
@@ -252,18 +252,17 @@ function _plot_setup(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, kw_list::Vector{KW})
    plt[:inset_subplots] = nothing
 end

-function _subplot_setup(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, kw_list::Vector{KW})
+function _subplot_setup(plt::Plot{T}, plotattributes::KW, kw_list::Vector{KW}) where T
    # we'll keep a map of subplot to an attribute override dict.
    # Subplot/Axis attributes set by a user/series recipe apply only to the
    # Subplot object which they belong to.
    # TODO: allow matrices to still apply to all subplots
-    sp_attrs = Dict{Subplot,Any}()
+    sp_attrs = Dict{Any,Any}()
    for kw in kw_list
        # get the Subplot object to which the series belongs.
        sps = get(kw, :subplot, :auto)
        sp = get_subplot(plt, _cycle(sps == :auto ? plt.subplots : plt.subplots[sps], command_idx(kw_list,kw)))
        kw[:subplot] = sp
-
        # extract subplot/axis attributes from kw and add to sp_attr
        attr = KW()
        for (k,v) in collect(kw)
@@ -303,7 +302,7 @@ end

 # getting ready to add the series... last update to subplot from anything
 # that might have been added during series recipes
-function _prepare_subplot(plt::Plot{T}, plotattributes::KW) where T
+@noinline function _prepare_subplot(plt::Plot{T}, plotattributes::KW) where T
    st::Symbol = plotattributes[:seriestype]
    sp::Subplot{T} = plotattributes[:subplot]
    sp_idx = get_subplot_index(plt, sp)
@@ -327,7 +326,7 @@ end
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------
 # series types

-function _override_seriestype_check(plotattributes::KW, st::Symbol)
+@noinline function _override_seriestype_check(plotattributes::KW, st::Symbol)
    # do we want to override the series type?
    if !is3d(st) && !(st in (:contour,:contour3d))
        z = plotattributes[:z]
@@ -339,7 +338,7 @@ function _override_seriestype_check(plotattributes::KW, st::Symbol)
    st
 end

-function _prepare_annotations(sp::Subplot, plotattributes::KW)
+@noinline function _prepare_annotations(sp::Subplot, plotattributes::KW)
    # strip out series annotations (those which are based on series x/y coords)
    # and add them to the subplot attr
    sp_anns = annotations(sp[:annotations])
@@ -372,7 +371,7 @@ function _expand_subplot_extrema(sp::Subplot, plotattributes::KW, st::Symbol)
    end
 end

-function _add_the_series(plt, sp, plotattributes)
+@noinline function _add_the_series(plt, sp, plotattributes)
    warnOnUnsupported_args(plt.backend, plotattributes)
    warnOnUnsupported(plt.backend, plotattributes)
    series = Series(plotattributes)
@@ -4,19 +4,19 @@ mutable struct CurrentPlot
 end
 const CURRENT_PLOT = CurrentPlot(nothing)

-isplotnull() = CURRENT_PLOT.nullableplot == nothing
+@noinline isplotnull() = CURRENT_PLOT.nullableplot === nothing

 """
    current()
 Returns the Plot object for the current plot
 """
-function current()
+@noinline function current()
    if isplotnull()
        error("No current plot/subplot")
    end
    CURRENT_PLOT.nullableplot
 end
-current(plot::AbstractPlot) = (CURRENT_PLOT.nullableplot = plot)
+@noinline current(plot::AbstractPlot) = (CURRENT_PLOT.nullableplot = plot)

 # ---------------------------------------------------------

@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ Base.string(plt::Plot) = "Plot{$(plt.backend) n=$(plt.n)}"
 Base.print(io::IO, plt::Plot) = print(io, string(plt))
 Base.show(io::IO, plt::Plot) = print(io, string(plt))

-getplot(plt::Plot) = plt
-getattr(plt::Plot, idx::Int = 1) = plt.attr
-convertSeriesIndex(plt::Plot, n::Int) = n
+@noinline getplot(plt::Plot) = plt
+@noinline getattr(plt::Plot, idx::Int = 1) = plt.attr
+@noinline convertSeriesIndex(plt::Plot, n::Int) = n

 # ---------------------------------------------------------

@@ -50,11 +50,10 @@ function plot(args...; kw...)
    # this creates a new plot with args/kw and sets it to be the current plot
    plotattributes = KW(kw)
    preprocessArgs!(plotattributes)
-
    # create an empty Plot then process
    plt = Plot()
    # plt.user_attr = plotattributes
-    _plot!(plt, plotattributes, args)
+    _plot!(plt, plotattributes, Any[args...])
 end

 # build a new plot from existing plots
@@ -155,7 +154,7 @@ function plot!(plt::Plot, args...; kw...)
    plotattributes = KW(kw)
    preprocessArgs!(plotattributes)
    # merge!(plt.user_attr, plotattributes)
-    _plot!(plt, plotattributes, args)
+    _plot!(plt, plotattributes, Any[args...])
 end

 # -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -163,18 +162,20 @@ end
 # this is the core plotting function.  recursively apply recipes to build
 # a list of series KW dicts.
 # note: at entry, we only have those preprocessed args which were passed in... no default values yet
-function _plot!(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, args::Tuple)
+function _plot!(plt::Plot{T}, plotattributes::KW, args::Vector{Any}) where {T}
    plotattributes[:plot_object] = plt

-    if !isempty(args) && !isdefined(Main, :StatPlots) &&
+
+    if !isempty(args) && !isdefined(Main, :StatsPlots) &&
            first(split(string(typeof(args[1])), ".")) == "DataFrames"
-        @warn("You're trying to plot a DataFrame, but this functionality is provided by StatPlots")
+        @warn("You're trying to plot a DataFrame, but this functionality is provided by StatsPlots")
    end

    # --------------------------------
    # "USER RECIPES"
    # --------------------------------

+    # 1 second
    kw_list = _process_userrecipes(plt, plotattributes, args)

    # @info(1)
@@ -189,6 +190,7 @@ function _plot!(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, args::Tuple)
    # the plot layout is created, which allows for setting layouts and other plot-wide attributes.
    # we get inputs which have been fully processed by "user recipes" and "type recipes",
    # so we can expect standard vectors, surfaces, etc.  No defaults have been set yet.
+
    still_to_process = kw_list
    kw_list = KW[]
    while !isempty(still_to_process)
@@ -202,7 +204,11 @@ function _plot!(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, args::Tuple)
    # --------------------------------
    # Plot/Subplot/Layout setup
    # --------------------------------
+
+    # 2.5 seconds
    _plot_setup(plt, plotattributes, kw_list)
+
+    # 6 seconds
    _subplot_setup(plt, plotattributes, kw_list)

    # !!! note: At this point, kw_list is fully decomposed into individual series... one KW per series.          !!!
@@ -216,7 +222,7 @@ function _plot!(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, args::Tuple)
    # map(DD, kw_list)

    for kw in kw_list
-        sp::Subplot = kw[:subplot]
+        sp::Subplot{T} = kw[:subplot]
        # idx = get_subplot_index(plt, sp)

        # # we update subplot args in case something like the color palatte is part of the recipe
@@ -233,9 +239,9 @@ function _plot!(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, args::Tuple)
        # be able to support step, bar, and histogram plots (and any recipes that use those components).
        _process_seriesrecipe(plt, kw)
    end
-
    # --------------------------------

+    # 7 seconds
    current(plt)

    # do we want to force display?
@@ -243,14 +249,14 @@ function _plot!(plt::Plot, plotattributes::KW, args::Tuple)
    #     gui(plt)
    # end
    _do_plot_show(plt, plt[:show])
-
    plt
 end


 # we're getting ready to display/output.  prep for layout calcs, then update
 # the plot object after
-function prepare_output(plt::Plot)
+@noinline function prepare_output(plt::Plot)
+
    _before_layout_calcs(plt)

    w, h = plt.attr[:size]
@@ -271,9 +277,10 @@ function prepare_output(plt::Plot)

    # the backend callback, to reposition subplots, etc
    _update_plot_object(plt)
+
 end

-function backend_object(plt::Plot)
+@noinline function backend_object(plt::Plot)
    prepare_output(plt)
    plt.o
 end
@@ -50,8 +50,13 @@ function plotattr(attrtype::Symbol, attribute::AbstractString)

    desc = get(_arg_desc, attribute, "")
    first_period_idx = findfirst(isequal('.'), desc)
-    typedesc = desc[1:first_period_idx-1]
-    desc = strip(desc[first_period_idx+1:end])
+    if isnothing(first_period_idx) 
+        typedesc = ""
+        desc = strip(desc)
+    else
+        typedesc = desc[1:first_period_idx-1]
+        desc = strip(desc[first_period_idx+1:end])
+    end
    als = keys(filter(x->x[2]==attribute, _keyAliases)) |> collect |> sort
    als = join(map(string,als), ", ")
    def = _attribute_defaults[attrtype][attribute]
@@ -47,16 +47,47 @@ end
 num_series(x::AMat) = size(x,2)
 num_series(x) = 1

-RecipesBase.apply_recipe(plotattributes::KW, ::Type{T}, plt::AbstractPlot) where {T} = throw(MethodError("Unmatched plot recipe: $T"))
+RecipesBase.apply_recipe(plotattributes::KW, ::Type{T}, plt::AbstractPlot) where {T} = throw(MethodError(T, "Unmatched plot recipe: $T"))

 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------


 # for seriestype `line`, need to sort by x values
+
+const POTENTIAL_VECTOR_ARGUMENTS = [
+    :seriescolor, :seriesalpha,
+    :linecolor, :linealpha, :linewidth, :linestyle, :line_z,
+    :fillcolor, :fillalpha, :fill_z,
+    :markercolor, :markeralpha, :markershape, :marker_z,
+    :markerstrokecolor, :markerstrokealpha,
+    :yerror, :yerror,
+    :series_annotations, :fillrange
+]
+
@recipe function f(::Type{Val{:line}}, x, y, z)
    indices = sortperm(x)
    x := x[indices]
    y := y[indices]
+
+    # sort vector arguments
+    for arg in POTENTIAL_VECTOR_ARGUMENTS
+        if typeof(plotattributes[arg]) <: AVec
+            plotattributes[arg] = _cycle(plotattributes[arg], indices)
+        end
+    end
+
+    # a tuple as fillrange has to be handled differently
+    if typeof(plotattributes[:fillrange]) <: Tuple
+        lower, upper = plotattributes[:fillrange]
+        if typeof(lower) <: AVec
+            lower = _cycle(lower, indices)
+        end
+        if typeof(upper) <: AVec
+            upper = _cycle(upper, indices)
+        end
+        plotattributes[:fillrange] = (lower, upper)
+    end
+
    if typeof(z) <: AVec
        z := z[indices]
    end
@@ -65,19 +96,6 @@ RecipesBase.apply_recipe(plotattributes::KW, ::Type{T}, plt::AbstractPlot) where
 end
@deps line path

-
-function hvline_limits(axis::Axis)
-    vmin, vmax = axis_limits(axis)
-    if vmin >= vmax
-        if isfinite(vmin)
-            vmax = vmin + 1
-        else
-            vmin, vmax = 0.0, 1.1
-        end
-    end
-    vmin, vmax
-end
-
@recipe function f(::Type{Val{:hline}}, x, y, z)
    n = length(y)
    newx = repeat(Float64[-1, 1, NaN], n)
@@ -221,12 +239,13 @@ end
@recipe function f(::Type{Val{:sticks}}, x, y, z)
    n = length(x)
    fr = plotattributes[:fillrange]
-    if fr == nothing
-        yaxis = plotattributes[:subplot][:yaxis]
+    if fr === nothing
+        sp = plotattributes[:subplot]
+        yaxis = sp[:yaxis]
        fr = if yaxis[:scale] == :identity
            0.0
        else
-            NaNMath.min(axis_limits(yaxis)[1], ignorenan_minimum(y))
+            NaNMath.min(axis_limits(sp, :y)[1], ignorenan_minimum(y))
        end
    end
    newx, newy = zeros(3n), zeros(3n)
@@ -272,13 +291,13 @@ end

 # create segmented bezier curves in place of line segments
@recipe function f(::Type{Val{:curves}}, x, y, z; npoints = 30)
-    args = z != nothing ? (x,y,z) : (x,y)
+    args = z !== nothing ? (x,y,z) : (x,y)
    newx, newy = zeros(0), zeros(0)
    fr = plotattributes[:fillrange]
-    newfr = fr != nothing ? zeros(0) : nothing
-    newz = z != nothing ? zeros(0) : nothing
+    newfr = fr !== nothing ? zeros(0) : nothing
+    newz = z !== nothing ? zeros(0) : nothing
    # lz = plotattributes[:line_z]
-    # newlz = lz != nothing ? zeros(0) : nothing
+    # newlz = lz !== nothing ? zeros(0) : nothing

    # for each line segment (point series with no NaNs), convert it into a bezier curve
    # where the points are the control points of the curve
@@ -287,13 +306,13 @@ end
        ts = range(0, stop = 1, length = npoints)
        nanappend!(newx, map(t -> bezier_value(_cycle(x,rng), t), ts))
        nanappend!(newy, map(t -> bezier_value(_cycle(y,rng), t), ts))
-        if z != nothing
+        if z !== nothing
            nanappend!(newz, map(t -> bezier_value(_cycle(z,rng), t), ts))
        end
-        if fr != nothing
+        if fr !== nothing
            nanappend!(newfr, map(t -> bezier_value(_cycle(fr,rng), t), ts))
        end
-        # if lz != nothing
+        # if lz !== nothing
        #     lzrng = _cycle(lz, rng) # the line_z's for this segment
        #     push!(newlz, 0.0)
        #     append!(newlz, map(t -> lzrng[1+floor(Int, t * (length(rng)-1))], ts))
@@ -302,16 +321,16 @@ end

    x := newx
    y := newy
-    if z == nothing
+    if z === nothing
        seriestype := :path
    else
        seriestype := :path3d
        z := newz
    end
-    if fr != nothing
+    if fr !== nothing
        fillrange := newfr
    end
-    # if lz != nothing
+    # if lz !== nothing
    #     # line_z := newlz
    #     linecolor := (isa(plotattributes[:linecolor], ColorGradient) ? plotattributes[:linecolor] : cgrad())
    # end
@@ -338,7 +357,7 @@ end

    # compute half-width of bars
    bw = plotattributes[:bar_width]
-    hw = if bw == nothing
+    hw = if bw === nothing
        if nx > 1
            0.5*_bar_width*ignorenan_minimum(filter(x->x>0, diff(procx)))
        else
@@ -350,7 +369,7 @@ end

    # make fillto a vector... default fills to 0
    fillto = plotattributes[:fillrange]
-    if fillto == nothing
+    if fillto === nothing
        fillto = 0
    end
    if (yscale in _logScales) && !all(_is_positive, fillto)
@@ -472,7 +491,7 @@ end

@recipe function f(::Type{Val{:barbins}}, x, y, z)
    edge, weights, xscale, yscale, baseline = _preprocess_binlike(plotattributes, x, y)
-    if (plotattributes[:bar_width] == nothing)
+    if (plotattributes[:bar_width] === nothing)
        bar_width := diff(edge)
    end
    x := _bin_centers(edge)
@@ -514,18 +533,20 @@ function _stepbins_path(edge, weights, baseline::Real, xscale::Symbol, yscale::S

    last_w = eltype(weights)(NaN)

-    while it_tuple_e != nothing && it_tuple_w != nothing
+    while it_tuple_e !== nothing && it_tuple_w !== nothing
        b, it_state_e = it_tuple_e
        w, it_state_w = it_tuple_w

        if (log_scale_x && a ≈ 0)
-            a = b/_logScaleBases[xscale]^3
+            a = oftype(a, b/_logScaleBases[xscale]^3)
        end

        if isnan(w)
            if !isnan(last_w)
                push!(x, a)
                push!(y, baseline)
+                push!(x, NaN)
+                push!(y, NaN)
            end
        else
            if isnan(last_w)
@@ -538,8 +559,8 @@ function _stepbins_path(edge, weights, baseline::Real, xscale::Symbol, yscale::S
            push!(y, w)
        end

-        a = b
-        last_w = w
+        a = oftype(a, b)
+        last_w = oftype(last_w, w)

        it_tuple_e = iterate(edge, it_state_e)
        it_tuple_w = iterate(weights, it_state_w)
@@ -586,12 +607,13 @@ end
 end
 Plots.@deps stepbins path

-wand_edges(x...) = (@warn("Load the StatPlots package in order to use :wand bins. Defaulting to :auto", once = true); :auto)
+wand_edges(x...) = (@warn("Load the StatsPlots package in order to use :wand bins. Defaulting to :auto", once = true); :auto)

 function _auto_binning_nbins(vs::NTuple{N,AbstractVector}, dim::Integer; mode::Symbol = :auto) where N
-    _cl(x) = ceil(Int, NaNMath.max(x, one(x)))
+    max_bins = 10_000
+    _cl(x) = min(ceil(Int, max(x, one(x))), max_bins)
    _iqr(v) = (q = quantile(v, 0.75) - quantile(v, 0.25); q > 0 ? q : oftype(q, 1))
-    _span(v) = ignorenan_maximum(v) - ignorenan_minimum(v)
+    _span(v) = maximum(v) - minimum(v)

    n_samples = length(LinearIndices(first(vs)))

@@ -616,7 +638,7 @@ function _auto_binning_nbins(vs::NTuple{N,AbstractVector}, dim::Integer; mode::S
    elseif mode == :fd  # Freedman–Diaconis rule
        _cl(_span(v) / (2 * _iqr(v) / nd))
    elseif mode == :wand
-        wand_edges(v)  # this makes this function not type stable, but the type instability does not propagate
+        _cl(wand_edges(v))  # this makes this function not type stable, but the type instability does not propagate
    else
        error("Unknown auto-binning mode $mode")
    end
@@ -635,11 +657,19 @@ _hist_edges(vs::NTuple{N,AbstractVector}, binning::Union{Integer, Symbol, Abstra
 _hist_norm_mode(mode::Symbol) = mode
 _hist_norm_mode(mode::Bool) = mode ? :pdf : :none

+_filternans(vs::NTuple{1,AbstractVector}) = filter!.(isfinite, vs)
+function _filternans(vs::NTuple{N,AbstractVector}) where N
+    _invertedindex(v, not) = [j for (i,j) in enumerate(v) if !(i ∈ not)]
+    nots = union(Set.(findall.(!isfinite, vs))...)
+    _invertedindex.(vs, Ref(nots))
+end
+
 function _make_hist(vs::NTuple{N,AbstractVector}, binning; normed = false, weights = nothing) where N
-    edges = _hist_edges(vs, binning)
-    h = float( weights == nothing ?
-        StatsBase.fit(StatsBase.Histogram, vs, edges, closed = :left) :
-        StatsBase.fit(StatsBase.Histogram, vs, StatsBase.Weights(weights), edges, closed = :left)
+    localvs = _filternans(vs)
+    edges = _hist_edges(localvs, binning)
+    h = float( weights === nothing ?
+        StatsBase.fit(StatsBase.Histogram, localvs, edges, closed = :left) :
+        StatsBase.fit(StatsBase.Histogram, localvs, StatsBase.Weights(weights), edges, closed = :left)
    )
    normalize!(h, mode = _hist_norm_mode(normed))
 end
@@ -1053,7 +1083,7 @@ end

 # -------------------------------------------------

-"Adds a+bx... straight line over the current plot, without changing the axis limits"
+"Adds ax+b... straight line over the current plot, without changing the axis limits"
 abline!(plt::Plot, a, b; kw...) = plot!(plt, [0, 1], [b, b+a]; seriestype = :straightline, kw...)

 abline!(args...; kw...) = abline!(current(), args...; kw...)
@@ -1069,6 +1099,12 @@ timeformatter(t) = string(Dates.Time(Dates.Nanosecond(t)))
@recipe f(::Type{Date}, dt::Date) = (dt -> Dates.value(dt), dateformatter)
@recipe f(::Type{DateTime}, dt::DateTime) = (dt -> Dates.value(dt), datetimeformatter)
@recipe f(::Type{Dates.Time}, t::Dates.Time) = (t -> Dates.value(t), timeformatter)
+@recipe f(::Type{P}, t::P) where P <: Dates.Period = (t -> Dates.value(t), t -> string(P(t)))
+
+# -------------------------------------------------
+# Characters
+
+@recipe f(::Type{<:AbstractChar}, ::AbstractChar) = (string, string)

 # -------------------------------------------------
 # Complex Numbers
@@ -1153,3 +1189,27 @@ end
        @series Plots.isvertical(plotattributes) ? (sx, sy) : (sy, sx)
    end
 end
+
+"""
+    areaplot([x,] y)
+    areaplot!([x,] y)
+
+Draw a stacked area plot of the matrix y.
+# Examples
+```julia-repl
+julia> areaplot(1:3, [1 2 3; 7 8 9; 4 5 6], seriescolor = [:red :green :blue], fillalpha = [0.2 0.3 0.4])
+```
+"""
+@userplot AreaPlot
+
+@recipe function f(a::AreaPlot)
+    data = cumsum(a.args[end], dims=2)
+    x = length(a.args) == 1 ? (1:size(data, 1)) : a.args[1]
+    seriestype := :line
+    for i in 1:size(data, 2)
+        @series begin
+            fillrange := i > 1 ? data[:,i-1] : 0
+            x, data[:,i]
+        end
+    end
+end
@@ -7,72 +7,47 @@
 # note: returns meta information... mainly for use with automatic labeling from DataFrames for now

 const FuncOrFuncs{F} = Union{F, Vector{F}, Matrix{F}}
+const DataPoint = Union{Number, AbstractString, Missing}
+const SeriesData = Union{AVec{<:DataPoint}, Function, Surface, Volume}

-all3D(plotattributes::KW) = trueOrAllTrue(st -> st in (:contour, :contourf, :heatmap, :surface, :wireframe, :contour3d, :image, :plots_heatmap), get(plotattributes, :seriestype, :none))
+prepareSeriesData(x) = error("Cannot convert $(typeof(x)) to series data for plotting")
+prepareSeriesData(::Nothing) = nothing
+prepareSeriesData(s::SeriesData) = handlemissings(s)

-# unknown
-convertToAnyVector(x, plotattributes::KW) = error("No user recipe defined for $(typeof(x))")
+handlemissings(v) = v
+handlemissings(v::AbstractArray{Union{T,Missing}}) where T <: Number = replace(v, missing => NaN)
+handlemissings(v::AbstractArray{Union{T,Missing}}) where T <: AbstractString = replace(v, missing => "")
+handlemissings(s::Surface) = Surface(handlemissings(s.surf))
+handlemissings(v::Volume) = Volume(handlemissings(v.v), v.x_extents, v.y_extents, v.z_extents)

-# missing
-convertToAnyVector(v::Nothing, plotattributes::KW) = Any[nothing], nothing
+# default: assume x represents a single series
+convertToAnyVector(x) = Any[prepareSeriesData(x)]

 # fixed number of blank series
-convertToAnyVector(n::Integer, plotattributes::KW) = Any[zeros(0) for i in 1:n], nothing
+convertToAnyVector(n::Integer) = Any[zeros(0) for i in 1:n]

-# numeric vector
-convertToAnyVector(v::AVec{T}, plotattributes::KW) where {T<:Number} = Any[v], nothing
-convertToAnyVector(v::AVec{Union{Missing, T}}, plotattributes::KW) where {T<:Number} = Any[replace(v, missing => NaN)], nothing
-
-# string vector
-convertToAnyVector(v::AVec{T}, plotattributes::KW) where {T<:AbstractString} = Any[v], nothing
-convertToAnyVector(v::AVec{Union{Missing, T}}, plotattributes::KW) where {T<:AbstractString} = Any[replace(v, missing => "")], nothing
-
-function convertToAnyVector(v::AMat, plotattributes::KW)
-    v = handlemissings(v)
-    if all3D(plotattributes)
-        Any[Surface(v)]
-    else
-        Any[v[:,i] for i in 1:size(v,2)]
-    end, nothing
-end
-
-handlemissings(v::AMat) = v
-handlemissings(v::AMat{T}) where T <: Number = replace(v, missing => NaN)
-handlemissings(v::AMat{T}) where T <: String = replace(v, missing => "")
-
-# function
-convertToAnyVector(f::Function, plotattributes::KW) = Any[f], nothing
-
-# surface
-convertToAnyVector(s::Surface, plotattributes::KW) = Any[s], nothing
-
-# volume
-convertToAnyVector(v::Volume, plotattributes::KW) = Any[v], nothing
-
-# # vector of OHLC
-# convertToAnyVector(v::AVec{OHLC}, plotattributes::KW) = Any[v], nothing
-
-# # dates
-convertToAnyVector(dts::AVec{D}, plotattributes::KW) where {D<:Union{Date,DateTime}} = Any[dts], nothing
+# vector of data points is a single series
+convertToAnyVector(v::AVec{<:DataPoint}) = Any[prepareSeriesData(v)]

 # list of things (maybe other vectors, functions, or something else)
-function convertToAnyVector(v::AVec, plotattributes::KW)
-    if all(x -> typeof(x) <: Number, v)
-        # all real numbers wrap the whole vector as one item
-        Any[convert(Vector{Float64}, v)], nothing
-    else
-        # something else... treat each element as an item
-        vcat(Any[convertToAnyVector(vi, plotattributes)[1] for vi in v]...), nothing
-        # Any[vi for vi in v], nothing
-    end
-end
+convertToAnyVector(v::AVec) = vcat((convertToAnyVector(vi) for vi in v)...)

-convertToAnyVector(t::Tuple, plotattributes::KW) = Any[t], nothing
+# Matrix is split into columns
+convertToAnyVector(v::AMat{<:DataPoint}) = Any[prepareSeriesData(v[:,i]) for i in 1:size(v,2)]
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Fillranges & ribbons


-function convertToAnyVector(args...)
-    error("In convertToAnyVector, could not handle the argument types: $(map(typeof, args[1:end-1]))")
-end
+process_fillrange(range::Number) = [range]
+process_fillrange(range) = convertToAnyVector(range)
+
+process_ribbon(ribbon::Number) = [ribbon]
+process_ribbon(ribbon) = convertToAnyVector(ribbon)
+# ribbon as a tuple: (lower_ribbons, upper_ribbons)
+process_ribbon(ribbon::Tuple{Any,Any}) = collect(zip(convertToAnyVector(ribbon[1]),
+                                                     convertToAnyVector(ribbon[2])))
+

 # --------------------------------------------------------------------

@@ -135,24 +110,17 @@ struct SliceIt end
        z = z.data
    end

-    xs, _ = convertToAnyVector(x, plotattributes)
-    ys, _ = convertToAnyVector(y, plotattributes)
-    zs, _ = convertToAnyVector(z, plotattributes)
+    xs = convertToAnyVector(x)
+    ys = convertToAnyVector(y)
+    zs = convertToAnyVector(z)
+

    fr = pop!(plotattributes, :fillrange, nothing)
-    fillranges, _ = if typeof(fr) <: Number
-        ([fr],nothing)
-    else
-        convertToAnyVector(fr, plotattributes)
-    end
+    fillranges = process_fillrange(fr)
    mf = length(fillranges)

    rib = pop!(plotattributes, :ribbon, nothing)
-    ribbons, _ = if typeof(rib) <: Number
-        ([fr],nothing)
-    else
-        convertToAnyVector(rib, plotattributes)
-    end
+    ribbons = process_ribbon(rib)
    mr = length(ribbons)

    # @show zs
@@ -175,7 +143,7 @@ struct SliceIt end
            rib = ribbons[mod1(i,mr)]
            di[:ribbon] = isa(rib, Function) ? map(rib, di[:x]) : rib

-            push!(series_list, RecipeData(di, ()))
+            push!(series_list, RecipeData(di, Any[]))
        end
    end
    nothing  # don't add a series for the main block
@@ -193,8 +161,9 @@ _apply_type_recipe(plotattributes, v) = RecipesBase.apply_recipe(plotattributes,
 # This sort of recipe should return a pair of functions... one to convert to number,
 # and one to format tick values.
 function _apply_type_recipe(plotattributes, v::AbstractArray)
-    isempty(v) && return Float64[]
-    args = RecipesBase.apply_recipe(plotattributes, typeof(v[1]), v[1])[1].args
+    isempty(skipmissing(v)) && return Float64[]
+    x = first(skipmissing(v))
+    args = RecipesBase.apply_recipe(plotattributes, typeof(x), x)[1].args
    if length(args) == 2 && typeof(args[1]) <: Function && typeof(args[2]) <: Function
        numfunc, formatter = args
        Formatted(map(numfunc, v), formatter)
@@ -292,8 +261,10 @@ end

@recipe f(n::Integer) = is3d(get(plotattributes,:seriestype,:path)) ? (SliceIt, n, n, n) : (SliceIt, n, n, nothing)

+all3D(plotattributes::KW) = trueOrAllTrue(st -> st in (:contour, :contourf, :heatmap, :surface, :wireframe, :contour3d, :image, :plots_heatmap), get(plotattributes, :seriestype, :none))
+
 # return a surface if this is a 3d plot, otherwise let it be sliced up
-@recipe function f(mat::AMat{T}) where T<:Union{Integer,AbstractFloat}
+@recipe function f(mat::AMat{T}) where T<:Union{Integer,AbstractFloat,Missing}
    if all3D(plotattributes)
        n,m = size(mat)
        wrap_surfaces(plotattributes)
@@ -316,26 +287,33 @@ end
 end

 # assume this is a Volume, so construct one
-@recipe function f(vol::AbstractArray{T,3}, args...) where T<:Number
+@recipe function f(vol::AbstractArray{T,3}, args...) where T<:Union{Number,Missing}
    seriestype := :volume
    SliceIt, nothing, Volume(vol, args...), nothing
 end


 # # images - grays
+function clamp_greys!(mat::AMat{T}) where T<:Gray
+    for i in eachindex(mat)
+        mat[i].val < 0 && (mat[i] = Gray(0))
+        mat[i].val > 1 && (mat[i] = Gray(1))
+    end
+    mat
+end

@recipe function f(mat::AMat{T}) where T<:Gray
    n, m = size(mat)
    if is_seriestype_supported(:image)
        seriestype := :image
        yflip --> true
-        SliceIt, 1:m, 1:n, Surface(mat)
+        SliceIt, 1:m, 1:n, Surface(clamp_greys!(mat))
    else
        seriestype := :heatmap
        yflip --> true
        cbar --> false
        fillcolor --> ColorGradient([:black, :white])
-        SliceIt, 1:m, 1:n, Surface(convert(Matrix{Float64}, mat))
+        SliceIt, 1:m, 1:n, Surface(clamp!(convert(Matrix{Float64}, mat), 0., 1.))
    end
 end

@@ -377,14 +355,16 @@ end
    end
 end

+# Dicts: each entry is a data point (x,y)=(key,value)

+@recipe f(d::AbstractDict) = collect(keys(d)), collect(values(d))

 # function without range... use the current range of the x-axis

@recipe function f(f::FuncOrFuncs{F}) where F<:Function
    plt = plotattributes[:plot_object]
    xmin, xmax = try
-        axis_limits(plt[1][:xaxis])
+        axis_limits(plt[1], :x)
    catch
        xinv = invscalefunc(get(plotattributes, :xscale, :identity))
        xm = tryrange(f, xinv.([-5,-1,0,0.01]))
@@ -547,36 +527,17 @@ end
 #
 #
 # # --------------------------------------------------------------------
-# # Lists of tuples and StaticArrays
+# # Lists of tuples and GeometryTypes.Points
 # # --------------------------------------------------------------------
 #
-# # if we get an unhandled tuple, just splat it in
-@recipe f(tup::Tuple) = tup

-#
-# # (x,y) tuples
-@recipe f(xy::AVec{Tuple{R1,R2}}) where {R1<:Number,R2<:Number} = unzip(xy)
-@recipe f(xy::Tuple{R1,R2}) where {R1<:Number,R2<:Number}       = [xy[1]], [xy[2]]
+@recipe f(v::AVec{<:Tuple})               = unzip(v)
+@recipe f(v::AVec{<:GeometryTypes.Point}) = unzip(v)
+@recipe f(tup::Tuple)             = [tup]
+@recipe f(p::GeometryTypes.Point) = [p]

-#
-# # (x,y,z) tuples
-@recipe f(xyz::AVec{Tuple{R1,R2,R3}}) where {R1<:Number,R2<:Number,R3<:Number} = unzip(xyz)
-@recipe f(xyz::Tuple{R1,R2,R3}) where {R1<:Number,R2<:Number,R3<:Number}       = [xyz[1]], [xyz[2]], [xyz[3]]
-
-# these might be points+velocity, or OHLC or something else
-@recipe f(xyuv::AVec{Tuple{R1,R2,R3,R4}}) where {R1<:Number,R2<:Number,R3<:Number,R4<:Number} = get(plotattributes,:seriestype,:path)==:ohlc ? OHLC[OHLC(t...) for t in xyuv] : unzip(xyuv)
-@recipe f(xyuv::Tuple{R1,R2,R3,R4}) where {R1<:Number,R2<:Number,R3<:Number,R4<:Number}       = [xyuv[1]], [xyuv[2]], [xyuv[3]], [xyuv[4]]
-
-
-#
-# # 2D StaticArrays
-@recipe f(xy::AVec{StaticArrays.SVector{2,T}}) where {T<:Number} = unzip(xy)
-@recipe f(xy::StaticArrays.SVector{2,T}) where {T<:Number}       = [xy[1]], [xy[2]]
-
-#
-# # 3D StaticArrays
-@recipe f(xyz::AVec{StaticArrays.SVector{3,T}}) where {T<:Number} = unzip(xyz)
-@recipe f(xyz::StaticArrays.SVector{3,T}) where {T<:Number}       = [xyz[1]], [xyz[2]], [xyz[3]]
+# Special case for 4-tuples in :ohlc series
+@recipe f(xyuv::AVec{<:Tuple{R1,R2,R3,R4}}) where {R1,R2,R3,R4} = get(plotattributes,:seriestype,:path)==:ohlc ? OHLC[OHLC(t...) for t in xyuv] : unzip(xyuv)

 #
 # # --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -597,7 +558,7 @@ end
 # end

 splittable_kw(key, val, lengthGroup) = false
-splittable_kw(key, val::AbstractArray, lengthGroup) = (key != :group) && size(val,1) == lengthGroup
+splittable_kw(key, val::AbstractArray, lengthGroup) = !(key in (:group, :color_palette)) && size(val,1) == lengthGroup
 splittable_kw(key, val::Tuple, lengthGroup) = all(splittable_kw.(key, val, lengthGroup))
 splittable_kw(key, val::SeriesAnnotations, lengthGroup) = splittable_kw(key, val.strs, lengthGroup)

@@ -0,0 +1,455 @@
+"""
+    scatter(x,y)
+    scatter!(x,y)
+
+Make a scatter plot of y vs x.
+
+# Examples
+```julia-repl
+julia> scatter([1,2,3],[4,5,6],markersize=[3,4,5],markercolor=[:red,:green,:blue])
+julia> scatter([(1,4),(2,5),(3,6)])
+```
+"""
+@shorthands scatter
+
+"""
+    bar(x,y)
+    bar!(x,y)
+
+Make a bar plot of y vs x.
+
+# Arguments
+
+- $(_document_argument("bar_position"))
+- $(_document_argument("bar_width"))
+- $(_document_argument("bar_edges"))
+- $(_document_argument("orientation"))
+
+# Examples
+```julia-repl
+julia> bar([1,2,3],[4,5,6],fillcolor=[:red,:green,:blue],fillalpha=[0.2,0.4,0.6])
+julia> bar([(1,4),(2,5),(3,6)])
+```
+"""
+@shorthands bar
+
+@shorthands barh
+
+"""
+    histogram(x)
+    histogram!(x)
+
+Plot a histogram.
+
+# Arguments
+
+- `x`: AbstractVector of values to be binned
+- $(_document_argument("bins"))
+- `weights`: Vector of weights for the values in `x`, for weighted bin counts
+- $(_document_argument("normalize"))
+- $(_document_argument("bar_position"))
+- $(_document_argument("bar_width"))
+- $(_document_argument("bar_edges"))
+- $(_document_argument("orientation"))
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> histogram([1,2,1,1,4,3,8],bins=0:8)
+```
+"""
+@shorthands histogram
+
+"""
+    barhist(x)
+    barhist!(x)
+
+Make a histogram bar plot. See `histogram`.
+"""
+@shorthands barhist
+
+"""
+    stephist(x)
+    stephist(x)
+
+Make a histogram step plot (bin counts are represented using horizontal lines
+instead of bars). See `histogram`.
+"""
+@shorthands stephist
+
+"""
+    scatterhist(x)
+    scatterhist!(x)
+
+Make a histogram scatter plot (bin counts are represented using points
+instead of bars). See `histogram`.
+"""
+@shorthands scatterhist
+
+"""
+    histogram2d(x,y)
+    histogram2d!(x,y)
+
+Plot a two-dimensional histogram.
+
+# Arguments
+
+- `bins`: Number of bins (if an `Integer`) or bin edges (if an `AbtractVector`)
+- `weights`: Vector of weights for the values in `x`. Each entry of x contributes
+             its weight to the height of its bin.
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> histogram2d(randn(10_000),randn(10_000))
+```
+"""
+@shorthands histogram2d
+
+"""
+    density(x)
+    density!(x)
+
+Make a line plot of a kernel density estimate of x.
+
+# Arguments
+
+- `x`: AbstractVector of samples for probability density estimation
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> using StatsPlots
+julia> density(randn(100_000))
+```
+"""
+@shorthands density
+
+"""
+    heatmap(x,y,z)
+    heatmap!(x,y,z)
+
+Plot a heatmap of the rectangular array `z`.
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> heatmap(randn(10,10))
+```
+"""
+@shorthands heatmap
+@shorthands plots_heatmap
+
+"""
+    hexbin(x,y)
+    hexbin!(x,y)
+
+Make a hexagonal binning plot (a histogram of the observations `(x[i],y[i])`
+with hexagonal bins)
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> hexbin(randn(10_000), randn(10_000))
+```
+"""
+@shorthands hexbin
+
+"""
+    sticks(x,y)
+    sticks!(x,y)
+
+Draw a stick plot of y vs x.
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> sticks(1:10)
+```
+"""
+@shorthands sticks
+
+"""
+    hline(y)
+    hline!(y)
+
+Draw horizontal lines at positions specified by the values in
+the AbstractVector `y`
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> hline([-1,0,2])
+```
+"""
+@shorthands hline
+
+"""
+    vline(x)
+    vline!(x)
+
+Draw vertical lines at positions specified by the values in
+the AbstractVector `x`
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> vline([-1,0,2])
+```
+"""
+@shorthands vline
+
+"""
+    hspan(y)
+
+Draw a rectangle between the horizontal line at position `y[1]`
+and the horizontal line at position `y[2]`. If `length(y) ≥ 4`,
+then further rectangles are drawn between `y[3]` and `y[4]`,
+`y[5]` and `y[6]`, and so on. If `length(y)` is odd, then the
+last entry of `y` is ignored.
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> hspan(1:6)
+```
+"""
+@shorthands hspan
+
+"""
+    vspan(x)
+
+Draw a rectangle between the vertical line at position `x[1]`
+and the vertical line at position `x[2]`. If `length(x) ≥ 4`,
+then further rectangles are drawn between `x[3]` and `x[4]`,
+`x[5]` and `x[6]`, and so on. If `length(x)` is odd, then the
+last entry of `x` is ignored.
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> vspan(1:6)
+```
+"""
+@shorthands vspan
+
+"""
+    ohlc(x,y::Vector{OHLC})
+    ohlc!(x,y::Vector{OHLC})
+
+Make open-high-low-close plot. Each entry of y is represented by a vertical
+segment extending from the low value to the high value, with short horizontal
+segments on the left and right indicating the open and close values, respectively.
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> meanprices = cumsum(randn(100))
+julia> y = OHLC[(p+rand(),p+1,p-1,p+rand()) for p in meanprices]
+julia> ohlc(y)
+```
+"""
+@shorthands ohlc
+
+
+"""
+    contour(x,y,z)
+    contour!(x,y,z)
+
+Draw contour lines of the `Surface` z.
+
+# Arguments
+- `levels`: Contour levels (if `AbstractVector`) or number of levels (if `Integer`)
+- `fill`: Bool. Fill area between contours or draw contours only (false by default)
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> x = y = range(-20, 20, length = 100)
+julia> contour(x, y, (x, y) -> x^2 + y^2)
+```
+"""
+@shorthands contour
+
+"An alias for `contour` with fill = true."
+@shorthands contourf
+
+
+@shorthands contour3d
+
+"""
+    surface(x,y,z)
+    surface!(x,y,z)
+
+Draw a 3D surface plot.
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> x = y = range(-3, 3, length = 100)
+julia> surface(x, y, (x, y) -> sinc(norm([x, y])))
+```
+"""
+@shorthands surface
+
+"""
+    wireframe(x,y,z)
+    wireframe!(x,y,z)
+
+Draw a 3D wireframe plot.
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> wireframe(1:10,1:10,randn(10,10))
+```
+"""
+@shorthands wireframe
+
+"""
+    path3d(x,y,z)
+    path3d!(x,y,z)
+
+Plot a 3D path from `(x[1],y[1],z[1])` to `(x[2],y[2],z[2])`,
+..., to `(x[end],y[end],z[end])`.
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> path3d([0,1,2,3],[0,1,4,9],[0,1,8,27])
+```
+"""
+@shorthands path3d
+
+"""
+    scatter3d(x,y,z)
+    scatter3d!(x,y,z)
+
+Make a 3D scatter plot.
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> scatter3d([0,1,2,3],[0,1,4,9],[0,1,8,27])
+```
+"""
+@shorthands scatter3d
+
+"""
+    boxplot(x, y)
+    boxplot!(x, y)
+
+Make a box and whisker plot.
+
+# Keyword arguments
+- `notch`: Bool. Notch the box plot? (false)
+- `range`: Real. Values more than range*IQR below the first quartile
+           or above the third quartile are shown as outliers (1.5)
+- `outliers`: Bool. Show outliers? (true)
+- `whisker_width`: Real or Symbol. Length of whiskers (:match)
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> using StatsPlots
+julia> boxplot(repeat([1,2,3],outer=100),randn(300))
+```
+"""
+@shorthands boxplot
+
+"""
+    violin(x,y,z)
+    violin!(x,y,z)
+
+Make a violin plot.
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> violin(repeat([1,2,3],outer=100),randn(300))
+```
+"""
+@shorthands violin
+
+"""
+    quiver(x,y,quiver=(u,v))
+    quiver!(x,y,quiver=(u,v))
+
+Make a quiver (vector field) plot. The `i`th vector extends
+from `(x[i],y[i])` to `(x[i] + u[i], y[i] + v[i])`.
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> quiver([1,2,3],[3,2,1],quiver=([1,1,1],[1,2,3]))
+```
+"""
+@shorthands quiver
+
+"""
+    curves(x,y)
+    curves!(x,y)
+
+Draw a Bezier curve from `(x[1],y[1])` to `(x[end],y[end])`
+with control points `(x[2],y[2]), ..., (x[end-1],y[end]-1)`
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> curves([1,2,3,4],[1,1,2,4])
+```
+"""
+@shorthands curves
+
+"Plot a pie diagram"
+pie(args...; kw...)        = plot(args...; kw...,  seriestype = :pie, aspect_ratio = :equal, grid=false, xticks=nothing, yticks=nothing)
+pie!(args...; kw...)       = plot!(args...; kw..., seriestype = :pie, aspect_ratio = :equal, grid=false, xticks=nothing, yticks=nothing)
+
+"Plot with seriestype :path3d"
+plot3d(args...; kw...)     = plot(args...; kw...,  seriestype = :path3d)
+plot3d!(args...; kw...)    = plot!(args...; kw..., seriestype = :path3d)
+
+"Add title to an existing plot"
+title!(s::AbstractString; kw...)                 = plot!(; title = s, kw...)
+
+"Add xlabel to an existing plot"
+xlabel!(s::AbstractString; kw...)                = plot!(; xlabel = s, kw...)
+
+"Add ylabel to an existing plot"
+ylabel!(s::AbstractString; kw...)                = plot!(; ylabel = s, kw...)
+
+"Set xlims for an existing plot"
+xlims!(lims::Tuple{T,S}; kw...) where {T<:Real,S<:Real} = plot!(; xlims = lims, kw...)
+
+"Set ylims for an existing plot"
+ylims!(lims::Tuple{T,S}; kw...) where {T<:Real,S<:Real} = plot!(; ylims = lims, kw...)
+
+"Set zlims for an existing plot"
+zlims!(lims::Tuple{T,S}; kw...) where {T<:Real,S<:Real} = plot!(; zlims = lims, kw...)
+
+xlims!(xmin::Real, xmax::Real; kw...)                     = plot!(; xlims = (xmin,xmax), kw...)
+ylims!(ymin::Real, ymax::Real; kw...)                     = plot!(; ylims = (ymin,ymax), kw...)
+zlims!(zmin::Real, zmax::Real; kw...)                     = plot!(; zlims = (zmin,zmax), kw...)
+
+
+"Set xticks for an existing plot"
+xticks!(v::TicksArgs; kw...) where {T<:Real}                       = plot!(; xticks = v, kw...)
+
+"Set yticks for an existing plot"
+yticks!(v::TicksArgs; kw...) where {T<:Real}                       = plot!(; yticks = v, kw...)
+
+xticks!(
+ticks::AVec{T}, labels::AVec{S}; kw...) where {T<:Real,S<:AbstractString}     = plot!(; xticks = (ticks,labels), kw...)
+yticks!(
+ticks::AVec{T}, labels::AVec{S}; kw...) where {T<:Real,S<:AbstractString}     = plot!(; yticks = (ticks,labels), kw...)
+
+"""
+    annotate!(anns...)
+
+Add annotations to an existing plot.
+
+# Arguments
+
+- `anns`: An `AbstractVector` of tuples of the form (x,y,text). The text object
+          can be an String or PlotText
+
+# Example
+```julia-repl
+julia> plot(1:10)
+julia> annotate!([(7,3,"(7,3)"),(3,7,text("hey", 14, :left, :top, :green))])
+```
+"""
+annotate!(anns...; kw...)                                        = plot!(; annotation = anns, kw...)
+annotate!(anns::AVec{T}; kw...) where {T<:Tuple}                 = plot!(; annotation = anns, kw...)
+
+"Flip the current plots' x axis"
+xflip!(flip::Bool = true; kw...)                          = plot!(; xflip = flip, kw...)
+
+"Flip the current plots' y axis"
+yflip!(flip::Bool = true; kw...)                          = plot!(; yflip = flip, kw...)
+
+"Specify x axis attributes for an existing plot"
+xaxis!(args...; kw...)                                    = plot!(; xaxis = args, kw...)
+
+"Specify y axis attributes for an existing plot"
+yaxis!(args...; kw...)                                    = plot!(; yaxis = args, kw...)
+xgrid!(args...; kw...)                                    = plot!(; xgrid = args, kw...)
+ygrid!(args...; kw...)                                    = plot!(; ygrid = args, kw...)
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ function _get_defaults(s::Symbol)
            :fglegend => thm.text,
            :palette  => thm.palette,
        )
-        if thm.gradient != nothing
+        if thm.gradient !== nothing
            push!(defaults, :gradient => thm.gradient)
        end
        return defaults
@@ -31,11 +31,11 @@ attr!(series::Series, v, k::Symbol) = (series.plotattributes[k] = v)

 # a single subplot
 mutable struct Subplot{T<:AbstractBackend} <: AbstractLayout
-    parent::AbstractLayout
+    parent
    series_list::Vector{Series}  # arguments for each series
-    minpad::Tuple # leftpad, toppad, rightpad, bottompad
-    bbox::BoundingBox  # the canvas area which is available to this subplot
-    plotarea::BoundingBox  # the part where the data goes
+    minpad::Tuple{AbsoluteLength,AbsoluteLength,AbsoluteLength,AbsoluteLength} # leftpad, toppad, rightpad, bottompad
+    bbox#::BoundingBox  # the canvas area which is available to this subplot
+    plotarea#::BoundingBox  # the part where the data goes
    attr::KW  # args specific to this subplot
    o  # can store backend-specific data... like a pyplot ax
    plt  # the enclosing Plot object (can't give it a type because of no forward declarations)
@@ -59,10 +59,6 @@ Extrema() = Extrema(Inf, -Inf)

 # -----------------------------------------------------------

-const SubplotMap = Dict{Any, Subplot}
-
-# -----------------------------------------------------------
-

 mutable struct Plot{T<:AbstractBackend} <: AbstractPlot{T}
    backend::T                   # the backend type
@@ -71,17 +67,17 @@ mutable struct Plot{T<:AbstractBackend} <: AbstractPlot{T}
    user_attr::KW                # raw arg inputs (after aliases).  these are used as the input dict in `_plot!`
    series_list::Vector{Series}  # arguments for each series
    o                            # the backend's plot object
-    subplots::Vector{Subplot}
-    spmap::SubplotMap            # provide any label as a map to a subplot
-    layout::AbstractLayout
-    inset_subplots::Vector{Subplot}  # list of inset subplots
+    subplots::Vector{Subplot{T}}
+    spmap::KW            # provide any label as a map to a subplot
+    layout
+    inset_subplots::Vector{Subplot{T}}  # list of inset subplots
    init::Bool
 end

-function Plot()
-    Plot(backend(), 0, KW(), KW(), Series[], nothing,
-         Subplot[], SubplotMap(), EmptyLayout(),
-         Subplot[], false)
+function Plot(_backend = CURRENT_BACKEND)
+    Plot(_backend.pkg, 0, KW(), KW(), Series[], nothing,
+         Subplot{typeof(_backend.pkg)}[], KW(), EmptyLayout(),
+         Subplot{typeof(_backend.pkg)}[], false)
 end

 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ function histogramHack(; kw...)
  plotattributes[:x] = midpoints
  plotattributes[:y] = float(counts)
  plotattributes[:seriestype] = :bar
-  plotattributes[:fillrange] = plotattributes[:fillrange] == nothing ? 0.0 : plotattributes[:fillrange]
+  plotattributes[:fillrange] = plotattributes[:fillrange] === nothing ? 0.0 : plotattributes[:fillrange]
  plotattributes
 end

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ function barHack(; kw...)
  plotattributes = KW(kw)
  midpoints = plotattributes[:x]
  heights = plotattributes[:y]
-  fillrange = plotattributes[:fillrange] == nothing ? 0.0 : plotattributes[:fillrange]
+  fillrange = plotattributes[:fillrange] === nothing ? 0.0 : plotattributes[:fillrange]

  # estimate the edges
  dists = diff(midpoints) * 0.5
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ function sticksHack(; kw...)
  # these are the line vertices
  x = Float64[]
  y = Float64[]
-  fillrange = plotattributesLine[:fillrange] == nothing ? 0.0 : plotattributesLine[:fillrange]
+  fillrange = plotattributesLine[:fillrange] === nothing ? 0.0 : plotattributesLine[:fillrange]

  # calculate the vertices
  yScatter = plotattributesScatter[:y]
@@ -194,7 +194,9 @@ end

 function iter_segments(series::Series)
    x, y, z = series[:x], series[:y], series[:z]
-    if has_attribute_segments(series)
+    if x === nothing
+        return UnitRange{Int}[]
+    elseif has_attribute_segments(series)
        if series[:seriestype] in (:scatter, :scatter3d)
            return [[i] for i in 1:length(y)]
        else
@@ -212,36 +214,19 @@ end

 # helpers to figure out if there are NaN values in a list of array types
 anynan(i::Int, args::Tuple) = any(a -> try isnan(_cycle(a,i)) catch MethodError false end, args)
-anynan(istart::Int, iend::Int, args::Tuple) = any(i -> anynan(i, args), istart:iend)
-allnan(istart::Int, iend::Int, args::Tuple) = all(i -> anynan(i, args), istart:iend)
+anynan(args::Tuple) = i -> anynan(i,args)
+anynan(istart::Int, iend::Int, args::Tuple) = any(anynan(args), istart:iend)
+allnan(istart::Int, iend::Int, args::Tuple) = all(anynan(args), istart:iend)

 function Base.iterate(itr::SegmentsIterator, nextidx::Int = 1)
-    nextidx > itr.n && return nothing
-    if nextidx == 1 && !any(isempty,itr.args) && anynan(1, itr.args)
-        nextidx = 2
-    end
+    i = findfirst(!anynan(itr.args), nextidx:itr.n)
+    i === nothing && return nothing
+    nextval = nextidx + i - 1

-    i = istart = iend = nextidx
+    j = findfirst(anynan(itr.args), nextval:itr.n)
+    nextnan = j === nothing ? itr.n + 1 : nextval + j - 1

-    # find the next NaN, and iend is the one before
-    while i <= itr.n + 1
-        if i > itr.n || anynan(i, itr.args)
-            # done... array end or found NaN
-            iend = i-1
-            break
-        end
-        i += 1
-    end
-
-    # find the next non-NaN, and set nextidx
-    while i <= itr.n
-        if !anynan(i, itr.args)
-            break
-        end
-        i += 1
-    end
-
-    istart:iend, i
+    nextval:nextnan-1, nextnan
 end

 # Find minimal type that can contain NaN and x
@@ -273,6 +258,9 @@ _cycle(v, indices::AVec{Int})       = fill(v, length(indices))
 _cycle(grad::ColorGradient, idx::Int) = _cycle(grad.colors, idx)
 _cycle(grad::ColorGradient, indices::AVec{Int}) = _cycle(grad.colors, indices)

+_as_gradient(grad::ColorGradient) = grad
+_as_gradient(c::Colorant) = ColorGradient([c,c])
+
 makevec(v::AVec) = v
 makevec(v::T) where {T} = T[v]

@@ -283,18 +271,17 @@ maketuple(x::Tuple{T,S}) where {T,S} = x
 mapFuncOrFuncs(f::Function, u::AVec)        = map(f, u)
 mapFuncOrFuncs(fs::AVec{F}, u::AVec) where {F<:Function} = [map(f, u) for f in fs]

-unzip(xy::AVec{Tuple{X,Y}}) where {X,Y}              = [t[1] for t in xy], [t[2] for t in xy]
-unzip(xyz::AVec{Tuple{X,Y,Z}}) where {X,Y,Z}         = [t[1] for t in xyz], [t[2] for t in xyz], [t[3] for t in xyz]
-unzip(xyuv::AVec{Tuple{X,Y,U,V}}) where {X,Y,U,V}    = [t[1] for t in xyuv], [t[2] for t in xyuv], [t[3] for t in xyuv], [t[4] for t in xyuv]
+for i in 2:4
+  @eval begin
+    unzip(v::Union{AVec{<:Tuple{Vararg{T,$i} where T}},
+                   AVec{<:GeometryTypes.Point{$i}}}) = $(Expr(:tuple, (:([t[$j] for t in v]) for j=1:i)...))
+  end
+end

-unzip(xy::AVec{StaticArrays.SVector{2,T}}) where {T}  = T[t[1] for t in xy], T[t[2] for t in xy]
-unzip(xy::StaticArrays.SVector{2,T}) where {T}        = T[xy[1]], T[xy[2]]
-
-unzip(xyz::AVec{StaticArrays.SVector{3,T}}) where {T} = T[t[1] for t in xyz], T[t[2] for t in xyz], T[t[3] for t in xyz]
-unzip(xyz::StaticArrays.SVector{3,T}) where {T}       = T[xyz[1]], T[xyz[2]], T[xyz[3]]
-
-unzip(xyuv::AVec{StaticArrays.SVector{4,T}}) where {T} = T[t[1] for t in xyuv], T[t[2] for t in xyuv], T[t[3] for t in xyuv], T[t[4] for t in xyuv]
-unzip(xyuv::StaticArrays.SVector{4,T}) where {T}       = T[xyuv[1]], T[xyuv[2]], T[xyuv[3]], T[xyuv[4]]
+unzip(v::Union{AVec{<:GeometryTypes.Point{N}},
+               AVec{<:Tuple{Vararg{T,N} where T}}}) where N = error("$N-dimensional unzip not implemented.")
+unzip(v::Union{AVec{<:GeometryTypes.Point},
+               AVec{<:Tuple}}) = error("Can't unzip points of different dimensions.")

 # given 2-element lims and a vector of data x, widen lims to account for the extrema of x
 function _expand_limits(lims, x)
@@ -370,38 +357,14 @@ function heatmap_edges(v::AVec, scale::Symbol = :identity)
  map(invf, _heatmap_edges(map(f,v)))
 end

-function calc_r_extrema(x, y)
-    xmin, xmax = ignorenan_extrema(x)
-    ymin, ymax = ignorenan_extrema(y)
-    r = 0.5 * NaNMath.min(xmax - xmin, ymax - ymin)
-    ignorenan_extrema(r)
-end
-
-function convert_to_polar(x, y, r_extrema = calc_r_extrema(x, y))
+function convert_to_polar(theta, r, r_extrema = ignorenan_extrema(r))
    rmin, rmax = r_extrema
-    theta, r = filter_radial_data(x, y, r_extrema)
    r = (r .- rmin) ./ (rmax .- rmin)
    x = r.*cos.(theta)
    y = r.*sin.(theta)
    x, y
 end

-# Filters radial data for points within the axis limits
-function filter_radial_data(theta, r, r_extrema::Tuple{Real, Real})
-    n = max(length(theta), length(r))
-    rmin, rmax = r_extrema
-    x, y = zeros(n), zeros(n)
-    for i in 1:n
-        x[i] = _cycle(theta, i)
-        y[i] = _cycle(r, i)
-    end
-    points = map((a, b) -> (a, b), x, y)
-    filter!(a -> a[2] >= rmin && a[2] <= rmax, points)
-    x = map(a -> a[1], points)
-    y = map(a -> a[2], points)
-    x, y
-end
-
 function fakedata(sz...)
  y = zeros(sz...)
  for r in 2:size(y,1)
@@ -431,7 +394,7 @@ isvertical(series::Series) = isvertical(series.plotattributes)

 ticksType(ticks::AVec{T}) where {T<:Real}                      = :ticks
 ticksType(ticks::AVec{T}) where {T<:AbstractString}            = :labels
-ticksType(ticks::Tuple{T,S}) where {T<:AVec,S<:AVec}  = :ticks_and_labels
+ticksType(ticks::Tuple{T,S}) where {T<:Union{AVec,Tuple},S<:Union{AVec,Tuple}} = :ticks_and_labels
 ticksType(ticks)                                        = :invalid

 limsType(lims::Tuple{T,S}) where {T<:Real,S<:Real}    = :limits
@@ -515,7 +478,7 @@ function make_fillrange_from_ribbon(kw::KW)
    rib1, rib2 = -first(rib), last(rib)
    # kw[:ribbon] = nothing
    kw[:fillrange] = make_fillrange_side(y, rib1), make_fillrange_side(y, rib2)
-    (get(kw, :fillalpha, nothing) == nothing) && (kw[:fillalpha] = 0.5)
+    (get(kw, :fillalpha, nothing) === nothing) && (kw[:fillalpha] = 0.5)
 end

 #turn tuple of fillranges to one path
@@ -527,7 +490,7 @@ function concatenate_fillrange(x,y::Tuple)
 end

 function get_sp_lims(sp::Subplot, letter::Symbol)
-    axis_limits(sp[Symbol(letter, :axis)])
+    axis_limits(sp, letter)
 end

 """
@@ -564,9 +527,9 @@ function get_clims(sp::Subplot)
    z_colored_series = (:contour, :contour3d, :heatmap, :histogram2d, :surface)
    for series in series_list(sp)
        for vals in (series[:seriestype] in z_colored_series ? series[:z] : nothing, series[:line_z], series[:marker_z], series[:fill_z])
-            if (typeof(vals) <: AbstractSurface) && (eltype(vals.surf) <: Real)
+            if (typeof(vals) <: AbstractSurface) && (eltype(vals.surf) <: Union{Missing, Real})
                zmin, zmax = _update_clims(zmin, zmax, ignorenan_extrema(vals.surf)...)
-            elseif (vals != nothing) && (eltype(vals) <: Real)
+            elseif (vals !== nothing) && (eltype(vals) <: Union{Missing, Real})
                zmin, zmax = _update_clims(zmin, zmax, ignorenan_extrema(vals)...)
            end
        end
@@ -581,35 +544,50 @@ end

 _update_clims(zmin, zmax, emin, emax) = min(zmin, emin), max(zmax, emax)

-function hascolorbar(series::Series)
-    st = series[:seriestype]
-    hascbar = st == :heatmap
-    if st == :contour
-        hascbar = (isscalar(series[:levels]) ? (series[:levels] > 1) : (length(series[:levels]) > 1)) && (length(unique(Array(series[:z]))) > 1)
+@enum ColorbarStyle cbar_gradient cbar_fill cbar_lines
+
+function colorbar_style(series::Series)
+    colorbar_entry = series[:colorbar_entry]
+    if !(colorbar_entry isa Bool)
+        @warn "Non-boolean colorbar_entry ignored."
+        colorbar_entry = true
    end
-    if series[:marker_z] != nothing || series[:line_z] != nothing || series[:fill_z] != nothing
-        hascbar = true
+
+    if !colorbar_entry
+        nothing
+    elseif isfilledcontour(series)
+        cbar_fill
+    elseif iscontour(series)
+        cbar_lines
+    elseif series[:seriestype] ∈ (:heatmap,:surface) ||
+            any(series[z] !== nothing for z ∈ [:marker_z,:line_z,:fill_z])
+        cbar_gradient
+    else
+        nothing
    end
-    # no colorbar if we are creating a surface LightSource
-    if xor(st == :surface, series[:fill_z] != nothing)
-        hascbar = true
-    end
-    return hascbar
 end

-function hascolorbar(sp::Subplot)
-    cbar = sp[:colorbar]
-    hascbar = false
-    if cbar != :none
-        for series in series_list(sp)
-            if hascolorbar(series)
-                hascbar = true
-            end
+hascolorbar(series::Series) = colorbar_style(series) !== nothing
+hascolorbar(sp::Subplot) = sp[:colorbar] != :none && any(hascolorbar(s) for s in series_list(sp))
+
+iscontour(series::Series) = series[:seriestype] == :contour
+isfilledcontour(series::Series) = iscontour(series) && series[:fillrange] !== nothing
+
+function contour_levels(series::Series, clims)
+    iscontour(series) || error("Not a contour series")
+    zmin, zmax = clims
+    levels = series[:levels]
+    if levels isa Integer
+        levels = range(zmin, stop=zmax, length=levels+2)
+        if !isfilledcontour(series)
+            levels = levels[2:end-1]
        end
    end
-    hascbar
+    levels
 end

+
+
 for comp in (:line, :fill, :marker)

    compcolor = string(comp, :color)
@@ -624,7 +602,7 @@ for comp in (:line, :fill, :marker)
        function $get_compcolor(series, cmin::Real, cmax::Real, i::Int = 1)
            c = series[$Symbol($compcolor)]
            z = series[$Symbol($comp_z)]
-            if z == nothing
+            if z === nothing
                isa(c, ColorGradient) ? c : plot_color(_cycle(c, i))
            else
                grad = isa(c, ColorGradient) ? c : cgrad()
@@ -635,7 +613,7 @@ for comp in (:line, :fill, :marker)
        $get_compcolor(series, clims, i::Int = 1) = $get_compcolor(series, clims[1], clims[2], i)

        function $get_compcolor(series, i::Int = 1)
-            if series[$Symbol($comp_z)] == nothing
+            if series[$Symbol($comp_z)] === nothing
                $get_compcolor(series, 0, 1, i)
            else
                $get_compcolor(series, get_clims(series[:subplot]), i)
@@ -646,6 +624,9 @@ for comp in (:line, :fill, :marker)
    end
 end

+single_color(c, v = 0.5) = c
+single_color(grad::ColorGradient, v = 0.5) = grad[v]
+
 function get_linewidth(series, i::Int = 1)
    _cycle(series[:linewidth], i)
 end
@@ -669,11 +650,11 @@ function has_attribute_segments(series::Series)
    for letter in (:x, :y, :z)
        # If we have NaNs in the data they define the segments and
        # SegmentsIterator is used
-        series[letter] != nothing && NaN in collect(series[letter]) && return false
+        series[letter] !== nothing && NaN in collect(series[letter]) && return false
    end
    series[:seriestype] == :shape && return false
    # ... else we check relevant attributes if they have multiple inputs
-    return any((typeof(series[attr]) <: AbstractVector && length(series[attr]) > 1) for attr in [:seriescolor, :seriesalpha, :linecolor, :linealpha, :linewidth, :fillcolor, :fillalpha, :markercolor, :markeralpha, :markerstrokecolor, :markerstrokealpha]) || any(typeof(series[attr]) <: AbstractArray{<:Real} for attr in (:line_z, :fill_z, :marker_z))
+    return any((typeof(series[attr]) <: AbstractVector && length(series[attr]) > 1) for attr in [:seriescolor, :seriesalpha, :linecolor, :linealpha, :linewidth, :fillcolor, :fillalpha, :markercolor, :markeralpha, :markerstrokecolor, :markerstrokealpha]) || any(typeof(series[attr]) <: AbstractArray for attr in (:line_z, :fill_z, :marker_z))
 end

 # ---------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -726,7 +707,7 @@ function with(f::Function, args...; kw...)

  # save the backend
  if CURRENT_BACKEND.sym == :none
-    pickDefaultBackend()
+    _pick_default_backend()
  end
  oldbackend = CURRENT_BACKEND.sym

@@ -796,24 +777,24 @@ function debugplots(on = true)
  _debugMode.on = on
 end

-debugshow(x) = show(x)
-debugshow(x::AbstractArray) = print(summary(x))
+debugshow(io, x) = show(io, x)
+debugshow(io, x::AbstractArray) = print(io, summary(x))

-function dumpdict(plotattributes::KW, prefix = "", alwaysshow = false)
+function dumpdict(io::IO, plotattributes::KW, prefix = "", alwaysshow = false)
  _debugMode.on || alwaysshow || return
-  println()
+  println(io)
  if prefix != ""
-    println(prefix, ":")
+    println(io, prefix, ":")
  end
  for k in sort(collect(keys(plotattributes)))
    @printf("%14s: ", k)
-    debugshow(plotattributes[k])
-    println()
+    debugshow(io, plotattributes[k])
+    println(io)
  end
-  println()
+  println(io)
 end
-DD(plotattributes::KW, prefix = "") = dumpdict(plotattributes, prefix, true)
-
+DD(io::IO, plotattributes::KW, prefix = "") = dumpdict(io, plotattributes, prefix, true)
+DD(plotattributes::KW, prefix = "") = DD(stdout, plotattributes, prefix)

 function dumpcallstack()
  error()  # well... you wanted the stacktrace, didn't you?!?
@@ -1199,3 +1180,37 @@ end
 function construct_categorical_data(x::AbstractArray, axis::Axis)
    map(xi -> axis[:discrete_values][searchsortedfirst(axis[:continuous_values], xi)], x)
 end
+
+_fmt_paragraph(paragraph::AbstractString;kwargs...) = _fmt_paragraph(IOBuffer(),paragraph,0;kwargs...)
+
+function _fmt_paragraph(io::IOBuffer,
+                        remaining_text::AbstractString,
+                        column_count::Integer;
+                        fillwidth=60,
+                        leadingspaces=0)
+
+    kwargs = (fillwidth = fillwidth, leadingspaces = leadingspaces)
+
+    m = match(r"(.*?) (.*)",remaining_text)
+    if isa(m,Nothing)
+        if column_count + length(remaining_text) ≤ fillwidth
+            print(io,remaining_text)
+            String(take!(io))
+        else
+            print(io,"\n"*" "^leadingspaces*remaining_text)
+            String(take!(io))
+        end
+    else
+        if column_count + length(m[1]) ≤ fillwidth
+            print(io,"$(m[1]) ")
+            _fmt_paragraph(io,m[2],column_count + length(m[1]) + 1;kwargs...)
+        else
+            print(io,"\n"*" "^leadingspaces*"$(m[1]) ")
+            _fmt_paragraph(io,m[2],leadingspaces;kwargs...)
+        end
+    end
+end
+
+function _document_argument(S::AbstractString)
+    _fmt_paragraph("`$S`: "*_arg_desc[Symbol(S)],leadingspaces = 6 + length(S))
+end
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+reference_images
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-StatPlots
-Images
-ImageMagick
-@osx QuartzImageIO
-FileIO
-GR 0.31.0
-RDatasets
-VisualRegressionTests
-UnicodePlots
-LaTeXStrings
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-using Pkg
-
-# need this to use Conda
-# ENV["PYTHON"] = ""
-
-to_add = [
-    # PackageSpec(url="https://github.com/JuliaStats/KernelDensity.jl.git"),
-    PackageSpec(name="PlotUtils", rev="master"),
-    PackageSpec(name="RecipesBase", rev="master"),
-    # PackageSpec(name="Blink", rev="master"),
-    # PackageSpec(name="Rsvg", rev="master"),
-    # PackageSpec(name="PlotlyJS", rev="master"),
-    # PackageSpec(name="VisualRegressionTests", rev="master"),
-    # PackageSpec("PyPlot"),
-    # PackageSpec("InspectDR"),
-]
-
-if isinteractive()
-    Pkg.develop(PackageSpec(url="https://github.com/JuliaPlots/PlotReferenceImages.jl.git"))
-    append!(to_add, [
-        PackageSpec(name="FileIO"),
-        PackageSpec(name="ImageMagick"),
-        PackageSpec(name="UnicodePlots"),
-        PackageSpec(name="VisualRegressionTests"),
-        PackageSpec(name="Gtk"),
-        # PlotlyJS:
-        # PackageSpec(name="PlotlyJS"),
-        # PackageSpec(name="Blink"),
-        # PackageSpec(name="ORCA"),
-        # PyPlot:
-        # PackageSpec(name="PyPlot"),
-        # PackageSpec(name="PyCall"),
-        # PackageSpec(name="LaTeXStrings"),
-    ])
-else
-    push!(to_add, PackageSpec(url="https://github.com/JuliaPlots/PlotReferenceImages.jl.git"))
-end
-
-Pkg.add(to_add)
-
-Pkg.build("ImageMagick")
-# Pkg.build("GR")
-# Pkg.build("Blink")
-# import Blink
-# Blink.AtomShell.install()
-# Pkg.build("PyPlot")
@@ -1,50 +1,46 @@
-
-using VisualRegressionTests
-# using ExamplePlots
-
-if isinteractive()
-    @eval Main import Gtk
-end
-
-# import DataFrames, RDatasets
-
-# don't let pyplot use a gui... it'll crash
-# note: Agg will set gui -> :none in PyPlot
-# ENV["MPLBACKEND"] = "Agg"
-# try
-#   @eval import PyPlot
-#   @info("Matplotlib version: $(PyPlot.matplotlib[:__version__])")
-# end
-
-
-using Plots
-# using StatPlots
-import PlotReferenceImages
-using Random
-using Test
-
-default(size=(500,300))
-
-
-# TODO: use julia's Condition type and the wait() and notify() functions to initialize a Window, then wait() on a condition that
-#       is referenced in a button press callback (the button clicked callback will call notify() on that condition)
-
 import Plots._current_plots_version

+# Taken from MakieGallery
+"""
+Downloads the reference images from ReferenceImages for a specific version
+"""
+function download_reference(version = v"0.0.1")
+    download_dir = abspath(@__DIR__, "reference_images")
+    isdir(download_dir) || mkpath(download_dir)
+    tarfile = joinpath(download_dir, "reference_images.zip")
+    url = "https://github.com/JuliaPlots/PlotReferenceImages.jl/archive/v$(version).tar.gz"
+    refpath = joinpath(download_dir, "PlotReferenceImages.jl-$(version)")
+    if !isdir(refpath) # if not yet downloaded
+        @info "downloading reference images for version $version"
+        download(url, tarfile)
+        BinaryProvider.unpack(tarfile, download_dir)
+        # check again after download
+        if !isdir(refpath)
+            error("Something went wrong while downloading reference images. Plots can't be compared to references")
+        else
+            rm(tarfile, force = true)
+        end
+    else
+        @info "using reference images for version $version (already downloaded)"
+    end
+    refpath
+end
+
+const ref_image_dir = download_reference()

 function image_comparison_tests(pkg::Symbol, idx::Int; debug = false, popup = isinteractive(), sigma = [1,1], tol = 1e-2)
    Plots._debugMode.on = debug
    example = Plots._examples[idx]
+    Plots.theme(:default)
    @info("Testing plot: $pkg:$idx:$(example.header)")
    backend(pkg)
    backend()
-
+    default(size=(500,300))
    # ensure consistent results
    Random.seed!(1234)

    # reference image directory setup
-    # refdir = joinpath(Pkg.dir("ExamplePlots"), "test", "refimg", string(pkg))
-    refdir = joinpath(dirname(pathof(PlotReferenceImages)), "..", "Plots", string(pkg))
+    refdir = joinpath(ref_image_dir, "Plots", string(pkg))
    fn = "ref$idx.png"

    # firgure out version info
@@ -68,7 +64,7 @@ function image_comparison_tests(pkg::Symbol, idx::Int; debug = false, popup = is

    # now we have the fn (if any)... do the comparison
    # @show reffn
-    if reffn == nothing
+    if reffn === nothing
        reffn = newfn
    end
    # @show reffn
@@ -76,7 +72,9 @@ function image_comparison_tests(pkg::Symbol, idx::Int; debug = false, popup = is

    # test function
    func = (fn, idx) -> begin
-        map(eval, example.exprs)
+        expr = Expr(:block)
+        append!(expr.args, example.exprs)
+        eval(expr)
        png(fn)
    end

@@ -100,7 +98,7 @@ function image_comparison_facts(pkg::Symbol;
                                tol = 1e-2)     # acceptable error (percent)
  for i in 1:length(Plots._examples)
    i in skip && continue
-    if only == nothing || i in only
+    if only === nothing || i in only
      @test image_comparison_tests(pkg, i, debug=debug, sigma=sigma, tol=tol) |> success == true
    end
  end
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
-module PlotsTests
+using VisualRegressionTests
+using Plots
+using Random
+using BinaryProvider
+using Test
+using FileIO
+using GeometryTypes

-include("add_packages.jl")
 include("imgcomp.jl")
-
 # don't actually show the plots
 Random.seed!(1234)
 default(show=false, reuse=true)
@@ -19,85 +23,20 @@ img_tol = isinteractive() ? 1e-2 : 10e-2
    end
 end

-# @static if isinteractive()
-#     @testset "PyPlot" begin
-#         @test pyplot() == Plots.PyPlotBackend()
-#         @test backend() == Plots.PyPlotBackend()
-#
-#         image_comparison_facts(:pyplot, tol=img_tol, skip = [2, 25, 30, 31])
-#     end
-# end

@testset "UnicodePlots" begin
    @test unicodeplots() == Plots.UnicodePlotsBackend()
    @test backend() == Plots.UnicodePlotsBackend()

    # lets just make sure it runs without error
-    @test isa(plot(rand(10)), Plots.Plot) == true
+    p = plot(rand(10))
+    @test isa(p, Plots.Plot) == true
+    @test isa(display(p), Nothing) == true
+    p = bar(randn(10))
+    @test isa(p, Plots.Plot) == true
+    @test isa(display(p), Nothing) == true
 end

-# The plotlyjs testimages return a connection error on travis:
-# connect: connection refused (ECONNREFUSED)
-
-# @static if isinteractive()
-#     @testset "PlotlyJS" begin
-#         @test plotlyjs() == Plots.PlotlyJSBackend()
-#         @test backend() == Plots.PlotlyJSBackend()
-#
-#         image_comparison_facts(:plotlyjs,
-#             skip=[
-#                 2,  # animation (skipped for speed)
-#                 25,
-#                 27, # (polar plots) takes very long / not working
-#                 30,
-#                 31, # animation (skipped for speed)
-#             ],
-#             tol=img_tol)
-#     end
-# end
-
-# InspectDR returns that error on travis:
-# ERROR: LoadError: InitError: Cannot open display:
-#  in Gtk.GLib.GError(::Gtk.##229#230) at /home/travis/.julia/v0.5/Gtk/src/GLib/gerror.jl:17
-
-# @testset "InspectDR" begin
-#     @test inspectdr() == Plots.InspectDRBackend()
-#     @test backend() == Plots.InspectDRBackend()
-#
-#     image_comparison_facts(:inspectdr,
-#         skip=[
-#             2,  # animation
-#             6,  # heatmap not defined
-#             10, # heatmap not defined
-#             22, # contour not defined
-#             23, # pie not defined
-#             27, # polar plot not working
-#             28, # heatmap not defined
-#             31, # animation
-#         ],
-#         tol=img_tol)
-# end
-
-
-# @testset "Plotly" begin
-#     @test plotly() == Plots.PlotlyBackend()
-#     @test backend() == Plots.PlotlyBackend()
-#
-#     # # until png generation is reliable on OSX, just test on linux
-#     # @static Sys.islinux() && image_comparison_facts(:plotly, only=[1,3,4,7,8,9,10,11,12,14,15,20,22,23,27], tol=img_tol)
-# end
-
-# @testset "PlotlyJS" begin
-#     @test plotlyjs() == Plots.PlotlyJSBackend()
-#     @test backend() == Plots.PlotlyJSBackend()
-#
-#     # as long as we can plot anything without error, it should be the same as Plotly
-#     image_comparison_facts(:plotlyjs, only=[1], tol=img_tol)
-# end
-
-
-
-
@testset "Axes" begin
    p = plot()
    axis = p.subplots[1][:xaxis]
@@ -113,46 +52,51 @@ end
 end

@testset "NoFail" begin
-    histogram([1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0])
+    plots = [histogram([1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]),
+             plot([missing]),
+             plot([missing; 1:4]),
+             plot([fill(missing,10); 1:4]),
+             plot([1 1; 1 missing]),
+             plot(["a" "b"; missing "d"], [1 2; 3 4])]
+    for plt in plots
+        display(plt)
+    end
 end

-# tests for preprocessing recipes
+@testset "EmptyAnim" begin
+    anim = @animate for i in []
+    end

-# @testset "recipes" begin
+    @test_throws ArgumentError gif(anim)
+end

-    # user recipe
+@testset "Segments" begin
+    function segments(args...)
+        segs = UnitRange{Int}[]
+        for seg in iter_segments(args...)
+            push!(segs,seg)
+        end
+        segs
+    end

-    # type T end
-    # @recipe function f(::T)
-    #     line := (3,0.3,:red)
-    #     marker := (20,0.5,:blue,:o)
-    #     bg := :yellow
-    #     rand(10)
-    # end
-    # plot(T())
+    nan10 = fill(NaN,10)
+    @test segments(11:20) == [1:10]
+    @test segments([NaN]) == []
+    @test segments(nan10) == []
+    @test segments([nan10; 1:5]) == [11:15]
+    @test segments([1:5;nan10]) == [1:5]
+    @test segments([nan10; 1:5; nan10; 1:5; nan10]) == [11:15, 26:30]
+    @test segments([NaN; 1], 1:10) == [2:2, 4:4, 6:6, 8:8, 10:10]
+    @test segments([nan10; 1:15], [1:15; nan10]) == [11:15]
+end

-    # plot recipe
-
-    # @recipe function f(::Type{Val{:hiplt}},plt::Plot)
-    #     line := (3,0.3,:red)
-    #     marker := (20,0.5,:blue,:o)
-    #     t := :path
-    #     bg:=:green
-    #     ()
-    # end
-    # plot(rand(10),t=:hiplt)
-
-    # series recipe
-
-    # @recipe function f(::Type{Val{:hi}},x,y,z)
-    #     line := (3,0.3,:red)
-    #     marker := (20,0.5,:blue,:o)
-    #     t := :path
-    #     ()
-    # end
-    # plot(rand(10),t=:hiplt)
-
-# end
-
-
-end # module
+@testset "Utils" begin
+    zipped = ([(1,2)], [("a","b")], [(1,"a"),(2,"b")],
+              [(1,2),(3,4)], [(1,2,3),(3,4,5)], [(1,2,3,4),(3,4,5,6)],
+              [(1,2.0),(missing,missing)], [(1,missing),(missing,"a")],
+              [(missing,missing)], [(missing,missing,missing),("a","b","c")])
+    for z in zipped
+        @test isequal(collect(zip(Plots.unzip(z)...)), z)
+        @test isequal(collect(zip(Plots.unzip(Point.(z))...)), z)
+    end
+end
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-import SnoopCompile
-
-### Log the compiles
-# This only needs to be run once (to generate "/tmp/plots_compiles.csv")
-
-# SnoopCompile.@snoop "/tmp/plots_compiles.csv" begin
-#     include(joinpath(dirname(@__FILE__), "runtests.jl"))
-# end
-
-# ----------------------------------------------------------
-
-### Parse the compiles and generate precompilation scripts
-# This can be run repeatedly to tweak the scripts
-
-# IMPORTANT: we must have the module(s) defined for the parcelation
-# step, otherwise we will get no precompiles for the Plots module
-using Plots
-
-data = SnoopCompile.read("/tmp/plots_compiles.csv")
-
-# The Plots tests are run inside a module PlotsTest, so all
-# the precompiles get credited to PlotsTest. Credit them to Plots instead.
-subst = Dict("PlotsTests"=>"Plots")
-
-# Blacklist helps fix problems:
-# - MIME uses type-parameters with symbols like :image/png, which is
-#   not parseable
-blacklist = ["MIME"]
-
-# Use these two lines if you want to create precompile functions for
-# individual packages
-pc, discards = SnoopCompile.parcel(data[end:-1:1,2], subst=subst, blacklist=blacklist)
-SnoopCompile.write("/tmp/precompile", pc)
-
-pdir = joinpath(dirname(@__FILE__), "..")
-run(`cp /tmp/precompile/precompile_Plots.jl $pdir/src/precompile.jl`)