tc_schemes

Version 1.1.1 | 2026-10-12

Quick Start · Installation · Gallery · Worked Examples · Stata-Tools · Report a bug

tc_schemes bundles 45 Stata graph schemes from blindschemes, schemepack, cleanplots, scheme-modern, and the original rdbu, ki, and ki_black schemes. It gives applied Stata users one installable catalog command for browsing schemes and checking that the package is present with which tc_schemes.

Quick Start

After installing, print the catalog, then draw a graph in one of its schemes without changing your session default:

tc_schemes
sysuse auto, clear
twoway (scatter price mpg if foreign == 0, mcolor(%60)) ///
       (scatter price mpg if foreign == 1, mcolor(%60)) ///
       (lfit price mpg if foreign == 0) ///
       (lfit price mpg if foreign == 1), ///
    legend(order(1 "Domestic" 2 "Foreign") pos(6) rows(1)) ///
    scheme(white_tableau)

_{Drawn by demo/demo_tc_schemes.do, which also adds title("Price vs. Mileage") and subtitle("scheme: white_tableau"). Use set scheme white_tableau instead of scheme() to make it the session default. Every scheme in the Gallery is the same graph.}

Features

• 45 schemes, one net install. blindschemes, schemepack, cleanplots, scheme-modern, and three originals install together, with 21 bundled .style colour files.
• Accessible choices included. plotplainblind and plottigblind use colour-blind-friendly palettes, white_ptol uses Paul Tol's colour-blind-safe palette, viridis and cividis are perceptually uniform, and cleanplots is designed to stay readable in grayscale.
• Light, dark, and ggplot-style backgrounds. The schemepack series comes in white_*, black_*, and gg_* variants of nine palettes.
• Browse from Stata. tc_schemes prints the catalog by source family; source(), list, and detail filter and expand it, and r(schemes) returns the names for scripting.
• Attribution kept. Upstream scheme files are bundled with their authors credited, and cleanplots, modern, and modern_dark are unmodified.

Requirements

• Stata 16 or later
• No external software or Stata package dependencies

Installation

capture ado uninstall tc_schemes
net install tc_schemes, from("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tpcopeland/Stata-Tools/main/tc_schemes") replace

The installation includes the tc_schemes command and help file, 45 .scheme files, and 21 bundled .style color files.

Commands

Command	Description
tc_schemes	Browse the installed scheme catalog, filter by source family, and display compact or detailed output

How It Works

tc_schemes is a catalog and installation-check wrapper around the scheme files shipped with the package. It does not draw a graph itself; after browsing, apply a scheme globally with set scheme scheme_name or to one graph with scheme(scheme_name).

• With no options, tc_schemes prints an organized overview of the five source families and the total number of selected schemes.
• source() narrows the catalog to one family: blindschemes, schemepack, cleanplots, modern, or tc. The default is all.
• list prints one selected scheme name per line; detail adds descriptions, attribution, and usage notes. These display options are mutually exclusive.
• which tc_schemes succeeds after installation, making the wrapper useful in project headers that need to check package presence.

The bundled scheme families are:

Source	Schemes	Examples and use
blindschemes	4	plotplain, plotplainblind, plottig, and plottigblind for clean publication figures and accessible palettes
schemepack series	27	white_*, black_*, and gg_* variants of tableau, cividis, viridis, hue, brbg, piyg, ptol, jet, and w3d
schemepack standalone	8	tab1, tab2, tab3, cblind1, ukraine, swift_red, neon, and rainbow
cleanplots	1	A publication scheme designed to remain distinguishable in color and grayscale
modern	2	modern and modern_dark, matplotlib-inspired defaults
tc	3	rdbu, ki, and ki_black, the original schemes authored for this package

The bundled color styles include vermillion, sky, turquoise, reddish, sea, orangebrown, ananas, and the plb1–plb3, plg1–plg3, plr1–plr2, ply1–ply3, and pll1–pll3 tone families.

Worked Examples

1. Browse and filter the catalog

Run the default overview, then request a compact list for one source and detailed descriptions for the original schemes:

tc_schemes
tc_schemes, source(schemepack) list
tc_schemes, source(tc) detail

2. Set a global scheme for the session

set scheme changes the default used by subsequent graphs until another scheme is selected.

set scheme plotplainblind
sysuse auto, clear
scatter mpg weight, title("Fuel economy by vehicle weight") xtitle("Vehicle weight") ytitle("Miles per gallon")

3. Apply a scheme to one graph

Use scheme() when you want a local override without changing the session default.

sysuse auto, clear
scatter mpg weight, scheme(white_viridis) title("Single-graph scheme override")

4. Compare two visual systems

Render the same data under two schemes and combine the named graphs for a side-by-side comparison.

sysuse auto, clear
scatter mpg weight, scheme(plotplain) name(g_plain, replace)
scatter mpg weight, scheme(gg_hue) name(g_hue, replace)
graph combine g_plain g_hue, col(2)

5. Check package presence in a do-file header

The wrapper provides a reliable command target for an installation check even though the package is primarily a collection of .scheme and .style files.

capture which tc_schemes
if _rc != 0 {
    capture ado uninstall tc_schemes
    net install tc_schemes, from("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tpcopeland/Stata-Tools/main/tc_schemes") replace
}

Gallery

Every preview is the same sysuse auto price-by-mileage graph, drawn by demo/demo_tc_schemes.do. Run that script from a repository checkout to regenerate the PNGs; the script and images are checkout assets, not part of the net install payload.

plotplain	plotplainblind	plottig
plottigblind	white_tableau	white_viridis
white_ptol	black_tableau	black_cividis
gg_hue	neon	swift_red
cleanplots	modern	modern_dark
rdbu	ki	ki_black

Command Reference

Syntax

tc_schemes [, source(string) list detail]

Display output

The default display groups schemes by source family, reports the selected total, and shows the set scheme and scheme() usage forms. list emits only the selected scheme names, while detail prints family descriptions, authorship, palette information, and usage notes.

Key Options

Option	Minimum abbreviation	Default	Effect
source(string)	so	all	Select all, blindschemes, schemepack, cleanplots, modern, or tc
list	li	off	Display selected scheme names as a simple list
detail	de	off	Display detailed descriptions and attribution

source() is case-insensitive. list and detail cannot be combined; an invalid source or a conflicting pair of display options returns Stata error 198.

Stored Results

After a successful call, tc_schemes stores the following results in r() regardless of whether the default, list, or detail display was requested:

Result	Type	Meaning
r(schemes)	local macro	Space-separated scheme names in catalog order for the selected source
r(n_schemes)	scalar	Number of selected schemes
r(sources)	local macro	Selected source label(s); the default is blindschemes schemepack cleanplots modern tc
r(version)	local macro	Package version, currently 1.1.1

Assumptions and Limits

• The package supplies scheme and style files; it does not replace Stata graph commands or create graphs without a graph command.
• Use the exact scheme names shown by tc_schemes with set scheme or scheme().
• The jet family is included for compatibility, but the help file recommends caution because rainbow-style scales can mislead for continuous data.
• cleanplots, modern, and modern_dark are bundled unmodified with attribution. The wrapper code is MIT-licensed, while bundled upstream files retain their original licensing and attribution.

References

Bundled sources and attribution

• Daniel Bischof created blindschemes; Mead Over supplied compatibility fixes included in this consolidation. Bischof, D. (2015), “Figure Schemes for Decent Stata Figures: plotplain & plottig.”
• Asjad Naqvi created schemepack, including the palette and background series collected here.
• Trenton D. Mize created cleanplots, which is bundled unmodified with attribution.
• Michael Droste created scheme-modern; modern and modern_dark are bundled unmodified with attribution.
• rdbu uses colors based on ColorBrewer; ki and ki_black use Karolinska Institutet brand colors, including KI plum (RGB 135 0 82).

QA

QA suites and how to run them are documented in qa/README.md.

Version History

• 1.1.1 (2026-08-05): Corrected the help-file author metadata to use the canonical package attribution.
• 1.1.0 (2026-07-10): Added six schemes for 45 total, bundled cleanplots and modern/modern_dark with attribution, and added original rdbu, ki, and ki_black schemes plus source() filters for cleanplots, modern, and tc.
• 1.0.0 (2026-04-08): Initial Stata-Tools release consolidating blindschemes, blindschemes_fix, and schemepack under one installable catalog command.

Author

Timothy P Copeland, Karolinska Institutet

Questions and bug reports: GitHub issues. Please include the first line of which tc_schemes and your Stata version.

To cite: Copeland TP. tc_schemes: 45 Stata graph schemes behind one command. Stata-Tools, https://github.com/tpcopeland/Stata-Tools/tree/main/tc_schemes. Please give the version you used (which tc_schemes prints it), and credit the upstream author of the scheme you use (see References).

License

MIT (see LICENSE) for the wrapper command and original rdbu, ki, and ki_black schemes. Bundled upstream scheme files retain their original licenses and attribution.