Matplotlib Heatmap Cell Labels - Time Series Mechanics

Read Row and Column First

Start with two rows: North and South. The columns are Mon, Tue, and Wed. To read one cell, use both labels. The target cell is row South and column Wed. After those labels are clear, read the value. The South-Wed cell is 6. Its darker color belongs to that labeled cell, not to the whole row or whole chart.

A tiny chart-reading step: read a heatmap cell by row and column labels before interpreting its color or value.

highlighted = computed this step

Start with row-column data

Start with 6 pinned values in a 2 by 3 heatmap.

\text{pinned heatmap cells}

Choose a row and a column

Read row South and column Wed before reading the cell.

\text{row label plus column label}

Find the labeled cell

The South-Wed cell is darkest because its pinned value is 6.

\text{South-Wed cell}

Read the value after the labels

Report South-Wed as value 6 after reading both labels.

\text{value after labels}