# Getting attribute error: "Unknown property math\_fontfamily" from Plots

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/getting-attribute-error-unknown-property-math-fontfamily-from-plots/87486>\
**Category:** Visualization\
**Created:** [September 19, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/getting-attribute-error-unknown-property-math-fontfamily-from-plots/87486 "2022-09-19T17:23:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Grace\_Chuan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/grace_chuan/32/35724_2.png) [@Grace\_Chuan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Grace_Chuan)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/getting-attribute-error-unknown-property-math-fontfamily-from-plots/87486/1 "2022-09-19T17:23:29Z")

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Hi everyone,

I am trying to plot 3d graphics using Plots in jupyter notebook but everytime I try, I always get the error of unknown property math\_fontfamily. I posted a screenshot to show what I mean. Plots work for my 2d graphs.

I tried reupdating Plots via Pkg.add(“Plots”) but still doesn’t work.

 ![image002](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/9/4/94fe7a44b53d154570d429915e557f8d4cfb438a.png)

Would appreciate tips on how to fix this! Thanks

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**Author:** ![LeePhillips](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/leephillips/32/205514_2.png) [@LeePhillips](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/LeePhillips)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/getting-attribute-error-unknown-property-math-fontfamily-from-plots/87486/2 "2022-09-19T18:36:57Z")

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Do you need matplotlib? Can you use another backend, such as GR?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Grace\_Chuan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/grace_chuan/32/35724_2.png) [@Grace\_Chuan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Grace_Chuan)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 6:48pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/getting-attribute-error-unknown-property-math-fontfamily-from-plots/87486/3 "2022-09-19T18:48:29Z")

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How do I try those things? Also GR is the default backend and the documentation says it is capable of 3d plotting: [Backends · Plots](https://docs.juliaplots.org/stable/backends/#%5BGR%5D(https://github.com/jheinen/GR.jl))

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![LeePhillips](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/leephillips/32/205514_2.png) [@LeePhillips](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/LeePhillips)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/getting-attribute-error-unknown-property-math-fontfamily-from-plots/87486/4 "2022-09-19T19:16:04Z")

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Yes, `plot3d()` and other 3D plotting functions such as `surface()` work with GR. But your traceback shows that you’re trying to use matplotlib (and looks like you have an anaconda distribution). Try executing `gr()`, which will set your backend to GRbackend.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Grace\_Chuan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/grace_chuan/32/35724_2.png) [@Grace\_Chuan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Grace_Chuan)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/getting-attribute-error-unknown-property-math-fontfamily-from-plots/87486/5 "2022-09-19T19:23:44Z")

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Ah, this works thank you so much!