# MarkerElement allowable shapes

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/markerelement-allowable-shapes/56356>\
**Category:** Visualization\
**Tags:** makie\
**Created:** [March 2, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/markerelement-allowable-shapes/56356 "2021-03-02T19:06:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![kevbonham](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/kevbonham/32/216165_2.png) [@kevbonham](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/kevbonham)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/markerelement-allowable-shapes/56356/1 "2021-03-02T19:06:41Z")

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I was searching for which shape symbols are allowable in `MarkerElement`s for the `marker` kwarg. I identified `:circle` was what I needed, but wasn’t able to find where the possibilities are documented. Using characters like `o` is shown [here](http://makie.juliaplots.org/stable/makielayout/llegend.html#Creating-Legend-Entries-Manually), but that doesn’t have color.

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**Author:** ![jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/41988e/32.png) [@jules](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jules)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/markerelement-allowable-shapes/56356/2 "2021-03-02T20:18:21Z")

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`MarkerElement` is just using Scatter, so all markers that work with that can be used. In general, the way it works currently is that any character within Dejavu Sans, which is hardcoded as the Scatter font, can be used. [Here is a list of additional symbols](https://github.com/JuliaPlots/AbstractPlotting.jl/blob/5db0c94b368089e492f53fd8b706806623a8af46/src/conversions.jl#L1040-L1061) that have been overloaded and are just converted to certain characters. As far as I can see, these are not documented anywhere, though. There are tons of Unicode symbols that are useful as markers beyond that small set.

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**Author:** ![lazarusA](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/lazarusa/32/6571_2.png) [@lazarusA](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/lazarusA)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 8:24pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/markerelement-allowable-shapes/56356/3 "2021-03-02T20:24:51Z")

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I usually use this list  
`AbstractPlotting.available_marker_symbols()`

```julia
Marker Symbols:
    + => +
    diamond => ◆
    star4 => ✦
    star8 => ✷
    star6 => 🟋
    rtriangle => ▶
    x => x
    circle => ●
    pentagon => ⬟
    vline => ┃
    cross => ✚
    xcross => ❌
    rect => ■
    ltriangle => ◀
    dtriangle => ▼
    utriangle => ▲
    star5 => ★
    octagon => ⯄
    hline => ━
    hexagon => ⬢

```

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**Author:** ![jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/41988e/32.png) [@jules](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jules)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/markerelement-allowable-shapes/56356/4 "2021-03-02T20:27:01Z")

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Ah yeah that’s useful, although that does kind of hide the fact that much more are available, just not specifically named.