---
name: "kst"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "kst"
version: "3.0.0-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/kst"
---

# kst(1)

plots scientific data

## NAME

kst — plots scientific data

## SYNOPSIS

- **kst**

  - **kst**

  \[ **-F** DATASOURCE \] \[ **-f** STARTFRAME \] \[ **-n** NUMFRAMES \] \[  **-s** FRAMESPERSAMPLE \[ **-a** \] \] kstfile

- **kst**

  datasource \[ **-f** STARTFRAME \] \[ **-n** NUMFRAMES \] \[ **-s**  FRAMESPERSAMPLE \[ **-a** \] \]  \[ **-P** PLOTNAME \] \[ **-A**\]  \[ **-d** \] \[ **-l** \] \[ **-b** \]  \[ **-x** FIELD \] \[ **-e** FIELD \] \[ **-r** RATE \]  \[ **-y** FIELD \] \[ **-p** FIELD \] \[ **-h** FIELD \] \[ **-z** FIELD \]  \[ **--png** filename \]  \[ **--print** filename \[ **--landscape** \| **--portrait** \]  \[ **--Letter** \| **--A4** \] \]

## DESCRIPTION

**kst is a graphical data plotting tool, which includes the ability** **to plot live data (contiuously update the plot as new data becomes** **available).**

**kst may be run entirely from within its GUI, in which case no** **command line arguments are needed.  kst has a powerful wizard for** **easily setting up new plots.**

**In the second invocation, kst loads pre-saved plot specifications from the** **file** *kstfile* **and optionally may override some of the settings in that file.**

**In the third invocation, kst displays plots of the data as directed in**  **the default manner.  Additional datasources may be specified on the**  **command line with options for that datasource following it.  Command** **line options generally apply to all subsequent options unless later** **overridden.**

## OPTIONS

- **-A**

  **plot all curves in separate plots**

- **-a**

  **average frames (simple mean) when plotting with** **-s.**

- **--A4**

  **use A4 sized paper for printing.  Requires** **--print.**

- **-b**

  **plot as bargraphs.**

- **-d**

  **use points when plotting curves.**

- **-e FIELD**

  **use** *FIELD* **as the magnitude of error bars applied to the next plot.**

- **-F datasource**

  **override the datasource indicated in the**  *kstfile* **and instead use** *datasource.*

- **-f STARTFRAME**

  **begin plotting at** *STARTFRAME* **frames into the data.  Set to -1 to start at** *NUMFRAMES* **from the end of the data.**

- **-h FIELD**

  **plot** *FIELD* **as a histogram.**

- **-l**

  **use lines when plotting curves.**

- **--landscape**

  **use landscape orientation for printing.  Requires** **--print.** **--Letter** **use US Letter sized paper for printing.  Requires** **--print.**

- **-n NUMFRAMES**

  **plot at most** *NUMFRAMES* **frames of data.  Set to -1 to indicate all of the data.**

- **-P PLOTNAME**

  **plot all plots in the plot named** *PLOTNAME.*

- **-p FIELD**

  **plot** *FIELD* **as a power spectrum plot.**

- **--png filename**

  **render to a portable network graphics (png) image with file name**  *filename* **and quit.**

- **--portrait**

  **use portrait orientation for printing.  Requires** **--print.**

- **--print filename**

  **print the plot to file** *filename* **and quit.**

- **-s FRAMESPERSAMPLE**

  **plot every** *FRAMESPERSAMPLE* **frames when plotting.**

- **-x FIELD**

  **use** *FIELD* **as the X-axis vector.**

- **-y FIELD**

  **plot** *FIELD* **as an XY plot.**

- **-z FIELD**

  **plot** *FIELD* **as an image.**

## EXAMPLES

**Plot all data in column 2 from data.dat.**\
        **kst data.dat -y 2**

**Same as above, except only read 20 lines, starting at line 10.**\
        **kst data.dat -f 10 -n 20 -y 2**

**also read col 1. One plot per curve.**\
        **kst data.dat -f 10 -n 20 -y 1 -y 2**

**Read col 1 from data2.dat and col 1 from data.dat**\
        **kst data.dat -f 10 -n 20 -y 2 data2.dat -y 1**

**Same as above, except read 40 lines starting at 30 in data2.dat**\
        **kst data.dat -f 10 -n 20 -y 2 data2.dat -f 30 -n 40 -y 1**

**Specify the X vector and error bars:** **Plot x = col 1 and Y = col 2 and error flags = col 3 from data.dat**\
        **kst data.dat -x 1 -e 3 -y 2**

**Get the X vector from data1.dat, and the Y vector from data2.dat.**\
        **kst data1.dat -x 1 data2.dat -y 1**

**Placement:** **Plot column 2 and column 3 in plot P1 and column 4 in plot P2**\
        **kst data.dat -P P1 -y 2 -y 3 -P P2 -y 4**

## BUGS

**Please report bugs to either the kst mailing list at** *kst@kde.org* **or to the kde bugzilla under the kst product at** *http://bugs.kde.org/.* **If you can run kst, you can easily report bugs by selecting** *Bug Report Wizard* **from the**  *Help* **menu.**

## AUTHOR

**Matthew Truch \<matt@truch.net\>**

## LICENSE

**Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document** **under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or** **any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no** **Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover** **Texts.  A copy of the license is included in the \`COPYING.DOC' file** **as part of the kst distribution.**