Love or hate the matlab jet colormap? Want it in gnuplot? Here's how to do it!

jet_colors.gnu

set palette defined (0 0.0 0.0 0.5, \
                     1 0.0 0.0 1.0, \
                     2 0.0 0.5 1.0, \
                     3 0.0 1.0 1.0, \
                     4 0.5 1.0 0.5, \
                     5 1.0 1.0 0.0, \
                     6 1.0 0.5 0.0, \
                     7 1.0 0.0 0.0, \
                     8 0.5 0.0 0.0 )

plot 'example_matrix.txt' u 1:2:3 with image

There are people who love it? o_O I thought people only chose it because it's the default and they didn't realize there were much better choices.

The 'jet' colormap must die!

"The ‘jet’ colormap, the default colormap in MATLAB, is a perceptual disaster"

Rainbow Color Map (Still) Considered Harmful

"In the absence of feedback about the data or task, the best approach for situations where color is the only display technique is probably the black-body radiation spectrum, because of its perceptual ordering and use of color to avoid contrast effects."

Harried Advisor: Show me the plots, quick!
Nervous Grad Student: Here you go. The new resul…
Advisor: What is this? I told you to use matlab!
Student: I know, but I need a new licen…
Advisor: I don't care, just make the plots!

And so, in the words of the inestimable Morpheus, welcome... to the real world.