---
title: circuit_drawer (v0.46)
description: API reference for qiskit.visualization.circuit_drawer in qiskit v0.46
source: https://eu-de.quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/en/api/qiskit/0.46/qiskit.visualization.circuit_drawer
---

# qiskit.visualization.circuit\_drawer

`qiskit.visualization.circuit_drawer(circuit, scale=None, filename=None, style=None, output=None, interactive=False, plot_barriers=True, reverse_bits=None, justify=None, vertical_compression='medium', idle_wires=True, with_layout=True, fold=None, ax=None, initial_state=False, cregbundle=None, wire_order=None, expr_len=30)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/0.46/qiskit/visualization/circuit/circuit_visualization.py)

Draw the quantum circuit. Use the output parameter to choose the drawing format:

**text**: ASCII art TextDrawing that can be printed in the console.

**matplotlib**: images with color rendered purely in Python.

**latex**: high-quality images compiled via latex.

**latex\_source**: raw uncompiled latex output.

> **Warning**
>
> Support for [`Expr`](/docs/api/qiskit/0.46/circuit_classical#qiskit.circuit.classical.expr.Expr "qiskit.circuit.classical.expr.Expr") nodes in conditions and `SwitchCaseOp.target` fields is preliminary and incomplete. The `text` and `mpl` drawers will make a best-effort attempt to show data dependencies, but the LaTeX-based drawers will skip these completely.

**Parameters**

- **circuit** ([*QuantumCircuit*](/docs/api/qiskit/0.46/qiskit.circuit.QuantumCircuit "qiskit.circuit.QuantumCircuit")) – the quantum circuit to draw
- **scale** ([*float*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#float)) – scale of image to draw (shrink if \< 1.0). Only used by the mpl, latex and latex\_source outputs. Defaults to 1.0.
- **filename** ([*str*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#str)) – file path to save image to. Defaults to None.
- **style** ([*dict*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#dict)  *or*[*str*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#str)) – dictionary of style or file name of style json file. This option is only used by the mpl or latex output type. If style is a str, it is used as the path to a json file which contains a style dict. The file will be opened, parsed, and then any style elements in the dict will replace the default values in the input dict. A file to be loaded must end in `.json`, but the name entered here can omit `.json`. For example, `style='iqp.json'` or `style='iqp'`. If style is a dict and the `'name'` key is set, that name will be used to load a json file, followed by loading the other items in the style dict. For example, `style={'name': 'iqp'}`. If style is not a str and name is not a key in the style dict, then the default value from the user config file (usually `~/.qiskit/settings.conf`) will be used, for example, `circuit_mpl_style = iqp`. If none of these are set, the clifford style will be used. The search path for style json files can be specified in the user config, for example, `circuit_mpl_style_path = /home/user/styles:/home/user`. See: [`DefaultStyle`](/docs/api/qiskit/0.46/qiskit.visualization.circuit.qcstyle.DefaultStyle "qiskit.visualization.circuit.qcstyle.DefaultStyle") for more information on the contents.
- **output** ([*str*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#str)) – select the output method to use for drawing the circuit. Valid choices are `text`, `mpl`, `latex`, `latex_source`. By default, the text drawer is used unless the user config file (usually `~/.qiskit/settings.conf`) has an alternative backend set as the default. For example, `circuit_drawer = latex`. If the output kwarg is set, that backend will always be used over the default in the user config file.
- **interactive** ([*bool*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#bool)) – when set to true, show the circuit in a new window (for mpl this depends on the matplotlib backend being used supporting this). Note when used with either the text or the latex\_source output type this has no effect and will be silently ignored. Defaults to False.
- **reverse\_bits** ([*bool*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#bool)) – when set to True, reverse the bit order inside registers for the output visualization. Defaults to False unless the user config file (usually `~/.qiskit/settings.conf`) has an alternative value set. For example, `circuit_reverse_bits = True`.
- **plot\_barriers** ([*bool*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#bool)) – enable/disable drawing barriers in the output circuit. Defaults to True.
- **justify** (*string*) – options are `left`, `right` or `none`. If anything else is supplied, it defaults to left justified. It refers to where gates should be placed in the output circuit if there is an option. `none` results in each gate being placed in its own column.
- **vertical\_compression** (*string*) – `high`, `medium` or `low`. It merges the lines generated by the text output so the drawing will take less vertical room. Default is `medium`. Only used by the text output, will be silently ignored otherwise.
- **idle\_wires** ([*bool*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#bool)) – include idle wires (wires with no circuit elements) in output visualization. Default is True.
- **with\_layout** ([*bool*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#bool)) – include layout information, with labels on the physical layout. Default is True.
- **fold** ([*int*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#int)) – sets pagination. It can be disabled using -1. In text, sets the length of the lines. This is useful when the drawing does not fit in the console. If None (default), it will try to guess the console width using `shutil.get_terminal_size()`. However, if running in jupyter, the default line length is set to 80 characters. In mpl, it is the number of (visual) layers before folding. Default is 25.
- **ax** ([*matplotlib.axes.Axes*](https://matplotlib.org/stable/api/_as_gen/matplotlib.axes.Axes.html#matplotlib.axes.Axes "(in Matplotlib v3.9.2)")) – Only used by the mpl backend. An optional Axes object to be used for the visualization output. If none is specified, a new matplotlib Figure will be created and used. Additionally, if specified there will be no returned Figure since it is redundant.
- **initial\_state** ([*bool*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#bool)) – Optional. Adds `|0>` in the beginning of the wire. Default is False.
- **cregbundle** ([*bool*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#bool)) – Optional. If set True, bundle classical registers into a single wire. Default is true if possible, and false if a block instruction needs to access an individual bit from a register.
- **wire\_order** ([*list*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#list)) – Optional. A list of integers used to reorder the display of the bits. The list must have an entry for every bit with the bits in the range 0 to (num\_qubits + num\_clbits).
- **expr\_len** ([*int*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#int)) – Optional. The number of characters to display if an [`Expr`](/docs/api/qiskit/0.46/circuit_classical#qiskit.circuit.classical.expr.Expr "qiskit.circuit.classical.expr.Expr") is used for the condition in a [`ControlFlowOp`](/docs/api/qiskit/0.46/qiskit.circuit.ControlFlowOp "qiskit.circuit.ControlFlowOp"). If this number is exceeded, the string will be truncated at that number and ‘…’ added to the end.

**Returns**

`TextDrawing` or `matplotlib.figure` or `PIL.Image` or [`str`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#str):

- **TextDrawing (output=’text’)**

  A drawing that can be printed as ascii art.

- **matplotlib.figure.Figure (output=’mpl’)**

  A matplotlib figure object for the circuit diagram.

- **PIL.Image (output=’latex’)**

  An in-memory representation of the image of the circuit diagram.

- **str (output=’latex\_source’)**

  The LaTeX source code for visualizing the circuit diagram.

**Raises**

- [**VisualizationError**](/docs/api/qiskit/0.46/visualization#qiskit.visualization.VisualizationError "qiskit.visualization.VisualizationError") – when an invalid output method is selected
- [**MissingOptionalLibraryError**](/docs/api/qiskit/0.46/exceptions#qiskit.exceptions.MissingOptionalLibraryError "qiskit.exceptions.MissingOptionalLibraryError") – when the output methods requires non-installed libraries.

**Example**

```python
from qiskit import QuantumRegister, ClassicalRegister, QuantumCircuit
from qiskit.tools.visualization import circuit_drawer
q = QuantumRegister(1)
c = ClassicalRegister(1)
qc = QuantumCircuit(q, c)
qc.h(q)
qc.measure(q, c)
circuit_drawer(qc, output='mpl', style={'backgroundcolor': '#EEEEEE'})
```

![../\_images/qiskit-visualization-circuit\_drawer-1.png](https://eu-de.quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/images/api/qiskit/0.46/qiskit-visualization-circuit_drawer-1.avif)