Bar plot in pgfplots using a palette using only fill

I am trying to create some nice looking bar plots, but this does not seem to be an easy task for me :) I have started out with the following:

\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
xbar, xmin=0,
width=12cm, height=3.5cm, enlarge y limits=0.5,
xlabel={Value},
symbolic y coords={Instance1,Instance2},
ytick=data,
nodes near coords, nodes near coords align={horizontal},
cycle list name=exotic
]
\addplot coordinates {(3,Instance1) (7,Instance2)};
\addplot coordinates {(2,Instance1) (3,Instance2)};
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}


This looks the following:

Instead I would prefer to only fill the bars without drawing and without the markers. I would still like to use the cycle list though. Any ideas on how to achieve this?

You can use

every axis plot/.append style={fill,draw=none,no markers}


as an option of the axis environment.

Code:

\documentclass[margin=10pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.12}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
xbar, xmin=0,
width=12cm, height=3.5cm, enlarge y limits=0.5,
xlabel={Value},
symbolic y coords={Instance1,Instance2},
ytick=data,
nodes near coords, nodes near coords align={horizontal},
cycle list name=exotic,
every axis plot/.append style={fill,draw=none,no markers}% <- added
]
\addplot coordinates {(3,Instance1) (7,Instance2)};
\addplot coordinates {(2,Instance1) (3,Instance2)};
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

• But then you would need \addplot+, right? – hfhc2 Jun 25 '15 at 13:31
• No. There are no [ ...] behind the \addplot so the cycle list is still active. Only the options mentioned in every axis plot/.append style={fill,draw=none,no markers} are changed. And as you can see the colors of the cycle list are still used. – esdd Jun 25 '15 at 13:37

Something like this:

It is obtained by:

\documentclass[border=3mm]{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
xbar, xmin=0,
width=12cm, height=3.5cm, enlarge y limits=0.5,
xlabel={Value},
symbolic y coords={Instance1,Instance2},
ytick=data,
nodes near coords, nodes near coords align={horizontal},
cycle list name=exotic
]