Project proposal:
Sivega is a future python library providing full style control and flexibility for ROOT histogram classes. It produces the graphical data directly into SVG, and uses the cairo engine to render publication quality plots to more standard formats such as EPS, PDF and PNG. The SVG 1.1 specification is notorious for its universality and flexibility, and provides plotting capabilities more powerful than the native ROOT rendering engine.
A secondary goal of sivega is to provide the user tools to quickly produce with a minimum of user input, plots with the information strategically scaled, positioned and contrasted for maximal visual ease.
Another goal is to preserve the ROOT data structure, such that operations on histograms can still be done in the traditional way. However, sivega completely replaces the ROOT rendering engine, so no more calls to ROOT's canvases, styles, and colors are necessary.
ROOT currently has the capability of converting its output to SVG, but it produces a flat .svg, which is difficult to use in an svg editor. Working with native SVG allows for easy interfacing with HTML and XML, offering the tantalizing possibility of interactive plots on the web. It also allows to produce lightweight SVG files which can be easily integrated and subsequently modified in vector graphics editors such as Adobe Illustrator and Inkscape. Another exciting possibility is the integration of MathML, which offers mathematical equation rendering on par with LateX for plot labels.