diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 6fe0e21..6e18c22 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [metadata]
 name = footsteps
-version = 0.1.8
+version = 0.1.9
 author = Hastings Greer
 author_email = footsteps@hgreer.com
 description = a minimal experiment logging package
diff --git a/src/footsteps/__init__.py b/src/footsteps/__init__.py
index ad40b25..f9c8375 100644
--- a/src/footsteps/__init__.py
+++ b/src/footsteps/__init__.py
@@ -135,3 +135,11 @@ def __getattr__(name):
             initialize()
         return output_dir_impl
     raise AttributeError(f"module '{__name__}' has no attribute '{name}'")
+
+num_plots = 0
+def plot(name=""):
+    global num_plots
+    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+    plt.savefig(__getattr__("output_dir") + f"{num_plots:03d}_{name}.png")
+    plt.clf()
+    num_plots += 1