diff --git a/doc/users/whats_new/2016-04_qt_config-AL.rst b/doc/users/whats_new/2016-04_qt_config-AL.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..434ec43c7cda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/users/whats_new/2016-04_qt_config-AL.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+Improvements for the Qt figure options editor
+---------------------------------------------
+
+Various usability improvements were implemented for the Qt figure options
+editor, among which:
+- Line style entries are now sorted without duplicates.
+- The colormap and normalization limits can now be set for images.
+- Line edits for floating values now display only as many digits as necessary
+  to avoid precision loss.  An important bug was also fixed regarding input
+  validation using Qt5 and a locale where the decimal separator is ",".
+- The axes selector now uses shorter, more user-friendly names for axes, and
+  does not crash if there are no axes.
+- Line and image entries using the default labels ("_lineX", "_imageX") are now
+  sorted numerically even when there are more than 10 entries.
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
index 1e50188d14f0..05c4e43265d9 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
@@ -1732,6 +1732,8 @@ def add_image(self, image):
         Returns the image.
         """
         self._set_artist_props(image)
+        if not image.get_label():
+            image.set_label('_image%d' % len(self.images))
         self.images.append(image)
         image._remove_method = lambda h: self.images.remove(h)
         self.stale = True
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/qt_editor/figureoptions.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/qt_editor/figureoptions.py
index 1b220173c5f6..038073edd6a1 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/qt_editor/figureoptions.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/qt_editor/figureoptions.py
@@ -13,23 +13,24 @@
 import six
 
 import os.path as osp
+import re
 
+import matplotlib
+from matplotlib import cm, markers, colors as mcolors
 import matplotlib.backends.qt_editor.formlayout as formlayout
 from matplotlib.backends.qt_compat import QtGui
-from matplotlib import markers
-from matplotlib.colors import colorConverter, rgb2hex
 
 
 def get_icon(name):
-    import matplotlib
     basedir = osp.join(matplotlib.rcParams['datapath'], 'images')
     return QtGui.QIcon(osp.join(basedir, name))
 
+
 LINESTYLES = {'-': 'Solid',
               '--': 'Dashed',
               '-.': 'DashDot',
               ':': 'Dotted',
-              'none': 'None',
+              'None': 'None',
               }
 
 DRAWSTYLES = {'default': 'Default',
@@ -43,8 +44,6 @@ def figure_edit(axes, parent=None):
     """Edit matplotlib figure options"""
     sep = (None, None)  # separator
 
-    has_curve = len(axes.get_lines()) > 0
-
     # Get / General
     xmin, xmax = axes.get_xlim()
     ymin, ymax = axes.get_ylim()
@@ -69,57 +68,115 @@ def figure_edit(axes, parent=None):
     xunits = axes.xaxis.get_units()
     yunits = axes.yaxis.get_units()
 
-    if has_curve:
-        # Get / Curves
-        linedict = {}
-        for line in axes.get_lines():
-            label = line.get_label()
-            if label == '_nolegend_':
-                continue
-            linedict[label] = line
-        curves = []
-        linestyles = list(six.iteritems(LINESTYLES))
-        drawstyles = list(six.iteritems(DRAWSTYLES))
-        markers = list(six.iteritems(MARKERS))
-        curvelabels = sorted(linedict.keys())
-        for label in curvelabels:
-            line = linedict[label]
-            color = rgb2hex(colorConverter.to_rgb(line.get_color()))
-            ec = rgb2hex(colorConverter.to_rgb(line.get_markeredgecolor()))
-            fc = rgb2hex(colorConverter.to_rgb(line.get_markerfacecolor()))
-            curvedata = [('Label', label),
-                         sep,
-                         (None, '<b>Line</b>'),
-                         ('Line Style', [line.get_linestyle()] + linestyles),
-                         ('Draw Style', [line.get_drawstyle()] + drawstyles),
-                         ('Width', line.get_linewidth()),
-                         ('Color', color),
-                         sep,
-                         (None, '<b>Marker</b>'),
-                         ('Style', [line.get_marker()] + markers),
-                         ('Size', line.get_markersize()),
-                         ('Facecolor', fc),
-                         ('Edgecolor', ec),
-                         ]
-            curves.append([curvedata, label, ""])
-
-        # make sure that there is at least one displayed curve
-        has_curve = bool(curves)
+    # Sorting for default labels (_lineXXX, _imageXXX).
+    def cmp_key(label):
+        match = re.match(r"(_line|_image)(\d+)", label)
+        if match:
+            return match.group(1), int(match.group(2))
+        else:
+            return label, 0
+
+    # Get / Curves
+    linedict = {}
+    for line in axes.get_lines():
+        label = line.get_label()
+        if label == '_nolegend_':
+            continue
+        linedict[label] = line
+    curves = []
+
+    def prepare_data(d, init):
+        """Prepare entry for FormLayout.
+
+        `d` is a mapping of shorthands to style names (a single style may
+        have multiple shorthands, in particular the shorthands `None`,
+        `"None"`, `"none"` and `""` are synonyms); `init` is one shorthand
+        of the initial style.
+
+        This function returns an list suitable for initializing a
+        FormLayout combobox, namely `[initial_name, (shorthand,
+        style_name), (shorthand, style_name), ...]`.
+        """
+        # Drop duplicate shorthands from dict (by overwriting them during
+        # the dict comprehension).
+        name2short = {name: short for short, name in d.items()}
+        # Convert back to {shorthand: name}.
+        short2name = {short: name for name, short in name2short.items()}
+        # Find the kept shorthand for the style specified by init.
+        canonical_init = name2short[d[init]]
+        # Sort by representation and prepend the initial value.
+        return ([canonical_init] +
+                sorted(short2name.items(),
+                       key=lambda short_and_name: short_and_name[1]))
+
+    curvelabels = sorted(linedict, key=cmp_key)
+    for label in curvelabels:
+        line = linedict[label]
+        color = mcolors.to_hex(
+            mcolors.to_rgba(line.get_color(), line.get_alpha()),
+            keep_alpha=True)
+        ec = mcolors.to_hex(line.get_markeredgecolor(), keep_alpha=True)
+        fc = mcolors.to_hex(line.get_markerfacecolor(), keep_alpha=True)
+        curvedata = [
+            ('Label', label),
+            sep,
+            (None, '<b>Line</b>'),
+            ('Line style', prepare_data(LINESTYLES, line.get_linestyle())),
+            ('Draw style', prepare_data(DRAWSTYLES, line.get_drawstyle())),
+            ('Width', line.get_linewidth()),
+            ('Color (RGBA)', color),
+            sep,
+            (None, '<b>Marker</b>'),
+            ('Style', prepare_data(MARKERS, line.get_marker())),
+            ('Size', line.get_markersize()),
+            ('Face color (RGBA)', fc),
+            ('Edge color (RGBA)', ec)]
+        curves.append([curvedata, label, ""])
+    # Is there a curve displayed?
+    has_curve = bool(curves)
+
+    # Get / Images
+    imagedict = {}
+    for image in axes.get_images():
+        label = image.get_label()
+        if label == '_nolegend_':
+            continue
+        imagedict[label] = image
+    imagelabels = sorted(imagedict, key=cmp_key)
+    images = []
+    cmaps = [(cmap, name) for name, cmap in sorted(cm.cmap_d.items())]
+    for label in imagelabels:
+        image = imagedict[label]
+        cmap = image.get_cmap()
+        if cmap not in cm.cmap_d.values():
+            cmaps = [(cmap, cmap.name)] + cmaps
+        low, high = image.get_clim()
+        imagedata = [
+            ('Label', label),
+            ('Colormap', [cmap.name] + cmaps),
+            ('Min. value', low),
+            ('Max. value', high)]
+        images.append([imagedata, label, ""])
+    # Is there an image displayed?
+    has_image = bool(images)
 
     datalist = [(general, "Axes", "")]
-    if has_curve:
+    if curves:
         datalist.append((curves, "Curves", ""))
+    if images:
+        datalist.append((images, "Images", ""))
 
     def apply_callback(data):
         """This function will be called to apply changes"""
-        if has_curve:
-            general, curves = data
-        else:
-            general, = data
+        general = data.pop(0)
+        curves = data.pop(0) if has_curve else []
+        images = data.pop(0) if has_image else []
+        if data:
+            raise ValueError("Unexpected field")
 
         # Set / General
-        title, xmin, xmax, xlabel, xscale, ymin, ymax, ylabel, yscale, \
-            generate_legend = general
+        (title, xmin, xmax, xlabel, xscale, ymin, ymax, ylabel, yscale,
+         generate_legend) = general
 
         if axes.get_xscale() != xscale:
             axes.set_xscale(xscale)
@@ -140,26 +197,33 @@ def apply_callback(data):
         axes.xaxis._update_axisinfo()
         axes.yaxis._update_axisinfo()
 
-        if has_curve:
-            # Set / Curves
-            for index, curve in enumerate(curves):
-                line = linedict[curvelabels[index]]
-                label, linestyle, drawstyle, linewidth, color, \
-                    marker, markersize, markerfacecolor, markeredgecolor \
-                    = curve
-                line.set_label(label)
-                line.set_linestyle(linestyle)
-                line.set_drawstyle(drawstyle)
-                line.set_linewidth(linewidth)
-                line.set_color(color)
-                if marker is not 'none':
-                    line.set_marker(marker)
-                    line.set_markersize(markersize)
-                    line.set_markerfacecolor(markerfacecolor)
-                    line.set_markeredgecolor(markeredgecolor)
+        # Set / Curves
+        for index, curve in enumerate(curves):
+            line = linedict[curvelabels[index]]
+            (label, linestyle, drawstyle, linewidth, color, marker, markersize,
+             markerfacecolor, markeredgecolor) = curve
+            line.set_label(label)
+            line.set_linestyle(linestyle)
+            line.set_drawstyle(drawstyle)
+            line.set_linewidth(linewidth)
+            rgba = mcolors.to_rgba(color)
+            line.set_color(rgba[:3])
+            line.set_alpha(rgba[-1])
+            if marker is not 'none':
+                line.set_marker(marker)
+                line.set_markersize(markersize)
+                line.set_markerfacecolor(markerfacecolor)
+                line.set_markeredgecolor(markeredgecolor)
+
+        # Set / Images
+        for index, image_settings in enumerate(images):
+            image = imagedict[imagelabels[index]]
+            label, cmap, low, high = image_settings
+            image.set_label(label)
+            image.set_cmap(cm.get_cmap(cmap))
+            image.set_clim(*sorted([low, high]))
 
         # re-generate legend, if checkbox is checked
-
         if generate_legend:
             draggable = None
             ncol = 1
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/qt_editor/formlayout.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/qt_editor/formlayout.py
index a786a6105342..00a1a03a36ee 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/qt_editor/formlayout.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/qt_editor/formlayout.py
@@ -32,43 +32,33 @@
 FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR
 OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
 """
-from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function,
-                        unicode_literals)
-
-import six
-from six.moves import xrange
 
 # History:
 # 1.0.10: added float validator (disable "Ok" and "Apply" button when not valid)
 # 1.0.7: added support for "Apply" button
 # 1.0.6: code cleaning
 
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function,
+                        unicode_literals)
+
 __version__ = '1.0.10'
 __license__ = __doc__
 
 DEBUG = False
 
-import sys
-STDERR = sys.stderr
+import copy
+import datetime
+import warnings
 
-from matplotlib.colors import is_color_like
-from matplotlib.colors import rgb2hex
-from matplotlib.colors import colorConverter
+import six
 
+from matplotlib import colors as mcolors
 from matplotlib.backends.qt_compat import QtGui, QtWidgets, QtCore
-if not hasattr(QtWidgets, 'QFormLayout'):
-    raise ImportError("Warning: formlayout requires PyQt4 >v4.3 or PySide")
 
-import datetime
 
 BLACKLIST = set(["title", "label"])
 
 
-def col2hex(color):
-    """Convert matplotlib color to hex before passing to Qt"""
-    return rgb2hex(colorConverter.to_rgb(color))
-
-
 class ColorButton(QtWidgets.QPushButton):
     """
     Color choosing push button
@@ -83,7 +73,9 @@ def __init__(self, parent=None):
         self._color = QtGui.QColor()
 
     def choose_color(self):
-        color = QtWidgets.QColorDialog.getColor(self._color, self.parentWidget(), '')
+        color = QtWidgets.QColorDialog.getColor(
+            self._color, self.parentWidget(), "",
+            QtWidgets.QColorDialog.ShowAlphaChannel)
         if color.isValid():
             self.set_color(color)
 
@@ -101,21 +93,17 @@ def set_color(self, color):
 
     color = QtCore.Property(QtGui.QColor, get_color, set_color)
 
-def col2hex(color):
-    """Convert matplotlib color to hex before passing to Qt"""
-    return rgb2hex(colorConverter.to_rgb(color))
 
 def to_qcolor(color):
     """Create a QColor from a matplotlib color"""
     qcolor = QtGui.QColor()
-    color = str(color)
     try:
-        color = col2hex(color)
+        rgba = mcolors.to_rgba(color)
     except ValueError:
-        #print('WARNING: ignoring invalid color %r' % color)
+        warnings.warn('Ignoring invalid color %r' % color)
         return qcolor  # return invalid QColor
-    qcolor.setNamedColor(color)  # set using hex color
-    return qcolor  # return valid QColor
+    qcolor.setRgbF(*rgba)
+    return qcolor
 
 
 class ColorLayout(QtWidgets.QHBoxLayout):
@@ -123,7 +111,8 @@ class ColorLayout(QtWidgets.QHBoxLayout):
     def __init__(self, color, parent=None):
         QtWidgets.QHBoxLayout.__init__(self)
         assert isinstance(color, QtGui.QColor)
-        self.lineedit = QtWidgets.QLineEdit(color.name(), parent)
+        self.lineedit = QtWidgets.QLineEdit(
+            mcolors.to_hex(color.getRgbF(), keep_alpha=True), parent)
         self.lineedit.editingFinished.connect(self.update_color)
         self.addWidget(self.lineedit)
         self.colorbtn = ColorButton(parent)
@@ -137,7 +126,7 @@ def update_color(self):
         self.colorbtn.color = qcolor  # defaults to black if not qcolor.isValid()
 
     def update_text(self, color):
-        self.lineedit.setText(color.name())
+        self.lineedit.setText(mcolors.to_hex(color.getRgbF(), keep_alpha=True))
 
     def text(self):
         return self.lineedit.text()
@@ -146,7 +135,7 @@ def text(self):
 def font_is_installed(font):
     """Check if font is installed"""
     return [fam for fam in QtGui.QFontDatabase().families()
-              if six.text_type(fam) == font]
+            if six.text_type(fam) == font]
 
 
 def tuple_to_qfont(tup):
@@ -154,11 +143,11 @@ def tuple_to_qfont(tup):
     Create a QFont from tuple:
         (family [string], size [int], italic [bool], bold [bool])
     """
-    if not isinstance(tup, tuple) or len(tup) != 4 \
-       or not font_is_installed(tup[0]) \
-       or not isinstance(tup[1], int) \
-       or not isinstance(tup[2], bool) \
-       or not isinstance(tup[3], bool):
+    if not (isinstance(tup, tuple) and len(tup) == 4
+            and font_is_installed(tup[0])
+            and isinstance(tup[1], int)
+            and isinstance(tup[2], bool)
+            and isinstance(tup[3], bool)):
         return None
     font = QtGui.QFont()
     family, size, italic, bold = tup
@@ -189,7 +178,7 @@ def __init__(self, value, parent=None):
         # Font size
         self.size = QtWidgets.QComboBox(parent)
         self.size.setEditable(True)
-        sizelist = list(xrange(6, 12)) + list(xrange(12, 30, 2)) + [36, 48, 72]
+        sizelist = list(range(6, 12)) + list(range(12, 30, 2)) + [36, 48, 72]
         size = font.pointSize()
         if size not in sizelist:
             sizelist.append(size)
@@ -227,8 +216,7 @@ class FormWidget(QtWidgets.QWidget):
     update_buttons = QtCore.Signal()
     def __init__(self, data, comment="", parent=None):
         QtWidgets.QWidget.__init__(self, parent)
-        from copy import deepcopy
-        self.data = deepcopy(data)
+        self.data = copy.deepcopy(data)
         self.widgets = []
         self.formlayout = QtWidgets.QFormLayout(self)
         if comment:
@@ -264,7 +252,8 @@ def setup(self):
                 continue
             elif tuple_to_qfont(value) is not None:
                 field = FontLayout(value, self)
-            elif label.lower() not in BLACKLIST and is_color_like(value):
+            elif (label.lower() not in BLACKLIST
+                  and mcolors.is_color_like(value)):
                 field = ColorLayout(to_qcolor(value), self)
             elif isinstance(value, six.string_types):
                 field = QtWidgets.QLineEdit(value, self)
@@ -284,8 +273,9 @@ def setup(self):
                 elif selindex in keys:
                     selindex = keys.index(selindex)
                 elif not isinstance(selindex, int):
-                    print("Warning: '%s' index is invalid (label: "
-                                    "%s, value: %s)" % (selindex, label, value), file=STDERR)
+                    warnings.warn(
+                        "index '%s' is invalid (label: %s, value: %s)" %
+                        (selindex, label, value))
                     selindex = 0
                 field.setCurrentIndex(selindex)
             elif isinstance(value, bool):
@@ -326,7 +316,8 @@ def get(self):
                 continue
             elif tuple_to_qfont(value) is not None:
                 value = field.get_font()
-            elif isinstance(value, six.string_types) or is_color_like(value):
+            elif (isinstance(value, six.string_types)
+                  or mcolors.is_color_like(value)):
                 value = six.text_type(field.text())
             elif isinstance(value, (list, tuple)):
                 index = int(field.currentIndex())
@@ -431,8 +422,8 @@ def __init__(self, data, title="", comment="",
         self.formwidget.setup()
 
         # Button box
-        self.bbox = bbox = QtWidgets.QDialogButtonBox(QtWidgets.QDialogButtonBox.Ok
-                                                 | QtWidgets.QDialogButtonBox.Cancel)
+        self.bbox = bbox = QtWidgets.QDialogButtonBox(
+            QtWidgets.QDialogButtonBox.Ok | QtWidgets.QDialogButtonBox.Cancel)
         self.formwidget.update_buttons.connect(self.update_buttons)
         if self.apply_callback is not None:
             apply_btn = bbox.addButton(QtWidgets.QDialogButtonBox.Apply)
@@ -457,7 +448,8 @@ def update_buttons(self):
         for field in self.float_fields:
             if not is_edit_valid(field):
                 valid = False
-        for btn_type in (QtWidgets.QDialogButtonBox.Ok, QtWidgets.QDialogButtonBox.Apply):
+        for btn_type in (QtWidgets.QDialogButtonBox.Ok,
+                         QtWidgets.QDialogButtonBox.Apply):
             btn = self.bbox.button(btn_type)
             if btn is not None:
                 btn.setEnabled(valid)
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/cbook.py b/lib/matplotlib/cbook.py
index 0db136682d9f..eca3fa1fe49b 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/cbook.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/cbook.py
@@ -1505,6 +1505,13 @@ def issubclass_safe(x, klass):
 
 def safe_masked_invalid(x, copy=False):
     x = np.array(x, subok=True, copy=copy)
+    if not x.dtype.isnative:
+        # Note that the argument to `byteswap` is 'inplace',
+        # thus if we have already made a copy, do the byteswap in
+        # place, else make a copy with the byte order swapped.
+        # Be explicit that we are swapping the byte order of the dtype
+        x = x.byteswap(copy).newbyteorder('S')
+
     try:
         xm = np.ma.masked_invalid(x, copy=False)
         xm.shrink_mask()
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_image/imshow_endianess.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_image/imshow_endianess.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..148acf125174
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_image/imshow_endianess.png differ
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
index 1b0022d63e3b..f4e45ae7fd36 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
@@ -4553,6 +4553,7 @@ def test_large_offset():
     fig.canvas.draw()
 
 
+@cleanup
 def test_bar_color_cycle():
     ccov = mcolors.colorConverter.to_rgb
     fig, ax = plt.subplots()
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_image.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_image.py
index 08d55155d5fa..f2d5fb019010 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_image.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_image.py
@@ -715,6 +715,21 @@ def test_mask_image():
     ax2.imshow(A, interpolation='nearest')
 
 
-if __name__=='__main__':
-    import nose
-    nose.runmodule(argv=['-s','--with-doctest'], exit=False)
+@image_comparison(baseline_images=['imshow_endianess'],
+                  remove_text=True, extensions=['png'])
+def test_imshow_endianess():
+    x = np.arange(10)
+    X, Y = np.meshgrid(x, x)
+    Z = ((X-5)**2 + (Y-5)**2)**0.5
+
+    fig, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(1, 2)
+
+    kwargs = dict(origin="lower", interpolation='nearest',
+                  cmap='viridis')
+
+    ax1.imshow(Z.astype('<f8'), **kwargs)
+    ax2.imshow(Z.astype('>f8'), **kwargs)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    nose.runmodule(argv=['-s', '--with-doctest'], exit=False)

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