diff --git a/src/lib/dates.js b/src/lib/dates.js
index c5c05fcfda9..28c3e63d9cb 100644
--- a/src/lib/dates.js
+++ b/src/lib/dates.js
@@ -451,6 +451,7 @@ function yearMonthDayFormatWorld(cDate) { return cDate.formatDate('M d, yyyy');
  *   tr: tickround ('y', 'm', 'd', 'M', 'S', or # digits)
  *      used if no explicit fmt is provided
  *   calendar: optional string, the world calendar system to use
+ *   dtick: optional string or number, side of tick for custom formatting
  *
  * returns the date/time as a string, potentially with the leading portion
  * on a separate line (after '\n')
@@ -458,13 +459,40 @@ function yearMonthDayFormatWorld(cDate) { return cDate.formatDate('M d, yyyy');
  * the axis may choose to strip things after it when they don't change from
  * one tick to the next (as it does with automatic formatting)
  */
-exports.formatDate = function(x, fmt, tr, calendar) {
+exports.formatDate = function(x, fmt, tr, calendar, dtick) {
     var headStr,
         dateStr;
 
     calendar = isWorldCalendar(calendar) && calendar;
 
-    if(fmt) return modDateFormat(fmt, x, calendar);
+    if(fmt) {
+        if(typeof fmt === 'string') return modDateFormat(fmt, x, calendar);
+        if(typeof fmt === 'object') {
+            var unit = '';
+            if(typeof dtick === 'string') {
+                if(Number(dtick.replace('M', '')) > 6) {
+                    unit = 'year';
+                } else if(Number(dtick.replace('M', '')) >= 1) {
+                    unit = 'month';
+                }
+            } else if(dtick >= ONEDAY * 7) {
+                unit = 'week';
+            } else if(dtick >= ONEDAY) {
+                unit = 'day';
+            } else if(dtick >= ONEHOUR) {
+                unit = 'hour';
+            } else if(dtick >= ONEMIN) {
+                unit = 'minute';
+            } else if(dtick >= ONESEC) {
+                unit = 'second';
+            } else if(dtick >= 0) {
+                unit = 'millisecond';
+            }
+            if(fmt[unit]) {
+                return modDateFormat(fmt[unit], x, calendar);
+            }
+        }
+    }
 
     if(calendar) {
         try {
diff --git a/src/plots/cartesian/axes.js b/src/plots/cartesian/axes.js
index 5a2767c0d55..cc269119c81 100644
--- a/src/plots/cartesian/axes.js
+++ b/src/plots/cartesian/axes.js
@@ -1250,7 +1250,7 @@ function formatDate(ax, out, hover, extraPrecision) {
         else tr = {y: 'm', m: 'd', d: 'M', M: 'S', S: 4}[tr];
     }
 
-    var dateStr = Lib.formatDate(out.x, fmt, tr, ax.calendar),
+    var dateStr = Lib.formatDate(out.x, fmt, tr, ax.calendar, ax.dtick),
         headStr;
 
     var splitIndex = dateStr.indexOf('\n');
diff --git a/src/plots/cartesian/layout_attributes.js b/src/plots/cartesian/layout_attributes.js
index 90855d7452a..a3639d9fbfc 100644
--- a/src/plots/cartesian/layout_attributes.js
+++ b/src/plots/cartesian/layout_attributes.js
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ module.exports = {
         ].join(' ')
     },
     tickformat: {
-        valType: 'string',
+        valType: 'any',
         dflt: '',
         role: 'style',
         description: [
@@ -445,7 +445,10 @@ module.exports = {
             'https://github.com/d3/d3-time-format/blob/master/README.md#locale_format',
             'We add one item to d3\'s date formatter: *%{n}f* for fractional seconds',
             'with n digits. For example, *2016-10-13 09:15:23.456* with tickformat',
-            '*%H~%M~%S.%2f* would display *09~15~23.46*'
+            '*%H~%M~%S.%2f* would display *09~15~23.46* Also now you can specify date',
+            'format for each zooming level independently using following configuration',
+            'object {hour: *%H:%M*, day: *%e %b*}. Available following zooming levels:',
+            'year, month, week, day, hour, minute, second, millisecond'
         ].join(' ')
     },
     hoverformat: {
diff --git a/tasks/util/strict_d3.js b/tasks/util/strict_d3.js
index 1e51ab8912b..db853e179ee 100644
--- a/tasks/util/strict_d3.js
+++ b/tasks/util/strict_d3.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ var pathToStrictD3Module = path.join(
     constants.pathToImageTest,
     'strict-d3.js'
 );
+var normalizedPathToStrictD3Module = pathToStrictD3Module.replace(/\\/g, '/'); // replacing of "\" for windows users
 
 /**
  * Transform `require('d3')` expressions to `require(/path/to/strict-d3.js)`
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ module.exports = transformTools.makeRequireTransform('requireTransform',
         var pathOut;
 
         if(pathIn === 'd3' && opts.file !== pathToStrictD3Module) {
-            pathOut = 'require(\'' + pathToStrictD3Module + '\')';
+            pathOut = 'require(\'' + normalizedPathToStrictD3Module + '\')';
         }
 
         if(pathOut) return cb(null, pathOut);
diff --git a/test/image/baselines/custom_tickformat.png b/test/image/baselines/custom_tickformat.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0a7b09e0f46
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/image/baselines/custom_tickformat.png differ
diff --git a/test/image/mocks/custom_tickformat.json b/test/image/mocks/custom_tickformat.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8ca46f96fd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/image/mocks/custom_tickformat.json
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+{
+    "data": [
+        {
+            "x": ["2010-01-01","2010-01-02","2010-01-03","2010-01-04","2010-01-05","2010-01-06","2010-01-07"],
+            "y": [-5,3,-1,7,-1,3,-5]
+        }
+    ],
+    "layout": {
+        "title": "tickformat",
+        "xaxis": {
+            "tickformat": {
+                "millisecond": "%H:%M:%S.%L ms",
+                "second": "%H:%M:%S s",
+                "minute": "%H:%M m",
+                "hour": "%H:%M h",
+                "day": "%e %b d",
+                "week": "%b %d w",
+                "month": "%b %y M",
+                "year": "%Y Y"
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/jasmine/tests/custom_tickformat_test.js b/test/jasmine/tests/custom_tickformat_test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..826e4b0ce7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/jasmine/tests/custom_tickformat_test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+var Plotly = require('@lib/index');
+var Lib = require('@src/lib');
+var Axes = require('@src/plots/cartesian/axes');
+var Fx = require('@src/components/fx');
+var d3 = require('d3');
+var createGraphDiv = require('../assets/create_graph_div');
+var destroyGraphDiv = require('../assets/destroy_graph_div');
+var selectButton = require('../assets/modebar_button');
+var constants = require('@src/constants/numerical');
+
+var mock = require('@mocks/custom_tickformat.json');
+var tickFormat = mock.layout.xaxis.tickformat;
+
+function getZoomInButton(gd) {
+    return selectButton(gd._fullLayout._modeBar, 'zoomIn2d');
+}
+
+function getZoomOutButton(gd) {
+    return selectButton(gd._fullLayout._modeBar, 'zoomOut2d');
+}
+
+function getFormatter(dtick) {
+    var unit = '';
+    if(typeof dtick === 'string') {
+        if(Number(dtick.replace('M', '')) > 6) {
+            unit = 'year';
+        } else if(Number(dtick.replace('M', '')) >= 1) {
+            unit = 'month';
+        }
+    } else if(dtick >= constants.ONEDAY * 7) {
+        unit = 'week';
+    } else if(dtick >= constants.ONEDAY) {
+        unit = 'day';
+    } else if(dtick >= constants.ONEHOUR) {
+        unit = 'hour';
+    } else if(dtick >= constants.ONEMIN) {
+        unit = 'minute';
+    } else if(dtick >= constants.ONESEC) {
+        unit = 'second';
+    } else if(dtick >= 0) {
+        unit = 'millisecond';
+    }
+    if(tickFormat[unit]) {
+        return d3.time.format.utc(tickFormat[unit]);
+    }
+    return function(mock) {return mock;};
+}
+
+describe('Test extended tickformat:', function() {
+
+    var mockCopy, gd;
+
+    beforeEach(function() {
+        gd = createGraphDiv();
+        mockCopy = Lib.extendDeep({}, mock);
+    });
+
+    afterEach(destroyGraphDiv);
+
+    it('Zooming-in until milliseconds zoom level', function(done) {
+        var promise = Plotly.plot(gd, mockCopy.data, mockCopy.layout);
+
+        var zoomIn = function() {
+            promise = promise.then(function() {
+                getZoomInButton(gd).click();
+                var xLabels = Axes.calcTicks(gd._fullLayout.xaxis);
+                var formatter = getFormatter(gd._fullLayout.xaxis.dtick);
+                var expectedLabels = xLabels.map(function(d) {return formatter(new Date(d.x));});
+                var actualLabels = xLabels.map(function(d) {return d.text;});
+                expect(expectedLabels).toEqual(actualLabels);
+                if(gd._fullLayout.xaxis.dtick > 1) {
+                    zoomIn();
+                } else {
+                    done();
+                }
+            });
+        };
+        zoomIn();
+    });
+
+    it('Zooming-out until years zoom level', function(done) {
+        var promise = Plotly.plot(gd, mockCopy.data, mockCopy.layout);
+
+        var zoomOut = function() {
+            promise = promise.then(function() {
+                getZoomOutButton(gd).click();
+                var xLabels = Axes.calcTicks(gd._fullLayout.xaxis);
+                var formatter = getFormatter(gd._fullLayout.xaxis.dtick);
+                var expectedLabels = xLabels.map(function(d) {return formatter(new Date(d.x));});
+                var actualLabels = xLabels.map(function(d) {return d.text;});
+                expect(expectedLabels).toEqual(actualLabels);
+                if(typeof gd._fullLayout.xaxis.dtick === 'number' ||
+                    typeof gd._fullLayout.xaxis.dtick === 'string' && parseInt(gd._fullLayout.xaxis.dtick.replace(/\D/g, '')) < 48) {
+                    zoomOut();
+                } else {
+                    done();
+                }
+            });
+        };
+        zoomOut();
+    });
+
+    describe('Check tickformat for hover', function() {
+        'use strict';
+
+        var evt = { xpx: 270, ypx: 10 };
+
+        afterEach(destroyGraphDiv);
+
+        beforeEach(function() {
+            gd = createGraphDiv();
+            mockCopy = Lib.extendDeep({}, mock);
+        });
+
+        it('tickformat for hover and xaxes should coincide', function(done) {
+            var mockCopy = Lib.extendDeep({}, mock);
+
+            Plotly.plot(gd, mockCopy.data, mockCopy.layout).then(function() {
+                Fx.hover(gd, evt, 'xy');
+
+                var hoverTrace = gd._hoverdata[0];
+                var formatter = getFormatter(gd._fullLayout.xaxis.dtick);
+
+                expect(hoverTrace.curveNumber).toEqual(0);
+                expect(hoverTrace.pointNumber).toEqual(3);
+                expect(hoverTrace.x).toEqual('2010-01-04');
+                expect(hoverTrace.y).toEqual(7);
+
+                expect(d3.selectAll('g.axistext').size()).toEqual(1);
+                expect(d3.selectAll('g.hovertext').size()).toEqual(1);
+                expect(d3.selectAll('g.axistext').select('text').html()).toEqual(formatter(new Date(hoverTrace.x)));
+                expect(d3.selectAll('g.hovertext').select('text').html()).toEqual('7');
+                done();
+            });
+        });
+    });
+
+});