Matplotlib Room for Ylabel

Introduction

Matplotlib is a data visualization library in Python that provides a variety of tools and techniques to create visually appealing graphs. Sometimes, it is necessary to make room for the y-label to avoid overlapping or truncating the text. This lab will show you how to use the axes_grid module to make room for the y-label in Matplotlib.

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Skills Graph

Import Libraries and Create a Figure

The first step is to import the necessary libraries and create a figure. We use the matplotlib.pyplot module to create a figure and the mpl_toolkits.axes_grid1 module to make room for the y-label.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from mpl_toolkits.axes_grid1 import make_axes_locatable
from mpl_toolkits.axes_grid1.axes_divider import make_axes_area_auto_adjustable

fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_axes([0, 0, 1, 1])

Set Y-Ticks and Labels

In this step, we set the y-ticks and labels for the y-axis. We use the set_yticks method to set the location of the y-tick and the labels parameter to set the label for the y-tick.

ax.set_yticks([0.5], labels=["very long label"])

Make Room for Y-Label

Now, we use the make_axes_area_auto_adjustable method to make room for the y-label. This method automatically adjusts the size of the axes to accommodate the y-label.

make_axes_area_auto_adjustable(ax)

Create a Figure with Two Axes

In this step, we create a figure with two axes. We use the add_axes method to add two axes to the figure. We also set the y-tick label for the first axis and the title for the second axis.

fig = plt.figure()
ax1 = fig.add_axes([0, 0, 1, 0.5])
ax2 = fig.add_axes([0, 0.5, 1, 0.5])

ax1.set_yticks([0.5], labels=["very long label"])
ax1.set_ylabel("Y label")

ax2.set_title("Title")

Make Room for Y-Label and Adjust Axes

In this step, we use the make_axes_area_auto_adjustable method to make room for the y-label in both axes. We also use the use_axes parameter to specify the axes to be adjusted and the pad parameter to adjust the spacing between the axes.

make_axes_area_auto_adjustable(ax1, pad=0.1, use_axes=[ax1, ax2])
make_axes_area_auto_adjustable(ax2, pad=0.1, use_axes=[ax1, ax2])

Create a Figure with Two Adjustable Axes

In this step, we create a figure with two adjustable axes. We use the make_axes_locatable method to create a divider that allows the axes to be adjusted. We add a new axis to the right of the first axis using the append_axes method.

fig = plt.figure()
ax1 = fig.add_axes([0, 0, 1, 1])
divider = make_axes_locatable(ax1)
ax2 = divider.append_axes("right", "100%", pad=0.3, sharey=ax1)
fig.add_axes(ax2)

Adjust the Axes and Make Room for Y-Label

In this step, we use the add_auto_adjustable_area method to adjust the axes and make room for the y-label. We also set the title and x-label for the second axis.

divider.add_auto_adjustable_area(use_axes=[ax1], pad=0.1,
                                 adjust_dirs=["left"])
divider.add_auto_adjustable_area(use_axes=[ax2], pad=0.1,
                                 adjust_dirs=["right"])
divider.add_auto_adjustable_area(use_axes=[ax1, ax2], pad=0.1,
                                 adjust_dirs=["top", "bottom"])

ax1.set_yticks([0.5], labels=["very long label"])
ax2.set_title("Title")
ax2.set_xlabel("X - Label")

Summary

This lab showed you how to use the axes_grid module in Matplotlib to make room for the y-label. We used different methods to adjust the size of the axes and make room for the y-label in different scenarios. By following these steps, you can create visually appealing graphs that are easy to read and understand.