
.. DO NOT EDIT.
.. THIS FILE WAS AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED BY SPHINX-GALLERY.
.. TO MAKE CHANGES, EDIT THE SOURCE PYTHON FILE:
.. "tutorials/intermediate/constrainedlayout_guide.py"
.. LINE NUMBERS ARE GIVEN BELOW.

.. only:: html

    .. note::
        :class: sphx-glr-download-link-note

        Click :ref:`here <sphx_glr_download_tutorials_intermediate_constrainedlayout_guide.py>`
        to download the full example code

.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-example-title

.. _sphx_glr_tutorials_intermediate_constrainedlayout_guide.py:


================================
Constrained Layout Guide
================================

How to use constrained-layout to fit plots within your figure cleanly.

*constrained_layout* automatically adjusts subplots and decorations like
legends and colorbars so that they fit in the figure window while still
preserving, as best they can, the logical layout requested by the user.

*constrained_layout* is similar to
:doc:`tight_layout</tutorials/intermediate/tight_layout_guide>`,
but uses a constraint solver to determine the size of axes that allows
them to fit.

*constrained_layout* needs to be activated before any axes are added to
a figure. Two ways of doing so are

* using the respective argument to :func:`~.pyplot.subplots` or
  :func:`~.pyplot.figure`, e.g.::

      plt.subplots(constrained_layout=True)

* activate it via :ref:`rcParams<customizing-with-dynamic-rc-settings>`,
  like::

      plt.rcParams['figure.constrained_layout.use'] = True

Those are described in detail throughout the following sections.

.. warning::

    Currently Constrained Layout is **experimental**.  The
    behaviour and API are subject to change, or the whole functionality
    may be removed without a deprecation period.  If you *require* your
    plots to be absolutely reproducible, get the Axes positions after
    running Constrained Layout and use ``ax.set_position()`` in your code
    with ``constrained_layout=False``.

Simple Example
==============

In Matplotlib, the location of axes (including subplots) are specified in
normalized figure coordinates. It can happen that your axis labels or
titles (or sometimes even ticklabels) go outside the figure area, and are thus
clipped.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 49-77

.. code-block:: default




    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
    import matplotlib.colors as mcolors
    import matplotlib.gridspec as gridspec
    import numpy as np

    plt.rcParams['savefig.facecolor'] = "0.8"
    plt.rcParams['figure.figsize'] = 4.5, 4.
    plt.rcParams['figure.max_open_warning'] = 50


    def example_plot(ax, fontsize=12, hide_labels=False):
        ax.plot([1, 2])

        ax.locator_params(nbins=3)
        if hide_labels:
            ax.set_xticklabels([])
            ax.set_yticklabels([])
        else:
            ax.set_xlabel('x-label', fontsize=fontsize)
            ax.set_ylabel('y-label', fontsize=fontsize)
            ax.set_title('Title', fontsize=fontsize)

    fig, ax = plt.subplots(constrained_layout=False)
    example_plot(ax, fontsize=24)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_001.png
   :alt: Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_001.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_001_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 79-84

To prevent this, the location of axes needs to be adjusted. For
subplots, this can be done manually by adjusting the subplot parameters
using `.Figure.subplots_adjust`. However, specifying your figure with the
# ``constrained_layout=True`` keyword argument will do the adjusting
# automatically.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 84-88

.. code-block:: default


    fig, ax = plt.subplots(constrained_layout=True)
    example_plot(ax, fontsize=24)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_002.png
   :alt: Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_002.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_002_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 89-91

When you have multiple subplots, often you see labels of different
axes overlapping each other.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 91-96

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 2, constrained_layout=False)
    for ax in axs.flat:
        example_plot(ax)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_003.png
   :alt: Title, Title, Title, Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_003.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_003_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 97-99

Specifying ``constrained_layout=True`` in the call to ``plt.subplots``
causes the layout to be properly constrained.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 99-104

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 2, constrained_layout=True)
    for ax in axs.flat:
        example_plot(ax)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_004.png
   :alt: Title, Title, Title, Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_004.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_004_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 105-120

Colorbars
=========

If you create a colorbar with `.Figure.colorbar`,
you need to make room for it.  ``constrained_layout`` does this
automatically.  Note that if you specify ``use_gridspec=True`` it will be
ignored because this option is made for improving the layout via
``tight_layout``.

.. note::

  For the `~.axes.Axes.pcolormesh` keyword arguments (``pc_kwargs``) we use a
  dictionary. Below we will assign one colorbar to a number of axes each
  containing a `~.cm.ScalarMappable`; specifying the norm and colormap
  ensures the colorbar is accurate for all the axes.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 120-129

.. code-block:: default


    arr = np.arange(100).reshape((10, 10))
    norm = mcolors.Normalize(vmin=0., vmax=100.)
    # see note above: this makes all pcolormesh calls consistent:
    pc_kwargs = {'rasterized': True, 'cmap': 'viridis', 'norm': norm}
    fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(4, 4), constrained_layout=True)
    im = ax.pcolormesh(arr, **pc_kwargs)
    fig.colorbar(im, ax=ax, shrink=0.6)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_005.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_005.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_005_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img


.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-script-out

 Out:

 .. code-block:: none


    <matplotlib.colorbar.Colorbar object at 0x7f3fcc89bdc0>



.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 130-133

If you specify a list of axes (or other iterable container) to the
``ax`` argument of ``colorbar``, constrained_layout will take space from
the specified axes.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 133-139

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 2, figsize=(4, 4), constrained_layout=True)
    for ax in axs.flat:
        im = ax.pcolormesh(arr, **pc_kwargs)
    fig.colorbar(im, ax=axs, shrink=0.6)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_006.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_006.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_006_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img


.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-script-out

 Out:

 .. code-block:: none


    <matplotlib.colorbar.Colorbar object at 0x7f3fcca75a80>



.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 140-143

If you specify a list of axes from inside a grid of axes, the colorbar
will steal space appropriately, and leave a gap, but all subplots will
still be the same size.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 143-150

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(3, 3, figsize=(4, 4), constrained_layout=True)
    for ax in axs.flat:
        im = ax.pcolormesh(arr, **pc_kwargs)
    fig.colorbar(im, ax=axs[1:, ][:, 1], shrink=0.8)
    fig.colorbar(im, ax=axs[:, -1], shrink=0.6)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_007.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_007.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_007_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img


.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-script-out

 Out:

 .. code-block:: none


    <matplotlib.colorbar.Colorbar object at 0x7f3fc97d1f00>



.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 151-155

Suptitle
=========

``constrained_layout`` can also make room for `~.figure.Figure.suptitle`.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 155-162

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 2, figsize=(4, 4), constrained_layout=True)
    for ax in axs.flat:
        im = ax.pcolormesh(arr, **pc_kwargs)
    fig.colorbar(im, ax=axs, shrink=0.6)
    fig.suptitle('Big Suptitle')




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_008.png
   :alt: Big Suptitle
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_008.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_008_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img


.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-script-out

 Out:

 .. code-block:: none


    Text(0.5, 0.9895825, 'Big Suptitle')



.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 163-170

Legends
=======

Legends can be placed outside of their parent axis.
Constrained-layout is designed to handle this for :meth:`.Axes.legend`.
However, constrained-layout does *not* handle legends being created via
:meth:`.Figure.legend` (yet).

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 170-175

.. code-block:: default


    fig, ax = plt.subplots(constrained_layout=True)
    ax.plot(np.arange(10), label='This is a plot')
    ax.legend(loc='center left', bbox_to_anchor=(0.8, 0.5))




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_009.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_009.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_009_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img


.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-script-out

 Out:

 .. code-block:: none


    <matplotlib.legend.Legend object at 0x7f3fc9df2ef0>



.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 176-177

However, this will steal space from a subplot layout:

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 177-183

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(4, 2), constrained_layout=True)
    axs[0].plot(np.arange(10))
    axs[1].plot(np.arange(10), label='This is a plot')
    axs[1].legend(loc='center left', bbox_to_anchor=(0.8, 0.5))




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_010.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_010.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_010_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img


.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-script-out

 Out:

 .. code-block:: none


    <matplotlib.legend.Legend object at 0x7f3fccc2db70>



.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 184-193

In order for a legend or other artist to *not* steal space
from the subplot layout, we can ``leg.set_in_layout(False)``.
Of course this can mean the legend ends up
cropped, but can be useful if the plot is subsequently called
with ``fig.savefig('outname.png', bbox_inches='tight')``.  Note,
however, that the legend's ``get_in_layout`` status will have to be
toggled again to make the saved file work, and we must manually
trigger a draw if we want constrained_layout to adjust the size
of the axes before printing.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 193-210

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(4, 2), constrained_layout=True)

    axs[0].plot(np.arange(10))
    axs[1].plot(np.arange(10), label='This is a plot')
    leg = axs[1].legend(loc='center left', bbox_to_anchor=(0.8, 0.5))
    leg.set_in_layout(False)
    # trigger a draw so that constrained_layout is executed once
    # before we turn it off when printing....
    fig.canvas.draw()
    # we want the legend included in the bbox_inches='tight' calcs.
    leg.set_in_layout(True)
    # we don't want the layout to change at this point.
    fig.set_constrained_layout(False)
    fig.savefig('../../doc/_static/constrained_layout_1b.png',
                bbox_inches='tight', dpi=100)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_011.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_011.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_011_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 211-218

The saved file looks like:

.. image:: /_static/constrained_layout_1b.png
   :align: center

A better way to get around this awkwardness is to simply
use the legend method provided by `.Figure.legend`:

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 218-227

.. code-block:: default

    fig, axs = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(4, 2), constrained_layout=True)
    axs[0].plot(np.arange(10))
    lines = axs[1].plot(np.arange(10), label='This is a plot')
    labels = [l.get_label() for l in lines]
    leg = fig.legend(lines, labels, loc='center left',
                     bbox_to_anchor=(0.8, 0.5), bbox_transform=axs[1].transAxes)
    fig.savefig('../../doc/_static/constrained_layout_2b.png',
                bbox_inches='tight', dpi=100)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_012.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_012.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_012_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 228-233

The saved file looks like:

.. image:: /_static/constrained_layout_2b.png
   :align: center


.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 235-242

Padding and Spacing
===================

Padding between axes is controlled in the horizontal by *w_pad* and
*wspace*, and vertical by *h_pad* and *hspace*.  These can be edited
via `~.figure.Figure.set_constrained_layout_pads`.  *w/h_pad* are
the minimum space around the axes in units of inches:

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 242-248

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 2, constrained_layout=True)
    for ax in axs.flat:
        example_plot(ax, hide_labels=True)
    fig.set_constrained_layout_pads(w_pad=4 / 72, h_pad=4 / 72, hspace=0, wspace=0)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_013.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_013.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_013_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 249-254

Spacing between subplots is further set by *wspace* and *hspace*. These
are specified as a fraction of the size of the subplot group as a whole.
If these values are smaller than *w_pad* or *h_pad*, then the fixed pads are
used instead. Note in the below how the space at the edges doesn't change
from the above, but the space between subplots does.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 254-261

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 2, constrained_layout=True)
    for ax in axs.flat:
        example_plot(ax, hide_labels=True)
    fig.set_constrained_layout_pads(w_pad=4 / 72, h_pad=4 / 72, hspace=0.2,
                                    wspace=0.2)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_014.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_014.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_014_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 262-265

If there are more than two columns, the *wspace* is shared between them,
so here the wspace is divided in 2, with a *wspace* of 0.1 between each
column:

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 265-272

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 3, constrained_layout=True)
    for ax in axs.flat:
        example_plot(ax, hide_labels=True)
    fig.set_constrained_layout_pads(w_pad=4 / 72, h_pad=4 / 72, hspace=0.2,
                                    wspace=0.2)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_015.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_015.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_015_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 273-275

GridSpecs also have optional *hspace* and *wspace* keyword arguments,
that will be used instead of the pads set by ``constrained_layout``:

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 275-286

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 2, constrained_layout=True,
                            gridspec_kw={'wspace': 0.3, 'hspace': 0.2})
    for ax in axs.flat:
        example_plot(ax, hide_labels=True)
    # this has no effect because the space set in the gridspec trumps the
    # space set in constrained_layout.
    fig.set_constrained_layout_pads(w_pad=4 / 72, h_pad=4 / 72, hspace=0.0,
                                    wspace=0.0)
    plt.show()




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_016.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_016.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_016_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 287-293

Spacing with colorbars
-----------------------

Colorbars are placed a distance *pad* from their parent, where *pad*
is a fraction of the width of the parent(s).  The spacing to the
next subplot is then given by *w/hspace*.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 293-305

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 2, constrained_layout=True)
    pads = [0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2]
    for pad, ax in zip(pads, axs.flat):
        pc = ax.pcolormesh(arr, **pc_kwargs)
        fig.colorbar(pc, ax=ax, shrink=0.6, pad=pad)
        ax.set_xticklabels([])
        ax.set_yticklabels([])
        ax.set_title(f'pad: {pad}')
    fig.set_constrained_layout_pads(w_pad=2 / 72, h_pad=2 / 72, hspace=0.2,
                                    wspace=0.2)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_017.png
   :alt: pad: 0, pad: 0.05, pad: 0.1, pad: 0.2
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_017.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_017_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 306-319

rcParams
========

There are five :ref:`rcParams<customizing-with-dynamic-rc-settings>`
that can be set, either in a script or in the :file:`matplotlibrc`
file. They all have the prefix ``figure.constrained_layout``:

- *use*: Whether to use constrained_layout. Default is False
- *w_pad*, *h_pad*:    Padding around axes objects.
  Float representing inches.  Default is 3./72. inches (3 pts)
- *wspace*, *hspace*:  Space between subplot groups.
  Float representing a fraction of the subplot widths being separated.
  Default is 0.02.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 319-325

.. code-block:: default


    plt.rcParams['figure.constrained_layout.use'] = True
    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 2, figsize=(3, 3))
    for ax in axs.flat:
        example_plot(ax)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_018.png
   :alt: Title, Title, Title, Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_018.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_018_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 326-335

Use with GridSpec
=================

constrained_layout is meant to be used
with :func:`~matplotlib.figure.Figure.subplots` or
:func:`~matplotlib.gridspec.GridSpec` and
:func:`~matplotlib.figure.Figure.add_subplot`.

Note that in what follows ``constrained_layout=True``

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 335-345

.. code-block:: default


    fig = plt.figure()

    gs1 = gridspec.GridSpec(2, 1, figure=fig)
    ax1 = fig.add_subplot(gs1[0])
    ax2 = fig.add_subplot(gs1[1])

    example_plot(ax1)
    example_plot(ax2)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_019.png
   :alt: Title, Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_019.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_019_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 346-349

More complicated gridspec layouts are possible.  Note here we use the
convenience functions `~.Figure.add_gridspec` and
`~.SubplotSpec.subgridspec`.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 349-371

.. code-block:: default


    fig = plt.figure()

    gs0 = fig.add_gridspec(1, 2)

    gs1 = gs0[0].subgridspec(2, 1)
    ax1 = fig.add_subplot(gs1[0])
    ax2 = fig.add_subplot(gs1[1])

    example_plot(ax1)
    example_plot(ax2)

    gs2 = gs0[1].subgridspec(3, 1)

    for ss in gs2:
        ax = fig.add_subplot(ss)
        example_plot(ax)
        ax.set_title("")
        ax.set_xlabel("")

    ax.set_xlabel("x-label", fontsize=12)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_020.png
   :alt: Title, Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_020.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_020_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img


.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-script-out

 Out:

 .. code-block:: none


    Text(0.5, 41.33399999999999, 'x-label')



.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 372-376

Note that in the above the left and right columns don't have the same
vertical extent.  If we want the top and bottom of the two grids to line up
then they need to be in the same gridspec.  We need to make this figure
larger as well in order for the axes not to collapse to zero height:

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 376-396

.. code-block:: default


    fig = plt.figure(figsize=(4, 6))

    gs0 = fig.add_gridspec(6, 2)

    ax1 = fig.add_subplot(gs0[:3, 0])
    ax2 = fig.add_subplot(gs0[3:, 0])

    example_plot(ax1)
    example_plot(ax2)

    ax = fig.add_subplot(gs0[0:2, 1])
    example_plot(ax, hide_labels=True)
    ax = fig.add_subplot(gs0[2:4, 1])
    example_plot(ax, hide_labels=True)
    ax = fig.add_subplot(gs0[4:, 1])
    example_plot(ax, hide_labels=True)
    fig.suptitle('Overlapping Gridspecs')





.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_021.png
   :alt: Overlapping Gridspecs, Title, Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_021.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_021_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img


.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-script-out

 Out:

 .. code-block:: none


    Text(0.5, 0.993055, 'Overlapping Gridspecs')



.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 397-401

This example uses two gridspecs to have the colorbar only pertain to
one set of pcolors.  Note how the left column is wider than the
two right-hand columns because of this.  Of course, if you wanted the
subplots to be the same size you only needed one gridspec.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 401-428

.. code-block:: default



    def docomplicated(suptitle=None):
        fig = plt.figure()
        gs0 = fig.add_gridspec(1, 2, figure=fig, width_ratios=[1., 2.])
        gsl = gs0[0].subgridspec(2, 1)
        gsr = gs0[1].subgridspec(2, 2)

        for gs in gsl:
            ax = fig.add_subplot(gs)
            example_plot(ax)
        axs = []
        for gs in gsr:
            ax = fig.add_subplot(gs)
            pcm = ax.pcolormesh(arr, **pc_kwargs)
            ax.set_xlabel('x-label')
            ax.set_ylabel('y-label')
            ax.set_title('title')

            axs += [ax]
        fig.colorbar(pcm, ax=axs)
        if suptitle is not None:
            fig.suptitle(suptitle)


    docomplicated()




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_022.png
   :alt: Title, Title, title, title, title, title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_022.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_022_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 429-436

Manually setting axes positions
================================

There can be good reasons to manually set an axes position.  A manual call
to `~.axes.Axes.set_position` will set the axes so constrained_layout has
no effect on it anymore. (Note that ``constrained_layout`` still leaves the
space for the axes that is moved).

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 436-441

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(1, 2)
    example_plot(axs[0], fontsize=12)
    axs[1].set_position([0.2, 0.2, 0.4, 0.4])




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_023.png
   :alt: Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_023.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_023_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 442-468

Manually turning off ``constrained_layout``
===========================================

``constrained_layout`` usually adjusts the axes positions on each draw
of the figure.  If you want to get the spacing provided by
``constrained_layout`` but not have it update, then do the initial
draw and then call ``fig.set_constrained_layout(False)``.
This is potentially useful for animations where the tick labels may
change length.

Note that ``constrained_layout`` is turned off for ``ZOOM`` and ``PAN``
GUI events for the backends that use the toolbar.  This prevents the
axes from changing position during zooming and panning.


Limitations
===========

Incompatible functions
----------------------

``constrained_layout`` will work with `.pyplot.subplot`, but only if the
number of rows and columns is the same for each call.
The reason is that each call to `.pyplot.subplot` will create a new
`.GridSpec` instance if the geometry is not the same, and
``constrained_layout``.  So the following works fine:

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 468-481

.. code-block:: default


    fig = plt.figure()

    ax1 = plt.subplot(2, 2, 1)
    ax2 = plt.subplot(2, 2, 3)
    # third axes that spans both rows in second column:
    ax3 = plt.subplot(2, 2, (2, 4))

    example_plot(ax1)
    example_plot(ax2)
    example_plot(ax3)
    plt.suptitle('Homogenous nrows, ncols')




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_024.png
   :alt: Homogenous nrows, ncols, Title, Title, Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_024.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_024_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img


.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-script-out

 Out:

 .. code-block:: none


    Text(0.5, 0.9895825, 'Homogenous nrows, ncols')



.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 482-483

but the following leads to a poor layout:

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 483-495

.. code-block:: default


    fig = plt.figure()

    ax1 = plt.subplot(2, 2, 1)
    ax2 = plt.subplot(2, 2, 3)
    ax3 = plt.subplot(1, 2, 2)

    example_plot(ax1)
    example_plot(ax2)
    example_plot(ax3)
    plt.suptitle('Mixed nrows, ncols')




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_025.png
   :alt: Mixed nrows, ncols, Title, Title, Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_025.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_025_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img


.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-script-out

 Out:

 .. code-block:: none


    Text(0.5, 0.9895825, 'Mixed nrows, ncols')



.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 496-499

Similarly,
`~matplotlib.pyplot.subplot2grid` works with the same limitation
that nrows and ncols cannot change for the layout to look good.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 499-514

.. code-block:: default


    fig = plt.figure()

    ax1 = plt.subplot2grid((3, 3), (0, 0))
    ax2 = plt.subplot2grid((3, 3), (0, 1), colspan=2)
    ax3 = plt.subplot2grid((3, 3), (1, 0), colspan=2, rowspan=2)
    ax4 = plt.subplot2grid((3, 3), (1, 2), rowspan=2)

    example_plot(ax1)
    example_plot(ax2)
    example_plot(ax3)
    example_plot(ax4)
    fig.suptitle('subplot2grid')
    plt.show()




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_026.png
   :alt: subplot2grid, Title, Title, Title, Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_026.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_026_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 515-534

Other Caveats
-------------

* ``constrained_layout`` only considers ticklabels, axis labels, titles, and
  legends.  Thus, other artists may be clipped and also may overlap.

* It assumes that the extra space needed for ticklabels, axis labels,
  and titles is independent of original location of axes. This is
  often true, but there are rare cases where it is not.

* There are small differences in how the backends handle rendering fonts,
  so the results will not be pixel-identical.

* An artist using axes coordinates that extend beyond the axes
  boundary will result in unusual layouts when added to an
  axes. This can be avoided by adding the artist directly to the
  :class:`~matplotlib.figure.Figure` using
  :meth:`~matplotlib.figure.Figure.add_artist`. See
  :class:`~matplotlib.patches.ConnectionPatch` for an example.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 536-551

Debugging
=========

Constrained-layout can fail in somewhat unexpected ways.  Because it uses
a constraint solver the solver can find solutions that are mathematically
correct, but that aren't at all what the user wants.  The usual failure
mode is for all sizes to collapse to their smallest allowable value. If
this happens, it is for one of two reasons:

1. There was not enough room for the elements you were requesting to draw.
2. There is a bug - in which case open an issue at
   https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues.

If there is a bug, please report with a self-contained example that does
not require outside data or dependencies (other than numpy).

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 553-588

Notes on the algorithm
======================

The algorithm for the constraint is relatively straightforward, but
has some complexity due to the complex ways we can layout a figure.

Layout in Matplotlib is carried out with gridspecs
via the `.GridSpec` class. A gridspec is a logical division of the figure
into rows and columns, with the relative width of the Axes in those
rows and columns set by *width_ratios* and *height_ratios*.

In constrained_layout, each gridspec gets a *layoutgrid* associated with
it.  The *layoutgrid* has a series of ``left`` and ``right`` variables
for each column, and ``bottom`` and ``top`` variables for each row, and
further it has a margin for each of left, right, bottom and top.  In each
row, the bottom/top margins are widened until all the decorators
in that row are accommodated.  Similarly for columns and the left/right
margins.


Simple case: one Axes
---------------------

For a single Axes the layout is straight forward.  There is one parent
layoutgrid for the figure consisting of one column and row, and
a child layoutgrid for the gridspec that contains the axes, again
consisting of one row and column. Space is made for the "decorations" on
each side of the axes.  In the code, this is accomplished by the entries in
``do_constrained_layout()`` like::

    gridspec._layoutgrid[0, 0].edit_margin_min('left',
          -bbox.x0 + pos.x0 + w_pad)

where ``bbox`` is the tight bounding box of the axes, and ``pos`` its
position.  Note how the four margins encompass the axes decorations.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 588-595

.. code-block:: default


    from matplotlib._layoutgrid import plot_children

    fig, ax = plt.subplots(constrained_layout=True)
    example_plot(ax, fontsize=24)
    plot_children(fig)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_027.png
   :alt: Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_027.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_027_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 596-604

Simple case: two Axes
---------------------
When there are multiple axes they have their layouts bound in
simple ways.  In this example the left axes has much larger decorations
than the right, but they share a bottom margin, which is made large
enough to accommodate the larger xlabel.   Same with the shared top
margin.  The left and right margins are not shared, and hence are
allowed to be different.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 604-610

.. code-block:: default


    fig, ax = plt.subplots(1, 2, constrained_layout=True)
    example_plot(ax[0], fontsize=32)
    example_plot(ax[1], fontsize=8)
    plot_children(fig, printit=False)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_028.png
   :alt: Title, Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_028.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_028_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 611-616

Two Axes and colorbar
---------------------

A colorbar is simply another item that expands the margin of the parent
layoutgrid cell:

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 616-623

.. code-block:: default


    fig, ax = plt.subplots(1, 2, constrained_layout=True)
    im = ax[0].pcolormesh(arr, **pc_kwargs)
    fig.colorbar(im, ax=ax[0], shrink=0.6)
    im = ax[1].pcolormesh(arr, **pc_kwargs)
    plot_children(fig)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_029.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_029.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_029_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 624-629

Colorbar associated with a Gridspec
-----------------------------------

If a colorbar belongs to more than one cell of the grid, then
it makes a larger margin for each:

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 629-636

.. code-block:: default


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 2, constrained_layout=True)
    for ax in axs.flat:
        im = ax.pcolormesh(arr, **pc_kwargs)
    fig.colorbar(im, ax=axs, shrink=0.6)
    plot_children(fig, printit=False)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_030.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_030.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_030_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 637-650

Uneven sized Axes
-----------------

There are two ways to make axes have an uneven size in a
Gridspec layout, either by specifying them to cross Gridspecs rows
or columns, or by specifying width and height ratios.

The first method is used here.  Note that the middle ``top`` and
``bottom`` margins are not affected by the left-hand column.  This
is a conscious decision of the algorithm, and leads to the case where
the two right-hand axes have the same height, but it is not 1/2 the height
of the left-hand axes.  This is consietent with how ``gridspec`` works
without constrained layout.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 650-661

.. code-block:: default


    fig = plt.figure(constrained_layout=True)
    gs = gridspec.GridSpec(2, 2, figure=fig)
    ax = fig.add_subplot(gs[:, 0])
    im = ax.pcolormesh(arr, **pc_kwargs)
    ax = fig.add_subplot(gs[0, 1])
    im = ax.pcolormesh(arr, **pc_kwargs)
    ax = fig.add_subplot(gs[1, 1])
    im = ax.pcolormesh(arr, **pc_kwargs)
    plot_children(fig, printit=False)




.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_031.png
   :alt: constrainedlayout guide
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_031.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_031_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img





.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 662-667

One case that requires finessing is if margins do not have any artists
constraining their width. In the case below, the right margin for column 0
and the left margin for column 3 have no margin artists to set their width,
so we take the maximum width of the margin widths that do have artists.
This makes all the axes have the same size:

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 667-676

.. code-block:: default


    fig = plt.figure(constrained_layout=True)
    gs = fig.add_gridspec(2, 4)
    ax00 = fig.add_subplot(gs[0, 0:2])
    ax01 = fig.add_subplot(gs[0, 2:])
    ax10 = fig.add_subplot(gs[1, 1:3])
    example_plot(ax10, fontsize=14)
    plot_children(fig)
    plt.show()



.. image-sg:: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_032.png
   :alt: Title
   :srcset: /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_032.png, /tutorials/intermediate/images/sphx_glr_constrainedlayout_guide_032_2_0x.png 2.0x
   :class: sphx-glr-single-img






.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-timing

   **Total running time of the script:** ( 0 minutes  9.029 seconds)


.. _sphx_glr_download_tutorials_intermediate_constrainedlayout_guide.py:


.. only :: html

 .. container:: sphx-glr-footer
    :class: sphx-glr-footer-example



  .. container:: sphx-glr-download sphx-glr-download-python

     :download:`Download Python source code: constrainedlayout_guide.py <constrainedlayout_guide.py>`



  .. container:: sphx-glr-download sphx-glr-download-jupyter

     :download:`Download Jupyter notebook: constrainedlayout_guide.ipynb <constrainedlayout_guide.ipynb>`


.. only:: html

 .. rst-class:: sphx-glr-signature

    Keywords: matplotlib code example, codex, python plot, pyplot
    `Gallery generated by Sphinx-Gallery
    <https://sphinx-gallery.readthedocs.io>`_
