CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonpython-2.7matplotlib
user10853036
user10853036

Reputation: 145

How to make sure that both x and y axes of plot are of equal sizes?

I want to make x and y axes be of equal lengths (i.e the plot minus the legend should be square ). I wish to plot the legend outside (I have already been able to put legend outside the box). The span of x axis in the data (x_max - x_min) is not the same as the span of y axis in the data (y_max - y_min).

This is the relevant part of the code that I have at the moment:

plt.legend(loc='center left', bbox_to_anchor=(1, 0.5), fontsize=15 )
plt.axis('equal')
plt.tight_layout()

The following link is an example of an output plot that I am getting : plot

How can I do this?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 1516

Answers (2)

ImportanceOfBeingErnest
ImportanceOfBeingErnest

Reputation: 339102

Would plt.axis('scaled') be what you're after? That would produce a square plot, if the data limits are of equal difference.

If they are not, you could get a square plot by setting the aspect of the axes to the ratio of xlimits and ylimits.

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

fig, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(1,2)

ax1.plot([-2.5, 2.5], [-4,13], "s-")
ax1.axis("scaled")

ax2.plot([-2.5, 2.5], [-4,13], "s-")
ax2.set_aspect(np.diff(ax2.get_xlim())/np.diff(ax2.get_ylim()))

plt.show()

enter image description here

Upvotes: 6

nschmeller
nschmeller

Reputation: 79

One option you have to is manually set the limits, assuming that you know the size of your dataset. 

axes = plt.gca()
axes.set_xlim([xmin,xmax])
axes.set_ylim([ymin,ymax])

A better option would be to iterate through your data to find the maximum x- and y-coordinates, take the greater of those two numbers, add a little bit more to that value to act as a buffer, and set xmax and ymax to that new value. You can use a similar method to set xmin and ymin: instead of finding the maximums, find the minimums.

To put the legend outside of the plot, I would look at this question: How to put the legend out of the plot

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions