Change figure size and figure format in matplotlib

Question

I want to obtain fig1 exactly of 4 by 3 inch sized, and in tiff format correcting the program below:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

list1 = [3,4,5,6,9,12]
list2 = [8,12,14,15,17,20]

plt.plot(list1, list2)
plt.savefig('fig1.png', dpi = 300)
plt.close()

Does changing the extension in the file name from .png into .tif create the real tiff image? — golay, Jun 14 '13 at 14:03

score 158 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 23 '20 at 07:01

158

You can set the figure size if you explicitly create the figure with

plt.figure(figsize=(3,4))

You need to set figure size before calling plt.plot() To change the format of the saved figure just change the extension in the file name. However, I don't know if any of matplotlib backends support tiff

edited Apr 23 '20 at 07:01

E A

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answered Jun 14 '13 at 13:38

Francesco Montesano

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Does changing the extension in the file name from .png into .tif create the real tiff image? – golay Jun 14 '13 at 13:49
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As I wrote, I don't know, but from the comments on the other answer it seems that tiff is non supported – Francesco Montesano Jun 15 '13 at 02:26
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Keep in mind `plt.figure(figsize=(3,4))` needs to be called before calling `plt.plot()` – hzitoun Feb 07 '20 at 13:24

score 65 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 20 '21 at 07:47

65

You can change the size of the plot by adding this before you create the figure.

plt.rcParams["figure.figsize"] = [16,9]

edited Jan 20 '21 at 07:47

Nyps

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answered Aug 11 '17 at 07:33

ghosh'.

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This is just what I needed to use in Jupyter Notebook to make the plot wider. – Ivan Bilan Aug 31 '17 at 13:35
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Working in jupyter notebooks – pauli Sep 23 '17 at 05:20
rcParams has enormous power of customizability – ghosh'. Sep 25 '17 at 17:49
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I used this and my image got stretched, matplotlib did not adjusted the content for the new aspect ratio. However if I do not save but show the plot on a window, it works. Any clues on that? – Ramon Balthazar Jan 27 '18 at 16:56
Pl. use some other aspect ratios (like: 4,3) and update me. – ghosh'. Jan 29 '18 at 08:37
thanks, increasing `rcParams['figure.dpi']` made it even better – mabdrabo Mar 30 '18 at 19:18
This really helped me, but I'm having trouble finding documentation on how rcParams actually works. – bravosierra99 Jan 26 '19 at 17:03

score 26 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

26

The first part (setting the output size explictly) isn't too hard:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
list1 = [3,4,5,6,9,12]
list2 = [8,12,14,15,17,20]
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(4,3))
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
ax.plot(list1, list2)
fig.savefig('fig1.png', dpi = 300)
fig.close()

But after a quick google search on matplotlib + tiff, I'm not convinced that matplotlib can make tiff plots. There is some mention of the GDK backend being able to do it.

One option would be to convert the output with a tool like imagemagick's convert.

(Another option is to wait around here until a real matplotlib expert shows up and proves me wrong ;-)

edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

Community

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answered Jun 14 '13 at 13:30

mgilson

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If you have the [GDK backend](http://matplotlib.org/faq/usage_faq.html#what-is-a-backend) installed you can use it to draw tiffs natively. There may be some dependencies you have to install. – GWW Jun 14 '13 at 13:34
@GWW -- I saw that mentioned, but I also saw [this thread](http://matplotlib.1069221.n5.nabble.com/16bit-tiff-support-td11448.html) implying that is a lie. Of course, it's an old thread, so it may have been fixed since then. – mgilson Jun 14 '13 at 13:36

Antoni · Answer 4 · 2018-10-18T10:59:50.017

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If you need to change the figure size after you have created it, use the methods

fig = plt.figure()
fig.set_figheight(value_height)
fig.set_figwidth(value_width)

where value_height and value_width are in inches. For me this is the most practical way.

edited Oct 18 '18 at 10:59

answered Oct 12 '18 at 08:09

Antoni

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This is increasing only the figure, not the window containing it. – roschach Jan 16 '19 at 16:56
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matplotlib has one of the worst APIs ever, the trouble is, it is the only easiest to learn tool in python. – fedvasu Dec 13 '19 at 00:29

Change figure size and figure format in matplotlib

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