matplotlib barchart fixed padding between outer position and position

Question

I'm trying to create a barchart that keeps always a fixed distance between outer and inner position, regardless of the labels length. I would like to see bar and bar_long in the same position as bar_long and bar_perfect do. I've tried to work with axes.set_position(), but in vain. Thanks in advance for appreciated help!

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

def createBar(figx, figy, labels):
    fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(figx, figy)
    performance = [10, 70, 120]
    ax.barh(labels, performance)
    return fig
bar = createBar(2, 1, ('Tom', 'Dick', 'Fred'))
bar_long = createBar(2, 1, ('Tom Cruise', 'Dick & Doof', 'Fred Astaire'))
bar_perfect = createBar(2, 1, ('            Tom', 'Dick', 'Fred'))

The output of your code is [this](https://i.stack.imgur.com/yayIR.png), which has all the same positions. Can you be more clear about what problem you face? — ImportanceOfBeingErnest, Jan 28 '20 at 16:38
I have added a link showing the correct output. What I need is to position the top chart with short labels in a way that it matches with the chart with long labels as shown in the bottom chart. — zahlenGraph, Jan 28 '20 at 16:44
The easiest is of course to put all charts into the same figure, using `subplots`. Is that an option? — ImportanceOfBeingErnest, Jan 28 '20 at 16:52
I know that this would work, but unfortunately I must generate single figures. — zahlenGraph, Jan 28 '20 at 16:53

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 28 '20 at 17:08

To get all plots the same, you need the same margins for all of them. So, you'll need to set them all to some fixed value. plt.subplots_adjust(...) does this. The numbers are fractions from 0 to 1, where 0 is the left bottom of the figure, and 1 the top right.

For your 2x1 example, the following would work:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

def createBar(figx, figy, labels):
    fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(figx, figy))
    performance = [10, 70, 120]
    ax.barh(labels, performance)
    plt.subplots_adjust(left=0.4, right=0.95, top=0.97, bottom=0.25)
    return fig

bar = createBar(2, 1, ('Tom', 'Dick', 'Fred'))
bar_long = createBar(2, 1, ('Tom Cruise', 'Dick & Doof', 'Fred Astaire'))
bar_perfect = createBar(2, 1, ('            Tom', 'Dick', 'Fred'))

plt.show()

See [this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/37879281/4124317) for when using jupyter. — ImportanceOfBeingErnest, Jan 28 '20 at 17:16

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 28 '20 at 17:33

0

I would not call it a proper solution, and I feel a bit ashamed to even post it, but if you really need something working in the meanwhile...

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

def createBar(figx, figy, labels):
    fig, (ax0, ax) = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(figx, figy),
                                  gridspec_kw={'width_ratios': [1, 2]})
    performance = [10, 70, 120]
    ax.barh(labels, performance)
    ax0.set_axis_off()

    return fig

bar = createBar(3, 1, ('Tom', 'Dick', 'Fred'))
bar_long = createBar(3, 1, ('Tom Cruise', 'Dick & Doof', 'Fred Astaire'))
bar_perfect = createBar(3, 1, ('          Tom', 'Dick', 'Fred'))

plt.show()

edited Jan 28 '20 at 17:33

ImportanceOfBeingErnest

321,279
53
665
712

answered Jan 28 '20 at 17:17

Andrea

2,932
11
23

1

Could just do `ax0.axis("off")` or `ax0.ax.set_axis_off()`. – ImportanceOfBeingErnest Jan 28 '20 at 17:26
Done, the overall ugliness of the snipped decreased by an infinitesimal amount :| (it starts pretty high) – Andrea Jan 28 '20 at 17:31

matplotlib barchart fixed padding between outer position and position

2 Answers2