How to Create Different Subplot Sizes in Matplotlib?

In this article, we will learn different ways to create subplots of different sizes using Matplotlib. It provides 3 different methods using which we can create different subplot of different sizes.

Methods available to create subplot : 

• Gridspec
• gridspec_kw
• subplot2grid

1. Gridspec : GridSpec from the gridspec module used to adjust the geometry of Subplot grid. We can use different parameters to adjust shape, size, no. of columns and rows.   

Code :

Python3

# importing required libraries
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib import gridspec
import numpy as np

# create a figure
fig = plt.figure()

# to change size of subplot's
# set height of each subplot as 8
fig.set_figheight(8)

# set width of each subplot as 8
fig.set_figwidth(8)

# create grid for different subplots
spec = gridspec.GridSpec(ncols=2, nrows=2,
                         width_ratios=[2, 1], wspace=0.5,
                         hspace=0.5, height_ratios=[1, 2])

# initializing x,y axis value
x = np.arange(0, 10, 0.1)
y = np.cos(x)

# ax0 will take 0th position in
# geometry(Grid we created for subplots),
# as we defined the position as "spec[0]"
ax0 = fig.add_subplot(spec[0])
ax0.plot(x, y)

# ax1 will take 0th position in
# geometry(Grid we created for subplots),
# as we defined the position as "spec[1]"
ax1 = fig.add_subplot(spec[1])
ax1.plot(x, y)

# ax2 will take 0th position in
# geometry(Grid we created for subplots),
# as we defined the position as "spec[2]"
ax2 = fig.add_subplot(spec[2])
ax2.plot(x, y)

# ax3 will take 0th position in
# geometry(Grid we created for subplots),
# as we defined the position as "spec[3]"
ax3 = fig.add_subplot(spec[3])
ax3.plot(x, y)

# display the plots
plt.show()

Output : 

 Explanation : 

# create grid for different subplots
spec = gridspec.GridSpec(ncols=2, nrows=2, width_ratios=[2, 1],wspace=0.5,hspace=0.5,height_ratios=[1,2])

Here “gridspec.GridSpec()” will create grids for subplots.We can use different parameters to adjust the grid and each plot size.  

• ncols : pass number of columns you want in Grid. 
• nrows : pass number of rows we want in Grid to make subplots. 
• width_ratios : set width ratio of subplot(adjust the width of plot). 
• height_ratios : set height ratio of subplot(adjust the height of plot). 
• wspace : give “wspace” amount of space vertically to separate the subplots.
• hspace : give “hspace” amount of space horizontally to separate the subplots.

2. gridspec_kw : It is a dictionary available inside “plt.subplots()” method in Matplotlib. By passing different parameters to the dictionary we can adjust the shape and size of each subplot. 

Code : 

Python3

# importing required libraries
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# setting different parameters to adjust each grid
fig, ax = plt.subplots(nrows=2, ncols=2, figsize=(7, 7),
                       gridspec_kw={
                           'width_ratios': [3, 3],
                           'height_ratios': [3, 3],
                       'wspace': 0.4,
                       'hspace': 0.4})


# initializing x,y axis value
x = np.arange(0, 10, 0.1)
y = np.tan(x)

# ax[0][0] will take 0th position in
# geometry(Grid we created for subplots)
ax[0][0].plot(x, y)

# ax[0][0] will take 0th position in
# geometry(Grid we created for subplots)
ax[0][1].plot(x, y)

# ax[0][0] will take 0th position in
# geometry(Grid we created for subplots)
ax[1][0].plot(x, y)

# ax[0][0] will take 0th position in
# geometry(Grid we created for subplots)
ax[1][1].plot(x, y)

plt.show()

Output : 

Explanation : 

# setting different parameters to adjust each grid 
fig, ax = plt.subplots(nrows=2, ncols=2,figsize=(7,7), gridspec_kw={‘width_ratios’: [3, 3], ‘height_ratios’: [3, 3], ‘wspace’ : 0.4, ‘hspace’ : 0.4})

“gridspec_kw = {}” is dictionary with keywards using which we can change shape, size and adjust each grid.

• nrows : number of rows in grid
• ncols : number of columns in grid
• width_ratios : set width size of each subplot
• height_ratios : set height size of each subplot
• wspace : give “wspace” amount of space vertically to separate the subplots.
• hspace : give “hspace” amount of space horizontally to separate the subplots.
• figsize : set size of subplot’s.

3. subplot2grid : It provides more flexibility to create a grid at any location. We can extend the grid horizontally as well as vertically very easily.

Code : 

Python3

# importing required library
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# creating grid for subplots
fig = plt.figure()
fig.set_figheight(6)
fig.set_figwidth(6)

ax1 = plt.subplot2grid(shape=(3, 3), loc=(0, 0), colspan=3)
ax2 = plt.subplot2grid(shape=(3, 3), loc=(1, 0), colspan=1)
ax3 = plt.subplot2grid(shape=(3, 3), loc=(1, 2), rowspan=2)
ax4 = plt.subplot2grid((3, 3), (2, 0))
ax5 = plt.subplot2grid((3, 3), (2, 1), colspan=1)


# initializing x,y axis value
x = np.arange(0, 10, 0.1)
y = np.cos(x)

# plotting subplots
ax1.plot(x, y)
ax1.set_title('ax1')
ax2.plot(x, y)
ax2.set_title('ax2')
ax3.plot(x, y)
ax3.set_title('ax3')
ax4.plot(x, y)
ax4.set_title('ax4')
ax5.plot(x, y)
ax5.set_title('ax5')

# automatically adjust padding horizontally
# as well as vertically.
plt.tight_layout()

# display plot
plt.show()

Output : 

Explanation : 

ax1 = plt.subplot2grid(shape=(3, 3), loc=(0, 0), colspan=3)
ax2 = plt.subplot2grid(shape=(3, 3), loc=(1, 0), colspan=1)
ax3 = plt.subplot2grid(shape=(3, 3), loc=(1, 2), rowspan=2)
ax4 = plt.subplot2grid((3, 3), (2, 0))
ax5 = plt.subplot2grid((3, 3), (2, 1),colspan=1)

Here shape is denoting to no. of rows and columns and loc denotes to geometric location of grid. Suppose if we are using colspan = 3 in ax1,it means these subplot will cover 3 all columns of that row. Similarly in ax2,colspan=1 means it will cover 1 column space at its location. In case of ax3,rowspan=2 means it will cover space of 2 rows.If we give irregular input then it will give error so we have give proper value to colspan and rowspan.