Remove padding from matplotlib plotting

Question

I am plotting an image in matplotlib, and it keeps giving me some padding. This is what I have tried:

def field_plot():
    x = [i[0] for i in path]
    y = [i[1] for i in path]
    plt.clf()
    plt.axis([0, 560, 0, 820])
    im = plt.imread('field.jpg')
    field = plt.imshow(im)
    for i in range(len(r)):
        plt.plot(r[i][0],r[i][1],c=(rgb_number(speeds[i]),0,1-rgb_number(speeds[i])),linewidth=1)
    plt.axis('off')
    plt.savefig( IMG_DIR + 'match.png',bbox_inches='tight', transparent="True")
    plt.clf()

This is how i see the image

Where in the image is the padding you're referring to? Also, your example is not very useful since we can't run it without your image file. — BrenBarn
– BrenBarn, Commented Jul 24, 2012 at 19:29
@BrenBarn On the left and below the image are the biggest paddings. Above and on the right I have smaller paddings. It's like if it leaves space for labels and so — andresmechali
– andresmechali, Commented Jul 24, 2012 at 19:32
Can you provide a runnable example that doesn't rely on external files? Also see previous questions here and here. If those don't work, please explain what they don't do that you need them to do. — BrenBarn
– BrenBarn, Commented Jul 24, 2012 at 19:33
@BrenBarn I am very new to this, so I don't know how to provide a better example for this.. I am very sorry, I don't know how to think it without the images.. :( — andresmechali
– andresmechali, Commented Jul 24, 2012 at 19:42
@Tshepang I have attached the image as it is saved. As you may see if you download it, it has white big paddings. r is a list, which has [x,x+1],[y,y+1] for every point (the coordinates of each plot) — andresmechali
– andresmechali, Commented Jul 24, 2012 at 20:40

Keith Flower · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-24 23:57:09Z

29

Try using pad_inches=0, i.e.

plt.savefig( IMG_DIR + 'match.png',bbox_inches='tight', transparent="True", pad_inches=0)

From the documentation:

pad_inches: Amount of padding around the figure when bbox_inches is ‘tight’.

I think the default is pad_inches=0.1

answered Jul 24, 2012 at 23:57

Keith Flower

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1 Comment

nvd Over a year ago

The quotes are not needed around True; transparent=True. The reason being transparent="False" also translates to transparent=True.

SHIM · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-01 13:40:24Z

9

Just add plt.tight_layout() before plt.savefig() !!

plt.figure(figsize=(16, 10))

# ... Doing Something ...

plt.tight_layout()
plt.savefig('wethers.png')
plt.show()

answered Nov 1, 2020 at 13:40

SHIM

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Comments

Sasi Inguva · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-21 18:34:24Z

5

This worked for me. After plotting, get the Axes object from plt using ax = plt.gca(). Then set the xlim, and ylim of ax object to match image width and image height. Matplotlib seems to automatically increase xlim and ylim of viewing area when you plot. Note that while setting y_lim you have to invert the order of coordinates.

for i in range(len(r)):
  plt.plot(r[i][0],r[i][1],c=(rgb_number(speeds[i]),0,1-rgb_number(speeds[i])),linewidth=1)

plt.axis('off')
ax = plt.gca();
ax.set_xlim(0.0, width_of_im);
ax.set_ylim(height_of_im, 0.0);
plt.savefig( IMG_DIR + 'match.png',bbox_inches='tight', transparent="True")

answered Oct 21, 2013 at 18:34

Sasi Inguva

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wintermute2048 · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-05 23:38:48Z

4

Use plt.gca().set_position((0, 0, 1, 1)) to let the axes span the whole figure, see reference. If plt.imshow is used, this requires that the figure has the correct aspect ratio.

import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# set the correct aspect ratio
dpi = mpl.rcParams["figure.dpi"]
plt.figure(figsize=(560/dpi, 820/dpi))

plt.axis('off')
plt.gca().set_position((0, 0, 1, 1))

im = plt.imread('field.jpg')
plt.imshow(im)

plt.savefig("test.png")
plt.close()

answered Nov 5, 2021 at 23:38

wintermute2048

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Comments

Guillem Cucurull · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-08 11:07:03Z

3

All previous approaches didn't quite work for me, they all left some padding around the figure.

The following lines successfully removed the white or transparent padding that was left:

plt.axis('off')
ax = plt.gca()
ax.xaxis.set_major_locator(matplotlib.ticker.NullLocator())
ax.yaxis.set_major_locator(matplotlib.ticker.NullLocator())
plt.savefig(IMG_DIR + 'match.png', pad_inches=0, bbox_inches='tight', transparent=True)

answered May 8, 2018 at 11:07

Guillem Cucurull

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joanis · Accepted Answer · 2024-12-07 15:42:25Z

0

This worked for me:

plt.gca().get_figure().set_frameon(False)

edited Dec 7, 2024 at 15:42

joanis

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answered Dec 7, 2024 at 4:15

alonsorobots

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