
.. DO NOT EDIT.
.. THIS FILE WAS AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED BY SPHINX-GALLERY.
.. TO MAKE CHANGES, EDIT THE SOURCE PYTHON FILE:
.. "users/explain/axes/axes_ticks.py"
.. LINE NUMBERS ARE GIVEN BELOW.

.. only:: html

    .. meta::
        :keywords: codex

    .. note::
        :class: sphx-glr-download-link-note

        :ref:`Go to the end <sphx_glr_download_users_explain_axes_axes_ticks.py>`
        to download the full example code.

.. rst-class:: sphx-glr-example-title

.. _sphx_glr_users_explain_axes_axes_ticks.py:


.. _user_axes_ticks:

==========
Axis ticks
==========

The x and y Axis on each Axes have default tick "locators" and "formatters"
that depend on the scale being used (see :ref:`user_axes_scales`).  It is
possible to customize the ticks and tick labels with either high-level methods
like `~.axes.Axes.set_xticks` or set the locators and formatters directly on
the axis.

Manual location and formats
===========================

The simplest method to customize the tick locations and formats is to use
`~.axes.Axes.set_xticks` and `~.axes.Axes.set_yticks`.  These can be used on
either the major or the minor ticks.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 21-40

.. code-block:: Python

    import numpy as np
    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

    import matplotlib.ticker as ticker


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 1, figsize=(5.4, 5.4), layout='constrained')
    x = np.arange(100)
    for nn, ax in enumerate(axs):
        ax.plot(x, x)
        if nn == 1:
            ax.set_title('Manual ticks')
            ax.set_yticks(np.arange(0, 100.1, 100/3))
            xticks = np.arange(0.50, 101, 20)
            xlabels = [f'\\${x:1.2f}' for x in xticks]
            ax.set_xticks(xticks, labels=xlabels)
        else:
            ax.set_title('Automatic ticks')


.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 41-46

Note that the length of the ``labels`` argument must have the same length as
the array used to specify the ticks.

By default `~.axes.Axes.set_xticks` and `~.axes.Axes.set_yticks` act on the
major ticks of an Axis, however it is possible to add minor ticks:

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 47-60

.. code-block:: Python


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 1, figsize=(5.4, 5.4), layout='constrained')
    x = np.arange(100)
    for nn, ax in enumerate(axs):
        ax.plot(x, x)
        if nn == 1:
            ax.set_title('Manual ticks')
            ax.set_yticks(np.arange(0, 100.1, 100/3))
            ax.set_yticks(np.arange(0, 100.1, 100/30), minor=True)
        else:
            ax.set_title('Automatic ticks')



.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 61-72

Locators and Formatters
=======================

Manually setting the ticks as above works well for specific final plots, but
does not adapt as the user interacts with the Axes.   At a lower level,
Matplotlib has ``Locators`` that are meant to automatically choose ticks
depending on the current view limits of the axis, and ``Formatters`` that are
meant to format the tick labels automatically.

The full list of locators provided by Matplotlib are listed at
:ref:`locators`, and the formatters at :ref:`formatters`.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 76-136

.. code-block:: Python


    def setup(ax, title):
        """Set up common parameters for the Axes in the example."""
        # only show the bottom spine
        ax.yaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.NullLocator())
        ax.spines[['left', 'right', 'top']].set_visible(False)

        ax.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom')
        ax.tick_params(which='major', width=1.00, length=5)
        ax.tick_params(which='minor', width=0.75, length=2.5)
        ax.set_xlim(0, 5)
        ax.set_ylim(0, 1)
        ax.text(0.0, 0.2, title, transform=ax.transAxes,
                fontsize=14, fontname='Monospace', color='tab:blue')


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(8, 1, layout='constrained')

    # Null Locator
    setup(axs[0], title="NullLocator()")
    axs[0].xaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.NullLocator())
    axs[0].xaxis.set_minor_locator(ticker.NullLocator())

    # Multiple Locator
    setup(axs[1], title="MultipleLocator(0.5)")
    axs[1].xaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.MultipleLocator(0.5))
    axs[1].xaxis.set_minor_locator(ticker.MultipleLocator(0.1))

    # Fixed Locator
    setup(axs[2], title="FixedLocator([0, 1, 5])")
    axs[2].xaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.FixedLocator([0, 1, 5]))
    axs[2].xaxis.set_minor_locator(ticker.FixedLocator(np.linspace(0.2, 0.8, 4)))

    # Linear Locator
    setup(axs[3], title="LinearLocator(numticks=3)")
    axs[3].xaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.LinearLocator(3))
    axs[3].xaxis.set_minor_locator(ticker.LinearLocator(31))

    # Index Locator
    setup(axs[4], title="IndexLocator(base=0.5, offset=0.25)")
    axs[4].plot(range(0, 5), [0]*5, color='white')
    axs[4].xaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.IndexLocator(base=0.5, offset=0.25))

    # Auto Locator
    setup(axs[5], title="AutoLocator()")
    axs[5].xaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.AutoLocator())
    axs[5].xaxis.set_minor_locator(ticker.AutoMinorLocator())

    # MaxN Locator
    setup(axs[6], title="MaxNLocator(n=4)")
    axs[6].xaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.MaxNLocator(4))
    axs[6].xaxis.set_minor_locator(ticker.MaxNLocator(40))

    # Log Locator
    setup(axs[7], title="LogLocator(base=10, numticks=15)")
    axs[7].set_xlim(10**3, 10**10)
    axs[7].set_xscale('log')
    axs[7].xaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.LogLocator(base=10, numticks=15))
    plt.show()


.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 137-156

Similarly, we can specify "Formatters" for the major and minor ticks on each
axis.

The tick format is configured via the function `~.Axis.set_major_formatter`
or `~.Axis.set_minor_formatter`. It accepts:

- a format string, which implicitly creates a `.StrMethodFormatter`.
- a function,  implicitly creates a `.FuncFormatter`.
- an instance of a `.Formatter` subclass. The most common are

  - `.NullFormatter`: No labels on the ticks.
  - `.StrMethodFormatter`: Use string `str.format` method.
  - `.FormatStrFormatter`: Use %-style formatting.
  - `.FuncFormatter`: Define labels through a function.
  - `.FixedFormatter`: Set the label strings explicitly.
  - `.ScalarFormatter`: Default formatter for scalars: auto-pick the format string.
  - `.PercentFormatter`: Format labels as a percentage.

See :ref:`formatters` for the complete list.

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 157-228

.. code-block:: Python



    def setup(ax, title):
        """Set up common parameters for the Axes in the example."""
        # only show the bottom spine
        ax.yaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.NullLocator())
        ax.spines[['left', 'right', 'top']].set_visible(False)

        # define tick positions
        ax.xaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.MultipleLocator(1.00))
        ax.xaxis.set_minor_locator(ticker.MultipleLocator(0.25))

        ax.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom')
        ax.tick_params(which='major', width=1.00, length=5)
        ax.tick_params(which='minor', width=0.75, length=2.5, labelsize=10)
        ax.set_xlim(0, 5)
        ax.set_ylim(0, 1)
        ax.text(0.0, 0.2, title, transform=ax.transAxes,
                fontsize=14, fontname='Monospace', color='tab:blue')


    fig = plt.figure(figsize=(8, 8), layout='constrained')
    fig0, fig1, fig2 = fig.subfigures(3, height_ratios=[1.5, 1.5, 7.5])

    fig0.suptitle('String Formatting', fontsize=16, x=0, ha='left')
    ax0 = fig0.subplots()

    setup(ax0, title="'{x} km'")
    ax0.xaxis.set_major_formatter('{x} km')

    fig1.suptitle('Function Formatting', fontsize=16, x=0, ha='left')
    ax1 = fig1.subplots()

    setup(ax1, title="def(x, pos): return str(x-5)")
    ax1.xaxis.set_major_formatter(lambda x, pos: str(x-5))

    fig2.suptitle('Formatter Object Formatting', fontsize=16, x=0, ha='left')
    axs2 = fig2.subplots(7, 1)

    setup(axs2[0], title="NullFormatter()")
    axs2[0].xaxis.set_major_formatter(ticker.NullFormatter())

    setup(axs2[1], title="StrMethodFormatter('{x:.3f}')")
    axs2[1].xaxis.set_major_formatter(ticker.StrMethodFormatter("{x:.3f}"))

    setup(axs2[2], title="FormatStrFormatter('#%d')")
    axs2[2].xaxis.set_major_formatter(ticker.FormatStrFormatter("#%d"))


    def fmt_two_digits(x, pos):
        return f'[{x:.2f}]'


    setup(axs2[3], title='FuncFormatter("[{:.2f}]".format)')
    axs2[3].xaxis.set_major_formatter(ticker.FuncFormatter(fmt_two_digits))

    setup(axs2[4], title="FixedFormatter(['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F'])")
    # FixedFormatter should only be used together with FixedLocator.
    # Otherwise, one cannot be sure where the labels will end up.
    positions = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
    labels = ['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F']
    axs2[4].xaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.FixedLocator(positions))
    axs2[4].xaxis.set_major_formatter(ticker.FixedFormatter(labels))

    setup(axs2[5], title="ScalarFormatter()")
    axs2[5].xaxis.set_major_formatter(ticker.ScalarFormatter(useMathText=True))

    setup(axs2[6], title="PercentFormatter(xmax=5)")
    axs2[6].xaxis.set_major_formatter(ticker.PercentFormatter(xmax=5))



.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 229-264

Styling ticks (tick parameters)
===============================

The appearance of ticks can be controlled at a low level by finding the
individual `~.axis.Tick` on the axis.  However, usually it is simplest to
use `~.axes.Axes.tick_params` to change all the objects at once.

The ``tick_params`` method can change the properties of ticks:

- length
- direction (in or out of the frame)
- colors
- width and length
- and whether the ticks are drawn at the bottom, top, left, or right of the
  Axes.

It also can control the tick labels:

- labelsize (fontsize)
- labelcolor (color of the label)
- labelrotation
- labelbottom, labeltop, labelleft, labelright

In addition there is a *pad* keyword argument that specifies how far the tick
label is from the tick.

Finally, the grid linestyles can be set:

- grid_color
- grid_alpha
- grid_linewidth
- grid_linestyle

All these properties can be restricted to one axis, and can be applied to
just the major or minor ticks

.. GENERATED FROM PYTHON SOURCE LINES 265-276

.. code-block:: Python


    fig, axs = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(6.4, 3.2), layout='constrained')

    for nn, ax in enumerate(axs):
        ax.plot(np.arange(100))
        if nn == 1:
            ax.grid('on')
            ax.tick_params(right=True, left=False, axis='y', color='r', length=16,
                           grid_color='none')
            ax.tick_params(axis='x', color='m', length=4, direction='in', width=4,
                           labelcolor='g', grid_color='b')


.. _sphx_glr_download_users_explain_axes_axes_ticks.py:

.. only:: html

  .. container:: sphx-glr-footer sphx-glr-footer-example

    .. container:: sphx-glr-download sphx-glr-download-jupyter

      :download:`Download Jupyter notebook: axes_ticks.ipynb <axes_ticks.ipynb>`

    .. container:: sphx-glr-download sphx-glr-download-python

      :download:`Download Python source code: axes_ticks.py <axes_ticks.py>`

    .. container:: sphx-glr-download sphx-glr-download-zip

      :download:`Download zipped: axes_ticks.zip <axes_ticks.zip>`


.. only:: html

 .. rst-class:: sphx-glr-signature

    `Gallery generated by Sphinx-Gallery <https://sphinx-gallery.github.io>`_
