Python Matplotlib figure title overlaps axes label when using twiny

Question

I am trying to plot two separate quantities on the same graph using twiny as follows:

fig = figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
ax.plot(T, r, 'b-', T, R, 'r-', T, r_geo, 'g-')
ax.set_yscale('log')
ax.annotate('Approx. sea level', xy=(Planet.T_day*1.3,(Planet.R)/1000), xytext=(Planet.T_day*1.3, Planet.R/1000))
ax.annotate('Geostat. orbit', xy=(Planet.T_day*1.3, r_geo[0]), xytext=(Planet.T_day*1.3, r_geo[0]))
ax.set_xlabel('Rotational period (hrs)')
ax.set_ylabel('Orbital radius (km), logarithmic')
ax.set_title('Orbital charts for ' + Planet.N, horizontalalignment='center', verticalalignment='top')


ax2 = ax.twiny()
ax2.plot(v,r,'k-')
ax2.set_xlabel('Linear speed (ms-1)')

show()

and the data is presented fine, but I am having the problem that the figure title is overlapping with the axes labels on the secondary x axis so that it's barely legible (I wanted to post a picture example here, but I don't have a high enough rep yet).

I'd like to know if there's a straightforward way to just shift the title directly up a few tens of pixels, so that the chart looks prettier.

herrlich10 · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-28 10:14:27Z

302

I'm not sure whether it is a new feature in later versions of matplotlib, but at least for 1.3.1, this is simply:

plt.title(figure_title, y=1.08)

This also works for plt.suptitle(), but not (yet) for plt.xlabel(), etc.

answered Apr 28, 2014 at 10:14

herrlich10

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9 Comments

Felix Hoffmann Over a year ago

For labels you can set the argument labelpad, see here.

Joe Kington Over a year ago

For what it's worth, it's not a new feature. title has taken x and y arguments for a very long time (as long as I can remember, at any rate).

Yu Shen Over a year ago

plt.set_title('title string', y = 1.08) works for me.

kon psych Over a year ago

It would be more helpful if someone explained what units 1.08 is and what are the defaults. My understanding is that default is 1

herrlich10 Over a year ago

@JohnCummings It seems that the default value is y=1 and the units is "axes fraction", i.e., y=0.5 means the title is in the middle of the axes, and y=0 means the title is just above the bottom of the axes.

|

Saullo G. P. Castro · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-26 16:14:05Z

37

Forget using plt.title and place the text directly with plt.text. An over-exaggerated example is given below:

import pylab as plt

fig = plt.figure(figsize=(5,10))

figure_title = "Normal title"
ax1  = plt.subplot(1,2,1)

plt.title(figure_title, fontsize = 20)
plt.plot([1,2,3],[1,4,9])

figure_title = "Raised title"
ax2  = plt.subplot(1,2,2)

plt.text(0.5, 1.08, figure_title,
         horizontalalignment='center',
         fontsize=20,
         transform = ax2.transAxes)
plt.plot([1,2,3],[1,4,9])

plt.show()

enter image description here

edited May 26, 2014 at 16:14

Saullo G. P. Castro

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answered Oct 5, 2012 at 17:28

Hooked

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2 Comments

Hooked Over a year ago

@user815423426 yes, tight_layout still doesn't seem to play nicely with non-standard placements. Perhaps you could make a bug report?

junkaholik Over a year ago

I found a work around when using tight_layout, at least when you save your plot using figure.savefig(). If title = plt.title(...) then you can specify to frame the plot tightly around the title using the option bbox_extra_artists : figure.savefig(filename, bbox_extra_artists=(title), bbox_inches='tight')

jmunsch · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-05 05:56:29Z

26

I was having an issue with the x-label overlapping a subplot title; this worked for me:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
fig, ax = plt.subplots(2, 1)
ax[0].scatter(...)
ax[1].scatter(...)
plt.tight_layout()
.
.
.
plt.show()

before

after

reference:

https://matplotlib.org/users/tight_layout_guide.html

answered Jul 5, 2018 at 5:56

jmunsch

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1 Comment

Addison Klinke Over a year ago

I also use tight_layout() but unfortunately if title has backgroundcolor set, there is still overlap

tuomastik · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-29 07:45:09Z

13

ax.set_title('My Title\n', fontsize="15", color="red")
plt.imshow(myfile, origin="upper")

If you put '\n' right after your title string, the plot is drawn just below the title. That might be a fast solution too.

edited Sep 29, 2017 at 7:45

tuomastik

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answered Sep 29, 2017 at 6:53

EFKan

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Comments

stealthyninja · Accepted Answer · 2020-03-27 21:35:33Z

11

You can use pad for this case:

ax.set_title("whatever", pad=20)

edited Mar 27, 2020 at 21:35

stealthyninja

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answered Mar 27, 2020 at 20:13

Radvin

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Comments

Peter Zhu · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-24 06:10:59Z

6

Just use plt.tight_layout() before plt.show(). It works well.

answered Aug 24, 2018 at 6:10

Peter Zhu

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Comments

Anupam · Accepted Answer · 2021-02-06 15:10:45Z

0

A temporary solution if you don't want to get into the x, y position of your title.

Following worked for me.

plt.title('Capital Expenditure\n') # Add a next line after your title

kudos.

answered Feb 6, 2021 at 15:10

Anupam

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Comments

El Houcine Es-sanhaji · Accepted Answer · 2022-07-26 11:42:09Z

0

Using the plt.tight_layout() before the plt.show() works for me well.

you can even make it better and visible by adding a padding

ax.set_title("title", pad=15)

answered Jul 26, 2022 at 11:42

El Houcine Es-sanhaji

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Comments

Cam · Accepted Answer · 2024-07-04 09:25:54Z

0

You can use pad with title

plt.title("My title", pad=20)

If you are using title and subtitle using pad on title helps to push up and reduce the space between the two titles.

plt.suptitle('Main title')
plt.title("This is the second title", pad=20)

answered Jul 4, 2024 at 9:25

Cam

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