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Issues with setting a specific figure size in Matplotlib when using subplots with different aspect ratios

👀 Views: 115 đŸ’Ŧ Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-13
matplotlib subplots aspect-ratio Python

I'm reviewing some code and I'm a bit lost with I've encountered a strange issue with I can't seem to get I'm trying to create a figure with multiple subplots in Matplotlib, and I want to set a specific figure size while maintaining the individual aspect ratios of each subplot... However, when I set the figure size using `plt.figure(figsize=(10, 5))` and then create subplots, they seem to stretch and lose their intended aspect ratios. Here's the code I've been using: ```python import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import numpy as np # Sample data x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100) y1 = np.sin(x) y2 = np.cos(x) y3 = np.tan(x) # Create a figure with a specific size plt.figure(figsize=(10, 5)) # Create subplots with different aspect ratios plt.subplot(1, 3, 1) plt.plot(x, y1) plt.title('Sine') plt.gca().set_aspect(1.0, adjustable='box') plt.subplot(1, 3, 2) plt.plot(x, y2) plt.title('Cosine') plt.gca().set_aspect(1.0, adjustable='box') plt.subplot(1, 3, 3) plt.plot(x, y3) plt.title('Tangent') plt.gca().set_aspect(1.0, adjustable='box') plt.tight_layout() plt.show() ``` However, when I run this code, the subplots are not maintaining their aspect ratios as expected, especially for the tangent plot, which gets weirdly stretched. I have tried using `plt.gca().set_aspect('equal')` as well, but it doesn't seem to work. The output doesn't look good, and I end up with a very wide and compressed figure. I'm using Matplotlib version 3.6.0. Is there a way to ensure that each subplot retains its aspect ratio while still fitting within the specified figure size? Any insights on how to achieve this would be appreciated! I'm working in a Windows 10 environment. Has anyone dealt with something similar? Hoping someone can shed some light on this. For context: I'm using Python on Windows 10. What are your experiences with this? For reference, this is a production mobile app. Is this even possible?