How to Use tight_layout() in Matplotlib

You can use the tight_layout() function in Matplotlib to automatically adjust the padding between and around subplots.

The following example shows how to use this function in practice.

Example: How to Use tight_layout() in Matplotlib

Suppose we use Matplotilb to create four subplots in a 2×2 grid:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

#define data
x = [1, 2, 3]
y = [7, 13, 24]

#define layout for subplots
fig, ax = plt.subplots(2, 2)

#define subplot titles
ax[0, 0].plot(x, y, color='red')
ax[0, 1].plot(x, y, color='blue')
ax[1, 0].plot(x, y, color='green')
ax[1, 1].plot(x, y, color='purple')

#add title to each subplot
ax[0, 0].set_title('First Subplot')
ax[0, 1].set_title('Second Subplot')
ax[1, 0].set_title('Third Subplot')
ax[1, 1].set_title('Fourth Subplot')

Notice that there is minimal padding between the subplots, which causes the titles to overlap in some places.

By specifying fig.tight_layout() we can automatically adjust the padding between and around subplots:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

#define data
x = [1, 2, 3]
y = [7, 13, 24]

#define layout for subplots
fig, ax = plt.subplots(2, 2)

#specify a tight layout
fig.tight_layout()

#define subplot titles
ax[0, 0].plot(x, y, color='red')
ax[0, 1].plot(x, y, color='blue')
ax[1, 0].plot(x, y, color='green')
ax[1, 1].plot(x, y, color='purple')

#add title to each subplot
ax[0, 0].set_title('First Subplot')
ax[0, 1].set_title('Second Subplot')
ax[1, 0].set_title('Third Subplot')
ax[1, 1].set_title('Fourth Subplot')

Notice that the padding between and around the subplots has been adjusted so that the plots no longer overlap in any area.

Note that the tight_layout() function takes a pad argument to specify the padding between the figure edge and the edges of subplots, as a fraction of the font size.

The default value for pad is 1.08. However, we can increase this value to increase the padding around the plots:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

#define data
x = [1, 2, 3]
y = [7, 13, 24]

#define layout for subplots
fig, ax = plt.subplots(2, 2)

#specify a tight layout with increased padding
fig.tight_layout(pad=5)

#define subplot titles
ax[0, 0].plot(x, y, color='red')
ax[0, 1].plot(x, y, color='blue')
ax[1, 0].plot(x, y, color='green')
ax[1, 1].plot(x, y, color='purple')

#add title to each subplot
ax[0, 0].set_title('First Subplot')
ax[0, 1].set_title('Second Subplot')
ax[1, 0].set_title('Third Subplot')
ax[1, 1].set_title('Fourth Subplot')