Individual subplot customization in Matplotlib - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - Individual subplot customization

Create Figure and Subplots

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Access Each Subplot Individually

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Apply Custom Settings to Each Subplot

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Display Customized Subplots

Start by creating subplots, then access each one to change titles, labels, or styles separately before showing the final figure.

Execution Sample

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
fig, axs = plt.subplots(1, 2)
axs[0].set_title('Left Plot')
axs[1].set_title('Right Plot')
plt.show()

This code creates two side-by-side plots and sets different titles for each subplot.

Execution Table

Step	Action	Target Subplot	Effect	Output
1	Create figure and 2 subplots	fig, axs	fig with axs[0], axs[1]	Two empty plots side by side
2	Set title 'Left Plot'	axs[0]	Title set to 'Left Plot'	Left plot shows title 'Left Plot'
3	Set title 'Right Plot'	axs[1]	Title set to 'Right Plot'	Right plot shows title 'Right Plot'
4	Display figure	fig	Figure rendered	Two plots visible with individual titles

💡 All subplots customized and figure displayed

Variable Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 2	After Step 3	Final
fig	None	Figure object created	Same	Same	Same
axs	None	[AxesSubplot(0), AxesSubplot(1)]	Same	Same	Same
axs[0].title.get_text()	""	""	"Left Plot"	"Left Plot"	"Left Plot"
axs[1].title.get_text()	""	""	""	"Right Plot"	"Right Plot"

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why do we use axs[0] and axs[1] instead of just axs?

Because axs is an array of subplot axes, each subplot is accessed individually by its index, as shown in steps 2 and 3 of the execution table.

What happens if we set the title on axs instead of axs[0] or axs[1]?

Setting title on axs (the array) will cause an error or no effect because titles belong to individual subplot axes, not the array container, as seen in the variable tracker.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, what is the title of axs[1] after step 3?

A "" (empty string)

B "Left Plot"

C "Right Plot"

D Error

💡 Hint

Check the 'Effect' column in step 3 of the execution table.

At which step does the left subplot get its title set?

A Step 1

B Step 2

C Step 3

D Step 4

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Action' and 'Target Subplot' columns in the execution table.

If we add axs[0].set_xlabel('X axis') after step 3, what changes in variable_tracker?

A axs[0].xlabel changes from '' to 'X axis'

B axs[1].xlabel changes from '' to 'X axis'

C fig variable changes

D No change

💡 Hint

Variable tracker shows subplot properties changing per step.

Concept Snapshot

Create subplots with plt.subplots()
Access each subplot by index (axs[0], axs[1], ...)
Customize titles, labels, or styles individually
Call plt.show() to display all
Each subplot is an independent Axes object

Full Transcript

We start by creating a figure and multiple subplots using plt.subplots(). This returns a figure and an array of subplot axes. We then access each subplot individually by its index, for example axs[0] for the first subplot and axs[1] for the second. We customize each subplot by setting titles or labels on these individual axes. Finally, we display the figure with plt.show(), which shows all subplots with their individual customizations.