Subplot spacing adjustment in Matplotlib - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What is the vertical space between subplots?

Consider the following code that creates two subplots stacked vertically. What is the vertical space between the two plots after running this code?

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 1)
fig.subplots_adjust(hspace=0.5)
plt.show()

space = fig.subplotpars.hspace
print(space)

A 1.0

B 0.0

C 0.5

D 0.1

💡 Hint

Check the hspace parameter in subplots_adjust.

The hspace parameter controls the height (vertical) space between subplots. Setting hspace=0.5 means the vertical space is 0.5.

❓ data_output

intermediate

How many subplots fit without overlap?

Given the code below, how many subplots will fit in the figure without overlapping when wspace=0.2 and hspace=0.2?

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

fig, axs = plt.subplots(3, 3)
fig.subplots_adjust(wspace=0.2, hspace=0.2)
plt.show()

rows = len(axs)
cols = len(axs[0])
print(rows * cols)

A 6

B 0

C 3

D 9

💡 Hint

Count the total number of subplots created by plt.subplots(3, 3).

The code creates a 3 by 3 grid of subplots, so there are 9 subplots total. The spacing parameters do not reduce the number of subplots.

❓ visualization

advanced

Which option produces the tightest subplot layout?

Which code snippet produces the tightest layout with minimal space between subplots?

A fig.subplots_adjust(left=0.1, right=0.9, top=0.9, bottom=0.1, wspace=0.05, hspace=0.05)

B fig.subplots_adjust(left=0.2, right=0.8, top=0.8, bottom=0.2, wspace=0.5, hspace=0.5)

C fig.subplots_adjust(left=0.0, right=1.0, top=1.0, bottom=0.0, wspace=1.0, hspace=1.0)

D fig.subplots_adjust(left=0.3, right=0.7, top=0.7, bottom=0.3, wspace=0.3, hspace=0.3)

💡 Hint

Smaller wspace and hspace values mean less space between subplots.

Option A uses the smallest wspace and hspace values (0.05), and the margins are reasonably tight, so it produces the tightest layout.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this subplot spacing code raise an error?

What error does the following code raise and why?

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 2)
fig.subplots_adjust(wspace=-0.1, hspace=0.2)
plt.show()

A TypeError: wspace must be a float

B ValueError: wspace must be >= 0

C No error, plots display normally

D AttributeError: subplots_adjust has no attribute wspace

💡 Hint

Check the allowed range for wspace values.

The wspace parameter cannot be negative. Setting wspace=-0.1 raises a ValueError.

🚀 Application

expert

Adjust subplot spacing to avoid label overlap

You have a 2x2 grid of subplots with long x-axis labels that overlap. Which code snippet best adjusts spacing to avoid overlap while keeping the figure compact?

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 2)
for ax in axs.flat:
    ax.set_xlabel('Long x-axis label example')
fig.subplots_adjust(PLACEHOLDER)
plt.show()

A left=0.1, right=0.9, top=0.9, bottom=0.3, wspace=0.3, hspace=0.4

B left=0.2, right=0.8, top=0.8, bottom=0.1, wspace=0.1, hspace=0.1

C left=0.05, right=0.95, top=0.95, bottom=0.05, wspace=0.05, hspace=0.05

D left=0.3, right=0.7, top=0.7, bottom=0.5, wspace=0.5, hspace=0.5

💡 Hint

Increasing bottom margin and vertical space helps avoid x-label overlap.

Option A increases the bottom margin and vertical spacing to prevent label overlap while keeping the figure compact. Other options either have too small bottom margin or too large spacing.