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matplotlib.figure.figaspect

matplotlib.figure.figaspect(arg)[source]

Calculate the width and height for a figure with a specified aspect ratio.

While the height is taken from rcParams["figure.figsize"], the width is adjusted to match the desired aspect ratio. Additionally, it is ensured that the width is in the range [4., 16.] and the height is in the range [2., 16.]. If necessary, the default height is adjusted to ensure this.

Parameters:
arg : scalar or 2d array

If a scalar, this defines the aspect ratio (i.e. the ratio height / width). In case of an array the aspect ratio is number of rows / number of columns, so that the array could be fitted in the figure undistorted.

Returns:
width, height

The figure size in inches.

Notes

If you want to create an axes within the figure, that still preserves the aspect ratio, be sure to create it with equal width and height. See examples below.

Thanks to Fernando Perez for this function.

Examples

Make a figure twice as tall as it is wide:

w, h = figaspect(2.)
fig = Figure(figsize=(w, h))
ax = fig.add_axes([0.1, 0.1, 0.8, 0.8])
ax.imshow(A, **kwargs)

Make a figure with the proper aspect for an array:

A = rand(5,3)
w, h = figaspect(A)
fig = Figure(figsize=(w, h))
ax = fig.add_axes([0.1, 0.1, 0.8, 0.8])
ax.imshow(A, **kwargs)