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DOC: Add axis sharing section to subplot_mosaic guide #31720

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timhoffm merged 2 commits into from
May 27, 2026
Merged

DOC: Add axis sharing section to subplot_mosaic guide #31720

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DOC: Add axis sharing section to subplot_mosaic guide
May 20, 2026
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Atharva2012 May 27, 2026
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53 changes: 53 additions & 0 deletions galleries/users_explain/axes/mosaic.py
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -390,3 +390,56 @@ def identify_axes(ax_dict, fontsize=48):
empty_sentinel=0,
)
identify_axes(axd)


# %%
# Axis sharing
# ============
#
# `.Figure.subplot_mosaic` supports *sharex* and *sharey* as does
# `.Figure.subplots`. When ``True``, all Axes in the mosaic share
# the same x-axis or y-axis, which is useful for directly comparing
# data across panels.

fig = plt.figure(layout="constrained")
axd = fig.subplot_mosaic("AC;BC", sharex=True)
axd["A"].set_title("Axes A")
axd["B"].set_title("Axes B")
axd["C"].set_title("Axes C")
for ax in axd.values():
ax.plot([1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 4, 2, 3])
identify_axes(axd)

# %%
# Note that when using ``sharex=True`` only the bottom row of Axes shows
# x-axis tick labels, and when using ``sharey=True`` only the left column
# shows y-axis tick labels. This is identical to the behavior of
# `.Figure.subplots`.
#
# Interaction with empty sentinels
# ---------------------------------
#
# When the mosaic layout has blank spaces (empty sentinels), axis sharing
# can produce inintended results. In the following example, there are no
# tick labels in the top row:

fig, axd = plt.subplot_mosaic(".A;BC", sharey=True, layout="constrained")
for ax in axd.values():
ax.plot([1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 4, 2, 3])
identify_axes(axd)

# %%
# The reason for this behavior is that sharing removes tick labels from
# all but the most-left / most-bottom grid positions.
#
# The fix is to manually re-enable tick labels on the Axes that should
# display them using `.Axes.tick_params`:

fig, axd = plt.subplot_mosaic(".A;BC", sharey=True, layout="constrained")
for ax in axd.values():
ax.plot([1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 4, 2, 3])

# Re-enable y-axis tick labels on Axes "A"
axd["A"].tick_params(labelleft=True)

identify_axes(axd)
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