pythonmatplotlibjupyter-notebookmatplotlib-3d

matplotlib 3D plot Z label cut off


When using matplotlib in jupyter notebook in VS code the Z-label of my 3D plot is cut off. I also used the example code from the official matplotlib documentation:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# Fixing random state for reproducibility
np.random.seed(19680801)


def randrange(n, vmin, vmax):
    """
    Helper function to make an array of random numbers having shape (n, )
    with each number distributed Uniform(vmin, vmax).
    """
    return (vmax - vmin)*np.random.rand(n) + vmin

fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(projection='3d')

n = 100

# For each set of style and range settings, plot n random points in the box
# defined by x in [23, 32], y in [0, 100], z in [zlow, zhigh].
for m, zlow, zhigh in [('o', -50, -25), ('^', -30, -5)]:
    xs = randrange(n, 23, 32)
    ys = randrange(n, 0, 100)
    zs = randrange(n, zlow, zhigh)
    ax.scatter(xs, ys, zs, marker=m)

ax.set_xlabel('X Label')
ax.set_ylabel('Y Label')
ax.set_zlabel('Z Label')

plt.show()

This code returns the following image:

Plot with cut off z label

I already tried to change the figure size and ax.dist as suggested in this Answer, both did not resolve the issue. My python version is 3.11.6 and matplotlib 3.8.1.


Solution

  • The answer you reference works with Matplotlib 3.7.1, which shows the same issue as in your post image. (ax.dist=13 added before plt.show() line doesn't show Z label' cut off.) However, I get a deprecated warning when I use that approach.
    That lead me to here that suggests using ax.set_box_aspect() to set zoom. Setting of value one is default according to the documentation.

    This addition of ax.set_box_aspect(None, zoom=0.85) worked for Matplotlib 3.7.1:

    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
    import numpy as np
    
    # Fixing random state for reproducibility
    np.random.seed(19680801)
    
    
    def randrange(n, vmin, vmax):
        """
        Helper function to make an array of random numbers having shape (n, )
        with each number distributed Uniform(vmin, vmax).
        """
        return (vmax - vmin)*np.random.rand(n) + vmin
    
    fig = plt.figure()
    ax = fig.add_subplot(projection='3d')
    
    n = 100
    
    # For each set of style and range settings, plot n random points in the box
    # defined by x in [23, 32], y in [0, 100], z in [zlow, zhigh].
    for m, zlow, zhigh in [('o', -50, -25), ('^', -30, -5)]:
        xs = randrange(n, 23, 32)
        ys = randrange(n, 0, 100)
        zs = randrange(n, zlow, zhigh)
        ax.scatter(xs, ys, zs, marker=m)
    
    ax.set_xlabel('X Label')
    ax.set_ylabel('Y Label')
    ax.set_zlabel('Z Label')
    #ax.dist = 13
    ax.set_box_aspect(None, zoom=0.85)
    plt.show()