Matplotlib Subplots -- Get Rid of Tick Labels Altogether

Question

Is there a way to get rid of tick labels altogether when creating an array of subplots in Matplotlib? I am currently needing to specify each plot based on the row and column of a larger data set to which the plot corresponds. I've attempted to use the ax.set_xticks([]) and the similar y-axis command, to no avail.

I recognize that it's probably an unusual request to want to make a plot with no axis data whatsoever, but that's what I need. And I need it to automatically apply to all of the subplots in the array.

Answer 1

You have the right method. Maybe you are not applying the set_xticks to the correct axes.

An example:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import numpy as np  ncols = 5 nrows = 3  # create the plots fig = plt.figure() axes = [ fig.add_subplot(nrows, ncols, r * ncols + c) for r in range(0, nrows) for c in range(0, ncols) ]  # add some data for ax in axes:     ax.plot(np.random.random(10), np.random.random(10), '.')  # remove the x and y ticks for ax in axes:     ax.set_xticks([])     ax.set_yticks([]) 

This gives:

Note that each axis instance is stored in a list (axes) and then they can be easily manipulated. As usual, there are several ways of doing this, this is just an example.

Answer 2

Even more concise than @DrV 's answer, remixing @mwaskom's comment, a complete and total one-liner to get rid of all axes in all subplots:

# do some plotting... plt.subplot(121),plt.imshow(image1) plt.subplot(122),plt.imshow(image2) # ....  # one liner to remove *all axes in all subplots* plt.setp(plt.gcf().get_axes(), xticks=[], yticks=[]); 

Note: this must be called before any calls to plt.show()