How to print Y axis label horizontally in a matplotlib / pylab chart?

python matplotlib label
Karl D picture Karl D · Dec 27, 2014 · Viewed 67.4k times · Source

I'm creating very simple charts with matplotlib / pylab Python module. The letter "y" that labels the Y axis is on its side. You would expect this if the label was longer, such as a word, so as not to extend the outside of the graph to the left too much. But for a one letter label, this doesn't make sense, the label should be upright. My searches have come up blank. How can I print the "y" horizontally?

Answer

Jens Munk picture Jens Munk · Dec 27, 2014

It is very simple. After plotting the label, you can simply change the rotation:

from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
plt.ion()
plt.plot([1,2,3])
h = plt.ylabel('y')
h.set_rotation(0)
plt.draw()

Alternatively, you can pass the rotation as an argument, i.e

plt.ylabel('y',rotation=0)

Related questions

pyplot axes labels for subplots

I have the following plot: import matplotlib.pyplot as plt fig2 = plt.figure() ax3 = fig2.add_subplot(2,1,1) ax4 = fig2.add_subplot(2,1,2) ax4.loglog(x1, y1) ax3.loglog(x2, y2) ax3.set_ylabel('hello') I want to be able to create …

Read More
matplotlib: colorbars and its text labels

I'd like to create a colorbar legend for a heatmap, such that the labels are in the center of each discrete color. Example borrowed from here: import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import numpy as np from matplotlib.colors import ListedColormap #…

Read More
Change grid interval and specify tick labels in Matplotlib

I am trying to plot counts in gridded plots, but I am not being able to figure out how I go about it. I want to: Have dotted grids at an interval of 5 Have major tick labels only every 20 I …

Read More