[Tex/LaTex] Using pgfplots, add vertical/horizontal spacing between plots

pgfplots

I once already asked a very similar question; How can I add space between two separate plots, using pgfplots?. But this is some what different.

I have the following code;

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{graphics}
\usepackage{tikz,pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.6}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}

\begin{axis}[%
width=3cm,
height=3cm,
scale only axis,
every x tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0, xmax=20000,
xlabel={$t$},
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every y tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=0.0004, ymax=0.0012,
ylabel={$\phi_{\mathrm{i}}(t)$},
ymajorgrids,
yminorgrids,
name=plot1]

\end{axis}

\begin{axis}[%
width=3cm,
height=3cm,
scale only axis,
every x tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0, xmax=20000,
xlabel={$t$},
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every y tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=0.2, ymax=1.2,
ylabel={$h(t)$},
ymajorgrids,
yminorgrids,
name=plot2,
at=(plot1.right of north east), anchor=left of north west]

\end{axis}

\begin{axis}[%
width=3cm,
height=3cm,
scale only axis,
every x tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0, xmax=20000,
xlabel={$t$},
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every y tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=0.0004, ymax=0.0012,
ylabel={$\phi_{\mathrm{o}}(t)$},
ymajorgrids,
yminorgrids,
name=plot4,
at=(plot1.below south west), anchor=above north west]

\end{axis}

\begin{axis}[%
width=3cm,
height=3cm,
scale only axis,
every x tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0, xmax=20000,
xlabel={$t$},
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every y tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=2000, ymax=12000,
ylabel={$p_{\mathrm{i}}(t)$},
ymajorgrids,
yminorgrids,
name=plot5,
at=(plot4.right of north east), anchor=left of north west]

\end{axis}

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

This creates the following plot:

Without any spacing using x- yshift.

I think there is to few vertical/horizontal spacing between the plots. I want to increase this. Currently I use x- yshift, this gives the following result:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{graphics}
\usepackage{tikz,pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.6}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}

\begin{axis}[%
width=3cm,
height=3cm,
scale only axis,
every x tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0, xmax=20000,
xlabel={$t$},
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every y tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=0.0004, ymax=0.0012,
ylabel={$\phi_{\mathrm{i}}(t)$},
ymajorgrids,
yminorgrids,
name=plot1]

\end{axis}

\begin{axis}[%
xshift=1cm,
width=3cm,
height=3cm,
scale only axis,
every x tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0, xmax=20000,
xlabel={$t$},
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every y tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=0.2, ymax=1.2,
ylabel={$h(t)$},
ymajorgrids,
yminorgrids,
name=plot2,
at=(plot1.right of north east), anchor=left of north west]

\end{axis}

\begin{axis}[%
yshift=-1cm,
width=3cm,
height=3cm,
scale only axis,
every x tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0, xmax=20000,
xlabel={$t$},
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every y tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=0.0004, ymax=0.0012,
ylabel={$\phi_{\mathrm{o}}(t)$},
ymajorgrids,
yminorgrids,
name=plot4,
at=(plot1.below south west), anchor=above north west]

\end{axis}

\begin{axis}[%
xshift=1cm,
width=3cm,
height=3cm,
scale only axis,
every x tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0, xmax=20000,
xlabel={$t$},
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every y tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=2000, ymax=12000,
ylabel={$p_{\mathrm{i}}(t)$},
ymajorgrids,
yminorgrids,
name=plot5,
at=(plot4.right of north east), anchor=left of north west]

\end{axis}

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

With spacing using x- yshift

I want to know if there is a more consistent manner to do this.

Best Answer

You might want to have a look to the groupplots library (see the documentation 5.5 Grouping plots).

It allows you to deploy graphs in a grid by selecting the group size (e.g. group size= 2 by 2 for your case) or directly the number of rows and columns. Then you can customize the horizontal and vertical distance among the graphs by means of the keys horizontal sep and vertical sep.

In your case, a possible solution is:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{graphics}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usepgfplotslibrary{groupplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.6}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{groupplot}[group style={group size=2 by 2, horizontal sep=2cm, vertical sep=2cm}]

\nextgroupplot[%
width=3cm,
height=3cm,
scale only axis,
every x tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0, xmax=20000,
xlabel={$t$},
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every y tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=0.0004, ymax=0.0012,
ylabel={$\phi_{\mathrm{i}}(t)$},
ymajorgrids,
yminorgrids]
\addplot coordinates{(0,0.0005)(15000,0.001)};

\nextgroupplot[%
width=3cm,
height=3cm,
scale only axis,
every x tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0, xmax=20000,
xlabel={$t$},
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every y tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=0.2, ymax=1.2,
ylabel={$h(t)$},
ymajorgrids,
yminorgrids]
\addplot coordinates{(0,0.5)(15000,1)};

\nextgroupplot[%
width=3cm,
height=3cm,
scale only axis,
every x tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0, xmax=20000,
xlabel={$t$},
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every y tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=0.0004, ymax=0.0012,
ylabel={$\phi_{\mathrm{o}}(t)$},
ymajorgrids,
yminorgrids]
\addplot coordinates{(1000,0.0004)(15000,0.001)};

\nextgroupplot[%
width=3cm,
height=3cm,
scale only axis,
every x tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0, xmax=20000,
xlabel={$t$},
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every y tick label/.append style={font=\scriptsize\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=2000, ymax=12000,
ylabel={$p_{\mathrm{i}}(t)$},
ymajorgrids,
yminorgrids]
\addplot coordinates{(5000,2010)(19000,11500)};

\end{groupplot}

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

The result:

enter image description here

References:

See PGFplot to occupy full \linewidth, and aligned y=axis across tikzpicture

Code:

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt,twoside]{article}
\usepackage{tikz,pgfplots}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.7]

\pgfplotsset{xticklabel style={text width=2em,align=right}}% <--- Added

\begin{semilogxaxis}[%
view={0}{90},
width=10cm,
height=5cm,
scale only axis,
every outer x axis line/.append style={gray!80!black},
every x tick label/.append style={font=\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0.1, xmax=1000,
xlabel={Frequency (rad/s)},
xminorticks=true,
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every outer y axis line/.append style={gray!80!black},
every y tick label/.append style={font=\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=-200, ymax=200,
ylabel={Phase (deg)},
ymajorgrids,
name=plot1]

\addplot [
color=blue,
solid,
line width=1.5pt,
forget plot
]
coordinates{
 (0,0)
};

\end{semilogxaxis}

\begin{semilogxaxis}[%
view={0}{90},
width=10cm,
height=5cm,
scale only axis,
every outer x axis line/.append style={gray!80!black},
every x tick label/.append style={font=\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0.1, xmax=1000,
xticklabels={\empty}
xminorticks=true,
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every outer y axis line/.append style={gray!80!black},
every y tick label/.append style={font=\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=-350, ymax=50,
ylabel={Magnitude (dB)},
ymajorgrids,
at=(plot1.above north west), 
anchor=below south west,
name=plot2]

\addplot [
color=blue,
solid,
line width=1.5pt,
forget plot
]
coordinates{
 (0,-76.9482975559457)
};

\end{semilogxaxis}

\begin{semilogxaxis}[%
view={0}{90},
width=10cm,
height=5cm,
scale only axis,
every outer x axis line/.append style={gray!80!black},
every x tick label/.append style={font=\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0.1, xmax=1000,
xlabel={Frequency (rad/s)},
xminorticks=true,
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every outer y axis line/.append style={gray!80!black},
every y tick label/.append style={font=\color{gray!80!black}},
ymin=-200, ymax=200,
yticklabels={\empty},
ymajorgrids,
at=(plot1.right of south east), 
anchor=left of south west,
name=plot3]

\addplot [
color=blue,
solid,
line width=1.5pt,
forget plot
]
coordinates{
 (0,0)
};

\end{semilogxaxis}

\begin{semilogxaxis}[%
view={0}{90},
width=10cm,
height=5cm,
scale only axis,
every outer x axis line/.append style={gray!80!black},
every x tick label/.append style={font=\color{gray!80!black}},
xmin=0.1, xmax=1000,
xticklabels={\empty}
xminorticks=true,
xmajorgrids,
xminorgrids,
every outer y axis line/.append style={gray!80!black},
every y tick label/.append style={font=\color{gray!80!black}},
yticklabels={\empty},
ymin=-350, ymax=50,
ymajorgrids,
at={(plot2.right of south east)}, 
anchor={left of south west},
name=plot4]

\addplot [
color=blue,
solid,
line width=1.5pt,
forget plot
]
coordinates{
 (0,-47.4053700922616)
};

\end{semilogxaxis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

[Tex/LaTex] Preserving styles while changing axis y line in pgfplots

OK, I got somewhere - except the I cannot get the plots' combined width to fit within the margins (hope someone will offer a solution for that):

Otherwise:

Aligning the xlabel, ylabel: is a bit of a pain; note the manual states:

The starred versions . . . line* only affect the axis lines, without correcting the positions of axis labels, tick lines or other keys which are (possibly) affected by a changed axis line.

which in this case means that I should first set axis y line=middle to set the label position as I want it, then re-set with axis y line*=left afterwards, so only the axis position changes (this also adds the 0 as ytick label)

the zero to appear as first x axis tick label on the left-hand plot - similarly, by "overloading" with axis x line*=bottom
the zero to disappear as first y axis tick label on the right-hand plot - somewhat tricky, but seems that only thing that works, is "overloading" yticklabel and setting a conditional command via \ifnum in there, that uses \ticknum (which apparently starts from 1).
the axes tick label font - the problem is that by default, pgfplots typesets axes tick labels in math mode; as example - I've left the yticklabel overload so it typesets the number directly, and it can be seen it is in Times. Otherwise, Change font also on axes in pgfplots explains that an additional package has to be loaded to use Times as math font, and for me \usepackage{txfonts} works (though I bumped in the problem described in Local font installation problems, and the solution there worked for me).
auto xshift of scope: a similar problem is noted in pgfplots - Positioning a tikz scope relative to another tikz scope. This is not quite auto, but I use half of \textwidth minus half of intended separation to set the width of a plot; as it can be seen from the image, it's almost there but not quite right with the margins; will probably have to test the suggestion of @JohnKormylo, too

And here is the code:

\documentclass[%
  12pt,
  journal,
  twoside,
  draftcls,
  letterpaper,
]{IEEEtran}


% \usepackage{txfonts} % Times font in math; 
% tlmgr install txfonts ; texhash ; updmap-sys --enable Map=txfonts.map ; texhash
% [rm ~/.texlive2011/texmf-var/fonts/map/pdftex/updmap/pdftex.map]

\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning} % of

% https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/33703/extract-x-y-coordinate-of-an-arbitrary-point-in-tikz
\makeatletter
\newcommand{\gettikzxy}[3]{%
  \tikz@scan@one@point\pgfutil@firstofone#1\relax
  \edef#2{\the\pgf@x}%
  \edef#3{\the\pgf@y}%
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\newlength{\pw}
\setlength{\pw}{0.5\textwidth}
\addtolength{\pw}{-0.5cm}

\begin{tikzpicture}

\pgfplotstableread[col sep=&,row sep=\\]{
  0.0159779999812599 & 0.00398599999607541 \\
  0.0240009999834001 & 0.00802300000214018 \\
  0.0240489999996498 & 4.80000162497163e-05 \\
  0.0280280000006314 & 0.00397900000098161 \\
}\mytable

\begin{scope}[local bounding box=scope1]
\begin{axis}[
  title={\small my data},
  title style={at={(0.5,0.9)},anchor=center},
  clip=true,
  width=\pw,
  axis x line=middle,
  axis y line=middle,
  axis x line*=bottom,
  xmin = 0,
  xmax = 0.03,
  ymin = 0,
  ymax = 0.009,
  xlabel={$t$\,[ms]},
  xlabel style={at={(axis description cs:1.01,+0.0)},anchor=west},
  ylabel={$D$},
  ylabel style={at={(axis description cs:-0.02,1.01)},anchor=south},
  scaled x ticks=base 10:3,
  xtick scale label code/.code={},
  x tick label style={
    rotate=-45,
    anchor=west,
    /pgf/number format/fixed,
    /pgf/number format/fixed zerofill,
    /pgf/number format/precision=3,
  },
  ymajorticks=true,
  yminorticks=false,
  tick label style={font=\small,},
  legend cell align=left,
  legend pos=outer north east,
]

\addplot table \mytable;

\end{axis}
\end{scope}

\gettikzxy{($(scope1.east)+(1cm,0)$)}{\ax}{\ay}

% none of this works:
% \begin{scope}[remember picture,at={($(scope1.east)+(1cm,0)$)}]%right=of scope1.east]%[at={($(scope1.east)+(1cm,0)$)}] 
% ... only xshift:
\begin{scope}[xshift=\ax]
\begin{axis}[
  title={\small my data},
  title style={at={(0.5,0.9)},anchor=center},
  clip=true,
  width=\pw,
  axis x line=middle,
  axis y line=middle,
  axis x line*=bottom,
  axis y line*=left,
  xmin = -0.005,
  xmax = 0.025,
  ymin = 0,
  ymax = 0.009,
  xlabel={$t$\,[ms]},
  xlabel style={at={(axis description cs:1.01,+0.0)},anchor=west},
  ylabel={$D$},
  ylabel style={at={(axis description cs:-0.02,1.01)},anchor=south},
  scaled x ticks=base 10:3,
  xtick scale label code/.code={},
  x tick label style={
    rotate=-45,
    anchor=west,
    /pgf/number format/fixed,
    /pgf/number format/fixed zerofill,
    /pgf/number format/precision=3,
  },
  %yticklabel={\ifnum\ticknum=1{}\else\axisdefaultticklabel\fi},
  yticklabel={\ifnum\ticknum=1{}\else\tick\fi},
  ymajorticks=true,
  yminorticks=false,
  tick label style={font=\small,},
  legend cell align=left,
  legend pos=outer north east,
]

\addplot table \mytable;

\end{axis}
\end{scope}

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] How to add space between two separate plots, using pgfplots

References:

Code:

[Tex/LaTex] Preserving styles while changing axis y line in pgfplots

Related Question