figure.autolayout rc param interferes with FacetGrid legend position

[sorenwacker]

I am pretty happy about that new feature legend_out. However, I cannot reproduce the figures shown in the documentation.
Am I doing something wrong or is this feature available only in the development branch?

When I use this code from the documentation:

import seaborn as sns
sns.set_theme(style="ticks")
exercise = sns.load_dataset("exercise")
g = sns.catplot(x="time", y="pulse", hue="kind", data=exercise)

The legend shows up inside the graph. And passing legend_out=False or True looks identical.

import seaborn as sns
sns.set_theme(style="ticks")
exercise = sns.load_dataset("exercise")
g = sns.catplot(x="time", y="pulse", hue="kind", data=exercise, facet_kws={'legend_out': True})

And this creates a legend on the lefthandside with a box around:

import seaborn as sns
sns.set_theme(style="ticks")
exercise = sns.load_dataset("exercise")
g = sns.catplot(x="time", y="pulse", hue="kind", data=exercise, legend_out=False)

Did I forget something? Is there any other dependency like the matplotlib backend for example?

[sorenwacker]

matplotlib version is 3.3.4

[mwaskom]

Is there any other dependency like the matplotlib backend for example?

What matplotlib backend are you using? And more generally, how are you making your plots? (In a notebook? In a terminal? In a script and saving? etc.)

Putting the legend outside the axes does require seaborn to be able to live draw the figure so that it can calculate the new size that it will need to be with the external legend, which some backends might not support.

[sorenwacker]

I tried generating the plots in JupyterLab.

matplotlib.get_backend()
> 'module://ipykernel.pylab.backend_inline'

And in an web-application (Plotly/Dash) that currently uses 'Agg' to generate figures.

This the current environment:

`name: py3
channels:

• defaults
  dependencies:
• _libgcc_mutex=0.1
• _openmp_mutex=4.5
• argon2-cffi=20.1.0
• async_generator=1.10
• attrs=20.3.0
• backcall=0.2.0
• blas=1.0
• bleach=3.3.0
• bokeh=2.2.3
• brotlipy=0.7.0
• ca-certificates=2021.1.19
• certifi=2020.12.5
• cffi=1.14.4
• chardet=4.0.0
• click=7.1.2
• cloudpickle=1.6.0
• cryptography=3.3.1
• cytoolz=0.11.0
• dask=2021.1.1
• dask-core=2021.1.1
• dbus=1.13.18
• decorator=4.4.2
• defusedxml=0.6.0
• distributed=2021.1.1
• entrypoints=0.3
• expat=2.2.10
• fontconfig=2.13.1
• freetype=2.10.4
• fsspec=0.8.3
• glib=2.66.1
• gst-plugins-base=1.14.0
• gstreamer=1.14.0
• heapdict=1.0.1
• icu=58.2
• idna=2.10
• importlib-metadata=2.0.0
• importlib_metadata=2.0.0
• ipykernel=5.3.4
• ipython=7.20.0
• ipython_genutils=0.2.0
• ipywidgets=7.6.3
• jedi=0.17.2
• jinja2=2.11.3
• joblib=1.0.0
• jpeg=9b
• json5=0.9.5
• jsonschema=3.2.0
• jupyter=1.0.0
• jupyter_client=6.1.7
• jupyter_console=6.2.0
• jupyter_core=4.7.1
• jupyterlab=2.2.6
• jupyterlab_pygments=0.1.2
• jupyterlab_server=1.2.0
• jupyterlab_widgets=1.0.0
• lcms2=2.11
• ld_impl_linux-64=2.35.1
• libedit=3.1.20191231
• libffi=3.3
• libgcc-ng=9.3.0
• libgfortran-ng=7.3.0
• libgomp=9.3.0
• libopenblas=0.3.10
• libpng=1.6.37
• libsodium=1.0.18
• libstdcxx-ng=9.3.0
• libtiff=4.1.0
• libuuid=1.0.3
• libxcb=1.14
• libxml2=2.9.10
• locket=0.2.1
• lz4-c=1.9.3
• markupsafe=1.1.1
• mistune=0.8.4
• msgpack-python=1.0.2
• nbclient=0.5.1
• nbconvert=6.0.7
• nbformat=5.1.2
• ncurses=6.2
• nest-asyncio=1.4.3
• networkx=2.5
• nodejs=10.13.0
• notebook=6.2.0
• numpy-base=1.19.2
• olefile=0.46
• openssl=1.1.1j
• packaging=20.9
• pandoc=2.11
• pandocfilters=1.4.3
• parso=0.7.0
• partd=1.1.0
• pcre=8.44
• pexpect=4.8.0
• pickleshare=0.7.5
• pillow=8.1.0
• pip=20.3.3
• plotly=4.14.3
• prometheus_client=0.9.0
• prompt-toolkit=3.0.8
• prompt_toolkit=3.0.8
• psutil=5.8.0
• ptyprocess=0.7.0
• pycparser=2.20
• pygments=2.7.4
• pyopenssl=20.0.1
• pyparsing=2.4.7
• pyqt=5.9.2
• pyrsistent=0.17.3
• pysocks=1.7.1
• python=3.9.1
• python-dateutil=2.8.1
• pytz=2021.1
• pyyaml=5.4.1
• pyzmq=20.0.0
• qt=5.9.7
• qtconsole=5.0.2
• qtpy=1.9.0
• readline=8.1
• requests=2.25.1
• retrying=1.3.3
• scikit-learn=0.23.2
• scipy=1.6.0
• send2trash=1.5.0
• setuptools=52.0.0
• sip=4.19.13
• six=1.15.0
• sortedcontainers=2.3.0
• sqlite=3.33.0
• tblib=1.7.0
• terminado=0.9.2
• testpath=0.4.4
• threadpoolctl=2.1.0
• tk=8.6.10
• toolz=0.11.1
• tornado=6.1
• traitlets=5.0.5
• typing_extensions=3.7.4.3
• tzdata=2020f
• urllib3=1.26.3
• wcwidth=0.2.5
• webencodings=0.5.1
• wheel=0.36.2
• widgetsnbextension=3.5.1
• xz=5.2.5
• yaml=0.2.5
• zeromq=4.3.3
• zict=2.0.0
• zipp=3.4.0
• zlib=1.2.11
• zstd=1.4.5
• pip:
  • cycler==0.10.0
  • et-xmlfile==1.0.1
  • jdcal==1.4.1
  • kiwisolver==1.3.1
  • matplotlib==3.3.4
  • numexpr==2.7.2
  • numpy==1.20.1
  • obonet==0.2.6
  • openpyxl==3.0.6
  • pandas==1.2.1
  • pyarrow==3.0.0
  • seaborn==0.11.1
  • tables==3.6.1
  • tqdm==4.56.0
  • xlrd==2.0.1`

[mwaskom]

And to clarify, you're having the issue in the notebook as well as in dash? That's really surprising.

I cannot replicate:

But would like to understand further.

What happens if you do this?

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
f, ax = plt.subplots()
print(f.stale)
f.canvas.draw()
print(f.stale)

[mwaskom]

BTW the environment you're using has a lot in it ... while I don't have any specific hypotheses about other libraries causing problem, it might be a good idea to create a new environment with a minimal install of seaborn and its dependencies to see if you reproduce the issue there.

[sorenwacker]

Hm, I created a new environment and installed the python kernel to my JupyterLab (3.0.9) with:

conda install -n seaborn seaborn=0.11.1 matplotlib=3.3.4 ipykernel ipython
ipython kernel install --name 'Seaborn' --user

name: seaborn
channels:
  - defaults
dependencies:
  - _libgcc_mutex=0.1
  - backcall=0.2.0
  - blas=1.0
  - ca-certificates=2021.1.19
  - certifi=2020.12.5
  - cycler=0.10.0
  - dbus=1.13.18
  - decorator=4.4.2
  - expat=2.2.10
  - fontconfig=2.13.1
  - freetype=2.10.4
  - glib=2.67.4
  - gst-plugins-base=1.14.0
  - gstreamer=1.14.0
  - icu=58.2
  - intel-openmp=2020.2
  - ipykernel=5.3.4
  - ipython=7.21.0
  - ipython_genutils=0.2.0
  - jedi=0.17.0
  - jpeg=9b
  - jupyter_client=6.1.7
  - jupyter_core=4.7.1
  - kiwisolver=1.3.1
  - lcms2=2.11
  - ld_impl_linux-64=2.33.1
  - libedit=3.1.20191231
  - libffi=3.3
  - libgcc-ng=9.1.0
  - libgfortran-ng=7.3.0
  - libpng=1.6.37
  - libsodium=1.0.18
  - libstdcxx-ng=9.1.0
  - libtiff=4.1.0
  - libuuid=1.0.3
  - libxcb=1.14
  - libxml2=2.9.10
  - lz4-c=1.9.3
  - matplotlib=3.3.4
  - matplotlib-base=3.3.4
  - mkl=2020.2
  - mkl-service=2.3.0
  - mkl_fft=1.3.0
  - mkl_random=1.1.1
  - ncurses=6.2
  - numpy=1.19.2
  - numpy-base=1.19.2
  - olefile=0.46
  - openssl=1.1.1j
  - pandas=1.2.3
  - parso=0.8.1
  - pcre=8.44
  - pexpect=4.8.0
  - pickleshare=0.7.5
  - pillow=8.1.2
  - pip=21.0.1
  - prompt-toolkit=3.0.8
  - ptyprocess=0.7.0
  - pygments=2.8.0
  - pyparsing=2.4.7
  - pyqt=5.9.2
  - python=3.8.8
  - python-dateutil=2.8.1
  - pytz=2021.1
  - pyzmq=20.0.0
  - qt=5.9.7
  - readline=8.1
  - scipy=1.6.1
  - seaborn=0.11.1
  - setuptools=52.0.0
  - sip=4.19.13
  - six=1.15.0
  - sqlite=3.33.0
  - tk=8.6.10
  - tornado=6.1
  - traitlets=5.0.5
  - wcwidth=0.2.5
  - wheel=0.36.2
  - xz=5.2.5
  - zeromq=4.3.3
  - zlib=1.2.11
  - zstd=1.4.5

I get the same result with the legend inside.

I looked for a matpotlib config file and deleted ~/config/matplotlib still the same result.

The other example that you provided plots an empty pair of axes. I would share a picture, but I am missing the upload function here.

[sorenwacker]

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/66556065/how-to-troubleshoot-seaborn-legend-out-not-working-correctly-with-catplot-or-rel

[sorenwacker]

[mwaskom]

Hm, do you have any matplotlibrc files that might be getting picked up? What is the output of mpl.rcParams?

[sorenwacker]

RcParams({'_internal.classic_mode': False,
'agg.path.chunksize': 0,
'animation.avconv_args': [],
'animation.avconv_path': 'avconv',
'animation.bitrate': -1,
'animation.codec': 'h264',
'animation.convert_args': [],
'animation.convert_path': 'convert',
'animation.embed_limit': 20.0,
'animation.ffmpeg_args': [],
'animation.ffmpeg_path': 'ffmpeg',
'animation.frame_format': 'png',
'animation.html': 'none',
'animation.html_args': [],
'animation.writer': 'ffmpeg',
'axes.autolimit_mode': 'data',
'axes.axisbelow': True,
'axes.edgecolor': '.15',
'axes.facecolor': 'white',
'axes.formatter.limits': [-5, 6],
'axes.formatter.min_exponent': 0,
'axes.formatter.offset_threshold': 4,
'axes.formatter.use_locale': False,
'axes.formatter.use_mathtext': False,
'axes.formatter.useoffset': True,
'axes.grid': False,
'axes.grid.axis': 'both',
'axes.grid.which': 'major',
'axes.labelcolor': '.15',
'axes.labelpad': 4.0,
'axes.labelsize': 12.0,
'axes.labelweight': 'normal',
'axes.linewidth': 1.25,
'axes.prop_cycle': cycler('color', [(0.2980392156862745, 0.4470588235294118, 0.6901960784313725), (0.8666666666666667, 0.5176470588235295, 0.3215686274509804), (0.3333333333333333, 0.6588235294117647, 0.40784313725490196), (0.7686274509803922, 0.3058823529411765, 0.3215686274509804), (0.5058823529411764, 0.4470588235294118, 0.7019607843137254), (0.5764705882352941, 0.47058823529411764, 0.3764705882352941), (0.8549019607843137, 0.5450980392156862, 0.7647058823529411), (0.5490196078431373, 0.5490196078431373, 0.5490196078431373), (0.8, 0.7254901960784313, 0.4549019607843137), (0.39215686274509803, 0.7098039215686275, 0.803921568627451)]),
'axes.spines.bottom': True,
'axes.spines.left': True,
'axes.spines.right': True,
'axes.spines.top': True,
'axes.titlecolor': 'auto',
'axes.titlelocation': 'center',
'axes.titlepad': 6.0,
'axes.titlesize': 12.0,
'axes.titleweight': 'normal',
'axes.titley': None,
'axes.unicode_minus': True,
'axes.xmargin': 0.05,
'axes.ymargin': 0.05,
'axes3d.grid': True,
'backend': 'module://ipykernel.pylab.backend_inline',
'backend_fallback': True,
'boxplot.bootstrap': None,
'boxplot.boxprops.color': 'black',
'boxplot.boxprops.linestyle': '-',
'boxplot.boxprops.linewidth': 0.75,
'boxplot.capprops.color': 'black',
'boxplot.capprops.linestyle': '-',
'boxplot.capprops.linewidth': 1.0,
'boxplot.flierprops.color': 'black',
'boxplot.flierprops.linestyle': 'none',
'boxplot.flierprops.linewidth': 0.5,
'boxplot.flierprops.marker': 'o',
'boxplot.flierprops.markeredgecolor': 'black',
'boxplot.flierprops.markeredgewidth': 0.5,
'boxplot.flierprops.markerfacecolor': 'none',
'boxplot.flierprops.markersize': 3.0,
'boxplot.meanline': False,
'boxplot.meanprops.color': 'C2',
'boxplot.meanprops.linestyle': '--',
'boxplot.meanprops.linewidth': 1.0,
'boxplot.meanprops.marker': '^',
'boxplot.meanprops.markeredgecolor': 'C2',
'boxplot.meanprops.markerfacecolor': 'C2',
'boxplot.meanprops.markersize': 6.0,
'boxplot.medianprops.color': 'black',
'boxplot.medianprops.linestyle': '-',
'boxplot.medianprops.linewidth': 0.75,
'boxplot.notch': False,
'boxplot.patchartist': False,
'boxplot.showbox': True,
'boxplot.showcaps': True,
'boxplot.showfliers': True,
'boxplot.showmeans': False,
'boxplot.vertical': True,
'boxplot.whiskerprops.color': 'black',
'boxplot.whiskerprops.linestyle': '--',
'boxplot.whiskerprops.linewidth': 0.5,
'boxplot.whiskers': 1.5,
'contour.corner_mask': True,
'contour.linewidth': None,
'contour.negative_linestyle': 'dashed',
'date.autoformatter.day': '%Y-%m-%d',
'date.autoformatter.hour': '%m-%d %H',
'date.autoformatter.microsecond': '%M:%S.%f',
'date.autoformatter.minute': '%d %H:%M',
'date.autoformatter.month': '%Y-%m',
'date.autoformatter.second': '%H:%M:%S',
'date.autoformatter.year': '%Y',
'date.epoch': '1970-01-01T00:00:00',
'docstring.hardcopy': False,
'errorbar.capsize': 0.0,
'figure.autolayout': True,
'figure.constrained_layout.h_pad': 0.04167,
'figure.constrained_layout.hspace': 0.02,
'figure.constrained_layout.use': False,
'figure.constrained_layout.w_pad': 0.04167,
'figure.constrained_layout.wspace': 0.02,
'figure.dpi': 72.0,
'figure.edgecolor': (1, 1, 1, 0),
'figure.facecolor': 'white',
'figure.figsize': [6.0, 4.0],
'figure.frameon': True,
'figure.max_open_warning': 20,
'figure.raise_window': True,
'figure.subplot.bottom': 0.125,
'figure.subplot.hspace': 0.2,
'figure.subplot.left': 0.125,
'figure.subplot.right': 0.9,
'figure.subplot.top': 0.88,
'figure.subplot.wspace': 0.2,
'figure.titlesize': 'large',
'figure.titleweight': 'normal',
'font.cursive': ['Apple Chancery',
'Textile',
'Zapf Chancery',
'Sand',
'Script MT',
'Felipa',
'cursive'],
'font.family': ['sans-serif'],
'font.fantasy': ['Comic Neue',
'Comic Sans MS',
'Chicago',
'Charcoal',
'ImpactWestern',
'Humor Sans',
'xkcd',
'fantasy'],
'font.monospace': ['DejaVu Sans Mono',
'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono',
'Computer Modern Typewriter',
'Andale Mono',
'Nimbus Mono L',
'Courier New',
'Courier',
'Fixed',
'Terminal',
'monospace'],
'font.sans-serif': ['Arial',
'DejaVu Sans',
'Liberation Sans',
'Bitstream Vera Sans',
'sans-serif'],
'font.serif': ['DejaVu Serif',
'Bitstream Vera Serif',
'Computer Modern Roman',
'New Century Schoolbook',
'Century Schoolbook L',
'Utopia',
'ITC Bookman',
'Bookman',
'Nimbus Roman No9 L',
'Times New Roman',
'Times',
'Palatino',
'Charter',
'serif'],
'font.size': 12.0,
'font.stretch': 'normal',
'font.style': 'normal',
'font.variant': 'normal',
'font.weight': 'normal',
'grid.alpha': 1.0,
'grid.color': '.8',
'grid.linestyle': '-',
'grid.linewidth': 1.0,
'hatch.color': 'black',
'hatch.linewidth': 1.0,
'hist.bins': 20,
'image.aspect': 'equal',
'image.cmap': 'rocket',
'image.composite_image': True,
'image.interpolation': 'antialiased',
'image.lut': 256,
'image.origin': 'upper',
'image.resample': True,
'interactive': True,
'keymap.all_axes': ['a'],
'keymap.back': ['left', 'c', 'backspace', 'MouseButton.BACK'],
'keymap.copy': ['ctrl+c', 'cmd+c'],
'keymap.forward': ['right', 'v', 'MouseButton.FORWARD'],
'keymap.fullscreen': ['f', 'ctrl+f'],
'keymap.grid': ['g'],
'keymap.grid_minor': ['G'],
'keymap.help': ['f1'],
'keymap.home': ['h', 'r', 'home'],
'keymap.pan': ['p'],
'keymap.quit': ['ctrl+w', 'cmd+w', 'q'],
'keymap.quit_all': [],
'keymap.save': ['s', 'ctrl+s'],
'keymap.xscale': ['k', 'L'],
'keymap.yscale': ['l'],
'keymap.zoom': ['o'],
'legend.borderaxespad': 0.5,
'legend.borderpad': 0.4,
'legend.columnspacing': 2.0,
'legend.edgecolor': '0.8',
'legend.facecolor': 'inherit',
'legend.fancybox': True,
'legend.fontsize': 11.0,
'legend.framealpha': 0.8,
'legend.frameon': True,
'legend.handleheight': 0.7,
'legend.handlelength': 2.0,
'legend.handletextpad': 0.8,
'legend.labelspacing': 0.5,
'legend.loc': 'best',
'legend.markerscale': 1.0,
'legend.numpoints': 1,
'legend.scatterpoints': 2,
'legend.shadow': False,
'legend.title_fontsize': 12.0,
'lines.antialiased': True,
'lines.color': 'C0',
'lines.dash_capstyle': 'butt',
'lines.dash_joinstyle': 'round',
'lines.dashdot_pattern': [6.4, 1.6, 1.0, 1.6],
'lines.dashed_pattern': [3.7, 1.6],
'lines.dotted_pattern': [1.0, 1.65],
'lines.linestyle': '-',
'lines.linewidth': 1.5,
'lines.marker': 'None',
'lines.markeredgecolor': 'auto',
'lines.markeredgewidth': 0.5,
'lines.markerfacecolor': 'none',
'lines.markersize': 6.0,
'lines.scale_dashes': True,
'lines.solid_capstyle': 'round',
'lines.solid_joinstyle': 'round',
'markers.fillstyle': 'full',
'mathtext.bf': 'sans:bold',
'mathtext.cal': 'cursive',
'mathtext.default': 'it',
'mathtext.fallback': 'cm',
'mathtext.fallback_to_cm': None,
'mathtext.fontset': 'dejavusans',
'mathtext.it': 'sans:italic',
'mathtext.rm': 'sans',
'mathtext.sf': 'sans',
'mathtext.tt': 'monospace',
'mpl_toolkits.legacy_colorbar': True,
'patch.antialiased': True,
'patch.edgecolor': 'w',
'patch.facecolor': (0.2980392156862745,
0.4470588235294118,
0.6901960784313725),
'patch.force_edgecolor': True,
'patch.linewidth': 1.0,
'path.effects': [],
'path.simplify': True,
'path.simplify_threshold': 0.111111111111,
'path.sketch': None,
'path.snap': True,
'pcolor.shading': 'flat',
'pdf.compression': 6,
'pdf.fonttype': 3,
'pdf.inheritcolor': False,
'pdf.use14corefonts': False,
'pgf.preamble': '',
'pgf.rcfonts': True,
'pgf.texsystem': 'xelatex',
'polaraxes.grid': True,
'ps.distiller.res': 6000,
'ps.fonttype': 3,
'ps.papersize': 'letter',
'ps.useafm': False,
'ps.usedistiller': None,
'savefig.bbox': None,
'savefig.directory': '~',
'savefig.dpi': 'figure',
'savefig.edgecolor': 'auto',
'savefig.facecolor': 'auto',
'savefig.format': 'png',
'savefig.jpeg_quality': 95,
'savefig.orientation': 'portrait',
'savefig.pad_inches': 0.1,
'savefig.transparent': False,
'scatter.edgecolors': 'face',
'scatter.marker': 's',
'svg.fonttype': 'path',
'svg.hashsalt': None,
'svg.image_inline': True,
'text.antialiased': True,
'text.color': '.15',
'text.hinting': 'force_autohint',
'text.hinting_factor': 8,
'text.kerning_factor': 0,
'text.latex.preamble': '',
'text.latex.preview': False,
'text.usetex': False,
'timezone': 'UTC',
'tk.window_focus': False,
'toolbar': 'toolbar2',
'webagg.address': '127.0.0.1',
'webagg.open_in_browser': True,
'webagg.port': 8988,
'webagg.port_retries': 50,
'xaxis.labellocation': 'center',
'xtick.alignment': 'center',
'xtick.bottom': True,
'xtick.color': '.15',
'xtick.direction': 'out',
'xtick.labelbottom': True,
'xtick.labelsize': 11.0,
'xtick.labeltop': False,
'xtick.major.bottom': True,
'xtick.major.pad': 3.5,
'xtick.major.size': 6.0,
'xtick.major.top': True,
'xtick.major.width': 1.25,
'xtick.minor.bottom': True,
'xtick.minor.pad': 3.4,
'xtick.minor.size': 4.0,
'xtick.minor.top': True,
'xtick.minor.visible': False,
'xtick.minor.width': 1.0,
'xtick.top': False,
'yaxis.labellocation': 'center',
'ytick.alignment': 'center_baseline',
'ytick.color': '.15',
'ytick.direction': 'out',
'ytick.labelleft': True,
'ytick.labelright': False,
'ytick.labelsize': 11.0,
'ytick.left': True,
'ytick.major.left': True,
'ytick.major.pad': 3.5,
'ytick.major.right': True,
'ytick.major.size': 6.0,
'ytick.major.width': 1.25,
'ytick.minor.left': True,
'ytick.minor.pad': 3.4,
'ytick.minor.right': True,
'ytick.minor.size': 4.0,
'ytick.minor.visible': False,
'ytick.minor.width': 1.0,
'ytick.right': False})

[sorenwacker]

Not sure where else to look. I already deleted ~/.config/matplotlib.
Maybe the constrained_layout setting.

[sorenwacker]

plt.rcParams['figure.autolayout'] = False

fixes it.

[mwaskom]

Yes! Sorry I think I have encountered this once before. But that will do it.

[sorenwacker]

Thanks for your time!

[mwaskom]

I actually think this can be handled in seaborn, using mpl.rc_context at the time of figure creation within FacetGrid (and PairGrid) to disable the figure.autolayout parameter.