How to Prevent Overlapping Annotations in Graphs with adjustText?

How to Avoid Overlapping Annotations in Graphs

Annotations in graphs often overlap, making the information difficult to read. In this article, we will discuss a solution for this problem using the adjustText library.

Matthew Brett provided a promising solution for overlapping annotations in bar graphs. However, converting the "axis" methods to other graph types can be challenging.

The adjustText Library

The adjustText library, written by Phlya, provides an elegant solution for preventing text overlap in graphs. It automatically adjusts the position of text annotations to minimize overlapping.

Example Implementation

To implement this solution, follow these steps:

1. Import the necessary libraries:

   <code class="python">import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
   from adjustText import adjust_text
   import numpy as np</code>

2. Prepare your data as a list of tuples containing (x, y, text) values.

3. Create a plot and add the lines and annotations:

   <code class="python">p1 = plt.plot(eucs, covers, color="black", alpha=0.5)
   texts = []
   for x, y, s in zip(eucs, covers, text):
    texts.append(plt.text(x, y, s))</code>

4. Adjust the text positions using adjustText:

   <code class="python">adjust_text(texts, only_move={'points': 'y', 'texts': 'y'}, arrowprops=dict(arrowstyle="->", color='r', lw=0.5))</code>

5. Display the plot:

   <code class="python">plt.show()</code>

Example Output

The resulting plot will have the annotations properly adjusted to avoid overlap, as shown in the given image.

Fine-Tuning

For more precise control, you can adjust the following parameters:

• only_move: Specifies which elements should be moved (e.g., only move text vertically).
• force_points: Adjusts the strength of the repelling force between points.
• force_text: Adjusts the strength of the repelling force between text.
• arrowprops: Customize the appearance of connecting arrows.

These parameters allow you to tailor the adjustment process to your specific needs.

The above is the detailed content of How to Prevent Overlapping Annotations in Graphs with adjustText?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!