How do I let my matplotlib plot go beyond the axes

Question

I have to translate an image plotting script from matlab to matplotlib/pylab, and I'm trying to achieve the same effect as the matlab image below:

As you can see, the z order of the plots seem to be higher than the z order of the grid, so the markers are not hidden by the axes. However, I can't figure out a way to do the same with my matplotlib image:

I'm wondering if it is possible to get the same display without having to increase the limits of the y axis.

Answer 1

If you're plotting the lines one after the other, just change the order of the plotting calls and that would fix the z order.

Answer 2

To get the marker to show beyond the axes you can turn the clipping off. This can be done using the keyword argument in the plot command clip_on=False.

For example:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.plot(range(5), range(5), 'ro', markersize=20, clip_on=False, zorder=100)
plt.show()

Answer 3

This is a complete example of how to use the zorder kwarg: http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/examples/pylab_examples/zorder_demo.html
Note that a higher z-order equates to a graph-element being more in the foreground.

For your second question, have a look at the figsize kwarg to instances of the Figure class: http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/api/figure_api.html?highlight=figsize#matplotlib.figure.Figure

If you run into issues, please post some of your code and we'll be able to give more-detailed recommendations. Best of luck.