Showing points coordinate in a plot in Python Matplotlib

To show point coordinates in a plot in Python Matplotlib, we can use the annotate() method to add text labels at specific positions. This technique is useful for displaying exact coordinate values directly on the plot.

Steps

• Set the figure size and adjust the padding between and around the subplots.

• Initialize a variable N and create x and y data points using NumPy.

• Plot the points using plot() method.

• Zip the x and y data points; iterate them and place coordinate annotations.

• Display the figure using show() method.

Example

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

plt.rcParams["figure.figsize"] = [7.50, 3.50]
plt.rcParams["figure.autolayout"] = True

N = 5

x = np.random.rand(N)
y = np.random.rand(N)

plt.plot(x, y, 'r*')

for xy in zip(x, y):
    plt.annotate('(%.2f, %.2f)' % xy, xy=xy)

plt.show()

Output

It will produce the following output ?

Customizing Coordinate Display

You can customize the appearance and position of coordinate labels ?

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# Create sample data
x = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
y = [2, 5, 3, 8, 6]

plt.figure(figsize=(8, 6))
plt.plot(x, y, 'bo-', markersize=8)

# Add coordinate annotations with offset and styling
for i, (xi, yi) in enumerate(zip(x, y)):
    plt.annotate(f'({xi}, {yi})', 
                xy=(xi, yi), 
                xytext=(5, 5), 
                textcoords='offset points',
                bbox=dict(boxstyle='round,pad=0.3', facecolor='yellow', alpha=0.7),
                fontsize=10)

plt.title('Plot with Coordinate Labels')
plt.xlabel('X values')
plt.ylabel('Y values')
plt.grid(True, alpha=0.3)
plt.show()

Conclusion

Use annotate() with the xy parameter to display coordinates at specific points. Customize the appearance using bbox and xytext parameters for better readability and positioning.