---
# System prepended metadata

title: PID-1086

---

`plt.rcParams['figure.figsize']` is a configuration setting within Matplotlib, a widely-used Python library for data visualization. This setting is employed to establish the dimensions, both width and height, of the figure (plot) generated when utilizing Matplotlib to produce visualizations [1][3][4].
Here's what this line of code does:
* `plt.rcParams`: This is a part of Matplotlib's rcParams configuration, which allows you to customize various aspects of Matplotlib's behavior, including the figure size.
* `['figure.figsize']`: Within plt.rcParams, `figure.figsize` is a specific parameter that controls the default size of figures in inches. It is a tuple of two values, representing the width and height of the figure. 

Here's an example of how to set the default figure size in Matplotlib:
```python
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Set the default figure size to (width, height)
plt.rcParams['figure.figsize'] = (8, 6)  # Change the values to your desired width and height

# Now, when you create a new figure, it will have the specified default size
plt.figure()  # This will create a figure with the default size of (8, 6)
plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4, 5], [1, 4, 9, 16, 25])
plt.title("Default Figure Size Example")
plt.xlabel("X-axis")
plt.ylabel("Y-axis")

plt.show()
```
In the provided Python code using Matplotlib, we set the default figure size to (8, 6) using `plt.rcParams['figure.figsize']`. This means that any new figure created with `plt.figure()` will have a width of 8 units and a height of 6 units. In the example, we create a figure, plot a graph, set labels and a title, and then display it using `plt.show()`, resulting in a graph with the specified default size.
While `plt.rcParams['figure.figsize']` sets the default size for figures, you can also specify a different size for an individual figure by passing the `figsize` parameter when creating a figure [3]. 
```python
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Create a figure with a custom size
plt.figure(figsize=(10, 8))
plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 4, 9, 16])
plt.show()
```
In this example, the figure will have dimensions of 10 inches in width and 8 inches in height, overriding the default size.
When saving figures using plt.savefig(), the size specified in `plt.rcParams['figure.figsize']` will be used if you don't explicitly set the figsize parameter. This is useful for controlling the size of saved images or plots in documents and presentations.
```python
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Set the default figure size to 8 inches in width and 6 inches in height
plt.rcParams['figure.figsize'] = (8, 6)

# Create a plot and save it with the default size
plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 4, 9, 16])
plt.savefig("my_plot.png")  # The saved image will have the default size
```
Overall, `plt.rcParams['figure.figsize']` is a convenient way to control the default size of your Matplotlib figures, helping you create visually appealing and consistent plots in your data visualization projects.