matplotlib · dstansby · Mar 8, 2025 · Feb 8, 2025 · Mar 1, 2025
diff --git a/galleries/examples/subplots_axes_and_figures/shared_axis_demo.py b/galleries/examples/subplots_axes_and_figures/shared_axis_demo.py
@@ -15,22 +15,10 @@
 
 The example below shows how to customize the tick labels on the
 various axes.  Shared axes share the tick locator, tick formatter,
-view limits, and transformation (e.g., log, linear).  But the ticklabels
+view limits, and transformation (e.g., log, linear). But the tick labels
 themselves do not share properties.  This is a feature and not a bug,
 because you may want to make the tick labels smaller on the upper
 axes, e.g., in the example below.
-
-If you want to turn off the ticklabels for a given Axes (e.g., on
-subplot(211) or subplot(212)), you cannot do the standard trick::
-
-   setp(ax2, xticklabels=[])
-
-because this changes the tick Formatter, which is shared among all
-Axes.  But you can alter the visibility of the labels, which is a
-property::
-
-  setp(ax2.get_xticklabels(), visible=False)
-
 """
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 import numpy as np
@@ -42,6 +30,7 @@
 
 ax1 = plt.subplot(311)
 plt.plot(t, s1)
+# reduce the fontsize of the tick labels
 plt.tick_params('x', labelsize=6)
 
 # share x only

diff --git a/galleries/examples/text_labels_and_annotations/date.py b/galleries/examples/text_labels_and_annotations/date.py
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@
 # Text in the x-axis will be displayed in 'YYYY-mm' format.
 ax.xaxis.set_major_formatter(mdates.DateFormatter('%Y-%b'))
 # Rotates and right-aligns the x labels so they don't crowd each other.
-for label in ax.get_xticklabels(which='major'):
-    label.set(rotation=30, horizontalalignment='right')
+ax.xaxis.set_tick_params(rotation=30, rotation_mode='xtick')
 
 plt.show()
diff --git a/galleries/examples/ticks/centered_ticklabels.py b/galleries/examples/ticks/centered_ticklabels.py
@@ -3,16 +3,12 @@
 Center labels between ticks
 ===========================
 
-Ticklabels are aligned relative to their associated tick. The alignment
-'center', 'left', or 'right' can be controlled using the horizontal alignment
-property::
-
-    for label in ax.get_xticklabels():
-        label.set_horizontalalignment('right')
+Tick labels are aligned relative to their associated tick, and are by default
+centered.
 
 However, there is no direct way to center the labels between ticks. To fake
-this behavior, one can place a label on the minor ticks in between the major
-ticks, and hide the major tick labels and minor ticks.
+this behavior, one can place a minor tick in between the major ticks. Then
+label the minor tick, and hide the minor tick lines and the major tick labels.
 
 Here is an example that labels the months, centered between the ticks.
 """
@@ -34,15 +30,13 @@
 # 16 is a slight approximation since months differ in number of days.
 ax.xaxis.set_minor_locator(dates.MonthLocator(bymonthday=16))
 
+# The NullFormatter removes the major tick labels
 ax.xaxis.set_major_formatter(ticker.NullFormatter())
 ax.xaxis.set_minor_formatter(dates.DateFormatter('%b'))
 
-# Remove the tick lines
+# Remove the minor tick lines
 ax.tick_params(axis='x', which='minor', tick1On=False, tick2On=False)
 
-# Align the minor tick label
-for label in ax.get_xticklabels(minor=True):
-    label.set_horizontalalignment('center')
 imid = len(r) // 2
 ax.set_xlabel(str(r["date"][imid].item().year))
 plt.show()
diff --git a/galleries/examples/ticks/date_concise_formatter.py b/galleries/examples/ticks/date_concise_formatter.py
@@ -40,10 +40,7 @@
 for nn, ax in enumerate(axs):
     ax.plot(dates, y)
     ax.set_xlim(lims[nn])
-    # rotate_labels...
-    for label in ax.get_xticklabels():
-        label.set_rotation(40)
-        label.set_horizontalalignment('right')
+    ax.tick_params(axis='x', rotation=40, rotation_mode='xtick')
 axs[0].set_title('Default Date Formatter')
 plt.show()
 

diff --git a/galleries/examples/units/evans_test.py b/galleries/examples/units/evans_test.py
@@ -77,11 +77,11 @@ def default_units(x, axis):
 # plot specifying units
 ax2.plot(x, y, 'o', xunits=2.0)
 ax2.set_title("xunits = 2.0")
-plt.setp(ax2.get_xticklabels(), rotation=30, ha='right')
+ax2.tick_params(axis='x', rotation=30, rotation_mode='xtick')
 
 # plot without specifying units; will use the None branch for axisinfo
 ax1.plot(x, y)  # uses default units
 ax1.set_title('default units')
-plt.setp(ax1.get_xticklabels(), rotation=30, ha='right')
+ax1.tick_params(axis='x', rotation=30, rotation_mode='xtick')
 
 plt.show()
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/figure.py b/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
@@ -1390,8 +1390,7 @@ def align_xlabels(self, axs=None):
         Example with rotated xtick labels::
 
             fig, axs = plt.subplots(1, 2)
-            for tick in axs[0].get_xticklabels():
-                tick.set_rotation(55)
+            axs[0].tick_params(axis='x', rotation=55)
             axs[0].set_xlabel('XLabel 0')
             axs[1].set_xlabel('XLabel 1')
             fig.align_xlabels()