matplotlib.axes.Axes.tick_params

Axes.tick_params(axis='both', **kwargs)

Change the appearance of ticks and tick labels.

Keyword arguments:

axis

: [‘x’ | ‘y’ | ‘both’]

Axis on which to operate; default is ‘both’.

reset

: [True | False]

If True, set all parameters to defaults before processing other keyword arguments. Default is False.

which

: [‘major’ | ‘minor’ | ‘both’]

Default is ‘major’; apply arguments to which ticks.

direction

: [‘in’ | ‘out’ | ‘inout’]

Puts ticks inside the axes, outside the axes, or both.

length

Tick length in points.

width

Tick width in points.

color

Tick color; accepts any mpl color spec.

pad

Distance in points between tick and label.

labelsize

Tick label font size in points or as a string (e.g., ‘large’).

labelcolor

Tick label color; mpl color spec.

colors

Changes the tick color and the label color to the same value: mpl color spec.

zorder

Tick and label zorder.

bottom, top, left, right

: [bool | ‘on’ | ‘off’]

controls whether to draw the respective ticks.

labelbottom, labeltop, labelleft, labelright

Boolean or [‘on’ | ‘off’], controls whether to draw the respective tick labels.

Example:

ax.tick_params(direction='out', length=6, width=2, colors='r')

This will make all major ticks be red, pointing out of the box, and with dimensions 6 points by 2 points. Tick labels will also be red.