title: How to make plots in normalized coordinates in python?
body: <p>I am trying to make four sets of plots in a 2x2 or 1x4 grid. Each set then has three more panels, say, a scatter plot with histograms of the x- and y-axes on the sides. </p>
  
  <p>Instead of setting the axes for all 12 plots, I'd like to divide my canvas into 4 parts, and then divide each one individually. For example, </p>
  
  <pre><code>def plot_subset():
      # these coords are normalized to this subset of plots
      pos_axScatter=[0.10, 0.10, 0.65, 0.65]
      pos_axHistx = [0.10, 0.75, 0.65, 0.20]
      pos_axHisty = [0.75, 0.10, 0.20, 0.20]
  
      axScatter = plt.axes(pos_axScatter)
      axHistx = plt.axes(pos_axHistx)
      axHisty = plt.axes(pos_axHisty)
  
  def main():
      # need to divide the canvas to a 2x2 grid
      plot_subset(1)
      plot_subset(2)
      plot_subset(3)
      plot_subset(4)
  
      plt.show()
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I have tried GridSpec and subplots but cannot find a way to make plot_subset() work in the normalized space. Any help would be much appreciated!</p>