The numpy tile function explained with code examples

The numpy.tile() function allows you to create a copy of an array where the array’s elements are repeated along each axis.

The syntax of the function is as follows:

numpy.tile(array, reps)

The function accepts two arguments:

• The array you want to copy
• The reps number of repetitions you want the array elements to have.

Consider the following code example:

import numpy

array = [1, 2, 3]

# Set reps to 1
array_reps = numpy.tile(array, 1)

print(array_reps) # array([1, 2, 3])

# Change the reps to 2
array_reps = numpy.tile(array, 2)
print(array_reps) # array([1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3])

The reps parameter of the tile() function accepts array-like numbers that will be used to repeat the elements of the array for each axis.

You can pass two numbers as the reps argument as shown below:

array_reps = numpy.tile(array, (2, 2))

print(array_reps)
# array([[1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3],
#        [1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3]])

You can even pass three numbers to make a three-dimensional array of frames, rows, and columns:

array_reps = numpy.tile(array, (2, 1, 1))

print(array_reps)
"""
array([[[1, 2, 3]],

       [[1, 2, 3]]])
"""

And that’s how the numpy tile() function works.