ValueError: cannot reshape array of size X into shape Y

# ValueError: cannot reshape array of size X into shape Y

The NumPy "ValueError: cannot reshape array of size X into shape Y" is raised when you pass an incorrect new shape to the numpy.reshape() method.

To solve the error, make sure the new shape is compatible with the original shape.

Here is an example of how the error occurs.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6])

# ⛔️ ValueError: cannot reshape array of size 6 into shape (2,2)
new_arr = arr.reshape((2, 2))

valueerror cannot reshape array of size into shape

We tried to reshape an array of size 6 into shape (2, 2).

The new shape is not compatible with the original shape, so the error is raised.

We can't reshape an array of size 6 into an array that has 2 rows and 2 columns because 2 * 2 = 4 and not 6.

However, we could reshape the array into an array that has 2 rows and 3 columns.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6])

new_arr = arr.reshape((2, 3))

# [[1 2 3]
#  [4 5 6]]
print(new_arr)

reshape into array with 2 rows and 3 columns

The code for this article is available on GitHub

As shown in the screenshot, the new array has 2 rows and 3 columns.

The call to the reshape() method succeeds because 2 * 3 = 6 which is equal to the size of the array.

You can use the ndarray.size attribute to get the size of the array.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6])

print(arr.size)  # 👉️ 6

The multiplication of the arguments you pass to the reshape() method has to be equal to the size of the array.

Therefore, we can also reshape the array to 3 rows and 2 columns.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6])

print(arr.size)  # 👉️ 6

new_arr = arr.reshape((3, 2))

# [[1 2]
#  [3 4]
#  [5 6]]
print(new_arr)

reshape array to 3 rows 2 columns

The code for this article is available on GitHub

The array in the example has 3 rows and 2 columns.

Since 3 * 2 = 6 and the size of the array is 6, everything works as expected.

The number of elements must be equal to the product of the number of rows and columns.

The array.reshape method takes a new shape parameter that can be an integer or a tuple of integers.

The new shape parameter has to be compatible with the original shape.

If the supplied parameter is an integer, then the result is a 1-D array of that length.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]])

print(arr.size) # 👉️ 6

print(arr.reshape(6)) # 👉️ [1 2 3 4 5 6]

The arr variable stores a two-dimensional array that has a size of 6.

We used the array.reshape() method to reshape the 2-D array to a 1-D array of the same length.

You can also access the size attribute to not have to hard-code the size of the array.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]])

print(arr.size)  # 👉️ 6

print(arr.reshape(arr.size))  # 👉️ [1 2 3 4 5 6]

# Use a parameter of `-1` to infer the shape

When using the numpy.reshape() method, you can use a parameter of -1 to infer the shape for one dimension.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6])

new_array = arr.reshape((2, -1))

# [[1 2 3]
#  [4 5 6]]
print(new_array)

print(new_array.shape) # 👉️ (2, 3)

The code for this article is available on GitHub

When the dimension is -1, the value is inferred from the length of the array and remaining dimensions.

The array has a length of 6 and we've specified that it should have 2 rows.

Therefore, NumPy can determine that it should have 3 columns.

This is because 6 / 2 = 3.

Similarly, if the array has a length of 6 and has 3 rows, then it must have 2 columns.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6])

new_array = arr.reshape((3, -1))

# [[1 2]
#  [3 4]
#  [5 6]]
print(new_array)

print(new_array.shape)  # 👉️ (3, 2)

The code for this article is available on GitHub

The array has a length of 6, therefore 6 / 3 rows = 2 columns.

The number of elements must be equal to the product of the number of rows and columns.

Similarly, dividing the array's length by the number of rows will give you the number of columns.

In other words, if you have a one-dimensional array of shape (100,), you can reshape it to (2, 50), (50, 2), (10, 10) or (2, 10, 5) because the product is always equal to 100.

If you aren't sure about the value you should specify for one of the dimensions, simply use -1 to infer it.

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ValueError: cannot reshape array of size X into shape Y