diff --git a/doc/sphinxext/math_symbol_table.py b/doc/sphinxext/math_symbol_table.py
index a143326ab75b..47028bd12005 100644
--- a/doc/sphinxext/math_symbol_table.py
+++ b/doc/sphinxext/math_symbol_table.py
@@ -9,57 +9,57 @@
 
 symbols = [
     ["Lower-case Greek",
-     4,
+     0,
      (r"\alpha", r"\beta", r"\gamma",  r"\chi", r"\delta", r"\epsilon",
       r"\eta", r"\iota",  r"\kappa", r"\lambda", r"\mu", r"\nu",  r"\omega",
       r"\phi",  r"\pi", r"\psi", r"\rho",  r"\sigma",  r"\tau", r"\theta",
       r"\upsilon", r"\xi", r"\zeta",  r"\digamma", r"\varepsilon", r"\varkappa",
       r"\varphi", r"\varpi", r"\varrho", r"\varsigma",  r"\vartheta")],
     ["Upper-case Greek",
-     4,
+     0,
      (r"\Delta", r"\Gamma", r"\Lambda", r"\Omega", r"\Phi", r"\Pi", r"\Psi",
       r"\Sigma", r"\Theta", r"\Upsilon", r"\Xi")],
     ["Hebrew",
-     6,
+     0,
      (r"\aleph", r"\beth", r"\gimel", r"\daleth")],
     ["Latin named characters",
-     6,
+     0,
      r"""\aa \AA \ae \AE \oe \OE \O \o \thorn \Thorn \ss \eth \dh \DH""".split()],
     ["Delimiters",
-     5,
+     0,
      _mathtext.Parser._delims],
     ["Big symbols",
-     5,
+     0,
      _mathtext.Parser._overunder_symbols | _mathtext.Parser._dropsub_symbols],
     ["Standard function names",
-     5,
+     0,
      {fr"\{fn}" for fn in _mathtext.Parser._function_names}],
     ["Binary operation symbols",
-     4,
+     0,
      _mathtext.Parser._binary_operators],
     ["Relation symbols",
-     4,
+     0,
      _mathtext.Parser._relation_symbols],
     ["Arrow symbols",
-     4,
+     0,
      _mathtext.Parser._arrow_symbols],
     ["Dot symbols",
-     4,
+     0,
      r"""\cdots \vdots \ldots \ddots \adots \Colon \therefore \because""".split()],
     ["Black-board characters",
-     6,
+     0,
      [fr"\{symbol}" for symbol in _mathtext_data.tex2uni
       if re.match(bb_pattern, symbol)]],
     ["Script characters",
-     6,
+     0,
      [fr"\{symbol}" for symbol in _mathtext_data.tex2uni
       if re.match(scr_pattern, symbol)]],
     ["Fraktur characters",
-     6,
+     0,
      [fr"\{symbol}" for symbol in _mathtext_data.tex2uni
       if re.match(frak_pattern, symbol)]],
     ["Miscellaneous symbols",
-     4,
+     0,
      r"""\neg \infty \forall \wp \exists \bigstar \angle \partial
      \nexists \measuredangle \emptyset \sphericalangle \clubsuit
      \varnothing \complement \diamondsuit \imath \Finv \triangledown
@@ -94,7 +94,8 @@ def render_symbol(sym, ignore_variant=False):
                                        sym.startswith(r"\var")),
                       reverse=(category == "Hebrew"))  # Hebrew is rtl
         rendered_syms = [f"{render_symbol(sym)} ``{sym}``" for sym in syms]
-        columns = min(columns, len(syms))
+        max_columns = 6  # You can adjust this (e.g., 4–8)
+        columns = min(max_columns, len(syms))  # New dynamic logic
         lines.append("**%s**" % category)
         lines.append('')
         max_width = max(map(len, rendered_syms))
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/image.py b/lib/matplotlib/image.py
index 6ca472518b65..75cc7616e640 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/image.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/image.py
@@ -511,14 +511,17 @@ def _make_image(self, A, in_bbox, out_bbox, clip_bbox, magnification=1.0,
                 if alpha is None:  # alpha parameter not specified
                     if A.shape[2] == 3:  # image has no alpha channel
                         A = np.dstack([A, np.ones(A.shape[:2])])
-                elif np.ndim(alpha) > 0:  # Array alpha
+                elif np.ndim(alpha) > 0: # Array alpha
+                    if alpha.shape != A.shape[:2]:
+                        raise ValueError("Alpha array shape must match image dimensions")      
                     # user-specified array alpha overrides the existing alpha channel
                     A = np.dstack([A[..., :3], alpha])
                 else:  # Scalar alpha
                     if A.shape[2] == 3:  # broadcast scalar alpha
                         A = np.dstack([A, np.full(A.shape[:2], alpha, np.float32)])
-                    else:  # or apply scalar alpha to existing alpha channel
-                        post_apply_alpha = True
+                #to handle RGBA inputs
+                if A.shape[2] == 4 and alpha is not None:
+                    A[..., 3] = alpha  # override existing alpha channel            
                 # Resample in premultiplied alpha space.  (TODO: Consider
                 # implementing premultiplied-space resampling in
                 # span_image_resample_rgba_affine::generate?)