doc: new pgf.documentclass rcParam and add release note

MiniX16 · MiniX16 · commit 89f6d80f63d2 · 2025-05-23T15:21:11.000+02:00
diff --git a/doc/users/next_whats_new/pgf-documentclass.rst b/doc/users/next_whats_new/pgf-documentclass.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+PGF backend: new rcParam :rc:`pgf.documentclass`
+------------------------------------------------
+
+A new rcParam :rc:`pgf.documentclass` has been added to allow users to override
+the default LaTeX document class (``article``) used by the PGF backend.
+This enables better compatibility when including PGF figures in documents that
+use custom LaTeX classes like ``IEEEtran`` or others, avoiding layout
+issues like incorrect font sizes or spacing mismatches.
diff --git a/galleries/users_explain/text/pgf.py b/galleries/users_explain/text/pgf.py
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 pgf.preamble       Lines to be included in the LaTeX preamble
 pgf.rcfonts        Setup fonts from rc params using the fontspec package
 pgf.texsystem      Either "xelatex" (default), "lualatex" or "pdflatex"
+pgf.documentclass  The LaTeX document class to use (e.g., "article", "IEEEtran")
 =================  =====================================================
 
 .. note::
@@ -144,6 +145,7 @@
 if you want to do the font configuration yourself instead of using the fonts
 specified in the rc parameters, make sure to disable :rc:`pgf.rcfonts`.
 
+
 .. code-block:: python
 
     import matplotlib as mpl
@@ -170,6 +172,17 @@
     ax.set_ylabel(r"\url{https://matplotlib.org}")
     ax.legend(["unicode math: $λ=∑_i^∞ μ_i^2$"])
 
+You can also change the LaTeX document class used when generating PGF figures.
+By default, Matplotlib uses ``article``, but you can override this using
+the ``pgf.documentclass`` rcParam::
+
+    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+    plt.rcParams["pgf.documentclass"] = "IEEEtran"
+
+This is useful when including PGF figures into LaTeX documents using
+custom classes such as ``IEEEtran``, to avoid layout
+mismatches in font size or spacing.
+
 .. redirect-from:: /gallery/userdemo/pgf_texsystem
 
 .. _pgf-texsystem:
