Pandas Series - clip() function

The Pandas Series clip() function trims values at input threshold(s). It assigns values outside boundary to boundary values. Thresholds can be singular values or array like, and in the latter case the clipping is performed element-wise in the specified axis.

Syntax

Series.clip(lower=None, upper=None, 
            axis=None, inplace=False)

Parameters

Return Value

Returns same type as calling object with the values outside the clip boundaries replaced or None if inplace=True.

Example: using clip() on a Series

In the example below, the clip() function is used to clip the given series according to the specified minimum and maximum threshold value.

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np

x = pd.Series([-5, 5, 8, 15, -5])

print("The Series contains:")
print(x)

#clipping the series using
#minimum threshold value = 1
#maximum threshold value = 10
print("\nx.clip(1, 10) returns:")
print(x.clip(1, 10))

The output of the above code will be:

The Series contains:
0    -5
1     5
2     8
3    15
4    -5
dtype: int64

x.clip(1, 10) returns:
0     1
1     5
2     8
3    10
4     1
dtype: int64

Example: using clip() on selected series in a DataFrame

Similarly, the clip() function can be applied on selected series/column of a given DataFrame. Consider the following example.

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np

df = pd.DataFrame({
  "x": [-10, -5, 5, 5, 8],
  "y": [-5, 5, 8, 15, -5],
  "z": [2, -5, -7, 25, 4]
})

print("The DataFrame is:")
print(df)

#clipping the 'y' Series
print("\ndf['y'].clip(1, 10) returns:")
print(df['y'].clip(1, 10))

The output of the above code will be:

The DataFrame is:
    x   y   z
0 -10  -5   2
1  -5   5  -5
2   5   8  -7
3   5  15  25
4   8  -5   4

df['y'].clip(1, 10) returns:
0     1
1     5
2     8
3    10
4     1
Name: y, dtype: int64