python tkinter GUI label positioning unable to centered

I would like to position my title at the center of the window but it seems affect by the pack() method of the button located at the bottom of the screen.

I remove the button at the bottom then the label is centralized. May I know how should i modify the code ?

# Import any required modules or libraries
from datetime import datetime
import tkinter as tk
class Window:
def __init__(self, root):
self.root = root
self.root.title("Software Title")
# Set window attributes
self.root.attributes("-fullscreen", True)
# Create a container frame
self.container = tk.Frame(self.root)
self.container.pack()
# Create buttons to switch between pages
self.button_home = tk.Button(self.root, text="Home",height= 3, width=13, command=self.show_home_page)
self.button_home.pack(side="left", anchor= "sw")
self.button_about = tk.Button(self.root, text="Page 2",height= 3, width=13, command=self.show_about_page)
self.button_about.pack(side="left", anchor= "sw")
self.button_contact = tk.Button(self.root, text="Page 3",height= 3, width=13, command=self.show_contact_page)
self.button_contact.pack(side="left", anchor= "sw")
# Create close button
self.close_button = tk.Button(self.root, text="Close",height= 3, width=13, command=self.close_window)
self.close_button.pack(side="right", anchor= "se")
# Create page frames
self.home_page_frame = tk.Frame(self.root)
self.about_page_frame = tk.Frame(self.root)
self.contact_page_frame = tk.Frame(self.root)
# Create labels within each page
self.home_page_label = tk.Label(self.home_page_frame, text="Main Page")
self.about_page_label = tk.Label(self.about_page_frame, text="Second Page")
self.contact_page_label = tk.Label(self.contact_page_frame, text="Third Page")
# Create buttons within each page
self.home_page_buttons = []
self.about_page_buttons = []
self.contact_page_buttons = []
# Page 1 content
home_page_button = tk.Button(self.home_page_frame, text="Home Page Button {i+1}")
self.home_page_buttons.append(home_page_button)
# Page 2 content
about_page_button = tk.Button(self.about_page_frame, text="About Page Button {i+1}")
self.about_page_buttons.append(about_page_button)
# Page 3 content
contact_page_button = tk.Button(self.contact_page_frame, text="Contact Page Button {i+1}")
self.contact_page_buttons.append(contact_page_button)
# Show the home page initially
self.show_home_page()
def close_window(self):
self.root.destroy()
def show_home_page(self):
# Hide other pages
self.about_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.contact_page_frame.pack_forget()
# Show the home page
self.home_page_frame.pack()
# Show the home page label
self.home_page_label.pack()
# Show the home page buttons
#for button in self.home_page_buttons:
#    button.pack()
def show_about_page(self):
# Hide other pages
self.home_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.contact_page_frame.pack_forget()
# Show the about page
self.about_page_frame.pack()
# Show the about page label
self.about_page_label.pack()
# Show the about page buttons
#for button in self.about_page_buttons:
#    button.pack()
# Hide the navigation buttons
#self.hide_navigation_buttons()
def show_contact_page(self):
# Hide other pages
self.home_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.about_page_frame.pack_forget()
# Show the contact page
self.contact_page_frame.pack()
# Show the contact page label
self.contact_page_label.pack()
# Show the contact page buttons
#for button in self.contact_page_buttons:
#    button.pack()
# Hide the navigation buttons
#self.hide_navigation_buttons()
def hide_navigation_buttons(self):
# Hide the navigation buttons
self.button_home.pack_forget()
self.button_about.pack_forget()
self.button_contact.pack_forget()
# Other methods...
# Create the main window
root = tk.Tk()
# Create an instance of the Window class
window = Window(root)
# Run the main event loop
root.mainloop()

After modification, the buttons sticks at one side even i pack the close_button button to right.

Code as below:

import tkinter as tk
class Window:
def __init__(self, root):
self.root = root
self.root.title("Software Title")
self.root.attributes("-fullscreen", True)
# Create page frames
self.navigator_frame = tk.Frame(self.root)
self.navigator_frame.pack(side='bottom',anchor='sw')
self.home_page_frame = tk.Frame(self.root, bg='wheat')
self.about_page_frame = tk.Frame(self.root, bg='tan')
self.contact_page_frame = tk.Frame(self.root, bg='tomato')
# Create buttons to switch between pages
self.button_home = tk.Button(self.navigator_frame, text="Home",height= 3, width=13,
command=self.show_home_page)
self.button_home.pack(side="left")
self.button_about = tk.Button(self.navigator_frame, text="Page 2",height= 3, width=13,
command=self.show_about_page)
self.button_about.pack(side="left")
self.button_contact = tk.Button(self.navigator_frame, text="Page 3",height= 3, width=13,
command=self.show_contact_page)
self.button_contact.pack(side="left")
# Create close button
self.close_button = tk.Button(self.navigator_frame, text="Close",height= 3, width=13,
command=self.close_window)
self.close_button.pack(side="right")
# Create labels within each page
self.home_page_label = tk.Label(self.home_page_frame, text="Main Page")
self.about_page_label = tk.Label(self.about_page_frame, text="Second Page")
self.contact_page_label = tk.Label(self.contact_page_frame, text="Third Page")
# Show the home page initially
self.show_home_page()
def show_home_page(self):
# Hide other pages
self.about_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.contact_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.home_page_frame.pack(expand=True, fill='both')
self.home_page_label.pack(expand=True)
def show_about_page(self):
# Hide other pages
self.home_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.contact_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.about_page_frame.pack(expand=True, fill='both')
self.about_page_label.pack(expand=True)
def show_contact_page(self):
# Hide other pages
self.home_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.about_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.contact_page_frame.pack(expand=True, fill='both')
self.contact_page_label.pack(expand=True)
def close_window(self):
self.root.destroy()
root = tk.Tk()
window = Window(root)
root.mainloop()

A lot of the code you present does not do anything on the GUI. I have stripped down the code in my example to the bare minimum.

I think your problem is that the .pack() method does sometimes give you surprising results.

In my example I have created space for the page frames with .pack(expand=True, fill='both'),
and then placed the label in the middle by .pack(expand=True). I have colour-coded the frames to show where they end up.

Have a look at Tkinter pack method confusion which discusses how the packer works.

For a complex GUI layout I would recommend you study the .grid() function which is more readily understood.

Also, for switching between frames in an application you might want to have a look at Switch between two frames in tkinter?

Example code:

import tkinter as tk
class Window:
def __init__(self, root):
self.root = root
self.root.title("Software Title")
self.root.attributes("-fullscreen", True)
# Create buttons to switch between pages
self.button_home = tk.Button(self.root, text="Home",height= 3, width=13,
command=self.show_home_page)
self.button_home.pack(side="left", anchor= "sw")
self.button_about = tk.Button(self.root, text="Page 2",height= 3, width=13,
command=self.show_about_page)
self.button_about.pack(side="left", anchor= "sw")
self.button_contact = tk.Button(self.root, text="Page 3",height= 3, width=13,
command=self.show_contact_page)
self.button_contact.pack(side="left", anchor= "sw")
# Create close button
self.close_button = tk.Button(self.root, text="Close",height= 3, width=13,
command=self.close_window)
self.close_button.pack(side="right", anchor= "se")
# Create page frames
self.home_page_frame = tk.Frame(self.root, bg='wheat')
self.about_page_frame = tk.Frame(self.root, bg='tan')
self.contact_page_frame = tk.Frame(self.root, bg='tomato')
# Create labels within each page
self.home_page_label = tk.Label(self.home_page_frame, text="Main Page")
self.about_page_label = tk.Label(self.about_page_frame, text="Second Page")
self.contact_page_label = tk.Label(self.contact_page_frame, text="Third Page")
# Show the home page initially
self.show_home_page()
def show_home_page(self):
# Hide other pages
self.about_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.contact_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.home_page_frame.pack(expand=True, fill='both')
self.home_page_label.pack(expand=True)
def show_about_page(self):
# Hide other pages
self.home_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.contact_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.about_page_frame.pack(expand=True, fill='both')
self.about_page_label.pack(expand=True)
def show_contact_page(self):
# Hide other pages
self.home_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.about_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.contact_page_frame.pack(expand=True, fill='both')
self.contact_page_label.pack(expand=True)
def close_window(self):
self.root.destroy()
root = tk.Tk()
window = Window(root)
root.mainloop()

Was this helpful?

For the updated code, if you want the <kbd>Close</kbd> at the right side, you need to make the bottom frame to fill the window width by setting fill='x' in self.navigator_frame.pack(...):

self.navigator_frame = tk.Frame(self.root)
self.navigator_frame.pack(side='bottom', fill='x')  # expand the frame horizontally

Result:

pack works by filling up one side of the available space. When you pack the button on the left and right it reduces the available space. The only space available to pack after that is the space between the buttons. Since there are more buttons on the left, anything packed at the top will be offset.

The solution is to pack the frame containing the label first, before the other widgets are packed. It appears that you created a container widget explicitly for this purpose, since you create self.container first and don't seem to be using it for any other purpose. However, you aren't putting the other frames in that container.

So, my guess is that the simplest solution is to move the other frames into the container by setting the parent as self.container rather than self.root.

# Create page frames
self.home_page_frame = tk.Frame(self.container)
self.about_page_frame = tk.Frame(self.container)
self.contact_page_frame = tk.Frame(self.container)

If you had other plans for the container frame, then the solution is to create another container frame for these subframes, and pack that before packing the buttons.

For a visual explanation of how the packer works, see my answer to the question Tkinter pack method confusion

If I understood your question correctly, update your pack() method arguments as following one:

def show_home_page(self):
# Hide other pages
self.about_page_frame.pack_forget()
self.contact_page_frame.pack_forget()
# Show the home page
self.home_page_frame.pack(expand= True, fill = 'both')
# Show the home page label
self.home_page_label.pack(expand= True, fill = 'both')
# Show the home page buttons
#for button in self.home_page_buttons:
#    button.pack()