Axes appearance and behavior - MATLAB (2024)

Font size, specified as a scalar numeric value. The font size affects the title, axis labels, and tick labels. It also affects any legends or colorbars associated with the axes. The default font size depends on the specific operating system and locale. By default, the font size is measured in points. To change the units, set the FontUnits property.

MATLAB automatically scales some of the text to a percentage of the axes font size.

Example: ax.FontSize = 12

Selection mode for the font size, specified as one of these values:

Scale factor for the label font size, specified as a numeric value greater than 0. The scale factor is applied to the value of the FontSize property to determine the font size for the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis labels.

Example: ax.LabelFontSizeMultiplier = 1.5

Subtitle character thickness, specified as one of these values:

Tick values, specified as a vector of increasing values. If you do not want tick marks along the axis, then specify an empty vector []. The tick values are the locations along the axis where the tick marks appear. The tick labels are the labels that you see next to each tick mark. Use the XTickLabels, YTickLabels, and ZTickLabels properties to specify the associated labels.

Example: ax.XTick = [2 4 6 8 10]

Example: ax.YTick = 0:10:100

Alternatively, use the xticks, yticks, and zticks functions to specify the tick values. For an example, see Specify Axis Tick Values and Labels.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | categorical | datetime | duration

Selection mode for the tick values, specified as one of these values:

Example: ax.XTickMode = 'auto'

Tick labels, specified as a cell array of character vectors, string array, or categorical array. If you do not want tick labels to show, then specify an empty cell array {}. If you do not specify enough labels for all the tick values, then the labels repeat.

Tick labels support TeX and LaTeX markup. See the TickLabelInterpreter property for more information.

If you specify this property as a categorical array, MATLAB uses the values in the array, not the categories.

As an alternative to setting this property, you can use the xticklabels, yticklabels, and zticklabels functions. For an example, see Specify Axis Tick Values and Labels.

Example: ax.XTickLabel = {'Jan','Feb','Mar','Apr'}

Selection mode for the tick labels, specified as one of these values:

Example: ax.XTickLabelMode = 'auto'

Tick label rotation, specified as a numeric value in degrees. Positive values give counterclockwise rotation. Negative values give clockwise rotation.

Example: ax.XTickLabelRotation = 45

Example: ax.YTickLabelRotation = 90

Alternatively, use the xtickangle, ytickangle, and ztickangle functions.

Selection mode for the tick label rotation, specified as one of these values:

Minor tick marks, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

Example: ax.XMinorTick = 'on'

Tick mark direction, specified as one of these values:

Tick mark length, specified as a two-element vector of the form [2Dlength 3Dlength]. The first element is the tick mark length in 2-D views and the second element is the tick mark length in 3-D views. Specify the values in units normalized relative to the longest of the visible x-axis, y-axis, or z-axis lines.

Example: ax.TickLength = [0.02 0.035]

Selection mode for the axis limits, specified as one of these values:

Example: ax.XLimMode = 'auto'

Axis limit selection method, specified as a value from the table. The examples in the table show the approximate appearance for different values of the XLimitMethod property. Your results might differ depending on your data, the size of the axes, and the type of plot you create.

Axis ruler, returned as a ruler object. The ruler controls the appearance and behavior of the x-axis, y-axis, or z-axis. Modify the appearance and behavior of a particular axis by accessing the associated ruler and setting ruler properties. The type of ruler that MATLAB creates for each axis depends on the plotted data. For a list of ruler properties that Axes objects support, see:

For example, access the ruler for the x-axis through the XAxis property. Then, change the Color property of the ruler, and thus the color of the x-axis, to red. Similarly, change the color of the y-axis to green.

ax = gca;ax.XAxis.Color = 'r';ax.YAxis.Color = 'g';

If the Axes object has two y-axes, then the YAxis property stores two ruler objects.

x-axis location, specified as one of the values in this table. This property applies only to 2-D views.

y-axis location, specified as one of the values in this table. This property applies only to 2-D views.

Color of the axis line, tick values, and labels in the x, y, or z direction, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The color you specify also affects the grid lines, unless you specify the grid line color using the GridColor or MinorGridColor property.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

Example: ax.XColor = [1 1 0]

Example: ax.YColor = 'y'

Example: ax.ZColor = 'yellow'

Example: ax.ZColor = '#FFFF00'

Property for setting the x-axis grid color, specified as 'auto' or 'manual'. The mode value only affects the x-axis grid color. The x-axis line, tick values, and labels always use the XColor value, regardless of the mode.

The x-axis grid color depends on both the XColorMode property and the GridColorMode property, as shown here.

The x-axis minor grid color depends on both the XColorMode property and the MinorGridColorMode property, as shown here.

Property for setting the y-axis grid color, specified as 'auto' or 'manual'. The mode value only affects the y-axis grid color. The y-axis line, tick values, and labels always use the YColor value, regardless of the mode.

The y-axis grid color depends on both the YColorMode property and the GridColorMode property, as shown here.

The y-axis minor grid color depends on both the YColorMode property and the MinorGridColorMode property, as shown here.

Property for setting the z-axis grid color, specified as 'auto' or 'manual'. The mode value only affects the z-axis grid color. The z-axis line, tick values, and labels always use the ZColor value, regardless of the mode.

The z-axis grid color depends on both the ZColorMode property and the GridColorMode property, as shown here.

The z-axis minor grid color depends on both the ZColorMode property and the MinorGridColorMode property, as shown here.

x-axis direction, specified as one of these values.

y-axis direction, specified as one of these values.

z-axis direction, specified as one of these values.

Grid lines, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

Alternatively, use the grid on or grid off command to set all three properties to 'on' or 'off', respectively. For more information, see grid.

Example: ax.XGrid = 'on'

Since R2023a

Grid line width, specified as a positive number. Set this property or the MinorGridLineWidth property to control the thickness of the grid lines independently of the box outline and tick marks.

Example

Create vectors x and y, and plot them. Display the grid lines in the axes by calling grid on. Increase the thickness of the grid lines, box outline, and tick marks by setting the LineWidth property of the axes to 1.5.

x = linspace(0,10);y = sin(x);plot(x,y)grid onax = gca;ax.LineWidth = 1.5;

Make the grid lines thinner by setting the grid line width to 0.5.

ax.GridLineWidth = 0.5;

Since R2023a

How the grid line width is set, specified as one of these values:

MATLAB sets this property to "manual" when you explicitly set the GridLineWidth property to a value.

Color of grid lines, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

To set the colors for the axes box outline, use the XColor, YColor, and ZColor properties.

To display the grid lines, use the grid on command or set the XGrid, YGrid, or ZGrid property to 'on'.

Example: ax.GridColor = [0 0 1]

Example: ax.GridColor = 'b'

Example: ax.GridColor = 'blue'

Example: ax.GridColor = '#0000FF'

Property for setting the grid color, specified as one of these values:

Minor grid lines, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

Alternatively, use the grid minor command to toggle the visibility of the minor grid lines.

Example: ax.XMinorGrid = 'on'

Line style for minor grid lines, specified as one of the line styles shown in this table.

To display minor grid lines, use the grid minor command or set the XMinorGrid, YMinorGrid, or ZMinorGrid property to 'on'.

Example: ax.MinorGridLineStyle = '-.'

Since R2023a

Minor grid line width, specified as a positive number. Set this property or the GridLineWidth property to control the thickness of the grid lines independently of the box outline and tick marks.

Since R2023a

How the minor grid line width is set, specified as one of these values:

MATLAB sets this property to "manual" when you explicitly set the MinorGridLineWidth property to a value.

Color of minor grid lines, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

To display minor grid lines, use the grid minor command or set the XMinorGrid, YMinorGrid, or ZMinorGrid property to 'on'.

Example: ax.MinorGridColor = [0 0 1]

Example: ax.MinorGridColor = 'b'

Example: ax.MinorGridColor = 'blue'

Example: ax.MinorGridColor = '#0000FF'

Property for setting the minor grid color, specified as one of these values:

Text object for the axes title. To add a title, set the String property of the text object. To change the title appearance, such as the font style or color, set other properties. For a complete list, see Text Properties.

ax = gca;ax.Title.String = 'My Title';ax.Title.FontWeight = 'normal';

Alternatively, use the title function to add a title and control the appearance.

title('My Title','FontWeight','normal')

Text object for the axes subtitle. To add a subtitle, set the String property of the text object. To change its appearance, such as the font angle, set other properties. For a complete list, see Text Properties.

ax = gca;ax.Subtitle.String = 'An Insightful Subtitle';ax.Subtitle.FontAngle = 'italic';

Alternatively, use the subtitle function to add a subtitle and control the appearance.

subtitle('An Insightful Subtitle','FontAngle','italic')

Or use the title function, and specify two character vector input arguments and two output arguments. Then set properties on the second text object returned by the function.

[t,s] = title('Clever Title','An Insightful Subtitle');s.FontAngle = 'italic';

Title and subtitle horizontal alignment with the plot box, specified as one of the values from the table.

Text object for axis label. To add an axis label, set the String property of the text object. To change the label appearance, such as the font size, set other properties. For a complete list, see Text Properties.

ax = gca;ax.YLabel.String = 'My y-Axis Label';ax.YLabel.FontSize = 12;

Alternatively, use the xlabel, ylabel, and zlabel functions to add an axis label and control the appearance.

ylabel('My y-Axis Label','FontSize',12)

This property is read-only.

Legend associated with the Axes object, specified as a Legend object. To add a legend to the axes, use the legend function. Then, you can use this property to modify the legend. For a complete list of properties, see Legend Properties.

plot(rand(3))legend({'Line 1','Line 2','Line 3'},'FontSize',12)ax = gca;ax.Legend.TextColor = 'red';

You also can use this property to determine if the axes has a legend.

ax = gca;lgd = ax.Legendif ~isempty(lgd) disp('Legend Exists')end

Since R2023a

How to cycle through the line styles when there are multiple lines in the axes, specified as one of the values from this table.

The examples in this table were created using the default colors in the ColorOrder property and three line styles (["-","-o","--"]) in the LineStyleOrder property.

This property is read-only.

SeriesIndex value for the next plot object added to the axes, returned as a whole number greater than or equal to 0. This property is useful when you want to track how the objects cycle through the colors and line styles. This property maintains a count of the objects in the axes that have a numeric SeriesIndex property value. MATLAB uses it to assign a SeriesIndex value to each new object. The count starts at 1 when you create the axes, and it increases by 1 for each additional object. Thus, the count is typically n+1, where n is the number of objects in the axes.

If you manually change the ColorOrderIndex or LineStyleOrderIndex property on the axes, the value of the NextSeriesIndex property changes to 0. As a consequence, objects that have a SeriesIndex property no longer update automatically when you change the ColorOrder or LineStyleOrder properties on the axes.

Color map, specified as an m-by-3 array of RGB (red, green, blue) triplets that define m individual colors.

Example: ax.Colormap = [1 0 1; 0 0 1; 1 1 0] sets the color map to three colors: magenta, blue, and yellow.

MATLAB accesses these colors by their row number.

Alternatively, use the colormap function to change the color map.

Scale for color mapping, specified as one of these values:

Color limits for objects in axes that use the colormap, specified as a two-element vector of the form [cmin cmax]. This property determines how data values map to the colors in the colormap where:

The Axes object interpolates data values between cmin and cmax across the colormap. Values outside this range use either the first or last color, whichever is closest.

Scale for transparency mapping, specified as one of these values:

Alpha limits, specified as a two-element vector of the form [amin amax]. This property affects the AlphaData values of graphics objects, such as surface, image, and patch objects. This property determines how the AlphaData values map to the figure alpha map, where:

The Axes object interpolates data values between amin and amax across the figure alpha map. Values outside this range use either the first or last alpha map value, whichever is closest.

The Alphamap property of the figure contains the alpha map. For more information, see the alpha function.

Background color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

Example: ax.Color = [0 0 1];

Example: ax.Color = 'b';

Example: ax.Color = 'blue';

Example: ax.Color = '#0000FF';

Line width of axes outline, tick marks, and grid lines, specified as a positive numeric value in point units. One point equals 1/72 inch.

Example: ax.LineWidth = 1.5

Box outline, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

The XColor, YColor, and ZColor properties control the color of the outline.

Example: ax.Box = 'on'

Box outline style, specified as 'back' or 'full'. This property affects only 3-D views.

Clipping of objects to the axes limits, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

The clipping behavior of an object within the Axes object depends on both the Clipping property of the Axes object and the Clipping property of the individual object. The property value of the Axes object has these effects:

This table lists the results for different combinations of Clipping property values.

Clipping boundaries, specified as one of the values in this table. If a plot contains markers, then as long as the data point lies within the axes limits, MATLAB draws the entire marker.

The ClippingStyle property has no effect if the Clipping property is set to 'off'.

Background light color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The background light is a directionless light that shines uniformly on all objects in the axes. To add light, use the light function.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

Example: ax.AmbientLightColor = [1 0 1]

Example: ax.AmbientLightColor = 'm'

Example: ax.AmbientLightColor = 'magenta'

Example: ax.AmbientLightColor = '#FF00FF'

Inner size and location, specified as a four-element vector of the form [left bottom width height]. This property is equivalent to the Position property.

This property is read-only.

Margins for the text labels, returned as a four-element vector of the form [left bottom right top]. By default, MATLAB measures the values in units normalized to the container. To change the units, set the Units property.

The elements define the distances between the bounds of the Position property and the extent of the surrounding text. The Position values combined with the TightInset values define the tightest bounding box that encloses the axes and the surrounding text.

These figures show the areas defined by the OuterPosition values (blue), the Position values (red), and the Position expanded by the TightInset values (magenta).

For more information, see Control Axes Layout.

Position property to hold constant when adding, removing, or changing decorations, specified as one of the following values:

Relative length of data units along each axis, specified as a three-element vector of the form [dx dy dz]. This vector defines the relative x, y, and z data scale factors. For example, specifying this property as [1 2 1] sets the length of one unit of data in the x-direction to be the same length as two units of data in the y-direction and one unit of data in the z-direction.

Alternatively, use the daspect function to change the data aspect ratio.

Example: ax.DataAspectRatio = [1 1 1]

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Data aspect ratio mode, specified as one of these values:

Relative length of each axis, specified as a three-element vector of the form [px py pz] defining the relative x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis scale factors. The plot box is a box enclosing the axes data region as defined by the axis limits.

Alternatively, use the pbaspect function to change the plot box aspect ratio.

If you specify the axis limits, data aspect ratio, and plot box aspect ratio, then MATLAB ignores the plot box aspect ratio. It adheres to the axis limits and data aspect ratio.

Example: ax.PlotBoxAspectRatio = [1 0.75 0.75]

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Selection mode for the PlotBoxAspectRatio property, specified as one of these values:

Layout options, specified as a TiledChartLayoutOptions or a GridLayoutOptions object. This property is useful when the axes object is either in a tiled chart layout or a grid layout.

To position the axes within the grid of a tiled chart layout, set the Tile and TileSpan properties on the TiledChartLayoutOptions object. For example, consider a 3-by-3 tiled chart layout. The layout has a grid of tiles in the center, and four tiles along the outer edges. In practice, the grid is invisible and the outer tiles do not take up space until you populate them with axes or charts.

This code places the axes ax in the third tile of the grid.

ax.Layout.Tile = 3;

To make the axes span multiple tiles, specify the TileSpan property as a two-element vector. For example, this axes spans 2 rows and 3 columns of tiles.

ax.Layout.TileSpan = [2 3];

To place the axes in one of the surrounding tiles, specify the Tile property as 'north', 'south', 'east', or 'west'. For example, setting the value to 'east' places the axes in the tile to the right of the grid.

ax.Layout.Tile = 'east';

To place the axes into a layout within an app, specify this property as a GridLayoutOptions object. For more information about working with grid layouts in apps, see uigridlayout.

If the axes is not a child of either a tiled chart layout or a grid layout (for example, if it is a child of a figure or panel) then this property is empty and has no effect.

Azimuth and elevation of view, specified as a two-element vector of the form [azimuth elevation] defined in degree units. Alternatively, use the view function to set the view.

Example: ax.View = [45 45]

Type of projection onto a 2-D screen, specified as one of these values:

Camera location, or the viewpoint, specified as a three-element vector of the form [x y z]. This vector defines the axes coordinates of the camera location, which is the point from which you view the axes. The camera is oriented along the view axis, which is a straight line that connects the camera position and the camera target. For an illustration, see Camera Graphics Terminology.

If the Projection property is set to 'perspective', then as you change the CameraPosition setting, the amount of perspective also changes.

Alternatively, use the campos function to set the camera location.

Example: ax.CameraPosition = [0.5 0.5 9]

Data Types: single | double

Selection mode for the CameraPosition property, specified as one of these values:

Camera target point, specified as a three-element vector of the form [x y z]. This vector defines the axes coordinates of the point. The camera is oriented along the view axis, which is a straight line that connects the camera position and the camera target. For an illustration, see Camera Graphics Terminology.

Alternatively, use the camtarget function to set the camera target.

Example: ax.CameraTarget = [0.5 0.5 0.5]

Data Types: single | double

Selection mode for the CameraTarget property, specified as one of these values:

Vector defining upwards direction, specified as a three-element direction vector of the form [x y z]. For 2-D views, the default value is [0 1 0]. For 3-D views, the default value is [0 0 1]. For an illustration, see Camera Graphics Terminology.

Alternatively, use the camup function to set the upwards direction.

Example: ax.CameraUpVector = [sin(45) cos(45) 1]

Selection mode for the CameraUpVector property, specified as one of these values:

Field of view, specified as a scalar angle greater than 0 and less than or equal to 180. Changing the camera view angle affects the size of graphics objects displayed in the axes, but does not affect the degree of perspective distortion. The greater the angle, the larger the field of view and the smaller objects appear in the scene. For an illustration, see Camera Graphics Terminology.

Example: ax.CameraViewAngle = 15

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | logical

Selection mode for the CameraViewAngle property, specified as one of these values:

Data exploration toolbar, which is an AxesToolbar object. The toolbar appears at the top-right corner of the axes when you hover over it.

The toolbar buttons depend on the contents of the axes, but typically include zooming, panning, rotating, data tips, data brushing, and restoring the original view. You can customize the toolbar buttons using the axtoolbar and axtoolbarbtn functions.

If you do not want the toolbar to appear when you hover over the axes, set the Visible property of the AxesToolbar object to 'off'.

ax = gca;ax.Toolbar.Visible = 'off';

For more information, see AxesToolbar Properties.

Interactions, specified as an array of interaction objects or an empty array. The interactions you specify are available within your chart through gestures. You do not have to select any axes toolbar buttons to use them. For example, a panInteraction object enables dragging to pan within a chart. For a list of interaction objects, see Control Chart Interactivity.

The default set of interactions depends on the type of chart you are displaying. You can replace the default set with a new set of interactions, but you cannot access or modify any of the interactions in the default set. For example, this code replaces the default set of interactions with the panInteraction and zoomInteraction objects.

ax = gca;ax.Interactions = [panInteraction zoomInteraction];

To remove all interactions from the axes, set this property to an empty array. To temporarily disable the current set of interactions, call the disableDefaultInteractivity function. You can reenable them by calling the enableDefaultInteractivity function.

State of visibility, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

This property is read-only.

Location of mouse pointer, returned as a 2-by-3 array. The CurrentPoint property contains the (x,y,z) coordinates of the mouse pointer with respect to the axes. The returned array is of the form:

[xfront yfront zfront xback yback zback]

The two points indicate the location of the last mouse click. However, if the figure has a WindowButtonMotionFcn callback defined, then the points indicate the last location of the mouse pointer. The figure also has a CurrentPoint property.

The values of the current point when using perspective projection can be different from the same point in orthographic projection because the shape of the axes volume can be different.

Orthogonal Projection

When using orthogonal projection, the values depend on whether the click is within the axes or outside the axes.

Perspective Projection

Clicking outside of the Axes object in perspective projection returns the front point as the current camera position. Only the back point updates with the coordinates of a point that lies on a line extending from the camera position through the pointer and intersecting the camera target at that point.

This property is read-only.

Type of graphics object returned as 'axes'.