CODEWITHSUNDEEP
matlabplotlegendmatlab-figure
cgao
cgao

Reputation: 165

One combined legend entry for multiple plots

For some reason, I would like to plot the line and marker of the same data separately.

data1 = (1:1:10)';
data2 = (1:2:10);
figure(1);
plot(data1,data1,'or');
hold on;
plot(data2,data2,'-r');
legend('data');

However it will only display the legend for the first plot. And Matlab seems not to have option to manipulate the legend marker, color and linestyle. enter image description here

How can I make legend like this?

enter image description here

Thanks!

Upvotes: 1

Views: 3659

Answers (1)

Robert Seifert
Robert Seifert

Reputation: 25242

You will need to plot an invisible third plot (with almost no data to keep it fast) to define your legend:

data1 = (1:1:10)';
data2 = (1:2:10);
figure(1);
plot(data1,data1,'or'); hold on
plot(data2,data2,'-r'); hold on

%// legend plot
lp = plot(0,0,'-r','Marker','o','visible','off')
legend(lp,'data');

enter image description here

You need to pass the handle of that invisible plot to the legend command or you could even put the invisible plot into the legend:

legend(plot(0,0,'-r','Marker','o','visible','off'),'data');

If you need that more often, you can write a little helper function

style = @(LineStyle, MarkerStyle) plot(0,0,LineStyle,'Marker',MarkerStyle,'visible','off')
legend(style('-r','o'),'data');

... which you can customize with 'color', 'LineWidth' or whatever you want.

It enables you to create fully customized legends with multiple entries independently from your actually data:

legend([style('-r','o'),style('-b','x'),style('-g','v')],{'1','2','3'});

enter image description here

Upvotes: 5

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