Legend appearance and behavior
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Legend properties control the appearance and behavior of a Legend object. By changing property values, you can modify certain aspects of the legend. Use dot notation to refer to a particular object and property:
plot(rand(3))lgd = legend('a','b','c');c = lgd.TextColor;lgd.TextColor = 'red';Position and Layout
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NumColumns — Number of columns
1 (default) | positive integer
Number of columns, specified as a positive integer. If there are not enough legend items to fill the specified number of columns, then the number of columns that appear might be fewer.
Use the Orientation property to control whether the legend items appear in order along each column or along each row.
Example: lgd.NumColumns = 3
NumColumnsMode — Selection mode for NumColumns
'auto' (default) | 'manual'
Selection mode for the NumColumns value, specified as one of these values:
'auto'— Automatically select the value.'manual'— Use the manually specified value. To specify the value, set theNumColumnsproperty.
Direction — Order of legend items
"normal" | "reverse"
Since R2023b
Order of legend items, specified as one of the values in this table.
For most charts, the default direction is "normal". However, for stacked bar and area charts, the default direction is "reverse" to match the stacking order of the chart.
| Value | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| List the first item at the top and the last item at the bottom. |
|
| List the first item at the bottom and the last item at the top. |
|
DirectionMode — Selection mode for Direction
"auto" (default) | "manual"
Since R2023b
Selection mode for the Direction value, specified as one of these values:
"auto"— Automatically select the value."manual"— Use the manually specified value. To specify the value, set theDirectionproperty.
Position — Custom location and size
four-element vector
Custom location and size, specified as a four-element vector of the form [left bottom width height]. The first two values, left and bottom, specify the distance from the lower left corner of the figure to the lower left corner of the legend. The last two values, width and height, specify the legend dimensions. The Units property determines the position units.
If you specify the Position property, then MATLAB® automatically changes the Location property to 'none'.
Example: legend({'A','B'},'Position',[0.2 0.6 0.1 0.2])
Note
Setting this property has no effect when the parent container is a TiledChartLayout object.
Units — Position units
'normalized' (default) | 'inches' | 'centimeters' | 'characters' | 'points' | 'pixels'
Position units, specified as one of the values in this table.
Units | Description |
|---|---|
'normalized' (default) | Normalized with respect to the container, which is usually the figure. The lower-left corner of the figure maps to (0,0) and the upper-right corner maps to (1,1). Resizing the figure updates the values of the Position vector. |
'inches' | Inches. |
'centimeters' | Centimeters. |
'characters' | Based on the default system font character size.
|
'points' | Points. One point equals 1/72 inch. |
'pixels' | Pixels. Starting in R2015b, distances in pixels are independent of your system resolution on Windows® and Macintosh systems.
|
All units are measured from the lower-left corner of the container window.
This property affects the Position property. If you change the units, then it is good practice to return it to its default value after completing your computation to prevent affecting other functions that assume Units is the default value.
If you specify the Position and Units properties as Name,Value pairs when creating the object, then the order of specification matters. If you want to define the position with particular units, then you must set the Units property before the Position property.
Layout — Layout options
empty LayoutOptions array (default) | TiledChartLayoutOptions object
Layout options, specified as a TiledChartLayoutOptions object. This property is useful when the legend is in a tiled chart layout.
To position the legend within the grid of a tiled chart layout, set the Tile property 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 other objects.
This code places the legend lgd in the third tile of the grid..
lgd.Layout.Tile = 3;
To place the legend 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 legend in the tile to the right of the grid.
If the legend is not a child of a tiled chart layout (for example, if it is a child of the figure) then this property is empty and has no effect.
Labels
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AutoUpdate — Automatic update of legend items
"on" (default) | on/off logical value
Automatic update of legend items to reflect the current state of the axes, 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.
"on"— Automatically add legend items for new graphics objects added to the axes."off"— Do not automatically add legend items.
If you delete an object from the axes, the legend updates to reflect the change regardless of whether this property is set to "on" or "off". (since R2022b)
Example: legend(["A","B"],"AutoUpdate","off")
String — Text for legend labels
cell array of character vectors | string array | categorical array
Text for legend labels, specified as a cell array of character vectors, string array, or categorical array. To include special characters or Greek letters in the labels, use TeX markup. For a table of options, see the Interpreter property.
Title — Legend title
legend text object
Legend title, returned as a legend text object. To add a legend title, set the String property of the legend text object. To change the title appearance, such as the font style or color, set legend text properties. For a list, see Text Properties.
plot(rand(3));lgd = legend('line 1','line 2','line 3');lgd.Title.String = 'My Legend Title';lgd.Title.FontSize = 12;
Alternatively, use the title function to add a title and control the appearance.
plot(rand(3));lgd = legend('line 1','line 2','line 3');title(lgd,'My Legend Title','FontSize',12)
Font
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Color and Styling
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Color — Background color
[1 1 1] (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...
Background color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default value of [1 1 1] corresponds to white.
For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.
An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range
[0,1], for example,[0.4 0.6 0.7].A hexadecimal color code is a string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (
#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from0toF. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, the color codes"#FF8800","#ff8800","#F80", and"#f80"are equivalent.
Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.
| Color Name | Short Name | RGB Triplet | Hexadecimal Color Code | Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
"red" | "r" | [1 0 0] | "#FF0000" |
|
"green" | "g" | [0 1 0] | "#00FF00" |
|
"blue" | "b" | [0 0 1] | "#0000FF" |
|
"cyan" | "c" | [0 1 1] | "#00FFFF" |
|
"magenta" | "m" | [1 0 1] | "#FF00FF" |
|
"yellow" | "y" | [1 1 0] | "#FFFF00" |
|
"black" | "k" | [0 0 0] | "#000000" |
|
"white" | "w" | [1 1 1] | "#FFFFFF" |
|
"none" | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | No color |
Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.
| RGB Triplet | Hexadecimal Color Code | Appearance |
|---|---|---|
[0 0.4470 0.7410] | "#0072BD" |
|
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980] | "#D95319" |
|
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250] | "#EDB120" |
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[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560] | "#7E2F8E" |
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[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880] | "#77AC30" |
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[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330] | "#4DBEEE" |
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[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840] | "#A2142F" |
|
Example: legend({'A','B'},'Color','y')
Example: legend({'A','B'},'Color',[0.8 0.8 1])
Example: legend({'A','B'},'Color','#D9A2E9')
EdgeColor — Box outline color
[0.15 0.15 0.15] (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...
Box outline color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default value of [0.15 0.15 0.15] corresponds to dark gray.
For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.
An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range
[0,1], for example,[0.4 0.6 0.7].A hexadecimal color code is a string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (
#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from0toF. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, the color codes"#FF8800","#ff8800","#F80", and"#f80"are equivalent.
Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.
| Color Name | Short Name | RGB Triplet | Hexadecimal Color Code | Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
"red" | "r" | [1 0 0] | "#FF0000" |
|
"green" | "g" | [0 1 0] | "#00FF00" |
|
"blue" | "b" | [0 0 1] | "#0000FF" |
|
"cyan" | "c" | [0 1 1] | "#00FFFF" |
|
"magenta" | "m" | [1 0 1] | "#FF00FF" |
|
"yellow" | "y" | [1 1 0] | "#FFFF00" |
|
"black" | "k" | [0 0 0] | "#000000" |
|
"white" | "w" | [1 1 1] | "#FFFFFF" |
|
"none" | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | No color |
Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.
| RGB Triplet | Hexadecimal Color Code | Appearance |
|---|---|---|
[0 0.4470 0.7410] | "#0072BD" |
|
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980] | "#D95319" |
|
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250] | "#EDB120" |
|
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560] | "#7E2F8E" |
|
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880] | "#77AC30" |
|
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330] | "#4DBEEE" |
|
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840] | "#A2142F" |
|
Example: legend({'A','B'},'EdgeColor',[0 1 0])
BackgroundAlpha — Background transparency
1 (default) | scalar in the range [0, 1]
Since R2024a
Background transparency, specified as a scalar in the range [0, 1]. A value of 1 is fully opaque and 0 is completely transparent. Values between 0 and 1 are partially transparent. Here are some examples of legends with different BackgroundAlpha values.
| Value | Appearance |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Box — Display of box outline
'on' (default) | on/off logical value
Display of 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.
'on'— Display the box around the legend.'off'— Do not display the box around the legend.
Example: legend({'A','B'},'Box','off')
Interactivity
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ContextMenu — Context menu
ContextMenu object (default)
Context menu, specified as a ContextMenu object. Use this property to display a context menu when you right-click the object. Create the context menu using the uicontextmenu function.
Note
If the PickableParts property is set to 'none' or if the HitTest property is set to 'off', then the context menu does not appear.
Callbacks
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ItemHitFcn — Callback that executes when you click legend items
@defaultItemHitCallback (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector
Callback that executes when you click legend items, specified as one of these values:
Function handle. For example,
@myCallback.Cell array containing a function handle and additional arguments. For example,
{@myCallback,arg3}.Character vector that is a valid MATLAB command or function, which is evaluated in the base workspace (not recommended).
If you specify this property using a function handle, then MATLAB passes the Legend object and an event data structure as the first and second input arguments to the function. This table describes the fields in the event data structure.
Event Data Structure Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Peer | Chart object associated with the clicked legend item. |
Region | Region of legend item clicked, returned as either 'icon' or 'label'. |
SelectionType | Type of click, returned as one of these values:
|
Source | Legend object. |
EventName | Event name, 'ItemHit'. |
Note
If you set the ButtonDownFcn property, then the ItemHitFcn property is disabled.
Example
You can create interactive legends so that when you click an item in the legend, the associated chart updates in some way. For example, you can toggle the visibility of the chart or change its line width. Set the ItemHitFcn property of the legend to a callback function that controls how the charts change. This example shows how to toggle the visibility of a chart when you click the chart icon or label in a legend. It creates a callback function that changes the Visible property of the chart to either 'on' or 'off'.
Copy the following code to a new function file and save it as hitcallback_ex1.m either in the current folder or in a folder on the MATLAB search path. The two input arguments, src and evnt, are the legend object and an event data structure. MATLAB automatically passes these inputs to the callback function when you click an item in the legend. Use the Peer field of the event data structure to access properties of the chart object associated with the clicked legend item.
function hitcallback_ex1(src,evnt)if strcmp(evnt.Peer.Visible,'on') evnt.Peer.Visible = 'off';else evnt.Peer.Visible = 'on';endend
Then, plot four lines, create a legend, and assign the legend object to a variable. Set the ItemHitFcn property of the legend object to the callback function. Click items in the legend to show or hide the associated chart. The legend label changes to gray when you hide a chart.
plot(rand(4));l = legend('Line 1','Line 2','Line 3','Line 4');l.ItemHitFcn = @hitcallback_ex1;
ButtonDownFcn — Mouse-click callback
@bdowncb (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector
Mouse-click callback, specified as one of these values:
Function handle
Cell array containing a function handle and additionalarguments
Character vector that is a valid MATLAB commandor function, which is evaluated in the base workspace (not recommended)
Use this property to execute code when you click the object.If you specify this property using a function handle, then MATLAB passestwo arguments to the callback function when executing the callback:
Clicked object — Access properties of the clicked object from within the callback function.
Event data — Empty argument. Replace it with the tilde character (
~) in the function definition to indicate that this argument is not used.
For more information on how to use function handlesto define callback functions, see Create Callbacks for Graphics Objects.
Note
If the PickableParts property is set to 'none' orif the HitTest property is set to 'off',then this callback does not execute.
Callback Execution Control
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Parent/Child
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Identifiers
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Type — Type of graphics object
'legend' (default)
This property is read-only.
Type of graphics object, returned as 'legend'. Use this property to find all objects of a given type within a plotting hierarchy.
Version History
Introduced in R2014b
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R2024a: Control transparency with BackgroundAlpha property
Control the background transparency of a legend box by setting the BackgroundAlpha property to a value between 0 (completely transparent) and 1 (opaque).
R2023b: Control the order of legend items with Direction property
Control the order of the legend items by setting the Direction property of the legend to "normal" or "reverse".
R2023b: Legend order is reversed for stacked bar charts and area charts
The default order of legend items for stacked (vertical) bar charts and area charts is now reversed to match the stacking order of the chart. Previously, the legend items were listed in the opposite order of stacked bars and area charts.
To preserve the order of previous releases, set the Direction property of the legend to "normal".
R2022b: Legends update when you delete lines or other plot objects
If you delete an object from the axes, such as a line or scatter object, the legend updates to reflect the change regardless of whether the AutoUpdate property is set to "on" or "off".
Previously, the legend did not update when you removed objects from the axes while the AutoUpdate property was set to "off".
R2020a: UIContextMenu property is not recommended
Setting or getting UIContextMenu property is not recommended. Instead, use the ContextMenu property, which accepts the same type of input and behaves the same way as the UIContextMenu property.
There are no plans to remove the UIContextMenu property, but it is no longer listed when you call the set, get, or properties functions on the Legend object.
See Also
legend
Topics
- Access Property Values
- Graphics Object Properties
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