Matlab plotting tips

Put two legends in one figure

In matlab it is difficult to put two legends in one figure. However, there are several tricks to get this done. One of them is as follows,


% Plot with 9 curves
ph=plot(rand(20,9));
set(gca,'ylim',[-2,5]);

% Label curves 1 and 5
legend(ph(1),'trace one');

% Add and invisible axes
ah=axes('position',get(gca,'position'),'visible','off');

% Add new legend
legend(ah,ph(5),'trace five','location','west');


Cycle through markers in plot loop

If you are plotting in a loop, and want each loop to use a different plot
marker, then


% Define the markers
markers = '.ox+*sdv^<>ph

% The dataset
y=rand(10);
x=[1:10];

% The Loop for plots
for i=1:10,

% Select marker if there are more data than the markers
marker=markers(rem(i,length(markers))+1)

% Plot
plot(x,y(:,i),marker)
hold on
end