Scott - if I run your code as
name = 42;
x = sprintf(' %2d',name);
text(200,300,x,'fontsize',40);
then a figure appears with a blank axes, with no text whatsoever. That is because the interval for the x and y axes is [0 1]. If I want to see the number 42, then I have to change the x and y limits (or pan within the axes)
xlim([0 225])
ylim([0 325])
If I run these two statements, then the interval changes for each axes, and 42 appears in the top right corner. If you need to specify which axes to write this text object to, then include the Parent property as
text(200,300,x,'fontsize',40,'Parent',haxes);
where haxes is the handle to the axes that you wish to add the text object to.
