How can I change the marker size in legend?
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Hi, I am having a trouble with chaning the marker size in legned. I plotted some graphs as follows.
plot(Model.Period,Model.QQ,'o','MarkerEdgeColor','k', 'LineWidth', 2, ...
'MarkerFaceColor','none','MarkerSize',3);
ylabel('Q(cms)','FontWeight','bold');
hold on;
area(Model.Period,Model.QQ, 'FaceColor',[.6 .9 .8],'EdgeColor','k');
hold off;
xlim([min(Model.Period) max(Model.Period)]);
Graph.leg3 = legend('Q as o-symbol','Q as area plot');
set(Graph.leg3,'Location','NorthEast', 'FontWeight', 'bold').
I want to increase the size of marker in the legend without changing the marker size in the graphs. Can you help me, please? Thank you.
4 个评论
Ken
2016-5-31
You used to be able to do this. The kiddies keep changing things for the worse. Mathworks: Leave things alone if the alternative is reduced capability.
RT5
2016-7-19
You still can change the marker size in the legend. You need to use the icons.Children.MarkerSize property of legend. Here is a link to a nice explanation:
Just tried this out in R2015b and works fine.
Lauren Cook
2018-3-7
I just tried doing this with MATLAB 2014b with the following code
sz = 20:30:(20+30*5);
[h,icons,plots,legend_text] = legend('1hour','3hour','6hour','12hour','24hour','Location','NorthWest');
for i = 1:length(icons)
icons(i).Children.MarkerSize = sz(i);
end
|And I got the following error: |
No public field MarkerSize exists for class matlab.graphics.GraphicsPlaceholder.
Error in plot_depth_qqplot_allDRTM (line 54)
icons(i).Children.MarkerSize = sz(i);
I also tried this:
for i = 1:length(icons)
set(icons(i),'MarkerSize', sz(i));
end
And got this error:
Error using matlab.graphics.primitive.Text/set
There is no MarkerSize property on the Text class.
I am trying to set each marker size in the legend equal to the size in the figure. The size increases as the duration for that point increase (e.g., 1hr to 24 hrs). Is is actually possible to change the individual marker size in a legend? If so, what am I doing wrong? Thanks for any help.
Walter Roberson
2019-9-23
sz = 20:30:(20+30*5);
That is 6 entries
[h,icons,plots,legend_text] = legend('1hour','3hour','6hour','12hour','24hour','Location','NorthWest');
That has 5 legend entries. The mismatch is likely leading to difficulties.
回答（11 个）
Shawn Daugherty
2018-9-10
编辑：Shawn Daugherty
2018-9-10
This might be a roundabout way but in R2017b this works for me:
% Create a legend with 3 entries
[h,icons] = legend('Entry 1','Entry 2','Entry 3');
% Find the 'line' objects
icons = findobj(icons,'Type','line');
% Find lines that use a marker
icons = findobj(icons,'Marker','none','-xor');
% Resize the marker in the legend
set(icons,'MarkerSize',20);
Hope this helps.
2 个评论
Walter Roberson
2018-9-11
编辑：Walter Roberson
2018-9-11
I am not sure why your findobj() ends in -xor ? You would normally need another condition after that.
Perhaps,
icons = findobj(icons, '-not', 'Marker', 'none');
In a more general context where icons might be mixed objects,
icons = findobj(icons, '-property', 'Marker', '-and', '-not', 'Marker', 'none');
Note that this solution uses undocumented outputs to legend() that have caused problems in recent releases of Matlab (since r2018b). For a full explanation of this problem, see this comment.
How to create legend components that are customizable
Copy the plotted objects and replace their (x,y,z) coordinates with NaN values so the copied objects do not appear in the plot. You can change the graphics properties to the copied objects and use their handles to create the customizable legend.
Demo
% Create the plot
ax = axes();
hold on
h(1) = plot(linspace(1,5,25), rand(1,25), 'ro', 'DisplayName', 'foo');
h(2) = plot(1:5, rand(1,5), 'b-', 'DisplayName', 'bar');
% copy the objects
hCopy = copyobj(h, ax);
% replace coordinates with NaN
% Either all XData or all YData or both should be NaN.
set(hCopy(1),'XData', NaN', 'YData', NaN)
set(hCopy(2),'XData', NaN', 'YData', NaN)
% Note, these lines can be combined: set(hCopy,'XData', NaN', 'YData', NaN)
% To avoid "Data lengths must match" warning, assuming hCopy is a handle array,
% use arrayfun(@(h)set(h,'XData',nan(size(h.XData))),hCopy)
% Alter the graphics properties
hCopy(1).MarkerSize = 15;
hCopy(1).LineWidth = 2;
hCopy(2).LineWidth = 3;
% Create legend using copied objects
legend(hCopy)
Note that some graphics objects have different property names for XData and YData.
Why you souldn't use solutions that rely on legend() outputs
Since r2018b only the first output of the legend function is documented. Archived documentation for the legend function from r2016a to r2018a suggests avoiding the use of the outputs other than the first output:
Note: This syntax is not recommended and creates a legend that does not support all graphics features. Use the l = legend(__) syntax to return the legend object and set Legend Properties instead.
For example, if the first and second outputs to legend() are both included, it interferes with the ability to change the fontsize of the legend text.
6 个评论
@Adam Danz if I use a "scatter" instead of a "plot"
h(2) = scatter(1:5, rand(1,5), 10, 'DisplayName', 'bar');
It does not recognise the MarkerSize
hCopy(1).MarkerSize = 15;
How to make the trick you proposed, but with the "scatter" instead of "plot" ?
@Adam Danz I tried to use "SizeData" instead of "MarkerSize", but it does not work:
for i = 1 : 2
hCopy(i) = copyobj(h1(i), ax);
set(hCopy(i),'XData', NaN', 'YData', NaN)
% hCopy(i).SizeDataMode = 'manual';
hCopy(i).SizeData = 15;
end
@Sim, you must be using scatter objects. Since a single scatter object can have varying marker sizes, the size of the marker in the legend does not represent a particular marker size.
Instead of copying scatter objects, just use plot to create the legend symbol.
Example:
h = scatter(6:-1:1,1:6,50:50:300,'bo');
ax = gca();
hold on
% Create legend marker
hCopy = plot(nan,nan,'bo','MarkerSize',20,'DisplayName', 'foo');
legend(hCopy)
Sim
2022-9-17
@Adam Danz Me again, Hi! ...What if I want slightly transparent symbols in the legend. Indeed, I can set transparency for scatter:
scatter(x,y,'o','MarkerEdgeAlpha',0.2)
but I cannot do the same for plot...right?
Any workaround to add transparency to the legends symbols, and still using your method?
Adam Danz
2023-6-1
Transparency for line objects is not fully supported and does not have a property similar to MarkerEdgeAlpha. Instead of copying the axes objects and duplicating them for the legend, you could replace the line object with a scatter object that has the same color and size but applies MarkerEdgeAlpha.
Jeffers
2016-8-11
编辑：Walter Roberson
2016-8-11
A brute force (not very elegant) kind of thing I often do (Matlab 2015b, but should work in all) is to create a new plot of a single point (on the same figure) with the same marker type and the size you require in the legend. Just make sure the point doesnt show up in your graph (e.g. by controlling the axis limits using axis([xmin xmax ymin ymax])).
E.g.
plot(4:1:8,1:2:9,'x','MarkerSize',10,'Color',[1 0 0]);
hold on;
axis([0 9 0 9]);
p=plot(100,100,'x','MarkerSize',50,'Color',[1 0 0]);
l=legend(p,'Big Marker','Location','NorthWest');
set(l,'Interpreter', 'latex','FontSize',20);
Of course, you can do this with several different types of data point (marker), where 'p' becomes a vector e.g. p(1)=plot();p(2)=plot();...
1 个评论
Walter Roberson
2016-8-11
You can use nan or inf for the point coordinates to ensure it will not render the points without having to adjust the plotting limits.
Ramalingam Kailasham
2018-3-9
3 个投票
legendmarkeradjust does not give a satisfactory performance with R2017b. The legend markers are of a different style from the figure. LaTeX interpretation also seems to be a problem. Shouldn't there be a simpler way to adjust the legend marker size??!
Jing Ci Neo
2019-9-23
编辑：Jing Ci Neo
2019-9-23
3 个投票
I find that this works. For example if I want to change the symbol size of the second and third symbols:
[hLg, icons]=legend('Lines','A','B','C');
icons = findobj(icons,'Type','patch');
icons = findobj(icons,'Marker','none','-xor');
set(icons(2:3),'MarkerSize',11);
7 个评论
Walter Roberson
2019-9-23
I am confused about the purpose of the -xor that is not followed by a condition?
Jing Ci Neo
2019-9-23
I must admit I have no idea and I'm curious about it as well. Both "-or" and "-xor" works, and both "-and" and "-not" does not work
Hannes Schwingenschlögl
2019-11-12
is there a possibility of getting the variable "icons" out of an existing legend without creating a new one?
Walter Roberson
2019-11-12
No. When the icons output is requested, legend builds the internal structure differently. The properties do not exist in a way that can be changed when icons is not used.
Samuel Nathan
2020-4-16
This Code worked perfectly in 2019b.
Adam Danz
2020-4-18
As Walter pointed out, this solution uses udocumented outputs to legend() that have caused problems in recent releases of Matlab (since r2018b). For a full explanation of this problem, see this comment.
Ritam
2025-10-8
This worked perfect on MATLAB R2022b. Thank you so much :)
Sachin Ganjare
2012-10-9
1 个投票
Refer below link:
Hope it helps!!!
9 个评论
Hwee
2012-10-9
Sachin Ganjare
2012-10-9
Did you tried the solution mentioned at the end of thread I shared?
Hwee
2012-10-9
Sachin Ganjare
2012-10-9
Probably below link helps:
It shows usage of 'Position' property for legend resizing
Hwee
2012-10-9
Sachin Ganjare
2012-10-9
编辑：Sachin Ganjare
2012-10-9
I think your 'ShowHiddenHandles' property is 'OFF'. Probabaly switching it to ON & then applying solution in thread will help.
Hwee
2012-10-9
Sachin Ganjare
2012-10-9
plot_handle = plot(Model.Period,Model.QQ,'o','MarkerEdgeColor'.....
set(plot_handle, 'ShowHiddenHandles', 'on')
Hwee
2012-10-9
Lionel Trébuchon
2016-5-11
1 个投票
I am interested too! Neither "children" nor "findobj" seem to work in Matlab 2015b!
Friendly greetings, Lionel
Andreas
2017-3-24
1 个投票
The function adjust legend marker size has now been updated to work with Matlab 2016b http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/46105-adjust-legend-marker-size
Azzi Abdelmalek
2012-10-9
h=legend(text')
set(h,'fontsize',20)
6 个评论
Azzi Abdelmalek
2012-10-9
编辑：Azzi Abdelmalek
2012-10-9
set(h,'fontsize',20,'Position', [.1,.2,.1,.2])
adjust your position
Hwee
2012-10-9
Azzi Abdelmalek
2012-10-9
can you explain?
Hwee
2012-10-9
Azzi Abdelmalek
2012-10-9
编辑：Azzi Abdelmalek
2012-10-9
t=0:0.1:10
y=sin(t)
plot(t,y)
ax2=axes
plot(0,0,'linewidth',10,'parent',ax2)
legend(ax2,'txt')
set(ax2,'visible','off')
Try this function I made http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/46105-adjust-legend-marker-size
3 个评论
Matthew Cooper
2014-7-7
Thanks Andreas that is a great function.
Luis Pazos
2015-12-3
编辑：Walter Roberson
2019-9-23
Hi Andreas,
Do you know if this script still works? I have tried it in the last version of matlab, and doesn't seem to be able to find any children for legend.
I paste the response of the first four lines of you code in my figure:
Input:
s=get(legend)
s1=s.Children
s2=[]
s2=findobj(s1,{'type','patch','-or','type','line'})
Output:
s =
Box: 'on'
Color: [1 1 1]
EdgeColor: [1 1 1]
FontName: 'Cambria'
FontSize: 32
FontAngle: 'normal'
FontWeight: 'normal'
Interpreter: 'tex'
LineWidth: 0.6000
Location: 'northeast'
Orientation: 'vertical'
Position: [0.5988 0.6667 0.2943 0.1901]
String: {'Sqrt(PL) = n(x)' 'Photocurrent'}
TextColor: [0 0 0]
Units: 'normalized'
Children: []
Parent: [1x1 Figure]
Visible: 'on'
HandleVisibility: 'on'
UIContextMenu: [1x1 ContextMenu]
BusyAction: 'queue'
BeingDeleted: 'off'
Interruptible: 'off'
CreateFcn: ''
DeleteFcn: ''
ButtonDownFcn: @bdowncb
Type: 'legend'
Tag: 'legend'
UserData: []
Selected: 'off'
SelectionHighlight: 'on'
HitTest: 'on'
PickableParts: 'visible'
s1 =
0x0 empty GraphicsPlaceholder array.
s2 =
[]
s2 =
0x0 empty GraphicsPlaceholder array.
I also attach the figure in which I'm applying this. What I would need is basically to make the lines of the legend larger, because at the moment they are disproportionately small compared to the letters. I would really appreciate help with this.
Thanks in advance, Luis
Walter Roberson
2016-5-11
As of R2014b, legend no longer have children.
Ioannis Matthaiou
2016-3-9
0 个投票
hi, has anyone found a solution as to how to adjust markersize property of the legend in matlab 2015b? thanks, yiannis
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