How do you plot two figures at the same time in Matlab? Every time I use surf() it plots over the old one. Also, how do you save the images so you can export them to MS word or powerpoint or something?
You can plot two figures in separate windows:
figure(1)
% do plotting
figure(2)
% do plotting
or in subplots:
figure(1)
subplot(1, 2, 1)
% do plotting
subplot(1, 2, 2)
% do plotting
For more info, you can see the MATLAB docs for the figure and subplot functions (in the help menu).
For printing the images to a file, see the documentation for the print function. Or just go to File -> Save As, and pick the image type you want.
Use the command figure before each plot/surf/mesh.
example
X = [1:5];
figure('Name', 'My plot');
plot(X, X+X);
figure('Name', 'My plot number 2');
plot(X, X + X + X);
Call figure before calling surf. figure opens a new figure window. When you call surf, it will plot into the currently selected figure.
You can copy-paste figures into Word or Powerpoint by using, in the figure window, the menu Edit->Copy Figure. If in, say Word, you click on the pasted figure and select 'ungroup', you can even go and edit the figure.
To save, you select 'Save as...' in the File-menu in the figure window. For Adobe Illustrator, save as .eps (works better than .ai).
As another small addition to previous responses, you can print a figure directly to clipboard using print -dmeta command. Then just paste to Word or PowerPoint document. I found it very neat.
#kwatford If you use hold all rather than hold on then Matlab will use the next defined colour and linestyle for that plot. check out the difference between
figure(1);
plot(rand(100,1));
hold on ;
plot(rand(100,1)+2);
and
figure(2);
plot(rand(100,1));
hold all;
plot(rand(100,1)+2);
To create a new figure in a separate window, just say figure. To export as an image file, use the print command with the appropriate -d option to select the file format. Like so:
figure;
plot(rand(100,1), rand(100, 1), 'r*');
print -dpng 'MyImage.png'
Execute hold on to hold the current figure. New plots will be added to the existing plots. Use hold off to change it back to the previous behavior.
In addition to the print command (see Drew Hall's response), you can export to other formats via the File menu, or use the Copy Figure function of the edit menu. If you want to paste it into Word or Powerpoint, you might get a better result if you use "Paste Special" instead of normal Paste.
Related
When in Matlab I use openfig(filename); to open a saved figure, it always opens a new window. All the 'reuse' argument does is not load the file when it appears to already be open. However, I wish to open the file into a given figure, and just overwrite its contents. Is there a way to pass a figure handle to openfig, or is there another function that would accomplish this?
So in code, what I would like to do is something along the following lines:
f = figure;
openfig(filename, 'Figure',f);
and then the figure would be displayed in figure f rather than having opened a second figure window.
I think you can arrange something close to what you want with the copyobj function. Here is a try with a docked figure:
% --- Create sample figure
h = figure;
ezplot('sin(x)');
set(gcf, 'Windowstyle', 'docked');
pause
% --- Replace the axes
clf
g = openfig('test.fig', 'invisible');
copyobj(get(g, 'CurrentAxes'), h);
delete(g);
Which gives me a smooth replacement of the axes, without flickering of the figure.
However, I don't know how this would behave with a fullscreen figure, it surely depends on the method you choose. Check also the doc of copyobj in detail, it's not copying everything so you may want to use the legacy option.
I croped some parts of images and displayed them in one figure with subplots. Number of subplots are not certain. I read images from a file then crop them. My aim is that when I click or double click on an subplot, I want to see whole image in new figure.
I want to give an example just to make clear my question. if I click on first subplot, I want to see whole cameraman image in new figure.
Is it possible? If it is possible, What is the way?
The example uses the ButtonDownFcn that can be added to most matlab plot commands.
Just copy both functions into one file and run the "interactivePlot" function.
The list_of_images contains all matrices that shall be plotted.
The number of matrices is flexible. However, you have to adjust the subplot command...
function interactivePlot
list_of_images = {rand(5), rand(10), rand(50), rand(100)}
for ii = 1:length(list_of_images)
subplot(2,2,ii)
imagesc(list_of_images{ii}, 'ButtonDownFcn', #newFigure1)
end
end
function newFigure1(h1, h2)
figure()
data = get(h1, 'CData');
imagesc(data)
end
I had same problem, change your function like below then it will be solved:
function newFigure1(h1, h2)
figure()
data = get(h1, 'CData');
colormap(gray);
imagesc(data)
end
I used the plot command to plot a figure and then changed lots of its properties using set command. I also store the handle of the plot (say h1).
What I need is to use the handle to plot the same figure again later in my code. I checked the plot command and did not find any version that accepts handle. I also thought of getting the Xdata and Ydata and use them to re-plot the same figure.
What is the simplest solution?
Edit 1: A working sample code based on copyobj that PeterM suggested.
hf(1) = figure(1);
plot(peaks);
hf(2) = figure(2);
plot(membrane);
hf(3) = figure(3);
ha(1) = subplot(1,2,1);
ha(2) = subplot(1,2,2);
for i = 1:2
hc = get(hf(i),'children');
hgc = get(hc, 'children');
copyobj(hgc,ha(i));
end
Edit 2: I also found this function that can copy figures (including legend) into a subplot.
I have run into this situation before. Depending on what you are trying to do the function copyobj may be appropriate. This function lets you take the contents of one axes and copy it to a new figure.
Improving #PeterM nice answer, one easier way would be:
fig2H=copy(gcf) % or change gcf to your figure handle
But it depends on what you want, if you want only the axes, or the whole figure… (btw, it doesn't seem to copy the legend handle).
You can use saveas to save the figure in a file, and the open to load the exact same figure from this file.
This would be the laziest way to accomplish what you want.
% Sample plot
f1 = figure(1);
plot(0:0.1:2*pi, sin(0:0.1:2*pi));
f2 = figure(2);
% The code you need
saveas(f1, 'temp.fig')
f2 = hgload('temp.fig')
delete('temp.fig')
I have used the function figs2subplots (given in Edit2 in the original question) - it does the work and is very easy to use.
Hi , I want to save this image produced from imagesc(magic(3)), the exact rainbow representation, is it possible?
Thanks.
This question might look like a duplicate , but it is not . I looked at the solution to the similar question at this site , but it did not satisfy me .
I have looked into the Matlab help center and the close answer that I got was this one , at the bottom of http://goo.gl/p907wR
To save the figure as a file (don't matter how it was created), one should do:
saveas(figureHandle,'filename','format')
where figureHandle could be the gcf handle, which means: get current figure.
As pointed in the discussion, if someone doesn't want the ticks to be shown, the person can add:
set(gca,'XTick',[])
set(gca,'YTick',[])
where gca is the handle to the current axis, just as gcf. If you have more than one axis, don't forget to "handle the handles". They are returned to you when you create them, i.e.:
hFig = figure(pairValuedProperties); % Create and get the figure handle
hAxes1 = suplot(2,1,1,pairValuedProperties); % Create and get the upper axes handle
hAxes2 = suplot(2,1,2,pairValuedProperties); % Create and get the bottom axes handle
where the pair value are the figure or axes properties declared in the following syntax:
'PropertyName1',PropertyValue1,'PropertyName2',PropertyValue2,…
Here are the matlab documentation about the Figure and Axes Properties, and about the saveas method.
Example:
The image saved with the following code:
figure
imagesc(magic(3))
set(gca,'XTick',[]) % Remove the ticks in the x axis!
set(gca,'YTick',[]) % Remove the ticks in the y axis
set(gca,'Position',[0 0 1 1]) % Make the axes occupy the hole figure
saveas(gcf,'Figure','png')
You can use:
print -djpeg99 'foo.jpg'
This will save it as 'foo.jpg' as you need.
You can use the following code
imagesc(A);
%%saving the image
hgexport(gcf, 'figure1.jpg', hgexport('factorystyle'), 'Format', 'jpeg');
set(gcf,'PaperUnits','inches','PaperPosition',[0 0 4 4]);
print -djpeg filename.jpg -r10
Here A will be the matrix from which you will have an image. And the image will be saved as filename.jpg in the directory.
Usually when I plot in MATLAB, it always draws on the same figure. How do I make it draw in a new figure?
I know it is pretty elementary, but I'm not finding it using Google Search.
figure;
plot(something);
or
figure(2);
plot(something);
...
figure(3);
plot(something else);
...
etc.
While doing "figure(1), figure(2),..." will solve the problem in most cases, it will not solve them in all cases. Suppose you have a bunch of MATLAB figures on your desktop and how many you have open varies from time to time before you run your code. Using the answers provided, you will overwrite these figures, which you may not want. The easy workaround is to just use the command "figure" before you plot.
Example: you have five figures on your desktop from a previous script you ran and you use
figure(1);
plot(...)
figure(2);
plot(...)
You just plotted over the figures on your desktop. However the code
figure;
plot(...)
figure;
plot(...)
just created figures 6 and 7 with your desired plots and left your previous plots 1-5 alone.
The other thing to be careful about, is to use the clf (clear figure) command when you are starting a fresh plot. Otherwise you may be plotting on a pre-existing figure (not possible with the figure command by itself, but if you do figure(2) there may already be a figure #2), with more than one axis, or an axis that is placed kinda funny. Use clf to ensure that you're starting from scratch:
figure(N);
clf;
plot(something);
...
As has already been said: figure will create a new figure for your next plots. While calling figure you can also configure it. Example:
figHandle = figure('Name', 'Name of Figure', 'OuterPosition',[1, 1, scrsz(3), scrsz(4)]);
The example sets the name for the window and the outer size of it in relation to the used screen.
Here figHandle is the handle to the resulting figure and can be used later to change appearance and content. Examples:
Dot notation:
figHandle.PaperOrientation = 'portrait';
figHandle.PaperUnits = 'centimeters';
Old Style:
set(figHandle, 'PaperOrientation', 'portrait', 'PaperUnits', 'centimeters');
Using the handle with dot notation or set, options for printing are configured here.
By keeping the handles for the figures with distinc names you can interact with multiple active figures. To set a existing figure as your active, call figure(figHandle). New plots will go there now.
Another common option is when you do want multiple plots in a single window
f = figure;
hold on
plot(x1,y1)
plot(x2,y2)
...
plots multiple data sets on the same (new) figure.
As simple as this-
figure, plot(yourfigure);