Open Live Script
You can control where data appears in the axes by setting the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis limits. You also can change where the x-axis and y-axis lines appear (2-D plots only) or reverse the direction of increasing values along each axis.
Change Axis Limits
Create a line plot. Specify the axis limits using the xlim
and ylim
functions. For 3-D plots, use the zlim
function. Pass the functions a two-element vector of the form [min max]
.
x = linspace(-10,10,200); y = sin(4*x)./exp(x);plot(x,y)xlim([0 10])ylim([-0.4 0.8])
Use Semiautomatic Axis Limits
Set the maximum x-axis limit to 0 and the minimum y-axis limit to -1. Let MATLAB choose the other limits. For an automatically calculated minimum or maximum limit, use -inf
or inf
, respectively.
[X,Y,Z] = peaks;surf(X,Y,Z)xlabel('x-axis')ylabel('y-axis')xlim([-inf 0]) ylim([-1 inf])
Revert Back to Default Limits
Create a mesh plot and change the axis limits. Then revert back to the default limits.
[X,Y,Z] = peaks;mesh(X,Y,Z)xlim([-2 2])ylim([-2 2])zlim([-5 5])
xlim autoylim autozlim auto
Reverse Axis Direction
Control the direction of increasing values along the x-axis and y-axis by setting the XDir
and YDir
properties of the Axes
object. Set these properties to either 'reverse'
or 'normal'
(the default). Use the gca
command to access the Axes
object.
stem(1:10)ax = gca;ax.XDir = 'reverse';ax.YDir = 'reverse';
Display Axis Lines Through Origin
By default, the x-axis and y-axis appear along the outer bounds of the axes. Change the location of the axis lines so that they cross at the origin point (0,0)
by setting the XAxisLocation
and YAxisLocation
properties of the Axes
object. Set XAxisLocation
to either 'top'
, 'bottom'
, or 'origin'
. Set YAxisLocation
to either 'left'
, 'right'
, or 'origin'
. These properties only apply to axes in a 2-D view.
x = linspace(-5,5);y = sin(x);plot(x,y)ax = gca;ax.XAxisLocation = 'origin';ax.YAxisLocation = 'origin';
Remove the axes box outline.
box off
See Also
Functions
Properties
Related Topics
MATLAB Command
You clicked a link that corresponds to this MATLAB command:
Run the command by entering it in the MATLAB Command Window. Web browsers do not support MATLAB commands.
Select a Web Site
Choose a web site to get translated content where available and see local events and offers. Based on your location, we recommend that you select: .
You can also select a web site from the following list:
Americas
- América Latina (Español)
- Canada (English)
- United States (English)
Europe
- Belgium (English)
- Denmark (English)
- Deutschland (Deutsch)
- España (Español)
- Finland (English)
- France (Français)
- Ireland (English)
- Italia (Italiano)
- Luxembourg (English)
- Netherlands (English)
- Norway (English)
- Österreich (Deutsch)
- Portugal (English)
- Sweden (English)
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom (English)
Contact your local office