Label Y-Axis - MATLAB Ylabel

3/6/2018 Label y-axis - MATLAB ylabel
ylabel
Label y-axis
Syntax
ylabel(txt)
ylabel(target,txt)
ylabel( ___ ,Name,Value)

t = ylabel( ___ )
Description
ylabel(txt) labels the y-axis of the current axes or chart returned by the gca command. Reissuing the example
ylabel command causes the new label to replace the old label.
ylabel(target,txt) adds the label to the axes or chart specified by target.
ylabel( ___ ,Name,Value) modifies the label appearance using one or more name-value pair arguments. example
For example, 'FontSize',12 sets the font size to 12 points. Specify name-value pair arguments after all
other input arguments. Modifying the label appearance is not supported for all types of charts.
t = ylabel( ___ ) returns the text object used as the y-axis label. Use t to make future modifications to the
label after it is created.
Examples collapse all
 Label y-Axis
Try it in MATLAB
plot((1:10).^2)
ylabel('Population')
https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/ylabel.html 1/14
 Label y-Axis with Numeric Input
Try it in MATLAB
figure
plot((1:10).^2)
ylabel(123)
MATLAB® displays 123 beside the y-axis.
 Create Multiline Label
Create a multiline label using a multiline cell array.

Try it in MATLAB
figure
plot((1:10).^2)
ylabel({2010;'Population';'in Years'})
 Include Superscript and Subscript in Axis Labels
Use the '^' and '_' characters to include superscripts and subscripts
in the axis labels. Use curly braces {} to modify more than one Try it in MATLAB
character.
t = linspace(0,1);
y = exp(t);
plot(t,y)
xlabel('t_{seconds}')
ylabel('e^t')
 Create y-Axis Label and Set Font Properties
Use Name,Value pairs to set the font size, font weight, and text color
properties of the y-axis label. Try it in MATLAB
figure
plot((1:10).^2)
ylabel('Population','FontSize',12,...
'FontWeight','bold','Color','r')
'FontSize',12 displays the label text in 12-point font. 'FontWeight','bold' makes the text bold. 'Color','r'
sets the text color to red.
 Label y-Axis of Specific Axes
Create two subplots and return the axes handles, s(1) and s(2).
Try it in MATLAB
figure
s(1) = subplot(2,1,1);
plot((1:10).^2)
s(2) = subplot(2,1,2);
plot((1:10).^3)
Label the y-axis of the top plot by referring to its axes handle, s(1).
ylabel(s(1),'Population')
 Label y-Axis and Return Object Handle
Label the y-axis and return the handle to the text object used as the
label. Try it in MATLAB
plot((1:10).^2)
t = ylabel('Population');
Set the color of the label to red. Starting in R2014b, you can use dot notation to set properties. If you are using an
earlier release, use the set function instead.
t.Color = 'red';
Input Arguments collapse all
txt — Axis label

 string | character vector | string array | character array | cell array | numeric value
Axis label, specified as a string, character vector, string array, character array, cell array, or numeric value.
Example: 'my label'
Example: {'first line','second line'}
Example: 123
To include numeric variables with text in a label, use the num2str function. For example:
x = 42;
txt = ['The value is ',num2str(x)];
To include special characters, such as superscripts, subscripts, Greek letters, or mathematical symbols use TeX
markup. For a list of supported markup, see the Interpreter property.
To create multiline labels:
• Use a string array, where each element contains a line of text, such as ["first line","second line"].
• Use a cell array, where each cell contains a line of text, such as {'first line','second line'}.
• Use a character array, where each row contains the same number of characters, such as ['abc'; 'ab '].
• Use sprintf to create text with a new line character, such as sprintf('first line \n second line').
Numeric labels are converted to text using sprintf('%g',value). For example, 12345678 displays as
1.23457e+07.
 Note
The words default, factory, and remove are reserved words that will not appear in a label when quoted as
a normal characters. To display any of these words individually, precede them with a backslash, such as
'\default' or '\remove'.
target — Target for label

 Axes object | graphics object
Target for label, specified as an Axes object or a graphics object that has a YLabel property. For example, you can
add a y-axis label to a HeatmapChart object.
If you do not specify the target, then the ylabel function adds the label to the graphics object returned by the gca
command.
 Note
Some charts do not support modifying the label appearance, such as the color, or returning the text object as
an output argument.
Name-Value Pair Arguments

Specify optional comma-separated pairs of Name,Value arguments. Name is the argument name and Value is the
corresponding value. Name must appear inside single quotes (' '). You can specify several name and value pair
arguments in any order as Name1,Value1,...,NameN,ValueN.
Example: 'Color','red','FontSize',12 specifies red, 12-point font.
In addition to the following, you can specify other text object properties using Name,Value pair arguments. See Text
Properties. collapse all
'FontSize' — Font size

 11 (default) | scalar value greater than 0
Font size, specified as a scalar value greater than 0 in point units. One point equals 1/72 inch. To change the font
units, use the FontUnits property.
Setting the font size properties for the associated axes also affects the label font size. The label font size updates to
equal the axes font size times the label scale factor. The FontSize property of the axes contains the axes font size.
The LabelFontSizeMultiplier property of the axes contains the label scale factor. By default, the axes font size is
10 points and the scale factor is 1.1, so the y-axis label font size is 11 points.
Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64
'FontWeight' — Thickness of text characters

 'normal' (default) | 'bold'
Thickness of the text characters, specified as one of these values:
• 'normal' — Default weight as defined by the particular font

• 'bold' — Thicker character outlines than normal
®
®
MATLAB uses the FontWeight property to select a font from those available on your system. Not all fonts have a
bold font weight. Therefore, specifying a bold font weight still can result in the normal font weight.
 Note
The 'light' and 'demi' font weight values have been removed. Use 'normal' instead.
'FontName' — Font name

 system supported font name | 'FixedWidth'
Font name, specified as the name of the font to use or 'FixedWidth'. To display and print properly, the font name
must be a font that your system supports. The default font depends on the specific operating system and locale.
To use a fixed-width font that looks good in any locale, use 'FixedWidth'. The 'FixedWidth' value relies on the
root FixedWidthFontName property. Setting the root FixedWidthFontName property causes an immediate update of
the display to use the new font.
Example: 'Cambria'
'Color' — Text color

 [0.15 0.15 0.15] (default) | RGB triplet | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...
Text color, specified as an RGB triplet or one of the color options listed in the table.
For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the
intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1]; for
example, [0.4 0.6 0.7]. Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the long and
short color name options and the equivalent RGB triplet values.
Option Description Equivalent RGB Triplet
'red' or 'r' Red [1 0 0]
'green' or 'g' Green [0 1 0]
'blue' or 'b' Blue [0 0 1]
'yellow' or 'y' Yellow [1 1 0]
'magenta' or 'm' Magenta [1 0 1]
'cyan' or 'c' Cyan [0 1 1]
'white' or 'w' White [1 1 1]
'black' or 'k' Black [0 0 0]
'none' No color Not applicable

Example: 'blue'
Example: [0 0 1]
'Interpreter' — Interpretation of text characters

 'tex' (default) | 'latex' | 'none'
Interpretation of text characters, specified as one of these values:
• 'tex' — Interpret characters using a subset of TeX markup.

• 'latex' — Interpret characters using LaTeX markup.
• 'none' — Display literal characters.
TeX Markup
By default, MATLAB supports a subset of TeX markup. Use TeX markup to add superscripts and subscripts, modify
the font type and color, and include special characters in the text.
This table lists the supported modifiers with the Interpreter property set to 'tex'. Modifiers remain in effect until
the end of the text. Superscripts and subscripts are an exception because they only modify the next character or the
characters within the curly braces.
Modifier Description Example
^{ } Superscript 'text^{superscript}'
_{ } Subscript 'text_{subscript}'
\bf Bold font '\bf text'
\it Italic font '\it text'
\sl Oblique font (usually the same as italic '\sl text'

font)
\rm Normal font '\rm text'
\fontname{specifier} Font name — Set specifier as the '\fontname{Courier} text'

name of a font family. You can use this
in combination with other modifiers.
\fontsize{specifier} Font size — Set specifier as a '\fontsize{15} text'

numeric scalar value in point units to
change the font size.
\color{specifier} Font color — Set specifer as one of '\color{magenta} text'

these colors: red, green, yellow,
magenta, blue, black, white, gray,
darkGreen, orange, or lightBlue.
\color[rgb]{specifier} Custom font color — Set specifier as '\color[rgb]{0,0.5,0.5} text'

a three-element RGB triplet.
This table lists the supported special characters with the Interpreter property set to 'tex'.
Character Character Character

Symbol Symbol Symbol
Sequence Sequence Sequence
\alpha α \upsilon υ \sim ~
\angle ∠ \phi \leq ≤
\ast * \chi χ \infty ∞
\beta β \psi ψ \clubsuit ♣
\gamma γ \omega ω \diamondsuit ♦
\delta δ \Gamma Γ \heartsuit ♥
\epsilon ϵ \Delta Δ \spadesuit ♠
\zeta ζ \Theta Θ \leftrightarrow ↔
\eta η \Lambda Λ \leftarrow ←
\theta θ \Xi Ξ \Leftarrow ⇐
Character Character Character

Symbol Symbol Symbol
Sequence Sequence Sequence
\vartheta ϑ \Pi Π \uparrow ↑
\iota ι \Sigma Σ \rightarrow →
\kappa κ \Upsilon ϒ \Rightarrow ⇒
\lambda λ \Phi Φ \downarrow ↓
\mu µ \Psi Ψ \circ º
\nu ν \Omega Ω \pm ±
\xi ξ \forall ∀ \geq ≥
\pi π \exists ∃ \propto ∝
\rho ρ \ni ∍ \partial ∂
\sigma σ \cong ≅ \bullet •
\varsigma ς \approx ≈ \div ÷
\tau τ \Re ℜ \neq ≠
\equiv ≡ \oplus ⊕ \aleph ℵ
\Im ℑ \cup ∪ \wp ℘
\otimes ⊗ \subseteq ⊆ \oslash ∅
\cap ∩ \in ∈ \supseteq ⊇
\supset ⊃ \lceil ⌈ \subset ⊂
\int ∫ \cdot · \o ο
\rfloor ⌋ \neg ¬ \nabla ∇
\lfloor ⌊ \times x \ldots ...
\perp ⊥ \surd √ \prime ´
\wedge ∧ \varpi ϖ \0 ∅
\rceil ⌉ \rangle 〉 \mid |
\vee ∨ \langle 〈 \copyright ©
LaTeX Markup
To use LaTeX markup, set the Interpreter property to 'latex'. Use dollar symbols around the text, for example,
use '$\int_1^{20} x^2 dx$' for inline mode or '$$\int_1^{20} x^2 dx$$' for display mode.
The displayed text uses the default LaTeX font style. The FontName, FontWeight, and FontAngle properties do not
have an effect. To change the font style, use LaTeX markup.
The maximum size of the text that you can use with the LaTeX interpreter is 1200 characters. For multiline text, this
reduces by about 10 characters per line.
For more information about the LaTeX system, see The LaTeX Project website at http://www.latex-project.org/.
Output Arguments collapse all
t — Text object
 text object
Text object used as the y-axis label. Use t to access and modify properties of the label after its created.
See Also
Functions
num2str | text | title | xlabel | zlabel
Properties
Text Properties
Topics
Add Text to Graph Interactively
Introduced before R2006a

Label Y-Axis - MATLAB Ylabel

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Label Y-Axis - MATLAB Ylabel

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3/6/2018 Label y-axis - MATLAB ylabel

ylabel( ___ ,Name,Value)

ylabel(target,txt) adds the label to the axes or chart specified by target.

Examples collapse all

 Label y-Axis with Numeric Input

MATLAB® displays 123 beside the y-axis.

 Create Multiline Label

Create a multiline label using a multiline cell array.

 Include Superscript and Subscript in Axis Labels

 Create y-Axis Label and Set Font Properties

 Label y-Axis of Specific Axes

 Label y-Axis and Return Object Handle

Input Arguments collapse all

txt — Axis label

Example: 'my label'

Example: {'first line','second line'}

To create multiline labels:

target — Target for label

Name-Value Pair Arguments

Example: 'Color','red','FontSize',12 specifies red, 12-point font.

'FontSize' — Font size

'FontWeight' — Thickness of text characters

Thickness of the text characters, specified as one of these values:

• 'normal' — Default weight as defined by the particular font

'FontName' — Font name

'Color' — Text color

Option Description Equivalent RGB Triplet

'red' or 'r' Red [1 0 0]

'green' or 'g' Green [0 1 0]

'blue' or 'b' Blue [0 0 1]

'yellow' or 'y' Yellow [1 1 0]

'magenta' or 'm' Magenta [1 0 1]

'cyan' or 'c' Cyan [0 1 1]

'white' or 'w' White [1 1 1]

'black' or 'k' Black [0 0 0]

'none' No color Not applicable

'Interpreter' — Interpretation of text characters

Interpretation of text characters, specified as one of these values:

• 'tex' — Interpret characters using a subset of TeX markup.

Modifier Description Example

\bf Bold font '\bf text'

\it Italic font '\it text'

\sl Oblique font (usually the same as italic '\sl text'

\rm Normal font '\rm text'

\fontname{specifier} Font name — Set specifier as the '\fontname{Courier} text'

\fontsize{specifier} Font size — Set specifier as a '\fontsize{15} text'

\color{specifier} Font color — Set specifer as one of '\color{magenta} text'

\color[rgb]{specifier} Custom font color — Set specifier as '\color[rgb]{0,0.5,0.5} text'

Character Character Character

\alpha α \upsilon υ \sim ~

\angle ∠ \phi \leq ≤

\ast * \chi χ \infty ∞

\beta β \psi ψ \clubsuit ♣

\gamma γ \omega ω \diamondsuit ♦

\delta δ \Gamma Γ \heartsuit ♥

\epsilon ϵ \Delta Δ \spadesuit ♠

\zeta ζ \Theta Θ \leftrightarrow ↔

\eta η \Lambda Λ \leftarrow ←

\theta θ \Xi Ξ \Leftarrow ⇐

Character Character Character

\vartheta ϑ \Pi Π \uparrow ↑

\iota ι \Sigma Σ \rightarrow →

\kappa κ \Upsilon ϒ \Rightarrow ⇒

\lambda λ \Phi Φ \downarrow ↓