How do I plot lines with different line widths?

Hi,

I want to do:

plot(x1,y1,x2,y2,'LineWidth',8)

but the linewidth propery ends up applying to both lines. Do I have to use two plot functions with a hold on command to have line1 a different width than line2? Thanks.

[Jagannadh Kumar]

Try writing like this plot(x1,y1,'Linewidth',6,x2,y2,'Linewidth',8)

[Ramesh M]

it works thnx

Answer 1

[Fangjun Jiang]

To plot two lines with different line widths, you can use either of these approaches.

1. Return the two “Line” objects as an output argument from the “plot” function and then set the “LineWidth” property for each.

 p = plot(x1,y1,x2,y2)
 p(1).LineWidth = 5;
 p(2).LineWidth = 10;

2. Use the “hold on” command to plot the two lines separately. Specify the line width by setting the “LineWidth” property a name-value pair.

 plot(x1,y1,'LineWidth',5)
 hold on
 plot(x2,y2,'LineWidth',10)
 hold off

[Tyler Tomlinson]

Thank you that worked great.

[Mike Garrity]

Just FYI, there is an "official" syntax for setting a property to different values on different objects. However, it's really ugly, and doesn't work everywhere. For example, I don't think that the plot function accepts this form.

It looks like this:

h = plot(x1,y1,x2,y2);
set(h,{'LineWidth'},{5;10})

The property name and property value need to each be a cell array, and the shape of the value cell array has to match the shape of the handle cell array.

That said, you're really better off with 2 calls to set in this case.

Answer 2

[Wayne King]

Hi: You can use handles.

    h = plot(x1,y1,x2,y2);
    set(h(1),'linewidth',1);
    set(h(2),'linewidth',2);

Answer 3

[Hari Desanur]

The line width for a particular line can be set using line object handles. For example -

   l = plot(x1,y1,x2,y2);
   l(1).LineWidth = 3; % set line width of 3 for the first line (x1,y1)
   l(2).LineWidth = 6;

Answer 4

[SHAILENDRA PANDEY]

x = 1:.01:10;
y1 = sin(x);
y2 = cos(x);
p  = plot(x,y1,x,y2)
set(p,{'LineWidth'},{5;10})

Line width, specified as a positive value in points, where 1 point = 1/72 of an inch. If the line has markers, then the line width also affects the marker edges.

The line width cannot be thinner than the width of a pixel. If you set the line width to a value that is less than the width of a pixel on your system, the line displays as one pixel wide.