Why colorbar label is always beyond the limits of the figure?

Im dealing with the problem in a subplot figure. I put only one colorbar for all the subplots, nevertheless, when I try to put the label of the colorbar (i.e. units) it always goes away, doesnt fit completely in the image. Even when I save the .png image, the colorbar label is incomplete, as it goes beyond the limits.

Is there a way to improve that?

Answer 1

[Shoresh Shokoohi]

You can adjust the colorbar's position and label properties to ensure that the label fits within the limits of your subplot figure. Here's how you can do it:

```matlab

% Create a sample subplot figure
figure;

% Create some sample data for the subplot
data = rand(10);

% Create a subplot
subplot(1, 2, 1);
imagesc(data);
title('Subplot 1');

% Create another subplot
subplot(1, 2, 2);
imagesc(data);
title('Subplot 2');

% Add a colorbar that spans both subplots
colorbar;

% Adjust the colorbar label
h = findobj(gcf, 'Type', 'colorbar');
set(get(h, 'Title'), 'String', 'Units', 'Interpreter', 'none');

% Adjust the position of the colorbar (optional)
set(h, 'Position', [0.93, 0.1, 0.02, 0.8]); % [x, y, width, height]

% Ensure the colorbar label fits within the subplot
set(h, 'FontSize', 10); % Adjust the font size as needed
```

In this MATLAB example, we create a figure with two subplots and add a colorbar that spans both subplots. We then adjust the colorbar label using `set(get(h, 'Title'), 'String', 'Units', 'Interpreter', 'none')`, where `h` is the handle to the colorbar. Additionally, you can adjust the position of the colorbar using `set(h, 'Position', [x, y, width, height])`, where `[x, y, width, height]` defines the colorbar's position and size within the figure.

Finally, we ensure the colorbar label fits within the subplot by adjusting the font size with `set(h, 'FontSize', 10)`. You can change the font size to fit your specific needs.

[Luis Jesús Olvera Lazcano]

Thanks!!

Answer 2

[Adam Danz]

> I put only one colorbar for all the subplots...

I suggest using tiledlayout instead of subplot. It handles legends and colorbars much more gracefully and will avoid the problem you're describing.

tcl = tiledlayout(2,2);

ax1 = nexttile();
surf(peaks)

ax2 = nexttile();
contour(peaks)

ax3 = nexttile();
imagesc(peaks)

ax4 = nexttile();
mesh(peaks)

tcl.UserData = linkprop([ax1,ax2,ax3,ax4],'clim'); % equate color limits for all axes
cb = colorbar(); 
cb.Layout.Tile = 'East';  % Place global colorbar
ylabel(cb, 'units')

[Luis Jesús Olvera Lazcano]

I feel this one fits more elegant than the subplot, but as I have too many plots inside (15 in total), I cant do it in a loop so the code would have too many lines

[Adam Danz]

For reference, a loop version would look something like this,

figure(); 
tcl = tiledlayout('flow','Padding','compact','TileSpacing','compact'); 
n = 20; 
ax = gobjects(1,n); 

for i = 1:20
    ax(i) = nexttile();
    imagesc(magic(randi(50))); 
    title(num2str(i))
end

tcl.UserData = linkprop(ax,'clim'); % equate color limits for all axes
cb = colorbar(); 
cb.Layout.Tile = 'East';  % Place global colorbar
ylabel(cb, 'units')