GraphPlot Properties
Graph plot appearance and behavior
GraphPlot properties control the appearance and behavior of
plotted graphs. By changing property values, you can modify aspects of the graph display. Use dot
notation to refer to a particular object and property:
G = graph([1 1 1 1 5 5 5 5],[2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9]); h = plot(G); c = h.EdgeColor; h.EdgeColor = 'k';
Color
Node color, specified as one of these values:
'none'— Nodes are not drawn.'flat'— Color of each node depends on the value ofNodeCData.matrix — Each row is an RGB triplet representing the color of one node. The size of the matrix is
numnodes(G)-by-3.RGB triplet, hexadecimal color code, or color name — All nodes use the specified color.
RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes are useful for specifying custom colors.
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].A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (
#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from0toF. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes"#FF8800","#ff8800","#F80", and"#f80"are equivalent.
Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.
Color Name Short Name RGB Triplet Hexadecimal Color Code Appearance "red""r"[1 0 0]"#FF0000"
"green""g"[0 1 0]"#00FF00"
"blue""b"[0 0 1]"#0000FF"
"cyan""c"[0 1 1]"#00FFFF"
"magenta""m"[1 0 1]"#FF00FF"
"yellow""y"[1 1 0]"#FFFF00"
"black""k"[0 0 0]"#000000"
"white""w"[1 1 1]"#FFFFFF"
This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.
Palette Palette Colors "gem"— Light theme defaultBefore R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default.
"glow"— Dark theme default
You can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the
orderedcolorsandrgb2hexfunctions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the"gem"palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.RGB = orderedcolors("gem"); H = rgb2hex(RGB);Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using
RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using
H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).
Example: plot(G,'NodeColor','k') creates a graph plot with black
nodes.
Control how the NodeColor property is set, specified as one of these values:
'auto'— MATLAB® controls the value of theNodeColorproperty by using theSeriesIndexproperty of theGraphPlotobject and theColorOrderproperty of the axes.'manual'— You control the value of theNodeColorproperty manually, either by setting the value of theNodeColorproperty directly on the object, or by including a color in theLineSpecargument when you call a plotting function.
If you change the value of the NodeColor or
NodeCData property manually, MATLAB changes the value of the NodeColorMode property to
'manual'.
Edge color, specified as one of these values:
'none'— Edges are not drawn.'flat'— Color of each edge depends on the value ofEdgeCData.matrix — Each row is an RGB triplet representing the color of one edge. The size of the matrix is
numedges(G)-by-3.RGB triplet, hexadecimal color code, or color name — All edges use the specified color.
RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes are useful for specifying custom colors.
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].A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (
#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from0toF. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes"#FF8800","#ff8800","#F80", and"#f80"are equivalent.
Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.
Color Name Short Name RGB Triplet Hexadecimal Color Code Appearance "red""r"[1 0 0]"#FF0000""green""g"[0 1 0]"#00FF00""blue""b"[0 0 1]"#0000FF""cyan""c"[0 1 1]"#00FFFF""magenta""m"[1 0 1]"#FF00FF""yellow""y"[1 1 0]"#FFFF00""black""k"[0 0 0]"#000000""white""w"[1 1 1]"#FFFFFF"This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.
Palette Palette Colors "gem"— Light theme defaultBefore R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default.
"glow"— Dark theme defaultYou can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the
orderedcolorsandrgb2hexfunctions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the"gem"palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.RGB = orderedcolors("gem"); H = rgb2hex(RGB);Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using
RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using
H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).
Example: plot(G,'EdgeColor','r') creates a graph plot with red
edges.
Control how the EdgeColor property is set, specified as one of these values:
'auto'— MATLAB controls the value of theEdgeColorproperty by using theSeriesIndexproperty of theGraphPlotobject and theColorOrderproperty of the axes.'manual'— You control the value of theEdgeColorproperty manually, either by setting the value of theEdgeColorproperty directly on the object, or by including a color in theLineSpecargument when you call a plotting function.
If you change the value of the EdgeColor or
EdgeCData property manually, MATLAB changes the value of the EdgeColorMode property to
'manual'.
Color data of node markers, specified as a vector with length equal to the number of
nodes in the graph. The values in NodeCData map linearly to the colors in
the current colormap, resulting in different colors for each node in the plotted graph.
Color data of edge lines, specified as a vector with length equal to the number of edges
in the graph. The values in EdgeCData map linearly to the colors in the
current colormap, resulting in different colors for each edge in the plotted graph.
Series index, specified as a positive whole number or "none". This
property is useful for reassigning the node or edge colors of several
GraphPlot objects so that they match each other. By default, the
SeriesIndex property of a GraphPlot object is a
number that corresponds to its order of creation, starting at 1.
MATLAB uses the number to calculate indices for assigning colors when you call plotting
functions. The indices refer to the rows of the arrays stored in the
ColorOrder property of the axes.
A SeriesIndex value of
"none" corresponds to a neutral color that does not participate in the
indexing scheme. (since R2023b)
MATLAB automatically updates the node and edge colors of the
GraphPlot object when you change its SeriesIndex,
or when you change the ColorOrder property on the axes. However, the
following conditions must be true for the changes to have any effect:
If
NodeColorModeis'auto', thenSeriesIndexaffects the color of the nodes.If
EdgeColorModeis'auto', thenSeriesIndexaffects the color of the edges.The
SeriesIndexproperty of theGraphPlotobject must have a value greater than 0.The
NextSeriesIndexproperty of theAxesobject must have a value greater than 0.
Node and Edge Styling
Node marker symbol, specified as one of the values listed in this table, or as a cell array or string vector of such values. The default is to use circular markers for the graph nodes. Specify a cell array of character vectors or string vector to use different markers for each node.
| Marker | Description | Resulting Marker |
|---|---|---|
"o" | Circle |
|
"+" | Plus sign |
|
"*" | Asterisk |
|
"." | Point |
|
"x" | Cross |
|
"_" | Horizontal line |
|
"|" | Vertical line |
|
"square" | Square |
|
"diamond" | Diamond |
|
"^" | Upward-pointing triangle |
|
"v" | Downward-pointing triangle |
|
">" | Right-pointing triangle |
|
"<" | Left-pointing triangle |
|
"pentagram" | Pentagram |
|
"hexagram" | Hexagram |
|
"none" | No markers | Not applicable |
Example: '+'
Example: 'diamond'
Node marker size, specified as a positive value in point units or as a vector of such
values. Specify a vector to use different marker sizes for each node in the graph. The default
value of MarkerSize is 4 for graphs with 100 or fewer nodes, and
2 for graphs with more than 100 nodes.
Example: 10
Line style, specified as one of the line styles listed in this table, or as a cell array or string vector of such values. Specify a cell array of character vectors or string vector to use different line styles for each edge.
| Character(s) | Line Style | Resulting Line |
|---|---|---|
'-' | Solid line |
|
'--' | Dashed line |
|
':' | Dotted line |
|
'-.' | Dash-dotted line |
|
'none' | No line | No line |
Edge line width, specified as a positive value in point units, or as a vector of such values. Specify a vector to use a different line width for each edge in the graph.
Example: 0.75
Transparency of graph edges, specified as a scalar value between 0 and
1 inclusive. A value of 1 means fully opaque and
0 means completely transparent (invisible).
Example: 0.25
Arrow size, specified as a positive value in point units or as a vector of such values.
As a vector, ArrowSize specifies the size of the arrow for each edge in the
graph. The default value of ArrowSize is 7 for graphs
with 100 or fewer nodes, and 4 for graphs with more than 100 nodes.
ArrowSize only affects directed graphs.
Example: 15
Position of arrow along edge, specified as a value in the range [0 1]
or as a vector of such values with length equal to the number of edges. A value near 0 places
arrows closer to the source node, and a value near 1 places arrows closer to the target node.
The default value is 0.5 so that the arrows are halfway between the source
and target nodes.
ArrowPosition only affects directed graphs.
Toggle display of arrows on directed edges, specified as 'off' or
'on', or as numeric or logical 1
(true) or 0 (false). A value of
'on' is equivalent to true, and
'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the
value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of
type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.
For directed graphs the default value is 'on' so that arrows are
displayed, but you can specify a value of 'off' to hide the arrows on the
directed edges. For undirected graphs ShowArrows is always
'off'.
Position
Node and Edge Labels
Node labels, specified as a numeric vector or cell array of character vectors. The length
of NodeLabel must be equal to the number of nodes in the graph. By default
NodeLabel is a cell array containing the node IDs for the graph
nodes:
For nodes without names (that is,
G.Nodesdoes not contain aNamevariable), the node labels are the valuesunique(G.Edges.EndNodes)contained in a cell array.For named nodes, the node labels are
G.Nodes.Name'.
Example: {'A', 'B', 'C'}
Example: [1 2 3]
Example: plot(G,'NodeLabel',G.Nodes.Name) labels the nodes with their
names.
Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | cell
Selection mode for node labels, specified as 'auto' (default) or
'manual'. Specify NodeLabelMode as
'auto' to populate NodeLabel with the node IDs for the
graph nodes (numeric node indices or node names). Specifying NodeLabelMode
as 'manual' does not change the values in
NodeLabel.
Node label color, specified as one of these values:
matrix — Each row is an RGB triplet representing the color of one node label. The size of the matrix is
numnodes(G)-by-3.RGB triplet, hexadecimal color code, or color name — All node labels use the specified color.
RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes are useful for specifying custom colors.
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].A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (
#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from0toF. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes"#FF8800","#ff8800","#F80", and"#f80"are equivalent.
Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.
Color Name Short Name RGB Triplet Hexadecimal Color Code Appearance "red""r"[1 0 0]"#FF0000""green""g"[0 1 0]"#00FF00""blue""b"[0 0 1]"#0000FF""cyan""c"[0 1 1]"#00FFFF""magenta""m"[1 0 1]"#FF00FF""yellow""y"[1 1 0]"#FFFF00""black""k"[0 0 0]"#000000""white""w"[1 1 1]"#FFFFFF"This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.
Palette Palette Colors "gem"— Light theme defaultBefore R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default.
"glow"— Dark theme defaultYou can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the
orderedcolorsandrgb2hexfunctions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the"gem"palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.RGB = orderedcolors("gem"); H = rgb2hex(RGB);Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using
RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using
H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).
Example: plot(G,'NodeLabel',C,'NodeLabelColor','m') creates a graph
plot with magenta node labels.
Edge labels, specified as a numeric vector or cell array of character vectors. The length
of EdgeLabel must be equal to the number of edges in the graph. By default
EdgeLabel is an empty cell array (no edge labels are displayed).
Example: {'A', 'B', 'C'}
Example: [1 2 3]
Example: plot(G,'EdgeLabels',G.Edges.Weight) labels the graph edges
with their weights.
Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | cell
Selection mode for edge labels, specified as 'manual' (default) or
'auto'. Specify EdgeLabelMode as
'auto' to populate EdgeLabel with the edge weights in
G.Edges.Weight (if available), or the edge indices
G.Edges(k,:) (if no weights are available). Specifying
EdgeLabelMode as 'manual' does not change the values in
EdgeLabel.
Edge label color, specified as one of these values:
matrix — Each row is an RGB triplet representing the color of one edge label. The size of the matrix is
numedges(G)-by-3.RGB triplet, hexadecimal color code, or color name — All edge labels use the specified color.
RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes are useful for specifying custom colors.
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].A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (
#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from0toF. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes"#FF8800","#ff8800","#F80", and"#f80"are equivalent.
Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.
Color Name Short Name RGB Triplet Hexadecimal Color Code Appearance "red""r"[1 0 0]"#FF0000""green""g"[0 1 0]"#00FF00""blue""b"[0 0 1]"#0000FF""cyan""c"[0 1 1]"#00FFFF""magenta""m"[1 0 1]"#FF00FF""yellow""y"[1 1 0]"#FFFF00""black""k"[0 0 0]"#000000""white""w"[1 1 1]"#FFFFFF"This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.
Palette Palette Colors "gem"— Light theme defaultBefore R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default.
"glow"— Dark theme defaultYou can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the
orderedcolorsandrgb2hexfunctions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the"gem"palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.RGB = orderedcolors("gem"); H = rgb2hex(RGB);Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using
RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using
H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).
Example: plot(G,'EdgeLabel',C,'EdgeLabelColor','m') creates a graph
plot with magenta edge labels.
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.
Modifiers remain in effect until the end of the text.
Superscripts and subscripts are an exception because they modify only the next character or the
characters within the curly braces. When you set the interpreter to "tex",
the supported modifiers are as follows.
| 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 font) | "\sl text" |
\rm | Normal font | "\rm text" |
\fontname{ | Font name — Replace
| "\fontname{Courier} text" |
\fontsize{ | Font size —Replace
| "\fontsize{15} text" |
\color{ | Font color — Replace
red, green,
yellow, magenta,
blue, black,
white, gray,
darkGreen, orange, or
lightBlue. | "\color{magenta} text" |
\color[rgb]{specifier} | Custom font color — Replace
| "\color[rgb]{0,0.5,0.5} text" |
This table lists the supported special characters for the
"tex" interpreter.
| Character Sequence | Symbol | Character Sequence | Symbol | Character Sequence | Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| α |
| υ |
| ~ |
| ∠ |
| ϕ |
| ≤ |
|
|
| χ |
| ∞ |
| β |
| ψ |
| ♣ |
| γ |
| ω |
| ♦ |
| δ |
| Γ |
| ♥ |
| ϵ |
| Δ |
| ♠ |
| ζ |
| Θ |
| ↔ |
| η |
| Λ |
| ← |
| θ |
| Ξ |
| ⇐ |
| ϑ |
| Π |
| ↑ |
| ι |
| Σ |
| → |
| κ |
| ϒ |
| ⇒ |
| λ |
| Φ |
| ↓ |
| µ |
| Ψ |
| º |
| ν |
| Ω |
| ± |
| ξ |
| ∀ |
| ≥ |
| π |
| ∃ |
| ∝ |
| ρ |
| ∍ |
| ∂ |
| σ |
| ≅ |
| • |
| ς |
| ≈ |
| ÷ |
| τ |
| ℜ |
| ≠ |
| ≡ |
| ⊕ |
| ℵ |
| ℑ |
| ∪ |
| ℘ |
| ⊗ |
| ⊆ |
| ∅ |
| ∩ |
| ∈ |
| ⊇ |
| ⊃ |
| ⌈ |
| ⊂ |
| ∫ |
| · |
| ο |
| ⌋ |
| ¬ |
| ∇ |
| ⌊ |
| x |
| ... |
| ⊥ |
| √ |
| ´ |
| ∧ |
| ϖ |
| ∅ |
| ⌉ |
| 〉 |
| | |
| ∨ |
| 〈 |
| © |
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 more information about the LaTeX system, see The LaTeX Project website at https://www.latex-project.org/.
