TextArrow Properties

Text arrow appearance and behavior

TextArrow properties control the appearance and behavior of a TextArrow object. By changing property values, you can modify certain aspects of the text arrow. Use dot notation to query and set properties.

ta = annotation("textarrow");
s = ta.FontSize;
ta.FontSize = 12;

Text

String — Text to display

'' (default) | character vector | cell array of character vectors | string array | categorical array | numeric value

Text to display, specified as a character vector, cell array of character vectors, string array, categorical array, or numeric value. Specify a value according to how you want the text to appear. This table lists the most common situations.

Appearance of Text	Description of Value	Example
One line of text	Character vector or 1-by-1 string array.	str = 'My Text' or str = "My Text"
Multiple lines of text	Cell array of character vectors or a string array.	str = {'First line','Second line'}; or str = ["First line", "Second line"];
Text that includes a numeric variable	Array that includes the number converted to a char array. Use num2str to convert the value.	x = 42; str = ['The value is ',num2str(x)];
Text that includes special characters such as Greek letters or mathematical symbols	Array that includes TeX markup. For a list of supported markup, see the Interpreter property.	str = 'x ranges from 0 to 2\pi'

Note

• The words default, factory, and remove are reserved words that do not appear in text when quoted as normal characters. To display any of these words individually, precede them with a backslash, such as '\default' or '\remove'.

• If you specify this property as a categorical array, MATLAB^® uses the values in the array, not the categories.

• If you specify text that contains only a numeric value, the value is converted using sprintf('%g',value). For example, 12345678 displays as 1.23457e+07.

TextRotation — Text rotation angle in degrees

0 (default) | scalar numeric value

Text rotation angle in degrees, specified as a scalar numeric value. Set this property to a positive value to rotate the text counterclockwise. Angles are absolute and not relative to previous rotations. A rotation of 0 degrees is always horizontal.

Example: 90

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | logical

TextColor — Text color

[0 0 0] (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | "r" | "g" | "b" | ...

Text color, specified as a three-element RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default value of [0 0 0] corresponds to black.

Note

Setting the Color property changes the TextColor property to the same value, unless you explicitly set the TextColor property.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

• 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 string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, 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"
"none"	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	No color

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]	"#0072BD"
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]	"#D95319"
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]	"#EDB120"
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]	"#7E2F8E"
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]	"#77AC30"
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]	"#4DBEEE"
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]	"#A2142F"

Example: "blue"

Example: [0 0 1]

Example: "#0000FF"

TextEdgeColor — Color of text box outline

"none" (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | "r" | "g" | "b" | ...

Color of text box outline, specified as a three-element RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

• 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 string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, 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"
"none"	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	No color

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]	"#0072BD"
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]	"#D95319"
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]	"#EDB120"
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]	"#7E2F8E"
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]	"#77AC30"
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]	"#4DBEEE"
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]	"#A2142F"

Example: "blue"

Example: [0 0 1]

Example: "#0000FF"

TextBackgroundColor — Color of text box background

"none" (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | "r" | "g" | "b" | ...

Color of text box background, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

• 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 string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, 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"
"none"	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	No color

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]	"#0072BD"
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]	"#D95319"
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]	"#EDB120"
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]	"#7E2F8E"
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]	"#77AC30"
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]	"#4DBEEE"
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]	"#A2142F"

Example: "blue"

Example: [0 0 1]

Example: "#0000FF"

TextLineWidth — Width of text box outline

0.5 (default) | scalar numeric value

Width of text box outline, specified as a scalar numeric value in point units. One point equals 1/72 inch.

Example: 1.5

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

TextMargin — Space around text within text box

2 (default) | scalar numeric value

Space around the text within the text box, specified as a scalar numeric value in pixel units.

Example: 10

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | logical

Interpreter — Text interpreter

'tex' (default) | 'latex' | 'none'

Text interpreter, 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{specifier}	Font name — Replace specifier with the name of a font family. You can use this in combination with other modifiers.	'\fontname{Courier} text'
\fontsize{specifier}	Font size —Replace specifier with a numeric scalar value in point units.	'\fontsize{15} text'
\color{specifier}	Font color — Replace specifier with one of these colors: red, green, yellow, magenta, blue, black, white, gray, darkGreen, orange, or lightBlue.	'\color{magenta} text'
\color[rgb]{specifier}	Custom font color — Replace specifier with a three-element RGB triplet.	'\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
\alpha	α	\upsilon	υ	\sim	~
\angle	∠	\phi	ϕ	\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	⇐
\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 to 'latex'. For inline mode, surround the markup with single dollar signs ($). For display mode, surround the markup with double dollar signs ($$).

LaTeX Mode	Example	Result
Inline	'$\int_1^{20} x^2 dx$'
Display	'$$\int_1^{20} x^2 dx$$'

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 examples that use TeX and LaTeX, see Greek Letters and Special Characters in Chart Text. For more information about the LaTeX system, see The LaTeX Project website at https://www.latex-project.org/.

Font

FontName — Font name

supported font name | "FixedWidth"

Font name, specified as a supported font name or "FixedWidth". To display and print text properly, you must choose a font that your system supports. The default font depends on your operating system and locale.

To use a fixed-width font that looks good in any locale, use "FixedWidth". The fixed-width font relies on the root FixedWidthFontName property. Setting the root FixedWidthFontName property causes an immediate update of the display to use the new font.

FontSize — Font size

scalar value greater than 0

Font size, specified as a scalar value greater than 0 in point units. The default font size depends on the specific operating system and locale. One point equals 1/72 inch. To change the font units, use the FontUnits property.

Example: 12

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | logical

FontWeight — Character thickness

'normal' (default) | 'bold'

Character thickness, specified as 'normal' or 'bold'.

MATLAB uses the FontWeight property to select a font from those available on your system. Not all fonts have a bold weight. Therefore, specifying a bold font weight can still result in the normal font weight.

FontAngle — Character slant

'normal' (default) | 'italic'

Character slant, specified as 'normal' or 'italic'.

Not all fonts have both font styles. Therefore, the italic font might look the same as the normal font.

FontUnits — Font size units

'points' (default) | 'inches' | 'centimeters' | 'normalized' | 'pixels'

Font size units, specified as one of the values in this table.

Units	Description
'points'	Points. One point equals 1/72 inch.
'inches'	Inches.
'centimeters'	Centimeters.
'normalized'	Interpret font size as a fraction of the parent container height, typically a figure. If you resize the container, the font size modifies accordingly. For example, if the FontSize is 0.1 in normalized units, then the text is 1/10 of the container height.
'pixels'	Pixels. Starting in R2015b, distances in pixels are independent of your system resolution on Windows® and Macintosh systems: On Windows systems, a pixel is 1/96th of an inch. On Macintosh systems, a pixel is 1/72nd of an inch. On Linux® systems, the size of a pixel is determined by your system resolution.

If you set both the font size and the font units in one function call, you must set the FontUnits property first so that the axes correctly interprets the specified font size.

Arrow

Color — Arrow color

[0 0 0] (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | "r" | "g" | "b" | ...

Arrow color, specified as a three-element RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default value of [0 0 0] corresponds to black.

Note

Setting this property also changes the text color if you have not explicitly set the text color using the TextColor property.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

• 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 string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, 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"
"none"	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	No color

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]	"#0072BD"
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]	"#D95319"
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]	"#EDB120"
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]	"#7E2F8E"
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]	"#77AC30"
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]	"#4DBEEE"
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]	"#A2142F"

Example: "blue"

Example: [0 0 1]

Example: "#0000FF"

LineStyle — Style of arrow stem

"-" (default) | "--" | ":" | "-." | "none"

Style of arrow stem, specified as one of the line styles listed in this table.

Line Style	Description	Resulting Line
"-"	Solid line
"--"	Dashed line
":"	Dotted line
"-."	Dash-dotted line
"none"	No line	No line

LineWidth — Width of arrow stem

0.5 (default) | scalar numeric value

Width of arrow stem, specified as a scalar numeric value greater than zero in point units. One point equals 1/72 inch. The default value is 0.5 points.

Example: 0.75

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

HeadStyle — Style of arrowhead

"vback2" (default) | "plain" | "ellipse" | "vback1" | "vback3" | "cback1" | ...

Style of the arrowhead, specified as one of the head style options in this table.

Style	Result	Style	Result
"plain"		"fourstar"
"ellipse"		"rectangle"
"vback1"		"diamond"
"vback2" (default)		"rose"
"vback3"		"hypocycloid"
"cback1"		"astroid"
"cback2"		"deltoid"
"cback3"		"none"	No arrowhead

HeadLength — Length of arrowhead

10 (default) | scalar numeric value

Length of the arrowhead, specified as a scalar numeric value in point units. One point equals 1/72 inch.

Example: 15

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | logical

HeadWidth — Width of arrowhead

10 (default) | scalar numeric value

Width of the arrowhead, specified as a scalar numeric value in point units. One point equals 1/72 inch.

Example: 15

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | logical

Position

X — Beginning and ending x-coordinates

[0.3 0.4] (default) | two-element vector

Beginning and ending x-coordinates for the arrow, specified as a two-element vector of the form [x_begin x_end].

By default, the units are normalized to the figure. The lower-left corner of the figure maps to (0,0), and the upper-right corner maps to (1,1). To change the units, use the Units property.

Example: [0.2 0.3]

Y — Beginning and ending y-coordinates

[0.3 0.4] (default) | two-element vector

Beginning and ending y-coordinates for the arrow, specified as a two-element vector of the form [y_begin y_end].

By default, the units are normalized to the figure. The lower-left corner of the figure maps to (0,0), and the upper-right corner maps to (1,1). To change the units, use the Units property.

Example: [0.2 0.3]

Position — Size and location

[0.3 0.3 0.1 0.1] (default) | four-element vector

Size and location, specified as a four-element vector of the form [x_begin y_begin length height]. The first two elements specify the coordinates of the beginning of the arrow. The second two elements specify the length and height of the arrow. The text box extends from the beginning of the arrow.

By default, the units are normalized to the figure. The lower-left corner of the figure maps to (0,0), and the upper-right corner maps to (1,1). To change the units, use the Units property.

Example: [0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1]

Units — Position units

"normalized" (default) | "inches" | "centimeters" | "characters" | "points" | "pixels"

Position units, specified as one of the values in this table.

Units	Description
"normalized" (default)	Normalized with respect to the figure, uipanel, or uitab that contains the annotation. The lower-left corner of the container maps to (0,0) and the upper-right corner maps to (1,1).
"inches"	Inches.
"centimeters"	Centimeters.
"characters"	Based on the default system font character size. Character width = width of letter x. Character height = distance between the baselines of two lines of text.
"points"	Points. One point equals 1/72 inch.
"pixels"	Pixels. Starting in R2015b, distances in pixels are independent of your system resolution on Windows and Macintosh systems: On Windows systems, a pixel is 1/96th of an inch. On Macintosh systems, a pixel is 1/72nd of an inch. On Linux systems, the size of a pixel is determined by your system resolution.

All units are measured from the lower-left corner of the figure window.

This property affects the Position property. If you change the units, then it is good practice to return it to the default value after completing your computation to prevent affecting other functions that assume Units is set to the default value.

If you specify the Position and Units properties using name-value arguments when creating the object, then the order of specification matters. If you want to define the position with particular units, then you must set the Units property before the Position property.

HorizontalAlignment — Horizontal alignment of text

'left' (default) | 'center' | 'right'

Horizontal alignment of the text, specified as one of the values in this table. This property is useful when aligning multiple lines of text.

Value	Result
'left'
'center'
'right'

VerticalAlignment — Vertical alignment of text with respect to arrow

'top' (default) | 'cap' | 'middle' | 'baseline' | 'bottom'

Vertical alignment of the text with respect to the end of the arrow, specified as 'top', 'cap', 'middle', 'baseline', or 'bottom'.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a