scatter

Scatter plot

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Syntax

scatter(x,y)
scatter(x,y,sz)
scatter(x,y,sz,c)
scatter(___,'filled')
scatter(___,mkr)
scatter(___,Name,Value)
scatter(ax,___)
s = scatter(___)

Description

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scatter(x,y) creates a scatter plot with circles at the locations specified by the vectors x and y. This type of graph is also known as a bubble plot.

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scatter(x,y,sz) specifies the circle sizes. To plot each circle with equal size, specify sz as a scalar. To plot each circle with a different size, specify sz as a vector with length equal to the length of x and y.

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scatter(x,y,sz,c) specifies the circle colors. To plot all circles with the same color, specify c as a color name or an RGB triplet. To use varying color, specify c as a vector or a three-column matrix of RGB triplets.

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scatter(___,'filled') fills in the circles. Use the 'filled' option with any of the input argument combinations in the previous syntaxes.

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scatter(___,mkr) specifies the marker type.

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scatter(___,Name,Value) modifies the scatter chart using one or more name-value pair arguments. For example, 'LineWidth',2 sets the marker outline width to 2 points.

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scatter(ax,___) plots into the axes specified by ax instead of into the current axes. The option ax can precede any of the input argument combinations in the previous syntaxes.

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s = scatter(___) returns the Scatter object. Use s to make future modifications to the scatter chart after it is created.

Examples

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Open Live Script

Create x as 200 equally spaced values between 0 and 3π. Create y as cosine values with random noise. Then, create a scatter plot.

x = linspace(0,3*pi,200);
y = cos(x) + rand(1,200);  
scatter(x,y)

Open Live Script

Create a scatter plot using circles with different sizes. Specify the size in points squared

x = linspace(0,3*pi,200);
y = cos(x) + rand(1,200);
sz = linspace(1,100,200);
scatter(x,y,sz)

Corresponding elements in x, y, and sz determine the location and size of each circle. To plot all circles with the equal area, specify sz as a numeric scalar.

Open Live Script

Create a scatter plot and vary the circle color. 

x = linspace(0,3*pi,200);
y = cos(x) + rand(1,200);
c = linspace(1,10,length(x));
scatter(x,y,[],c)

Corresponding elements in x, y, and c determine the location and color of each circle. The scatter function maps the elements in c to colors in the current colormap.

Open Live Script

Create a scatter plot and fill in the markers. scatter fills each marker using the color of the marker edge.

x = linspace(0,3*pi,200);
y = cos(x) + rand(1,200);
sz = 25;
c = linspace(1,10,length(x));
scatter(x,y,sz,c,'filled')

Open Live Script

Create vectors x and y as sine and cosine values with random noise. Then, create a scatter plot and use diamond markers with an area of 140 points squared.

theta = linspace(0,2*pi,150);
x = sin(theta) + 0.75*rand(1,150);
y = cos(theta) + 0.75*rand(1,150);  
sz = 140;
scatter(x,y,sz,'d')

Open Live Script

Create vectors x and y as sine and cosine values with random noise. Create a scatter plot and set the marker edge color, marker face color, and line width.

theta = linspace(0,2*pi,300);
x = sin(theta) + 0.75*rand(1,300);
y = cos(theta) + 0.75*rand(1,300);  
sz = 40;
scatter(x,y,sz,'MarkerEdgeColor',[0 .5 .5],...
              'MarkerFaceColor',[0 .7 .7],...
              'LineWidth',1.5)

Open Live Script

You can vary the transparency of scattered points by setting the AlphaData property to a vector of different opacity values. To ensure the scatter plot uses the AlphaData values, set the MarkerFaceAlpha property to 'flat'.

Create a set of normally distributed random numbers. Then create a scatter plot of the data with filled markers. 

x = randn(1000,1);
y = randn(1000,1);
s = scatter(x,y,'filled');

Set the opacity of each point according to its distance from zero.

distfromzero = sqrt(x.^2 + y.^2);
s.AlphaData = distfromzero;
s.MarkerFaceAlpha = 'flat';

Open Live Script

Starting in R2019b, you can display a tiling of plots using the tiledlayout and nexttile functions. Call the tiledlayout function to create a 2-by-1 tiled chart layout. Call the nexttile function to create the axes objects ax1 and ax2. Plot scattered data into each axes. In the bottom scatter plot, specify diamond filled diamond markers.

x = linspace(0,3*pi,200);
y = cos(x) + rand(1,200);
tiledlayout(2,1)

% Top plot
ax1 = nexttile;
scatter(ax1,x,y)

% Bottom plot
ax2 = nexttile;
scatter(ax2,x,y,'filled','d')

Open Live Script

Create a scatter plot and return the scatter series object, s.

theta = linspace(0,1,500);
x = exp(theta).*sin(100*theta);
y = exp(theta).*cos(100*theta);
s = scatter(x,y);

Use s to query and set properties of the scatter series after it has been created. Set the line width to 0.6 point. Set the marker edge color to blue. Set the marker face color using an RGB triplet color.

s.LineWidth = 0.6;
s.MarkerEdgeColor = 'b';
s.MarkerFaceColor = [0 0.5 0.5];

Input Arguments

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x values, specified as a vector. x and y must be vectors of equal length.

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

y values, specified as a vector. x and y must be vectors of equal length.

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

Marker area in points squared, specified in one of these forms:

  • Numeric scalar — Plot all markers with equal size.

  • Row or column vector — Use different sizes for each marker. Corresponding elements in x, y, and sz determine the location and area of each marker. The length of sz must equal the length of x and y.

  • [] — Use the default area of 36 points squared.

The units for the marker area is points squared.

Example: 50

Example: [36 25 25 17 46]

Marker color, specified in one of these forms:

  • RGB triplet or color name — Plot all markers with the same color.

  • Three column matrix of RGB triplets — Use different colors for each marker. Each row of the matrix specifies an RGB triplet color for the corresponding marker. The number of rows must equal the length of x and y.

  • Vector — Use different colors for each marker and linearly map values in c to the colors in the current colormap. The length of c must equal the length of x and y. To change the colormap for the axes, use the colormap function.

    If you have three points in the scatter plot and want the colors to be indices into the colormap, specify c as a three-element column vector.

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.

OptionDescriptionEquivalent 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]

Example: 'k'

Example: [1 2 3 4]

Marker type, specified as one of the values listed in this table.

ValueDescription
'o'Circle
'+'Plus sign
'*'Asterisk
'.'Point
'x'Cross
'_'Horizontal line
'|'Vertical line
'square' or 's'Square
'diamond' or 'd'Diamond
'^'Upward-pointing triangle
'v'Downward-pointing triangle
'>'Right-pointing triangle
'<'Left-pointing triangle
'pentagram' or 'p'Five-pointed star (pentagram)
'hexagram' or 'h'Six-pointed star (hexagram)
'none'No markers

Option to fill the interior of the markers, specified as 'filled'. Use this option with markers that have a face, for example, 'o' or 'square'. Markers that do not have a face and contain only edges do not draw ('+', '*', '.', and 'x').

The 'filled' option sets the MarkerFaceColor property of the Scatter object to 'flat' and the MarkerEdgeColor property to 'none', so the marker faces draw, but the edges do not.

Target axes, specified as an Axes object, a PolarAxes object, or a GeographicAxes object. If you do not specify the axes and if the current axes are Cartesian axes, then the scatter function uses the current axes. To plot into polar axes, specify the PolarAxes object as the first input argument or use the polarscatter function. To plot into geographic axes, specify the GeographicAxes object as the first input argument or use the geoscatter function.

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 quotes. You can specify several name and value pair arguments in any order as Name1,Value1,...,NameN,ValueN.

Example: 'MarkerFaceColor','red' sets the marker face color to red.

The Scatter object properties listed here are only a subset. For a complete list, see Scatter Properties.

Marker outline color, specified 'flat', an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default value of 'flat' uses colors from the CData 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 character vector or a string scalar 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. 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 NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
'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 applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

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

RGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
[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: [0.5 0.5 0.5]

Example: 'blue'

Example: '#D2F9A7'

Marker fill color, specified as 'flat', 'auto', an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The 'flat' option uses the CData values. The 'auto' option uses the same color as the Color property for the axes.

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 character vector or a string scalar 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. 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 NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
'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 applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

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

RGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
[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: [0.3 0.2 0.1]

Example: 'green'

Example: '#D2F9A7'

Width of marker edge, specified as a positive value in point units.

Example: 0.75

Output Arguments

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Scatter object. Use s to access and modify properties of the scatter chart after it has been created.

Extended Capabilities

See Also

Functions

Properties

Topics

External Websites

Introduced before R2006a

MATLAB Documentation

Support