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tiledlayout

Create tiled chart layout

Since R2019b. Recommended over subplot.

Description

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tiledlayout(m,n) creates a tiled chart layout for displaying multiple plots in the current figure. The layout has a fixed m-by-n tile arrangement that can display up to m*n plots. If there is no figure, MATLAB® creates a figure and places the layout into it. If the current figure contains an existing axes or layout, MATLAB replaces it with a new layout.

A tiled chart layout contains an invisible grid of tiles that covers the entire figure or parent container. Each tile can contain an axes for displaying a plot. After creating a layout, call the nexttile function to place an axes object into the layout. Then call a plotting function to plot into the axes.

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tiledlayout(arrangement) creates a layout that can hold any number of axes. Initially, there is only one empty tile that fills the entire layout. Specify an arrangement value to control the placement of subsequent axes:

  • "flow" — Create a layout for a grid of axes that can reflow depending on the size of the figure and the number of axes.

  • "vertical" — Create a layout for a vertical stack of axes. (since R2023a)

  • "horizontal" — Create a layout for a horizontal stack of axes. (since R2023a)

You can specify the arrangement argument without parentheses. For example, tiledlayout vertical creates a layout for a vertical stack of axes.

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tiledlayout(___,Name,Value) specifies additional options for the layout using one or more name-value pair arguments. Specify the options after all other input arguments. For example, tiledlayout(2,2,"TileSpacing","compact") creates a 2-by-2 layout with minimal spacing between the tiles. For a list of properties, see TiledChartLayout Properties.

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tiledlayout(parent,___) creates the layout in the specified parent container rather than in the current figure. Specify the parent container before all other input arguments.

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t = tiledlayout(___) returns the TiledChartLayout object. Use t to configure properties of the layout after creating it.

Examples

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Create a 2-by-2 tiled chart layout, and call the peaks function to get the coordinates of a predefined surface. Create an axes object in the first tile by calling the nexttile function. Then call the surf function to plot into the axes. Repeat the process using different plotting functions for the other three tiles.

tiledlayout(2,2);
[X,Y,Z] = peaks(20);

% Tile 1
nexttile
surf(X,Y,Z)

% Tile 2
nexttile
contour(X,Y,Z)

% Tile 3
nexttile
imagesc(Z)

% Tile 4
nexttile
plot3(X,Y,Z)

Figure contains 4 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type surface. Axes object 2 contains an object of type contour. Axes object 3 contains an object of type image. Axes object 4 contains 20 objects of type line.

Create four coordinate vectors: x, y1, y2, and y3. Call the tiledlayout function with the 'flow' argument to create a tiled chart layout that can accommodate any number of axes. Call the nexttile function to create the first axes. Then plot y1 in the first tile. This first plot fills the entire layout.

x = linspace(0,30);
y1 = sin(x/2);
y2 = sin(x/3);
y3 = sin(x/4);

% Plot into first tile three times
tiledlayout('flow')
nexttile
plot(x,y1)

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type line.

Create a second tile and axes, and plot into the axes.

nexttile
plot(x,y2)

Figure contains 2 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type line. Axes object 2 contains an object of type line.

Repeat the process to create a third plot.

nexttile
plot(x,y3)

Figure contains 3 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type line. Axes object 2 contains an object of type line. Axes object 3 contains an object of type line.

Repeat the process to create a fourth plot. This time, plot all three lines in the same axes by calling hold on after plotting y1.

nexttile
plot(x,y1)
hold on
plot(x,y2)
plot(x,y3)
hold off

Figure contains 4 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type line. Axes object 2 contains an object of type line. Axes object 3 contains an object of type line. Axes object 4 contains 3 objects of type line.

Create a tiled chart layout that has a vertical stack of plots by specifying the "vertical" option when you call the tiledlayout function. Then create three plots by calling the nexttile function followed by a plotting function. Each time you call nexttile, a new axes object is added to the bottom of the stack.

tiledlayout("vertical")
x = 0:0.1:5;
nexttile
plot(x,sin(x))
nexttile
plot(x,sin(x+1))
nexttile
plot(x,sin(x+2))

Figure contains 3 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type line. Axes object 2 contains an object of type line. Axes object 3 contains an object of type line.

Create a tiled chart layout that has a horizontal stack of plots by specifying the "horizontal" option when you call the tiledlayout function. Then create three plots by calling the nexttile function followed by a plotting function. Each time you call nexttile, a new axes object is added to the right side of the stack.

tiledlayout("horizontal")
x = 0:0.1:10;
nexttile
plot(x,sin(x/2))
nexttile
plot(x,sin(x))
nexttile
plot(x,sin(2*x))

Figure contains 3 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type line. Axes object 2 contains an object of type line. Axes object 3 contains an object of type line.

Create five coordinate vectors: x, y1, y2, y3, and y4. Then call the tiledlayout function to create a 2-by-2 layout and specify a return argument to store the TileChartLayout object. Call the nexttile function to create an axes object in the next empty tile before calling the plot function.

x = linspace(0,30);
y1 = sin(x);
y2 = sin(x/2);
y3 = sin(x/3);
y4 = sin(x/4);
t = tiledlayout(2,2);

% Tile 1
nexttile
plot(x,y1)

% Tile 2
nexttile
plot(x,y2)

% Tile 3
nexttile
plot(x,y3)

% Tile 4
nexttile
plot(x,y4)

Figure contains 4 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type line. Axes object 2 contains an object of type line. Axes object 3 contains an object of type line. Axes object 4 contains an object of type line.

Decrease the amount of space between the tiles by setting the TileSpacing property to 'compact'. Then decrease the space between the edges of the layout and the edges of the figure by setting the Padding property to 'compact'.

t.TileSpacing = 'compact';
t.Padding = 'compact';

Figure contains 4 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type line. Axes object 2 contains an object of type line. Axes object 3 contains an object of type line. Axes object 4 contains an object of type line.

Create a 2-by-2 tiled chart layout t. Specify the TileSpacing name-value pair argument to minimize the space between the tiles. Then create a titled plot in each tile.

t = tiledlayout(2,2,'TileSpacing','Compact');

% Tile 1
nexttile
plot(rand(1,20))
title('Sample 1')

% Tile 2
nexttile
plot(rand(1,20))
title('Sample 2')

% Tile 3
nexttile
plot(rand(1,20))
title('Sample 3')

% Tile 4
nexttile
plot(rand(1,20))
title('Sample 4')

Figure contains 4 axes objects. Axes object 1 with title Sample 1 contains an object of type line. Axes object 2 with title Sample 2 contains an object of type line. Axes object 3 with title Sample 3 contains an object of type line. Axes object 4 with title Sample 4 contains an object of type line.

Display a shared title and axis labels by passing t to the title, xlabel, and ylabel functions.

title(t,'Size vs. Distance')
xlabel(t,'Distance (mm)')
ylabel(t,'Size (mm)')

Figure contains 4 axes objects. Axes object 1 with title Sample 1 contains an object of type line. Axes object 2 with title Sample 2 contains an object of type line. Axes object 3 with title Sample 3 contains an object of type line. Axes object 4 with title Sample 4 contains an object of type line.

Create a panel in a figure. Then create a tiled chart layout in the panel by specifying the panel object as the first argument to the tiledlayout function. Display a plot in each tile.

p = uipanel('Position',[.1 .2 .8 .6]);
t = tiledlayout(p,2,1);

% Tile 1
nexttile(t)
stem(1:13)

% Tile 2
nexttile(t)
bar([10 22 31 43 52])

Figure contains 2 axes objects and another object of type uipanel. Axes object 1 contains an object of type stem. Axes object 2 contains an object of type bar.

Call the tiledlayout function to create a 2-by-1 tiled chart layout. Call the nexttile function with an output argument to store the axes. Then plot into the axes, and set the x- and y-axis colors to red. Repeat the process in the second tile.

t = tiledlayout(2,1);

% First tile
ax1 = nexttile;
plot([1 2 3 4 5],[11 6 10 4 18]);
ax1.XColor = [1 0 0];
ax1.YColor = [1 0 0];

% Second tile
ax2 = nexttile;
plot([1 2 3 4 5],[5 1 12 9 2],'o');
ax2.XColor = [1 0 0];
ax2.YColor = [1 0 0];

Figure contains 2 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type line. Axes object 2 contains a line object which displays its values using only markers.

Define scores and strikes as vectors containing bowling league data over four games. Then create a tiled chart layout and display three plots showing the number of strikes for each team.

scores = [444 460 380 
          387 366 500 
          365 451 611 
          548 412 452];

strikes = [9  6  5  
           6  4  8 
           4  7  16  
           10 9  8];
     
t = tiledlayout('flow');

% Team 1
nexttile
plot([1 2 3 4],strikes(:,1),'-o')
title('Team 1 Strikes')

% Team 2
nexttile
plot([1 2 3 4],strikes(:,2),'-o')
title('Team 2 Strikes')

% Team 3
nexttile
plot([1 2 3 4],strikes(:,3),'-o')
title('Team 3 Strikes')

Figure contains 3 axes objects. Axes object 1 with title Team 1 Strikes contains an object of type line. Axes object 2 with title Team 2 Strikes contains an object of type line. Axes object 3 with title Team 3 Strikes contains an object of type line.

Call the nexttile function to create an axes object that spans two rows by three columns. Then display a bar graph in the axes with a legend, and configure the axis tick values and labels. Call the title function to add a tile to the layout.

nexttile([2 3]);
bar([1 2 3 4],scores)
legend('Team 1','Team 2','Team 3','Location','northwest')

% Configure ticks and axis labels
xticks([1 2 3 4])
xlabel('Game')
ylabel('Score')

% Add layout title
title(t,'April Bowling League Data')

Figure contains 4 axes objects. Axes object 1 with title Team 1 Strikes contains an object of type line. Axes object 2 with title Team 2 Strikes contains an object of type line. Axes object 3 with title Team 3 Strikes contains an object of type line. Axes object 4 with xlabel Game, ylabel Score contains 3 objects of type bar. These objects represent Team 1, Team 2, Team 3.

To span an axes object from a specific location, specify the tile number and the span value.

Define scores and strikes as vectors containing bowling league data over four games. Then create a 3-by-3 tiled chart layout and display five bar graphs showing the number of strikes for each team.

scores = [444 460 380 388 389
          387 366 500 467 460
          365 451 611 426 495
          548 412 452 471 402];

strikes = [9  6  5  7  5
           6  4  8 10  7
           4  7 16  9  9
           10  9  8  8  9];
       
t = tiledlayout(3,3);

% Team 1
nexttile
bar([1 2 3 4],strikes(:,1))
title('Team 1 Strikes')

% Team 2
nexttile
bar([1 2 3 4],strikes(:,2))
title('Team 2 Strikes')

% Team 3
nexttile
bar([1 2 3 4],strikes(:,3))
title('Team 3 Strikes')

% Team 4
nexttile
bar([1 2 3 4],strikes(:,4))
title('Team 4 Strikes')

% Team 5
nexttile(7)
bar([1 2 3 4],strikes(:,5))
title('Team 5 Strikes')

Figure contains 5 axes objects. Axes object 1 with title Team 1 Strikes contains an object of type bar. Axes object 2 with title Team 2 Strikes contains an object of type bar. Axes object 3 with title Team 3 Strikes contains an object of type bar. Axes object 4 with title Team 4 Strikes contains an object of type bar. Axes object 5 with title Team 5 Strikes contains an object of type bar.

Display a larger plot with a legend. Call the nexttile function to place the upper left corner of the axes in the fifth tile, and span the axes across two rows by two columns of tiles. Plot the scores for all the teams. Configure the x-axis to display four ticks, and add labels to each axis. Then add a shared title at the top of the layout.

nexttile(5,[2 2]);
plot([1 2 3 4],scores,'-.')
labels = {'Team 1','Team 2','Team 3','Team 4','Team 5'};
legend(labels,'Location','northwest')

% Configure ticks and axis labels
xticks([1 2 3 4])
xlabel('Game')
ylabel('Score')

% Add layout title
title(t,'April Bowling League Data')

Figure contains 6 axes objects. Axes object 1 with title Team 1 Strikes contains an object of type bar. Axes object 2 with title Team 2 Strikes contains an object of type bar. Axes object 3 with title Team 3 Strikes contains an object of type bar. Axes object 4 with title Team 4 Strikes contains an object of type bar. Axes object 5 with title Team 5 Strikes contains an object of type bar. Axes object 6 with xlabel Game, ylabel Score contains 5 objects of type line. These objects represent Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, Team 4, Team 5.

Create a 1-by-2 tiled chart layout. In the first tile, display a geographic plot containing a line that connects two cities on a map. In the second tile, create a scatter plot in polar coordinates.

tiledlayout(1,2)

% Display geographic plot
nexttile
geoplot([47.62 61.20],[-122.33 -149.90],'g-*')

% Display polar plot
nexttile
theta = pi/4:pi/4:2*pi;
rho = [19 6 12 18 16 11 15 15];
polarscatter(theta,rho)

One of the ways that the nexttile output argument is useful is when you want to adjust the content in a previous tile. For example, you might decide to reconfigure the colormap used in a previous plot.

Create a 2-by-2 tiled chart layout. Call the peaks function to get the coordinates for a predefined surface. Then create a different plot of the surface in each tile.

tiledlayout(2,2);
[X,Y,Z] = peaks(20);

% Tile 1
nexttile
surf(X,Y,Z)

% Tile 2
nexttile
contour(X,Y,Z)

% Tile 3
nexttile
imagesc(Z)

% Tile 4
nexttile
plot3(X,Y,Z)

Figure contains 4 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type surface. Axes object 2 contains an object of type contour. Axes object 3 contains an object of type image. Axes object 4 contains 20 objects of type line.

To change the colormap in the third tile, get the axes in that tile. Call the nexttile function by specifying the tile number, and return the axes output argument. Then pass the axes to the colormap function.

ax = nexttile(3);
colormap(ax,cool)

Figure contains 4 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type surface. Axes object 2 contains an object of type contour. Axes object 3 contains an object of type image. Axes object 4 contains 20 objects of type line.

Create a 2-by-3 tiled chart layout containing two plots in individual tiles, and one plot that spans across two rows and two columns.

t = tiledlayout(2,3);
[X,Y,Z] = peaks;

% Tile 1
nexttile
contour(X,Y,Z)

% Span across two rows and columns
nexttile([2 2])
contourf(X,Y,Z)

% Last tile
nexttile
imagesc(Z)

Figure contains 3 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type contour. Axes object 2 contains an object of type contour. Axes object 3 contains an object of type image.

To change the colormap for the spanned axes, identify the tile location as one containing the upper-left corner of the axes. In this case, the upper-left corner is in the second tile. Call the nexttile function with 2 as tile location, and specify an output argument to return the axes object at that location. Then pass the axes to the colormap function.

ax = nexttile(2);
colormap(ax,hot)

Figure contains 3 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type contour. Axes object 2 contains an object of type contour. Axes object 3 contains an object of type image.

Load the patients data set and create a table from a subset of the variables. Then create a 2-by-2 tiled chart layout. Display a scatter plot in the first tile, a heatmap in the second tile, and a stacked plot across the bottom two tiles.

load patients
tbl = table(Diastolic,Smoker,Systolic,Height,Weight,SelfAssessedHealthStatus);
tiledlayout(2,2)

% Scatter plot
nexttile
scatter(tbl.Height,tbl.Weight)

% Heatmap
nexttile
heatmap(tbl,'Smoker','SelfAssessedHealthStatus','Title','Smoker''s Health');

% Stacked plot
nexttile([1 2])
stackedplot(tbl,{'Systolic','Diastolic'});

Figure contains an axes object and other objects of type . The axes object contains an object of type scatter. The chart of type heatmap has title Smoker's Health.

Call nexttile, and specify the tile number as 1 to make the axes in that tile the current axes. Replace the contents of that tile with a scatter histogram.

nexttile(1)
scatterhistogram(tbl,'Height','Weight');

Figure contains objects of type . The chart of type heatmap has title Smoker's Health.

When you want to share a colorbar or legend between two or more plots, you can place it in a separate tile.

Create filled contour plots of the peaks and membrane data sets in a tiled chart layout.

Z1 = peaks;
Z2 = membrane;
tiledlayout(2,1);
nexttile
contourf(Z1)
nexttile
contourf(Z2)

Figure contains 2 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type contour. Axes object 2 contains an object of type contour.

Add a colorbar, and move it to the east tile.

cb = colorbar;
cb.Layout.Tile = 'east';

Figure contains 2 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type contour. Axes object 2 contains an object of type contour.

Occasionally, you might need to create the axes by calling one of the axes functions (axes, polaraxes, or geoaxes). When you create the axes with one of these functions, specify the parent argument as the tiled chart layout. Then position the axes by setting the Layout property on the axes.

Create a tiled chart layout t and specify the 'flow' tile arrangement. Display a plot in each of the first three tiles.

t = tiledlayout('flow');
nexttile
plot(rand(1,10));
nexttile
plot(rand(1,10));
nexttile
plot(rand(1,10));

Create a geographic axes object gax by calling the geoaxes function and specify t as the parent argument. By default, the axes goes into the first tile, so move it to the fourth tile by setting gax.Layout.Tile to 4. Span the axes across a 2-by-3 region of tiles by setting gax.Layout.TileSpan to [2 3].

gax = geoaxes(t);
gax.Layout.Tile = 4;
gax.Layout.TileSpan = [2 3];

Call the geoplot function. Then configure the map center and zoom level for the axes.

geoplot(gax,[47.62 61.20],[-122.33 -149.90],'g-*')
gax.MapCenter = [47.62 -122.33];
gax.ZoomLevel = 2;

Input Arguments

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Number of rows, specified as a positive whole number.

Example: tiledlayout(2,3) creates a tiled chart layout that has two rows and three columns of tiles.

Number of columns, specified as a positive whole number.

Example: tiledlayout(2,3) creates a tiled chart layout that has two rows and three columns of tiles.

Tile arrangement, specified as one of these values:

  • "flow" — Create a layout for a grid of axes. Each time you call nexttile, the layout reflows as needed to accommodate the new axes while maintaining an aspect ratio of roughly 4:3 for all the axes.

  • "vertical" — Create a layout for a vertical stack of axes. Each time you call nexttile, a new axes object is added to the bottom of the stack. (since R2023a)

  • "horizontal" — Create a layout for a horizontal stack of axes. Each time you call nexttile, a new axes object is added to the right side of the stack. (since R2023a)

Example: tiledlayout("vertical") creates a layout for a vertical stack of axes.

Parent container, specified as a Figure, Panel, Tab, or TiledChartLayout object.

Name-Value Arguments

Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Before R2021a, use commas to separate each name and value, and enclose Name in quotes.

Example: tiledlayout(2,2,"TileSpacing","compact") creates a 2-by-2 layout that has minimal spacing between the tiles.

Note

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

Tile spacing, specified as "loose", "compact", "tight" or "none". Use this property to control the spacing between the tiles.

This table shows how each value affects the appearance of a 2-by-2 layout.

ValueAppearance

"loose"

Tiled chart layout with "loose" tile spacing.

"compact"

Tiled chart layout with "compact" tile spacing.

"tight"

Tiled chart layout with "tight" tile spacing.

"none"

Tiled chart layout with "none" tile spacing.

Padding around the perimeter of the layout, specified as "loose", "compact", or "tight". The layout provides space for all decorations, such as axis labels, regardless of the value of this property.

This table shows how each value affects the appearance of a 2-by-2 layout.

ValueAppearance

"loose"

Tiled chart layout with "loose" padding.

"compact"

Tiled chart layout with "compact" padding.

"tight"

Tiled chart layout with "tight" padding.

Version History

Introduced in R2019b

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