Rotate axes labels to align with axes angle in surfaces

Hi there,

I have the following example surface:

figure(1)
surf(peaks)
xlabel('X Axis')
ylabel('Y Axis')
zlabel('Z Axis')

How can I 'rotate' the x and y axes labels so that are perfectly aligned with the x and y axes angles, respectively?

I know that I can use something like the below, but I have to play around quite a bit to align it right and even then it doesn't feel like I have the angle correct. Is there a way to "get" the angle of the axes, and then simply use that value in the below code?

surf(peaks)
xlabel('X Axis')
ylabel('Y Axis')
zlabel('Z Axis')

xh = get(gca,'XLabel'); % Handle of the x label
set(xh, 'Units', 'Normalized')
pos = get(xh, 'Position');
set(xh, 'Position',pos.*[1,1,1],'Rotation',11)

yh = get(gca,'YLabel'); % Handle of the y label
set(yh, 'Units', 'Normalized')
pos = get(yh, 'Position');
set(yh, 'Position',pos.*[1,1,1],'Rotation',-11)

zh = get(gca,'ZLabel'); % Handle of the z label
set(zh, 'Units', 'Normalized')
pos = get(zh, 'Position');
set(zh, 'Position',pos.*[1,1,0],'Rotation',90)

Also, it the labels don't 'update' their angle once you rotate the surface once it is generated.

Thank you

[Geoff Hayes]

A - you could look at using the azimuth of the viewpoint, see view for details. All you need to do is call

 [az,el] = view

According to the notes, the the azimuth is the polar angle in the x-y plane, with positive angles indicating counterclockwise rotation of the viewpoint and that it is the horizontal rotation about the z-axis as measured in degrees from the negative y-axis.

In your example, the azimuth is -37.5 degrees, so from that you may be able to determine what rotation angle should be used to manipulate the labels.

[A]

Thanks - so when I do that, I then use those angles gives by azimuth into my rotation function, I don't think my labels are aligned?

surf(peaks)
xlabel('X Axis')
ylabel('Y Axis')
zlabel('Z Axis')
xh = get(gca,'XLabel'); % Handle of the x label
set(xh, 'Units', 'Normalized')
pos = get(xh, 'Position');
set(xh, 'Position',pos.*[1,1,1],'Rotation',30)
yh = get(gca,'YLabel'); % Handle of the y label
set(yh, 'Units', 'Normalized')
pos = get(yh, 'Position');
set(yh, 'Position',pos.*[1,1,1],'Rotation',-37.5)
zh = get(gca,'ZLabel'); % Handle of the z label
set(zh, 'Units', 'Normalized')
pos = get(zh, 'Position');
set(zh, 'Position',pos.*[1,1,0],'Rotation',90)

[Geoff Hayes]

No, the azimuth angle does not seem to give the correct alignment for the axes labels. You may have to modify it to get something closer to what you expect.

[Abdullah]

did you find a solution ? becuase i am searching for the same issue

Answer 1

[Nicholas Fette]

When your commercial software doesn't do it for you, somebody else does. Did you know that matplotlib aligns labels by default? Or try this http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/49542-tools-for-axis-label-alignment-in-3d-plot.