legend in subplot

I am plotting my data using subplot. since the legend is a bit long, I want to put a horzontal legend in top of each two sub plots.I can create a legend for each subplot but don't know how to create one at the top of each two plots. I apperciate your help.

x=1:80;

y=rand(15,80);

j=1;

legend={'LC1','LC2','LC3','LC4','LC5','LC6','LC7'};

for ii=1:4

for i=1:4

    subplot(2,2,i)

    hold on;

    row = 0;

   row = row+1; 

   plot(x(j:j+4),y(row,j:j+4))

        end

    j=j+5;

end

Answer 1

[Hassan]

I found another way. First I created a subplot with a legend, then placed the legend on the appropriate place on the plot, I created a M-code from the plot and got the position of the legend, then used the position for all subplots. . . .

end

leg1=legend(legend);

 set(leg1,'Position',[p1 p2 p3 p4]);

j=j+5;

end

[Dan Po]

 subplot(121);
peaks
legend('peaks');
subplot(122);
plot(1:10);
legend('1:10')

[Simon Mwakitabu]

This results to individual legend on each subplot. Not a common one on top of the figure including all plots.

New versions of Matlab since 2019 has tiled_layout with incredible features.

Answer 2

[Adam Danz]

Update

Since this thread continues to get 500+ views per month 9 years later, here's an updated solution for Matlab r2020b or later.

Using TiledLayout, legends can be positioned relative to figure edges and can contain graphics objects from different subplots or tiles.

Examples:

• Example of a global legend in a 2x2 tiled layout
• Example of a global legend in a 1x4 tiled layout
• Example of a global legend in a 1x4 subplot

Answer 3

[Laura Proctor]

You cannot have a legend that pulls data from more than one subplot. However, you can plot all the data in one subplot, then set the visibility to off and create a legend that will capture everything. Here's an example:

figure
subplot(211)
plot(1:10)
hold on
hi = plot(sin(1:10),'mx-');
legend('one','two','Location','NorthOutside')
set(hi,'Visible','Off')
subplot(212)
plot(sin(1:10),'mx-');

[Hassan]

thanks Laura for the comment. the legend is the same for all the plots and I can not put the all plots in one subplot since it becomes very small. Maybe the way you said is the way but I still don't know how to use your code for my work.

[Kelly Kearney]

You cannot have a legend that pulls data from more than one subplot

[Kelly Kearney]

Hmm, my comment got cut off. I mean to quote that statement, then say... Sure you can [label multiple subplots in one legend]. Just pass the handles of the lines/objects to be labeled.

[Hassan]

all my subplots have the same axis and legend, so I just found the right position for the legend and then used it for all subplots.

[Johanna]

If I use the solution proposed by Laura Proctor, the word "two" in the legend is somewhat transparent even if I try to force it to be black. Any ideas?

figure
subplot(211)
plot(1:10)
hold on
hi = plot(sin(1:10),'mx-');
h_legend= legend('one','two','Location','NorthOutside')

h_legend = 
  Legend (one, two) with properties:

         String: {'one'  'two'}
       Location: 'northoutside'
    Orientation: 'vertical'
       FontSize: 7.2000
       Position: [0.4556 0.8493 0.1235 0.0704]
          Units: 'normalized'

  Show all properties

set(h_legend,'TextColor','k')
set(hi,'Visible','Off')
subplot(212)
plot(sin(1:10),'mx-');

[Adam Danz]

It's because of this line

set(hi,'Visible','Off')

You are setting the 2nd line in the first axes to Visible=off so it is not displayed. Therefore, it's grayed out in the legend.

Instead, use object handles to specify what should go in the legend.