Legend

A legend is a key to a plot that labels data by color, pattern, or symbol. Legends can be added to many modules, including FaceRender, HeightField, Isosurface, ScatterPlot, StreamLines, VectorPlot, VolRender, and WellRender.

 

Properties

Select a module that supports legends. In the Property Manager, click the Show button next to Legend to display the legend in the Viewer window. The legend properties are described below.

 

Properties
Customize the
Legend properties
in the
Property Manager.

 

Show Legend

Check the box next to the Show legend option to display the legend for the selected module.

 

Orientation

Orientation specifies the direction of the "length" dimension. Available options are Horizontal and Vertical length dimension. To change the Orientation, click on the existing option and select the desired option from the list.

Horizontal Legend
This legend has a Horizontal Orientation.

Vertical Legend
This legend has a
Vertical Orientation.

 

X and Y Position

The X position and Y position control the location of the legend in the Viewer window. Adjust the X and/or Y position value to move the legend location. Values range from 0.0 to 1.0. 0.0 places the left bottom edge of the legend at the left edge for X position or the bottom edge for Y position in the Viewer window. 1.0 places the left bottom edge of the legend at the right edge for X position or top edge for Y position in the Viewer window. To change either value, highlight the existing value and type a new value or drag the to increase or decrease the value.

 

Width

The Width (points) displays the width of the legend. For a vertical legend, the Width (points) is the distance from the left to the right of the legend. For a horizontal legend, the Width (points) is the distance from the top to the bottom of the legend. Values range between zero and 200 points. To change the width, highlight the existing value and type a new value or click and drag the to increase or decrease the value.

Horizontal Legend
This Horizontal legend has a Width (points) set to a value of 20.

Horizontal Legend
This Horizontal legend has a Width (points) set to a value of 40.

 

Length

The Length (points) displays the length of the legend. For a vertical legend, the Length (points) is the distance from the top to the bottom of the legend. For a horizontal legend, the Length (points) is the distance from the left to the right of the legend. Values range between zero and 1024 points. To change the length, highlight the existing value and type a new value or click and drag the to increase or decrease the value.

Horizontal Legend
This Horizontal legend has a Length (points) set to a value of 200.

Horizontal Legend
This Horizontal legend has a Length (points) set to a value of 400.

 

Title

Click the next to the Title section to set the legend title properties. Enter an optional title to display above the legend. To enter the Title, click in the empty spot next to Title. Type the desired text. If text already appears next to Title, highlight this text and type new text.

Legend with Title
This legend has a title.

Title Size

The Size (points) property is the height of the title text, in points. The size can range from 4 to 72 points. To change the height, highlight the existing value and type a new value or click and drag the to increase or decrease the value.

 

Labels

Click the next to Labels to open the labels section for the legend. Set the number of labels, label height, label format, or set custom labels in this section.

 

Number of Labels

The Number of labels displays the number of text labels displayed next to the legend in the Viewer window. A legend can have zero labels up to 100 labels. To change the number of labels, highlight the existing value and type a new value or click and drag the to increase or decrease the value.

 

Label Size

The Size (points) of the label text is displayed in points. To change the label size, highlight the existing value and type a new value or click and drag the to increase or decrease the value. The height can range between 4 and 72 points.

 

Use Custom Labels

Check the box next to Use custom labels to set user defined text next to the label. When this box is unchecked, automatic labels are created.

 

Custom Labels

When the box next to Use custom labels is checked, custom labels can be defined. Only labels in the proper format will be displayed. The format of the label string is "value:string." Use quotes if the label has spaces. Separate multiple labels with a comma or space. For example, the label string 0:Low displays the text Low at the value 0. The label string 0:Low, 1.5: Medium, 3:0: High would display the labels Low, Medium, and High at data values of 0.0, 1.5, and 3.0, respectively. To enter new custom labels, click in the empty box next to Custom labels and type the desired value:label text.

 

Label Format

Click the next to Label Format to open the label format section and set the label format.

 

Font

Click the next to Font to open the legend font section. The Font displays the font to use to display the labels. To change the font, click on the existing font name and select the desired font from the list. All of the fonts installed on your computer are displayed in the list.

 

Antialias Text

Check the box next to Antialias text to make the font look smoother by slightly adjusting the colors along curves. For a crisper text appearance, uncheck the box.

 

Background Rectangle

Check the box next to Background rectangle to draw a rectangle around the legend. The rectangle is filled with the Background color. Uncheck the box to remove the background rectangle.

Legend with Background
This legend has a gray background rectangle.

Foreground Color

The Foreground color displays the color to use as an outline for the legend and as the label color. To change the color, click on the current color and select the desired color in the color palette. Click Other to open the Colors dialog and specify a custom color.

 

Background Color

The Background color displays the color to use to fill the background rectangle. To change the color, click on the current color and select the desired color in the color palette. Click Other to open the Colors dialog and specify a custom color.

 

 

See Also

FaceRender

HeightField

Isosurface

ScatterPlot

StreamLines

VectorPlot

VolRender

WellRender

Connecting Modules