Only one colorbar for subplots while plotting in a for loop.

x = 1:10;
y = x';
z1 = repmat(x,10,1);
z(:,:,1)=z1;z(:,:,2)=z1;
% this only sets the mapping and colorbar
colorbarrange = [0 12]; % assumed to be integer values
levels = colorbarrange(1):colorbarrange(2);
maplength = diff(colorbarrange);
% plot things
fig1=figure(1);
for i=1:2
   sph{i} = subplot(1,2,i,'Parent',fig1);
    s=contourf(sph{i},x,y,z(:,:,i),...
        levels,"ShowText", true);
    c1 = colorbar;
    colormap(parula(maplength))
    clim(colorbarrange)
    % if you really want to make sure every tick is labeled
    xticks(gca,ceil(min(x(:))):floor(max(x(:))));
    c1.Ticks = levels;
end

Now as you can see here there are two colorbar. I want only one colobar right to second subplot. I tried to put colorbar outside the for loop but it will not match with the contorf plots color scale.

Answer 1

[Adam Danz]

I recommend using tiledlayout instead of subplot. Tiledlayout has numerous benefits over subplot including easy placement of global colorbars.

x = 1:10;
y = x';
z1 = repmat(x,10,1);
z(:,:,1)=z1;z(:,:,2)=z1;
colorbarrange = [0 12]; 
levels = colorbarrange(1):colorbarrange(2);
maplength = diff(colorbarrange);

fig1=figure(1);
tcl = tiledlayout(1,2,'TileSpacing','compact');  % <-- define axes grid
for i=1:2
   % sph{i} = subplot(1,2,i,'Parent',fig1);  % <-- remove
   sph{i} = nexttile(tcl);                   % <-- create axes
    s=contourf(sph{i},x,y,z(:,:,i),...
        levels,"ShowText", true);
    % c1 = colorbar;                         % <-- remove
    colormap(parula(maplength))
    clim(colorbarrange)
    
    xticks(gca,ceil(min(x(:))):floor(max(x(:))));
    c1.Ticks = levels;
end

% Add colorbar to the east of the layout
cb = colorbar(sph{i});
cb.Layout.Tile = 'east';

Answer 2

[sushma swaraj]

Hi,

To have a single colorbar positioned to the right of the second subplot and match its color scale with the contour plots, you can make the following modifications to your code :

x = 1:10;
y = x';
z1 = repmat(x, 10, 1);
z(:,:,1) = z1;
z(:,:,2) = z1;

colorbarrange = [0 12]; % assumed to be integer values
levels = colorbarrange(1):colorbarrange(2);
maplength = diff(colorbarrange);

fig1 = figure(1);

sph = gobjects(2, 1); % Create an array to store subplot handles

for i = 1:2
    sph(i) = subplot(1, 2, i, 'Parent', fig1);
    contourf(x, y, z(:,:,i), levels, "ShowText", true);
    colormap(parula(maplength))
    clim(colorbarrange)
    xticks(ceil(min(x(:))):floor(max(x(:))));
end

% Position the colorbar to the right of the second subplot
c1 = colorbar('Position', [0.92 0.1 0.02 0.8], 'Parent', fig1);
c1.Ticks = levels;

Hope it helps!