Colors for plotting

Provides color variation for line plots.

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For multiple plots on the same figure, current color schemes are often not satisfactory. This function provides a smooth transition from red, through green, to blue. The function is especially suited for visualisation of the dependence of a variable over small variations of a parameter.

The following two ways can be used to reproduce the screenshot:

Color definition:
N = 50;
ColorSet = ColorBand(N);

Some data:
x = zeros(N, 2);
y = zeros(N, 2);
x(:,2) = N:-1:1;
y(:,2) = 1:N;

a) Separately set the color of each plot:
figure
hold on
for m = 1:N
plot(x(m,:), y(m,:), 'color', ColorSet(m,:));
end

b) Manually set the color order:
figure
hold all
set(gca, 'ColorOrder', ColorSet);
for m = 1:N
plot(x(m,:), y(m,:));
end

Special thanks to Jiro for the construction of a visually appealing example. See his blog on http://blogs.mathworks.com/pick/2008/08/15/colors-for-your-multi-line-plots/

Cite As

Giorgos (2026). Colors for plotting (https://ch.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/43548-colors-for-plotting), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .

Acknowledgements

Inspired by: varycolor

General Information

MATLAB Release Compatibility

  • Compatible with any release

Platform Compatibility

  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Linux
Version Published Release Notes Action
1.0.0.0