MATLAB: Easy way to make text semitransparent

MATLABtext;transparency

Hi all,

Is there an easy way to make text semitransparent in MATLAB? For instance, if I wanted a textbox label on a graph to be only partially transparent, is there any property to adjust, similar to 'AlphaData' for images?

Thanks!

Best Answer

Unfortunately No. You have to convert the text to a bitmap and display it as an image (or surface) with appropriate transparency.

There are contributions in the FEX to assist with converting text to image.

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MATLAB: Set NaN as another color than default using imagesc

Do you need to use imagesc, or are you open to using pcolor? The latter will leave NaNs blank, so they will appear the same color as the axis background.

Example:

 data = rand(10);
 data(data > 0.9) = NaN;
 [nr,nc] = size(data);
 subplot(2,1,1); 
 imagesc(data); 
 subplot(2,1,2); 
 pcolor([data nan(nr,1); nan(1,nc+1)]);
 shading flat;
 set(gca, 'ydir', 'reverse');

(The NaN-padding in the pcolor call is so the last row and column are shown, similar to imagesc)

MATLAB: How to make the ‘plot’ function markers and lines transparent using ‘alpha’ or otherwise

Basic 'plot' function markers do not currently support transparency or alpha values. If you would like to make a scatter plot with transparent markers, it is suggested that you use the 'scatter' function and use either 'alpha' or set the value of the property 'MarkerFaceAlpha':

scatter1 = scatter(x,y,'MarkerFaceColor','r','MarkerEdgeColor','k'); 
% Set property MarkerFaceAlpha and MarkerEdgeAlpha to <1.0
scatter1.MarkerFaceAlpha = .2;
scatter1.MarkerEdgeAlpha = .2;

or:

scatter1 = scatter(x,y,'MarkerFaceColor','r','MarkerEdgeColor','k'); 
alpha(scatter1,.2)

If you would like to have a line plot using 'plot' with transparent markers on top, you can simply use 'hold on/off' and 'scatter' in conjunction for the same desired effect:

plot(x,y);
hold on
scatter1 = scatter(x,y,'MarkerFaceColor','r','MarkerEdgeColor','k'); 
scatter1.MarkerFaceAlpha = .2;
hold off

You can also change the transparency of the lines generated by 'plot' by appending the 'Color' property with an alpha value:

plot1 = plot(x,y);
plot1.Color(4) = 0.2;

Please see the "Input Arguments" list for the property 'value' on the documentation page for 'alpha' for a list of graphics objects that support face transparency:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/alpha.html#buvaucs-5

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MATLAB: Set NaN as another color than default using imagesc

MATLAB: How to make the ‘plot’ function markers and lines transparent using ‘alpha’ or otherwise

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