How do I change the marker size for a plot?

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Im trying to set the marker size on a plot but having no luck, heres my code
this works fine
plot(
x , x^2,'-k*',...
x , x^3,'-ko',...
x , x^4,'-k' )
but when i try and set marker size it does not
plot(
x , x^2,'-k*',...
x , x^3,'-ko','MarkerSize',12,...
x , x^4,'-k' )
what do I need to do?

Accepted Answer

Oleg Komarov
Oleg Komarov on 30 Apr 2011
Edited: MathWorks Support Team on 8 Nov 2018
You can change the marker size for a line plot by setting the “MarkerSize” property, either as a name-value pair or by accessing the “Line” object.
Name-value pair:
If you set this property as a name-value pair with the “plot” function, you must set it after all the x,y pairs. Name-value pair settings apply to all the plotted lines. To use a different marker size for each line, use separate “plot” commands. For example:
plot(x,x^2,'-k*', 'MarkerSize',20)
hold on
plot(x,x^3,'-ko','MarkerSize',12)
plot(x,x^4,'-k' )
hold off
Accessing the “Line” object:
Alternatively, return the “Line” objects as an output argument from the “plot” function and then set the “MarkerSize” property for each object separately.
p = plot(x,x^2,'-k*', x,x^3,'-ko', x,x^4,'-k' )
p(1).MarkerSize = 20;
p(2).MarkerSize = 12;
  3 Comments
Sreekar Sai Ranganathan
Sreekar Sai Ranganathan on 7 Sep 2021
Is there a way to set this globally at startup for all plots?
For e.g., for line width of plots, I found that adding the following line in startup.m does it. Is there a similar property for the default marker size?
set(groot,'defaultLineLineWidth',1.3);
Sreekar Sai Ranganathan
Sreekar Sai Ranganathan on 7 Sep 2021
Nvm, figured it out. The following works:
set(groot,'defaultLineMarkerSize',4);
Also see this answer, if anyone needs something similar.

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More Answers (3)

Jan
Jan on 30 Apr 2011
plot(x, x^2,'-k*');
hold('on');
plot(x, x^3,'-ko','MarkerSize', 12);
plot(x, x^4,'-k');
  2 Comments
Leo Simon
Leo Simon on 22 May 2014
For some obscure reason, MarkerSize is not consistently used. When you use scatter, you need to set 'SizeData' instead of 'MarkerSize'. Also, the scale of SizeData is different from that of MarkerSize' E.g.,
h = scatter(rand,rand,'b','filled'); set(h,'SizeData',96);
Michelle Hirsch
Michelle Hirsch on 29 Jan 2016
The difference is subtle, but intentional. It stems from the different use cases.
MarkerSize is used to control the overall size of markers, just like the overall width of a line with LineWidth or font size. The units are in points, just like LineWidth.
Scatter is used to actually scale the marker sizes based on data. Specifically, the area of the marker is proportional to the value. This is why the units are in points squared.

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Matt Fig
Matt Fig on 30 Apr 2011
To make this type of thing much easier, you could download this code so that all these options are available from a simple mouse click:
  3 Comments
Michelle Hirsch
Michelle Hirsch on 29 Jan 2016
You can also enable a context menu for changing line and marker properties just by enabling plot edit mode. Click on the button in the Figure toolbar with an arrow on it, then right click on your line.

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Hari Desanur
Hari Desanur on 15 Nov 2016
The Marker Size property for a particular line can be set using line object handles. For example -
l = plot(x1,y1,'*-',x2,y2,'*-');
l(1).MarkerSize = 8; % set marker size of 8 for the first line (x1,y1)
l(2).MarkerSize = 12;
  1 Comment
P_L
P_L on 18 Apr 2019
Hi there and what if you wanted to chnage the colours of 'ko' data points so that they are filled for example with 'b'
Many thanks

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