dropshadow - Drop Shadow class for plot objects

Adds a dropshadow to plot objects.

Every now and then your crude and harsh Matlab plots can benefit from some graphical enhancements. This class adds a fully customisable dropshadow to the plot objects in your axes. It takes a "snapshot" of the current axes and renders a dropshadow image using 2D convolution with a Gaussian kernel. Still, the figure can be exported to a vector graphics format, making it ideal for printed reports or PDFs.

Usage:

ShadowObj = dropshadow(hAxes) creates a dropshadow object for the plot objects in the specified axes. The shadow image is rendered using 2D convolution of a Gaussian kernel based on the properties Color, Angle, Distance, Spread and Size. The original plot objects are kept, such that the figure can still be exported to a vector graphics format such as EPS or PDF.

ShadowObj = dropshadow(hAxes,'Prop1',Value1,...) creates the dropshadow and sets the specified properties.

The dropshadow object is updated whenever a change is made to one of the properties. The object is deleted upon axes deletion.

Note that the shadow is always put as a 2D image in the background of the plot axes, regardless of 3D rotations.

Known issues:

The current implementation uses the java.awt.Robot to make a snapshot. This will not work with docked figures. A workaround is to use the built-in getframe function, which is activated by setting the hidden property ShadowObj.SnapMethod = 'getframe'. Suggestions for more robust implementations are welcome!