Printing and Exporting Figures with MATLAB

Unit of Measure

MATLAB uses the unit of measure to give a discrete meaning to the values specified for the paper size, and the size and position of the figure on the paper. If the units are changed, the numeric values for the margins and size of the figure convert appropriately.

The units available are

• Inches (the default)
• Centimeters
• Points
• Normalized

Inches, centimeters, and points are absolute units. (One point equals
1/72 of an inch.) Normalized units are relative to the paper size, i.e., they map the lower-left corner of the figure to (0,0) and the upper-right corner to (1.0, 1.0).

Changing the Unit of Measure

To change the unit of measure, use one of the following:

• The Paper tab of the Page Setup dialog box
• MATLAB's PaperUnits property

Set the units before making other settings, such as figure and paper size. If the units are not set appropriately, other settings may have confusing values. For example, if you change the paper type from US Letter (8.5-by-11 inches) to A4, the size is described as 8.27-by-11.69 inches, rather than the expected 20.98-by-29.68 centimeters.

Using the Page Setup Dialog Box

1. Select Page Setup from the figure window's File menu.
2. From the Paper tab select the appropriate unit of measure for your paper: Inches (the default), Centimeters, Points, or Normalized.
3. Click OK.

For detailed information about the Paper tab of the Page Setup dialog box, see its context sensitive help by clicking its Help button.

Note    Units can also be set from the Size and Position tab. Your setting on the Paper tab is reflected in Size and Position as well.

Using MATLAB Commands

Use the PaperUnits property. For example

• set(gcf,'PaperUnits','centimeters')
  

Paper Orientation

Size and Position of Printed or Exported Figures