Printing and Exporting Figures with MATLAB

Setting up the Page

Overview

This chapter describes how to set up your figure for printing or exporting in terms of:

• Paper size and type (printing only)
• Paper orientation (printing only)
• Unit of measure

• Unit of measure affects all of the other settings discussed in this chapter, i.e. the paper size, figure size, and the position of the figure on the page. By default, it is set to inches.

• Figure size and position (position pertains to printing only)

Default Settings and How to Change Them

MATLAB outputs an 8-by-6 inch figure, and if you print the figure, it is centered on an 8.5-by-11 inch sheet of paper using portrait orientation.

You can change the default settings by using the Page Setup dialog box or by using MATLAB commands.

Relationships Among Settings

This section is relevant to printing operations, not exporting operations.

Normally, you set the size and position of your figure with a particular paper size and orientation in mind. If you later change the paper size or orientation, you may need to readjust the size and position. For example, if your figure size is set to 8-by-6 inches and you change its orientation from landscape to portrait, the figure may print off of the right edge of the paper.

Changing the orientation of the paper can affect the paper size setting. For example, if you set the paper size 8.5-by-11 inches, and then change the orientation from portrait to landscape, the paper size is reset to 11-by-8.5 inches.

To easily check the compatibility of your size and position with your paper size and orientation, use the Print Preview dialog box.

Appending Figures to a PostScript File

Paper Size and Type