title — Set the title of the current axes or a specified axes handle.

title attaches a text label to the top of the current axes. It returns a text handle that participates in the shared plotting property system used by get and set. Unlike sgtitle, which is figure-scoped, title is axes-scoped: in a subplot layout, each panel gets its own independent title.

How title works

• The returned value is a text handle that can be inspected or updated through get and set.
• With no explicit target, title attaches text to the current axes as returned by gca.
• Passing an axes handle as the first argument targets that specific axes, which is useful in subplot layouts.
• String scalars, char arrays, string arrays, and cell arrays are all accepted. String arrays and cell arrays produce multiline titles, with elements joined by newlines.
• Text styling properties — FontSize, FontWeight, FontAngle, Color, Interpreter, and Visible — use the shared plotting text-property system.
• Passing an unrecognized property name raises an error. Passing a non-numeric value for FontSize raises an error.

Examples

Add a title to the current axes

plot(0:0.1:2*pi, sin(0:0.1:2*pi));
title('Sine Wave');

Expected output:

% title is rendered above the axes

Style the title and inspect its handle

plot(1:10, rand(1, 10));
h = title('Random Signal', 'FontSize', 16, 'FontWeight', 'bold');
get(h, 'Type')

Expected output:

ans =
    'text'

Set an independent title on each subplot panel

subplot(1, 2, 1);
plot(0:0.1:pi, sin(0:0.1:pi));
title('Sine');
subplot(1, 2, 2);
plot(0:0.1:pi, cos(0:0.1:pi));
title('Cosine');

Expected output:

% Each panel has its own title; the figure has none

Target a specific axes using an explicit handle

ax1 = subplot(1, 2, 1);
plot(ax1, 1:5, 1:5);
ax2 = subplot(1, 2, 2);
plot(ax2, 1:5, (1:5).^2);
title(ax1, 'Linear');
title(ax2, 'Quadratic');

Expected output:

% Titles are attached to their respective axes regardless of which is currently selected

Create a multiline title from a string array

plot(1:5, [2 4 1 3 5]);
title(["Top line"; "Bottom line"]);

Expected output:

% Both strings appear, stacked above the axes

Update a title after plotting using set

plot(1:10, rand(1, 10));
h = title('Draft');
set(h, 'String', 'Final Title', 'FontSize', 14);

Expected output:

% The axes title is updated in place

FAQ

title({'First line', 'Second line'});

h = title('Initial');
set(h, 'String', 'Updated', 'Color', 'r');

ax = subplot(2, 1, 1);
title(ax, 'Top Panel');

Related Plotting functions

More plotting resources

• Styling plots and axes
• Plot replay and export
• Complete plotting guide

Open-source implementation

Unlike proprietary runtimes, every RunMat function is open-source. Read exactly how title works, line by line, in Rust.

• View title.rs on GitHub
• Learn how the runtime works
• Found a bug? Open an issue with a minimal reproduction.

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