Plot title being placed and then erased, and subplots different sizes

Hey folks -

This one's a problem with a loop I wrote to plot a handful of figures, each with two subplots, and I can't seem to figure out how to keep the title above the subplots from disappearing. Here's my code for the loop:

for i = 1:plotPCnum
        I = num2str(i);
        h = figure;
        titlestr = char(['Scores and loadings for PC ',I]);
        title(titlestr);
        subplot(1,2,1); ...
            box('on'); hold('all'); plot(loads_wt(:,i)); axis square; axis tight;
            title(['Loadings PC ',num2str(I)]);...
            set(axes, 'XTick', [], 'YTick', []);
        subplot(1,2,2); imagesc(reshape(scores_wt(:,i), [nrows ncols]));...
            axis image;  title(['Scores PC ',num2str(I)]);   colormap('jet'); colorbar
        set(gca, 'XTick', [], 'YTick', []);
        saveas(h,titlestr,'fig');
        logline = char([titlestr,' has been created.']);
        fprintf(fidOUT,'%s\n',logline);
    end

What happens is that at the top right after I open the figure h and give it a title, as soon as the first subplot is opened that title disappears, and all I get is a series of plots each with 2 subplots with the subplot titles only. How can I code the figure title above the subplot titles so it doesn't disappear?

Also, the subplots are different sizes and I would like them to be the same size. How can I force this?

Thanks,

Jason

Answer 1

[Tom Lane]

Take a look at this:

title('main title');
set(gca,'Visible','off')
set(get(gca,'Title'),'Visible','on')
axes('OuterPosition',[0 0 .5 1]);

The first few lines create axes that hold the main title, then make the axes invisible except for their title. The last line creates a smaller plot directly, overcoming the subplot command's desire to clear out stuff in the way.

As for your other question, one issue is that the second plot is leaving room for the colorbar. You could get(ax,'Position') for each axes and adjust their widths and heights to make them as you want.

[Jason]

Thanks Tom, I'll give that a spin.

Answer 2

[Jason]

To clarify a bit I would like titlestr to be the plot title that is centered above the subplots and their titles.

[Image Analyst]

You mean like suplabel does it?

http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/?term=suplabel

Answer 3

[Jason]

Sorry Tom, that didn't work. As soon as subplot(1,2,1) is called, the firgure title disappears.

[Tom Lane]

You're right, that was the purpose of the last line above. You would use it in place of subplot to position the axes where you want them and avoid erasing the axes underneath.

[Jason]

Ah, I see. I'll try that...

[Jason]

That's the ticket! Once I place the "subplot" where I want it with axes('OuterPosition'), all is well with the figure title. Thanks for the help, Tom!