Colorbar String Spacing Issue

I have some issues using 'colorbar'. To my problem: I would like to to plot a certain number (let's say 4) of different contourf-diagrams in a created 'tiledlayout'. The content is not important for my issue which is why I simply chose 'peaks' in the following. To keep the whole thing concise, a common x- and y-label should be used.

fig= figure('color', 'w');
tile= tiledlayout(2,2,'TileSpacing','normal','Padding', 'normal');

for a=1:4
    nexttile(a);
    contourf(peaks);
    set(gca, 'FontSize', 14);
    title(['Plot No. ', num2str(a)],'FontName','Arial Narrow','FontSize',14);
end
xlabel(tile, 'X-Label [unit]');
ylabel(tile, 'Y-Label [unit]');

For all plots I would like to place a common central colorbar below. However, this colorbar should still be provided with a label. I first tried to insert a string like in the examples:

cb= colorbar('FontName','Arial Narrow','FontSize',14);

% attempt #1:
cb.Label.String = 'CBar Label';
cb.AxisLocation = 'in';
cb.Layout.Tile= 'south'; % 'in' and 'out' doesn't make a difference in the south location

The problem is that the string of the colorbar is colliding with the xlabel. First I tought it just has to be done in diferent order (without success) :

% cb.Layout.Tile= 'south';
% cb.Label.String = 'CBar Label';
% cb.AxisLocation = 'in'; 

When I completely leave out the xlabel, the string will be truncated and is only partially displayed. Another idea was to use the title-function:

% attempt #2:
title(cb,'CBar Label', 'FontSize',14); % alternatively tried: xlabel(cb,...) and ylabel(cb,...)
cb.Layout.Tile= 'south';

Here the x-label is placed under the color bar, which is very unfavorable and misleading. I know that 'tiledlayout' is a relatively new and still under development but this problem occurs when using single plots as well. It seems to me that there is a problem with the location, as if the label is not correctly linked to the colorbar. So maybe the reason is wrong figure properties. I hope somebody can help. Thanks in advance!

[Adam Danz]

What release of Matlab are you using? I cannot replicate the problem in r2021a.

[Sebastian]

Okay, we are using Matlab 2020b.

[Adam Danz]

Perhaps you could try the ylabel() method shown in my answer. It might position the label differently than assing the string directly to the Label property.

Answer 1

[Adam Danz]

The problem with overlapping labels must have been solved in Matlab R2021a.

I agree that the xlabel should be above the colorbar. You could submit a feature request: Contact Us - MATLAB & Simulink

fig= figure('color', 'w');
tile= tiledlayout(2,2,'TileSpacing','normal','Padding', 'normal');

for a=1:4
    nexttile(a);
    contourf(peaks);
    set(gca, 'FontSize', 14);
    title(['Plot No. ', num2str(a)],'FontName','Arial Narrow','FontSize',14);
end
xlabel(tile, 'X-Label [unit]');
ylabel(tile, 'Y-Label [unit]');

cb= colorbar('FontName','Arial Narrow','FontSize',14);
cb.Layout.Tile= 'south';
ylabel(cb,'CBar Label');
title(cb, 'CBar title')