1.198 FAQ-925 Why do the contour line labels disappear from my contour plot?


Last Update: 3/10/2021

Contour with Custom Boundary

If you turn on the contour line labels and then apply a custom boundary on the contour plot, you may find some of the labels "disappear". This is because they are placed outside of the custom boundary and thus are clipped off.

To redraw labels inside your custom boundary:

  1. Click once on the contour plot to display the contour plot Mini Toolbar and toggle the Show Contour labels button Button MT add label.png off and back on. Alternately, click the Reposition Labels button Button MT Reposition Labels.png (requires Origin 2021b or later).


Note that in Origin versions prior to 2020, you will have to open Plot Details and hide, then redraw all the labels on your plot.

Contour without Custom Boundary

If your contour plot has no custom boundary but you find that some contour labels fail to show (or somehow disappear), here are a couple of possible remedies:

versions 2021 and earlier

  1. Double-click on the contour plot to open the Plot Details dialog.
  2. Select layer level on the left and activate the Display tab on the right. Uncheck Clip Data to Frame. This will show data (including labels) outside of the frame.
    Contour label disappear.png
  3. Click the label out of frame to select it, then drag it to reposition it inside the layer frame.
  4. After all labels are dragged back inside layer frame, reopen the Plot Details dialog and turn on Clip Data to Frame.

versions 2021b and later

In addition to manipulating the Clip Data to Frame settings, you can try these things:

  1. Click once on the contour plot to display the contour plot, then click the Reposition Labels button Button MT Reposition Labels.png.
  2. Try changing the value of system variable @CLE. The default value = 5, which should exclude labels from the outer 5% of the layer (5% of layer width/height). You can also try changing the value of @CLI. If you change the value of either of these LabTalk system variables, click once on the graph and turn labels off and back on by clicking twice on the Mini Toolbar's Show Contour Labels button Button MT add label.png; or click on the Reposition Labels button Button MT Reposition Labels.png.

Keywords:contour, label, unshown, disappear, boundary

Minimum Origin Version Required: 2019
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