I'm trying to plot several kernel density estimations on the same graph, and I want them to all be different colors. I have a kludged solution using a string 'rgbcmyk' and stepping through it for each separate plot, but I start having duplicates after 7 iterations. Is there an easier/more efficient way to do this, and with more color options? 

for n=1:10 source(n).data=normrnd(rand()*100,abs(rand()*50),100,1); %generate random data end cstring='rgbcmyk'; % color string figure hold on for n=1:length(source) [f,x]=ksdensity(source(n).data); % calculate the distribution plot(x,f,cstring(mod(n,7)+1)) % plot with a different color each time end

Answers: 

You could use a colormap such as HSV to generate a set of colors. For example: 

cc=hsv(12); figure; hold on; for i=1:12 plot([0 1],[0 i],'color',cc(i,:)); end

MATLAB has 13 different named colormaps ('doc colormap' lists them all).

Another option for plotting lines in different colors is to use the LineStyleOrder property; see Defining the Color of Lines for Plotting in the MATLAB documentation for more information.