# How to draw on axis from pgfplots?

How can I draw on an axis from pgfplots? I already found out, that I somehow have to use axis cs: in front of the coordinates (what does cs mean?), but the following example does not draw the ellipse:

\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}
\draw (axis cs:0,0) ellipse (1cm,1cm);
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}


What am I doing wrong? What's the general way of drawing on an axis plot?

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Your example works for me with supplied limits (xmin, etc.) and \pgfplotsset{compat=1.7} (the manual (section 4.16 “Custom Annotations”) demands for > 1.5.1). cs stands for coordinate system. By the way, the (old) syntax for the ellipse is (1cm and 1cm), although I recommend [x radius=1cm, y radius=1cm]. –  Qrrbrbirlbel Mar 27 '13 at 18:58
@Qrrbrbirlbel Your comment is the best answer that I am aware of. You should probably turn it into an answer –  Christian Feuersänger Mar 27 '13 at 19:08
@ChristianFeuersänger I have answered. Hopefully you can agree with everything that is said. I don’t often find my self using the pgfplots package, so I rather leave a comment or a suggestion (or wait for the author’s approval ;)). –  Qrrbrbirlbel Mar 28 '13 at 17:43

Let’s break it down:

The “older syntax” for the ellipse path operator is ellipse (<x radius> and <y radius>).

But, there is a newer and better syntax. I agree here with the manual:

Note: There also exists an older syntax for circles [and ellipses], where the radius of the circle is given in parentheses right after the circle command as in circle (1pt). Although this syntax is a bit more succinct, it is harder to understand for readers of the code and the use of parentheses for something other than a coordinate is ill-chosen.

— PGF manual, section 14.7 “The circle and Ellipse Operations”, p. 148

The following syntax is much more readable:

\draw (axis cs:0,0) ellipse [x radius=1cm, y radius=1cm];


and you could also add scale and rotate options or can use them in the every circle style or …

But still, no output of an ellipse. :(

Reading section 4.16 “Custom Annotations”, pp. 263ff of the pgfplots manual we can find a few examples using the ellipse path operator, where axes limits are always given. These are needed if the axis environment does not contain one single plot.

So, this works:

\begin{axis}%[xmin=-1,xmax=1,ymin=-1,ymax=1]
\addplot {x^2 - x + 4};
\end{axis}


This does not:

\begin{axis}%[xmin=-1,xmax=1,ymin=-1,ymax=1]
\end{axis}


But this:

\begin{axis}[xmin=-1,xmax=1,ymin=-1,ymax=1]
\end{axis}


You can also use radii given in pgfplots direction vectors, these automatically use the axis direction cs (cs stands for Coordinate System, which itself has a big chapter in the PGF manual). To do this you will need to set at least compat=1.5.1.

Simply omit the dimension units and pgfplots automatically assumes the axis direction cs:

\draw (axis cs:0,0) ellipse [x radius=2,  y radius=.5];


## Code

\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.7}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[xmin=-1,xmax=1,ymin=-1,ymax=1]
%    \addplot {x^2 - x +4};

The answer is good. In addition, there is one further useful option: if you omit the unit cm, pgfplots will assume that the radii are expressed in axis units (requires compat=1.7 - or was it 1.6?) . –  Christian Feuersänger Apr 1 '13 at 10:13
@ChristianFeuersänger I thought I have described this with the latter paragraph, maybe it was easily skipped. I have added a few words and separated the paragraph a little bit more. According to the manual (p. 266 in the 1.7-260-ge1fb941 revision), it requires 1.5.1`. –  Qrrbrbirlbel Apr 1 '13 at 15:30