# How to put legend below the chart?

I have the following code that produces a line chart:

\begin{figure}[p]
\centering
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
use units,
cycle list name=exotic, %This defines the color. It produces nicer colors
width=15cm, height=8cm,     % size of the image
grid = major,
grid style={dashed, gray!30},
%xmode=log,log basis x=10,
%ymode=log,log basis y=10,
xmin=0,     % start the diagram at this x-coordinate
ymin=0,     % start the diagram at this y-coordinate
%/pgfplots/xtick={0,5,...,60}, % make steps of length 5
%extra x ticks={23},
%extra y ticks={0.507297},
axis background/.style={fill=white},
ylabel=Time,
xlabel=Number of Datapoints (n),
y unit=s,y unit prefix=m,
tick align=outside]

% import the correct data from a CSV file
\addplot table [col sep=comma,trim cells=true,y=Best Case (Ascending)] {datasets/time_mergesort.txt};
\addplot table [col sep=comma,trim cells=true,y=Average Case (Random)] {datasets/time_mergesort.txt};
\addplot table [col sep=comma,trim cells=true,y=Worst Case (Descending)] {datasets/time_mergesort.txt};
\legend{Ascending,Random,Descending}
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Mergesort Run Time for Sorting Random Data}
\label{fig:merge_sort_from_csv}
\end{figure}


And at the moment the legend appears on the chart on the upper right corner. I need to move that below the chart, or even to leave that on the chart but to move that on the upper left corner.

I have tried the solution mentioned at this question, but it did not work for me.

How can I move the axis in a different position?

• For the upper left corner: legend pos=north west. See the manual (Section 4.9.5) for outer legend positions. It is much easier for others to help you if you provide minimal but complete examples. In this sample you have many lines of unrelated options that have nothing to do with the question. But you also leave out \documentclass{<...>} and package loading, requiring us to type extra things to produce a document. Please see our info on minimal working examples (MWEs). Jul 5, 2014 at 21:22
• @PaulGessler Do you want to answer, or close as unclear? Feb 7, 2015 at 22:08

pgfplots defines several shortcut legend pos settings, as defined in Section 4.9.5 of its manual; here you could choose legend pos=north west or legend pos=outer north east, which is currently the only pre-defined legend position outside the axis box.

If you want to place it in any other location, the legend pos keys are just shorthand for

legend style={at={(<x>,<y>)},anchor=<name>}


where <x> and <y> are in terms of the rel axis cs (ranges from 0 to 1 over the width and height of the axis box.

Here are a few possibilities:

\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.12}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[legend pos=north west]
\addlegendentry{$x$}
\addlegendentry{$x^2$}
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[legend pos=outer north east]
\addlegendentry{$x$}
\addlegendentry{$x^2$}
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[legend style={at={(0.5,-0.1)},anchor=north}]
\addlegendentry{$x$}
\addlegendentry{$x^2$}