# How can I change the fontsize of the colorbar's label in Plots.jl?
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-can-i-change-the-fontsize-of-the-colorbars-label-in-plots-jl/103108
**Category:** Visualization
**Tags:** plots, statsplots
**Created:** [August 23, 2023, 11:31am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-can-i-change-the-fontsize-of-the-colorbars-label-in-plots-jl/103108 "2023-08-23T11:31:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@bertulli](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/bertulli)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2023, 11:31am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-can-i-change-the-fontsize-of-the-colorbars-label-in-plots-jl/103108/1 "2023-08-23T11:31:02Z")
Hi all, I have a 2D matrix that I want to plot as an heatmap. It is quite big though (58x58), so plotting it with
```julia
function pairwise_difference(v::Vector)::Matrix
[x - y for x in v, y in v]
end
measures_vec = [t.mean * u"W" for t in results]
distance_matrix_measures = pairwise_difference(measures_vec)
p_measures = heatmap(
[t.program for t in results],
[t.program for t in results],
distance_matrix_measures,
c=cgrad([:green, :white, :red]),
colorbar_title = "Error",
colorbar_tickfontsize = 10,
title="Differences between measured programs",
aspect_ratio = :equal, yflip = true,
xrotation = 90,
xmirror = true,
framestyle = :grid,
size = (1_000, 1_000),
grid = false,
)
```
gives very little labels:
Is there a way I can increase **the colorbar’s label font?** Thanks!
---
### Author:  [@lmiq](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/lmiq)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2023, 2:26pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-can-i-change-the-fontsize-of-the-colorbars-label-in-plots-jl/103108/2 "2023-08-23T14:26:55Z")
You an scale all fonts with:
```julia
julia> scalefontsizes(1.3)
julia> heatmap(rand(100,100))
```
---
### Author:  [@bertulli](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/bertulli)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-can-i-change-the-fontsize-of-the-colorbars-label-in-plots-jl/103108/3 "2023-08-23T15:59:27Z")
Thanks! But apparently the signature is
```julia
scalefontsize(::Symbol, ::Number)
```
and the function is undocumented. What should I put there?
**EDIT** I noticed now that public function is plural, my bad.
---
### Author:  [@bertulli](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/bertulli)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-can-i-change-the-fontsize-of-the-colorbars-label-in-plots-jl/103108/4 "2023-08-23T16:04:57Z")
However, I’d like to only scale that font, and to keep the `xticksfontsize` fixed. Is there a way to only change that?
---
### Author:  [@lmiq](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/lmiq)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-can-i-change-the-fontsize-of-the-colorbars-label-in-plots-jl/103108/5 "2023-08-23T17:38:13Z")
You can use independently these keyword:
```julia
legendfontsize = 11
xtickfontsize = 14
ytickfontsize = 14
xguidefontsize = 14
yguidefontsize = 14
```
These options are listed here: [Axis Attributes · Plots](https://docs.juliaplots.org/latest/generated/attributes_axis/)
---
### Author:  [@bertulli](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/bertulli)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-can-i-change-the-fontsize-of-the-colorbars-label-in-plots-jl/103108/6 "2023-08-23T17:52:01Z")
You’re right, I asked you the wrong question. I wanted to say I’d like to change the **colorbar ticks’ font size** , which is apparently controlled by `yticksfontsize`. See this difference:
```julia
p_measures = heatmap(
program_names,
program_names,
distance_matrix_measures,
c=cgrad([:green, :white, :red]),
colorbar_title = "Error",
xtickfontsize = 5,
ytickfontsize = 5,
xguidefontsize = 400,
yguidefontsize = 400,
legendfontsize = 400,
# xticks = (1:length(program_names), program_names),
# yticks = (1:length(program_names), program_names),
title="Differences between measured programs",
aspect_ratio = :equal, yflip = true,
xrotation = 90,
xmirror = true,
framestyle = :grid,
size = (1_000, 1_000),
grid = false,
)
```
giving
and
```julia
p_measures = heatmap(
program_names,
program_names,
distance_matrix_measures,
c=cgrad([:green, :white, :red]),
colorbar_title = "Error",
xtickfontsize = 5,
ytickfontsize = 20, # <= HERE!
xguidefontsize = 400,
yguidefontsize = 400,
legendfontsize = 400,
# xticks = (1:length(program_names), program_names),
# yticks = (1:length(program_names), program_names),
title="Differences between measured programs",
aspect_ratio = :equal, yflip = true,
xrotation = 90,
xmirror = true,
framestyle = :grid,
size = (1_000, 1_000),
grid = false,
)
```
giving
Should I open an issue?
---
### Author:  [@lmiq](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/lmiq)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-can-i-change-the-fontsize-of-the-colorbars-label-in-plots-jl/103108/7 "2023-08-23T17:55:55Z")
> [@bertulli](#):
>
> Should I open an issue?
Probably, but I think that colorbar tick labels are already an open issue for other type of customizations. I even already manifested interest to contribute to that, but didn’t have time.