Dashed axis lines

Question

How can make the axis lines that go from the origin to each of the coordinates dashed? For instance I want the axis line that goes from (0,0,0) to (0,0,1) to be dashed.

\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}

\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=newest}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=1]
  \begin{axis}[view={40}{20}, ticks = none, axis on top, axis lines=center, y
    dir=reverse, ymin=0, ymax=2, xmin=0, xmax=2, zmin=0, zmax=2,
    xlabel=$p_{1}$, ylabel=$p_{2}$, zlabel=$p_{3}$, every axis y label/.append
    style={at=(ticklabel* cs:0)}]

  \addplot3[thick,mark=*] coordinates {(1,0,0) (0,1,0) (0,0,1)} --cycle;
  \node [above right] at (axis cs:1,0,0) {$(1,0,0)$};
  \node [above left] at (axis cs:0,1,0) {$(0,1,0)$};
  \node [above right] at (axis cs:0,0,1) {$(0,0,1)$};
  \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

score 10 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 07 '13 at 17:29

Perhaps my approach is too simplistic- draw a dashed white line on top of the axis for the relevant parts using

\draw[dashed,white] (axis cs: 0,0,0)--(axis cs: 0,0,1);
\draw[dashed,white] (axis cs: 0,0,0)--(axis cs: 0,1,0);
\draw[dashed,white] (axis cs: 0,0,0)--(axis cs: 1,0,0);

You need to comment out axis on top, for this to work.

screenshot

% arara: pdflatex
% !arara: indent: {overwrite: yes}
\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}

\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=newest}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=1]
    \begin{axis}[
            view={40}{20}, 
            ticks = none, 
            %axis on top, 
            axis lines=center, y
            dir=reverse, 
            ymin=0, ymax=2, xmin=0, xmax=2, zmin=0, zmax=2,
            xlabel=$p_{1}$, ylabel=$p_{2}$, zlabel=$p_{3}$, 
            every axis y label/.append style={at=(ticklabel* cs:0)},
        ]
        \addplot3[thick,mark=*] coordinates {(1,0,0) (0,1,0) (0,0,1)} --cycle;
        \node [above right] at (axis cs:1,0,0) {$(1,0,0)$};
        \node [above left] at (axis cs:0,1,0) {$(0,1,0)$};
        \node [above right] at (axis cs:0,0,1) {$(0,0,1)$};
        \draw[dashed,white] (axis cs: 0,0,0)--(axis cs: 0,0,1);
        \draw[dashed,white] (axis cs: 0,0,0)--(axis cs: 0,1,0);
        \draw[dashed,white] (axis cs: 0,0,0)--(axis cs: 1,0,0);
    \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

If you look closely, you'll see that the axis are still present. This might be a good or a bad thing.... If you don't want to see them at all, add thick to the draw commands:

        \draw[dashed,white,thick] (axis cs: 0,0,0)--(axis cs: 1,0,0);

Thanks! That works perfectly. One additional question: Is there some way to get the p2 ylabel closer to the axis? — petobens, Oct 07 '13 at 18:00
@petobens you're welcome! try something like every axis y label/.append style={at=(ticklabel cs:0.1)}, and edit as you see fit — cmhughes, Oct 07 '13 at 18:06
This time I thought that this solution would be too complicated to implement inside a more complex graph, so really isn't there some creating macro inside the pgf structure that "acts" as the tikz shading for overlapped elements? — TheVal, Oct 07 '13 at 18:07

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 28 '22 at 13:35

This old question has a solution that draws white dash pattern to hide part of the axis. This creates artefacts, so here is an alternative solution for anyone that needs it.

\documentclass[border=1cm]{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.18}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
view={40}{20},
ticks=none,
axis lines=center,
y dir=reverse,
xmin=0, xmax=2,
ymin=0, ymax=2,
zmin=0, zmax=2,
xlabel=$p_{1}$, ylabel=$p_{2}$, zlabel=$p_{3}$,
every axis y label/.append style={at=(ticklabel* cs:0)},
x axis line style={draw=none, insert path={(axis cs:0,0,0) edge[draw, dashed, -] (axis cs:1,0,0) (axis cs:1,0,0) edge (axis cs:2,0,0)}},
y axis line style={draw=none, insert path={(axis cs:0,0,0) edge[draw, dashed, -] (axis cs:0,1,0) (axis cs:0,1,0) edge (axis cs:0,2,0)}},
z axis line style={draw=none, insert path={(axis cs:0,0,0) edge[draw, dashed, -] (axis cs:0,0,1) (axis cs:0,0,1) edge (axis cs:0,0,2)}},
]
\addplot3[thick,mark=*] coordinates {(1,0,0) (0,1,0) (0,0,1)} -- cycle;
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Dashed axis lines

2 Answers2

Linked