pgfplots: Grid Lines below Filling

Question

I want to fill the area between two curves and have the grid lines below the filling. Is this possible?

(From Showing grid on top of plot fill with PGFplots? I thought axis on bottom might work, but this seems not to be a command.)

Edit: The filling method is the one suggested in Fill the area between two curves calculated by pgfplots by Christian Feuersanger, and requires a recent version of pgfplots.

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz,pgfplots}

\pgfplotsset{compat=1.10}
\usepgfplotslibrary{fillbetween}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[axis lines = middle,
    smooth,
    no markers,
    xlabel = {$x$},
    ylabel = {$y$},
    minor tick num =1,
    grid=both,
    domain=0:2,]
        \addplot+[domain=0:1,samples=200,name path=A,black] {sqrt(x)};
        \addplot+[domain=0:1,name path=B,black] {x};
        \addplot[blue!50] fill between[of=A and B];
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

enter image description here

@A.Ellett Do you have the newest version of pgfplots? I had to update it to use the filling method Christian Feuersanger recommended in http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/17517/fill-the-area-between-two-curves-calculated-by-pgfplots. — Chris Chudzicki, Apr 11 '14 at 15:44
@A.Ellett I follow the steps given in How do I update my TeX distribution? — cmhughes, Apr 11 '14 at 16:08
@cmhughes It seems to be an issue with my current version of pgf. — A.Ellett, Apr 11 '14 at 17:03

score 16 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 11 '14 at 16:34

If you add set layers option the axis environment, it sets a hierarchricrhchaheal(!?) order as the standard layer order, namely axis background, axis grid, axis ticks, axis lines, axis tick labels, main, axis descriptions, axis foreground. This simply switches the order of drawing order. Hence it is feature not a bug. Otherwise you can reorder the layers as a customized layer style

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz,pgfplots}

\pgfplotsset{compat=1.10}
\usepgfplotslibrary{fillbetween}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[set layers,
    axis lines = middle,
    smooth,
    no markers,
    xlabel = {$x$},
    ylabel = {$y$},
    minor tick num =1,
    grid=both,
    domain=0:2,]
        \addplot+[domain=0:1,samples=200,name path=A,black] {sqrt(x)};
        \addplot+[domain=0:1,name path=B,black] {x};
        \addplot[blue!50] fill between[of=A and B];
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

enter image description here

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 12 '14 at 13:55

4

percusse's answer is correct.

What beats me is that pgfplots should have done that automatically as soon as it encounters a fill between plot.

Consequently, there is a second answer:

This is a bug and will be fixed in the next version of pgfplots (probably 1.11 once it is ready).

answered Apr 12 '14 at 13:55

Christian Feuersänger

55,840

Using this a bit more: percusse's answer puts the filling on top of gridlines and on top of tick labels (1, 2, 3, etc). I think ideally the filling should go above grid lines but under tick labels. I am not sure how uniform that opinion is, though. – Chris Chudzicki Apr 13 '14 at 23:52
@mrc I see. Pgfplots comes with two presets, the one shown by percusse and axis on top which puts both grid and tick labels on top. Perhaps your is better, I do not know. – Christian Feuersänger Apr 14 '14 at 17:51

pgfplots: Grid Lines below Filling

2 Answers2