Plot Legends Package
There are two ways to use the functions in this package to place a legend in a graphic: the first can only be used as an option to the built‐in functions Plot, ListPlot, and ListLinePlot, while the second can be applied to any graphic. To use the PlotLegend option, you simply specify the text for each curve. If there are more curves than text, the text is used cyclically. The second way of placing a legend in a graphic is to use ShowLegend. With ShowLegend, you specify the graphic and legend as arguments.
| PlotLegend->{text1,text2,…} | option for Plot to place a legend with text for each curve |
| ShowLegend[graphic,legend1,legend2,…] | place the legendi in the given graphic |
Methods for placing a legend in a graphic.
| {{{box1,text1},… },opts} | specification of a legend, with color primitives or graphics for the boxi and expression suitable for placement in Text primitives in the texti |
| {colorfunction,n,minstring,maxstring,opts} | specification of a legend with n boxes, each colored with the colorfunction with optional strings placed by the end |
Legend formats for ShowLegend.
| LegendPosition | specify the position of the legend in relation to the graphic, where the center of the graphic is at  |
| LegendSize | give the length or  dimensions in the same coordinate system as LegendPosition |
| LegendShadow | None gives no drop shadow for the box,  gives an offset for the drop shadow |
| LegendOrientation | Horizontal or Vertical determines the orientation of the boxes |
| LegendLabel | label for the legend |
| LegendTextDirection | direction of the text is rotated, as in a Text graphics primitive |
| LegendTextOffset | offset of text, as a Text graphics primitive |
There are various options that can be used to control the shape and characteristics of a legend. The most important of these is LegendPosition, which places the lower‐left corner of a legend box in a position specified by a coordinate system scaled so the center of the graphic is at 
, and the longest side of the graphic runs from 
to 
. This same coordinate system is used for LegendSize and LegendShadow.
| LegendSpacing | space around each key box in the legend, expressed as the ratio of the space to the size of the key box |
| LegendTextSpace | space allocated next to the key boxes for text, expressed as in LegendSpacing |
| LegendLabelSpace | space allocated for the legend label, as in LegendSpacing |
| LegendBorderSpace | space allocated around the entire legend, as in LegendSpacing |
| LegendBorder | style for a border line around the legend box; can only be used if LegendShadow is not None |
| LegendBackground | style for a background to the legend; can only be used if LegendShadow is not None |
| ShadowBackground | color for the legend's drop shadow |
More options for use with legends.
Several of the options that determine the amount of blank space around the various elements of a legend accept a number that is the ratio of the size of the space desired to the size of one of the key boxes—the colored boxes that denote a key in the legend. These options include LegendSpacing, LegendTextSpace, LegendLabelSpace, and LegendBorderSpace.
| Legend[legendargs,opts] | give the graphics primitives that describe an individual legend |
| ShadowBox[pos,size,opts] | give the graphics primitives for a box with a drop shadow |
Legend functions that do not display a graphic.
The arguments for Legend are the same as those inside the first set of braces in the description of a legend given in ShowLegend. Using Legend or ShadowBox, you can generate just the graphics primitives of a legend or box with a drop shadow to be used elsewhere in your own graphics.
| ShadowOffset | give the  and  offset of the shadow from the box |
| ShadowBackground | give the color of the shadow |
| ShadowForeground | give the color of the box with the shadow |
| ShadowBorder | give a graphics primitive or list of primitives denoting the style of the line around the box |
Options for ShadowBox.