adjust the alignment of different legends

Question

I used Show to combine a ListPlot and Plot, and each plot has its own legend. The code is as follows:

    list1 = 
    {{0.1, 0.3}, {0.3, 0.42}, {0.5, 0.48}, {0.7, 0.57}, {0.9, 0.72}};
    list2 =
    {{0, 0.2}, {0.2, 0.25}, {0.4, 0.31}, {0.6, 0.34}, {0.8, 0.39}};
    curve1[x_] := 0.25 + 0.5 x; curve2[x_] := 0.2 + 0.25 x;
    p1 = ListPlot[{list1, list2}, PlotRange -> {{0, 1}, {0, 0.8}}, 
    PlotStyle -> {{Red}, {Orange}}, Frame -> True, 
    PlotLegends -> Placed[PointLegend[{"Experimental data 1", 
    "Experimental data 2"}], {0.8, 0.3}], ImageSize -> Large];
    p2 = Plot[{curve1[x], curve2[x]}, {x, 0, 1}, 
    PlotRange -> {{0, 1}, {0, 0.8}}, 
    PlotStyle -> {Blue, Black}, Frame -> True, 
    PlotLegends -> Placed[LineLegend[{"Theoretical line for data 1", 
    "Theoretical line for data 2"}], {0.8, 0.2}], ImageSize -> Large];
    Show[p1, p2]

Now I want the four legends to have the same vertical spacing between each other, and the beginning letter "E" and "T" to be exactly aligned in vertical direction. How can I do that?

Answer 1

Update: A much easier way is to use single LineLegend with point and line elements:

mixedlegend = LineLegend[{White, White, Blue, Black}, 
{"Experimental data 1",  "Experimental data 2",
 "Theoretical line for data 1", "Theoretical line for data 2"}, 
  LegendMarkers -> {Graphics[{Red, Disk[]}], Graphics[{Orange, Disk[]}], None, None}]

Legended[Show[p1a, p2a], Placed[mixedlegend, {Scaled[.8], Scaled[.2]}]]

Plot[{curve1[x], curve2[x]}, {x, 0, 1}, 
 PlotRange -> {{0, 1}, {0, 0.8}}, PlotStyle -> {Blue, Black}, 
 Frame -> True, ImageSize -> Large, Epilog -> p1a[[1]], 
 PlotLegends -> Placed[mixedlegend, {Scaled[.8], Scaled[.2]}]]
(* same picture *)

---

Original post:

You can play with LegendMarkerSize manually to align the texts:

p1a = ListPlot[{list1, list2}, PlotRange -> {{0, 1}, {0, 0.8}}, 
   PlotStyle -> {Directive[Red, PointSize[Large]], 
     Directive[Orange, PointSize[Large]]}, Frame -> True, ImageSize -> Large];

p2a = Plot[{curve1[x], curve2[x]}, {x, 0, 1}, 
   PlotRange -> {{0, 1}, {0, 0.8}}, PlotStyle -> {Blue, Black}, 
   Frame -> True, ImageSize -> Large];

legend = Column[{PointLegend[{Red, Orange},
          {"Experimental data 1", "Experimental data 2"}, 
          LegendMarkers -> {"\[FilledCircle]", 10}, 
          LegendMarkerSize -> {32, 12}], 
         LineLegend[{Blue, Black}, {"Theoretical line for data 1", 
          "Theoretical line for data 2"}, LegendMarkerSize -> {30, 12}]}, 
         Spacings -> 0];

Legended[Show[p1a, p2a], Placed[legend, {Scaled[.8], Scaled[.2]}]]

Alternatively, using the listplot as Epilog in Plot:

Plot[{curve1[x], curve2[x]}, {x, 0, 1}, 
 PlotRange -> {{0, 1}, {0, 0.8}}, PlotStyle -> {Blue, Black}, 
 Frame -> True, ImageSize -> Large, Epilog -> p1a[[1]], 
 PlotLegends ->  Placed[legend, {Scaled[.8], Scaled[.2]}]]

gives the same picture.

Note: Using the observation in @Virgil's answer, you could also use p1[[1]] and p2[[1]] in place of p1a and p2a, respectively. Similarly, Epilog->p1a[[1]] can be replaced with Epilog->p1[[1,1]].

Answer 2

LegendMarkerSize is the key.

As an alternative to configuring the size manually, we can simply redraw a new combined legend with a single new legend using a single LegendMarkerSize. Although kguler's answer shows how to do this, I would like to point out here that it is possible to do this only using the two plots p1 and p2 supplied originally.

First note that a plot with a legend is a Legended object in Mathematica. It is also a tuple of two elements: the plot itself which is a Graphics object and a Placed legend.

Head@p1          (* -> Legended *)
Head@p1[[1]]     (* -> Graphics *)
Head@p1[[2]]     (* -> Placed *)
Head@p1[[2, 1]]  (* -> PointLegend *)

With a little trial and error, we can use this to break the two plots p1 and p2 up into components and use them to build a new legend we can use with the Legended function acting on a Show:

With[
 {
  plot1 = p1[[1]],
  plot2 = p2[[2]],
  legend1 = p1[[2, 1]],
  legend2 = p2[[2, 1]],
  place = p2[[2, 2]], (* position of new legend; good default *)
  lms = 15 (* legendmarkersize for new legend *)
 },
 Module[{points, lines, legends},
  points = MapThread[
    PointLegend[{#1}, {#2}, LegendMarkerSize -> lms] &, List@@legend1[[1 ;; 2]]];
  lines = MapThread[
    LineLegend[{#1}, {#2}, LegendMarkerSize -> lms] &, List@@legend2[[1 ;; 2]]];
  legends = points~Join~lines;
  Legended[Show[plot1, plot2], Placed[Column[legends], place]]
 ]
]

In fact, this should be relatively easy to functionize (honestly, I'm not sure why Mathematica does't have something like this already - perhaps because the whole PlotLegends-type functionality is relatively new).

Answer 3

LegendMarkerSize is the key as Virgil said. Besides that, the legend system is smart enough to combine legends if they are placed at the same position. So, instead of specifying one legend at {0.8, 0.3} and one at {0.8, 0.2}, put them both at {0.8, 0.2} and then they will be combined automatically reasonably.

p1 = ListPlot[{list1, list2}, PlotRange -> {{0, 1}, {0, 0.8}}, 
   PlotStyle -> {{Red}, {Orange}}, Frame -> True, 
   PlotLegends -> 
    Placed[PointLegend[{"Experimental data 1", "Experimental data 2"},
       LegendMarkerSize -> {32, 12}], {0.8, 0.2}], ImageSize -> Large];
p2 = Plot[{curve1[x], curve2[x]}, {x, 0, 1}, 
   PlotRange -> {{0, 1}, {0, 0.8}}, PlotStyle -> {Blue, Black}, 
   Frame -> True, 
   PlotLegends -> 
    Placed[LineLegend[{"Theoretical line for data 1", 
       "Theoretical line for data 2"}, 
      LegendMarkerSize -> {32, 12}], {0.8, 0.2}], 
   ImageSize -> Large];
Show[p1, p2]