echo on p = patch([10 10 20 20 10],[10 20 20 10 10],[-2 -2 -2 -2 -2],[0 1 0]); t = text(30,30,0,'T'); % Notice that you cannot see the text. Why? % Because the auto axes limit chooser chose poorly. ax = gca; get(ax,'Xlim') get(ax,'XlimMode') get(ax,'Ylim') get(ax,'YlimMode') get(ax,'Zlim') get(ax,'ZlimMode') pause % If you manually set limits, you can see the text set(ax,'Zlim',[-10 10]) set(ax,'Xlim',[0 40]) set(ax,'Ylim',[0 40]) echo off