Plotting in R

What may be confusing at first if you look at graphic examples is that R has several independent graphic engines. Think of it like having several drawing artists, every one with his/her own style. You can decide which one you want to use to represent your data. The two main one are

• The standard graphic device, see many examples below
• ggplot2, see here

There are more graphics engines though. Here is a list of graphic packages that are available and how they fit together

Basic plotting example

The basic plotting command for the standard graphics output is plot() - this is a very simple example:

x = 1:10
y = rnorm(10)
plot(x,y)

Links to learn more about R graphics

Here are some (hopefully) useful links on how to do more complicated graphics:

• See Appendix 3 of the Essential statistics lecture notes

• Graph example page on APES

• Wiki page with basic plotting examples

• The Quick-R page has more complete information about everytipe of plot

• Derek Ogle’s book chapter is a quick but clear introduction to plotting for Fisheries Analyses

• Paul Maurell’s book, “R Graphics”, is a resource that helps users to master the intricacies of R graphics

• How to change the font in R charts

• About changing the background color in plots

• How to plot mathematical annotation

• Some tips about how to improve R graphics

• We can also find a R graphic’s chapter in “An Introduction to R”

• For “production figures” (i.e. those submitted for publication), see Nature’s Point of View series on scientific graphics (including colour coding, symbols and lines, all from top-notch designers!).

• In book form, check out Jean-luc Doumonts Trees, Maps and Theorems, or look at some sample pages: pdf

• R Graph Catalog
• Beyond Bar and Line Graphs: Time for a New Data Presentation Paradigm