CREATE A NEW PLOT
Bar charts barplot(height, …)
bar labels names.arg =
border border =
fill color col =
horizontal horiz = TRUE
Box plots boxplot(x, …)
horizontal horizontal = TRUE
box labels names =
Dot plots dotchart(x, …)
dot labels labels =
Histograms hist(x, …)
breakpts breaks =
Scatterplots plot(x, …)
symbol pch =
Line charts plot(x, type = “l” )
line type lty =
“blank”|0
“solid”|1
“dashed”|2
“dotted”|3
line width lwd =
axis labels ann = FALSE
axis, tickmarks, xaxt = “n”
yaxt = “n”and labels
plot box bty = “n”
REMOVE ADJUST
allow plotting
out of plot xpd = TRUE
region
aspect ratio asp =
axis limits xlim =, ylim =
axis lines to xaxs = “i” ,
match
axis limits
yaxs = “i” (internal
axis calculation)
SET GRAPHICAL PARAMETERS
multiple mfcol = c(nrow,ncol)
plots mfrow = c(nrow,ncol)
plot margins mar = c(bottom, left,
top, right) default:
c(5.1, 4.1, 4.1, 2.1) lines
the following can only be set with par()
plot margins oma = c(bottom, left,
(outer) top, right) default:
c(0, 0, 0, 0) lines
query x & y
par (“usr”)
limits
par (…)
NOTE: Many of the parameters here
can be also be set in par(). See R
help for more options.
Axes axis (side,… )
• location side = 1 2 3 4
(bottom, left, top, right)
tick mark:
• labels labels =
• location at =
• remove tick = FALSE
• rotate text las = 1 (horizontal)
Text text (x, y, text,…)
• position
• (rel. to x,y)
pos = 1 2 3 4
(below, left, above, right)
(default=center)
Axis labels mtext (text,… )
• location side = 1 2 3 4
(bottom, left, top, right)
• lines to skip line = (from plot
region, default = 0)
• position at = x or y-coord
(depending on side)
• justification adj = 0 .5 1
(left, center, right)
Lines lines (x,…)
• line style lty =
• line width lwd =
• color col =
Title title (main,…)
• axis labels xlab =, ylab =
• subtitle sub =
• title main =
ADD TO AN EXISTING PLOT
Add new plot [any plot function]
(…,add = TRUE)
ex. barplot(x, add = TRUE)
• color col =
• fill color bg = (pch: 21-25 only)
location
axis labels xlab =, ylab =
subtitle sub =
title main =
style
font face font = 1 (plain)
2 (bold) 3 (italic)
4 (bold italic)
font family family = “serif”
“sans” “mono”
ADD TEXT
Points points (x,…)
• symbol pch =
size
(magnification factor)
all elements cex =
axis labels cex.lab =
subtitle cex.sub =
tick mark labels cex.axis =
title cex.main =
position
text direction las = 1 (horizontal)
justification adj = 0 .5 1
(left, center, right)
R Base Graphics Cheatsheet
Joyce	
  Robbins,	
  joycerobbins1@gmail.com