Change background color of R plot

Question

All right, let's say I have the following plot.

df = data.frame(date=c(rep(2008:2013, by=1)),
                value=c(303,407,538,696,881,1094))

barplot(df$value, main="TITLE", col="gray", ylab="People", xlab="Years")

How can I change the background to navy blue?

I know this is possible with ggplot2, but not sure if I can do this with base graphics.

score 63 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 29 '11 at 23:09

63

Like

par(bg = 'blue')
# Now do plot

answered Aug 29 '11 at 23:09

Owen

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thanks...but using par will change the settings. I just want to include the option in the barplot function. – ATMathew Aug 29 '11 at 23:10
@ATMathew It changes the settings for one device -- the next time you plot(), it will be reset back to white. – Owen Aug 29 '11 at 23:12
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Note that this is not an optimal solution when simultaneously working with `par(new = TRUE)` since the `bg` argument will automatically set `new = FALSE`. – fdetsch May 13 '16 at 08:27
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This does not work when there are multiple panels per page. – Met May 26 '20 at 13:05
this is the one! Thank you very much – display-name-is-missing May 09 '22 at 08:53

score 51 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 29 '11 at 23:12

51

One Google search later we've learned that you can set the entire plotting device background color as Owen indicates. If you just want the plotting region altered, you have to do something like what is outlined in that R-Help thread:

plot(df)
rect(par("usr")[1],par("usr")[3],par("usr")[2],par("usr")[4],col = "gray")
points(df)

The barplot function has an add parameter that you'll likely need to use.

answered Aug 29 '11 at 23:12

joran

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Cool this is much nicer than having the whole window be blue :) – Owen Aug 29 '11 at 23:13
Thanks! I'm using this with scatterplot matrix panels and it's beautiful. – Jamison Sep 21 '12 at 19:16
I know this is an old question/answer but its sadly still relevant. Is there a more seamless way to accomplish this yet? Plotting dummy point and then telling it not to plot those dummy points and then adding real points back in seems a little clumsy. – DChaps Jun 22 '20 at 06:42
@DChaps Plotting layered is how `base` R works. I recommend just getting used to it. Or you could switch over to stuff like `ggplot2`, which takes away some control in exchange for less verbose plotting. – Frans Rodenburg Apr 07 '21 at 12:51

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 13 '14 at 22:54

3

Old question but I have a much better way of doing this. Rather than using rect() use polygon. This allows you to keep everything in plot without using points. Also you don't have to mess with par at all. If you want to keep things automated make the coordinates of polygon a function of your data.

plot.new()
polygon(c(-min(df[,1])^2,-min(df[,1])^2,max(df[,1])^2,max(df[,1])^2),c(-min(df[,2])^2,max(df[,2])^2,max(df[,2])^2,-min(df[,2])^2), col="grey")
par(new=T)
plot(df)

answered Mar 13 '14 at 22:54

CCurtis

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I like the idea of using `polygon`, but I'm not at all convinced not using `par` is better. With the `par` approach, the code is the same for any plot, but with this you have to adjust based on your data, and adjust again if you set `xlim` or something. – Gregor Thomas Feb 09 '15 at 23:44

score 2 · Answer 4 · edited Nov 20 '18 at 19:30

I use abline() with extremely wide vertical lines to fill the plot space:

abline(v = xpoints, col = "grey90", lwd = 80)

You have to create the frame, then the ablines, and then plot the points so they are visible on top. You can even use a second abline() statement to put thin white or black lines over the grey, if desired.

Example:

xpoints = 1:20
y = rnorm(20)
plot(NULL,ylim=c(-3,3),xlim=xpoints)
abline(v=xpoints,col="gray90",lwd=80)
abline(v=xpoints,col="white")
abline(h = 0, lty = 2) 
points(xpoints, y, pch = 16, cex = 1.2, col = "red")

Melo Jrf · Answer 5 · 2016-05-10T08:12:35.863

After combining the information in this thread with the R-help ?rect, I came up with this nice graph for circadian rhythm data (24h plot). The script for the background rectangles is this:

root script:

>rect(xleft, ybottom, xright, ytop, col = NA, border = NULL)

My script:

>i <- 24*(0:8)
>rect(8+i, 1, 24+i, 130, col = "lightgrey", border=NA)
>rect(8+i, -10, 24+i, 0.1, col = "black", border=NA)

The idea is to represent days of 24 hours with 8 h light and 16 h dark.

Cheers,

Romário

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Apr 11 '17 at 00:02

adjustcolor("blanchedalmond",alpha.f = 0.3)

The above function provides a color code which corresponds to a transparent version of the input color (In this case the input color is "blanchedalmond.").

Input alpha values range on a scale of 0 to 1, 0 being completely transparent and 1 being completely opaque. (In this case, the code for the translucent shad of "blanchedalmond" given an alpha of .3 is "#FFEBCD4D." Be sure to include the hashtag symbol). You can make the new translucent color into the background color by using this function provided by joran earlier in this thread:

rect(par("usr")[1],par("usr")[3],par("usr")[2],par("usr")[4],col = "blanchedalmond")

By using a translucent color, you can be sure that the graph's data can still be seen underneath after the background color is applied. Hope this helps!

Change background color of R plot

6 Answers6

root script:

My script:

Linked