Complete themes — ggtheme • ggplot2

These are complete themes which control all non-data display. Use theme() if you just need to tweak the display of an existing theme.

theme_grey(
  base_size = 11,
  base_family = "",
  base_line_size = base_size/22,
  base_rect_size = base_size/22
)

theme_gray(
  base_size = 11,
  base_family = "",
  base_line_size = base_size/22,
  base_rect_size = base_size/22
)

theme_bw(
  base_size = 11,
  base_family = "",
  base_line_size = base_size/22,
  base_rect_size = base_size/22
)

theme_linedraw(
  base_size = 11,
  base_family = "",
  base_line_size = base_size/22,
  base_rect_size = base_size/22
)

theme_light(
  base_size = 11,
  base_family = "",
  base_line_size = base_size/22,
  base_rect_size = base_size/22
)

theme_dark(
  base_size = 11,
  base_family = "",
  base_line_size = base_size/22,
  base_rect_size = base_size/22
)

theme_minimal(
  base_size = 11,
  base_family = "",
  base_line_size = base_size/22,
  base_rect_size = base_size/22
)

theme_classic(
  base_size = 11,
  base_family = "",
  base_line_size = base_size/22,
  base_rect_size = base_size/22
)

theme_void(
  base_size = 11,
  base_family = "",
  base_line_size = base_size/22,
  base_rect_size = base_size/22
)

theme_test(
  base_size = 11,
  base_family = "",
  base_line_size = base_size/22,
  base_rect_size = base_size/22
)

Arguments

base_size: base font size, given in pts.
base_family: base font family
base_line_size: base size for line elements
base_rect_size: base size for rect elements

Details

theme_gray(): The signature ggplot2 theme with a grey background and white gridlines, designed to put the data forward yet make comparisons easy.
theme_bw(): The classic dark-on-light ggplot2 theme. May work better for presentations displayed with a projector.
theme_linedraw(): A theme with only black lines of various widths on white backgrounds, reminiscent of a line drawing. Serves a purpose similar to theme_bw(). Note that this theme has some very thin lines (<< 1 pt) which some journals may refuse.
theme_light(): A theme similar to theme_linedraw() but with light grey lines and axes, to direct more attention towards the data.
theme_dark(): The dark cousin of theme_light(), with similar line sizes but a dark background. Useful to make thin coloured lines pop out.
theme_minimal(): A minimalistic theme with no background annotations.
theme_classic(): A classic-looking theme, with x and y axis lines and no gridlines.
theme_void(): A completely empty theme.
theme_test(): A theme for visual unit tests. It should ideally never change except for new features.

Examples

mtcars2 <- within(mtcars, {
  vs <- factor(vs, labels = c("V-shaped", "Straight"))
  am <- factor(am, labels = c("Automatic", "Manual"))
  cyl  <- factor(cyl)
  gear <- factor(gear)
})

p1 <- ggplot(mtcars2) +
  geom_point(aes(x = wt, y = mpg, colour = gear)) +
  labs(
    title = "Fuel economy declines as weight increases",
    subtitle = "(1973-74)",
    caption = "Data from the 1974 Motor Trend US magazine.",
    tag = "Figure 1",
    x = "Weight (1000 lbs)",
    y = "Fuel economy (mpg)",
    colour = "Gears"
  )

p1 + theme_gray() # the default

p1 + theme_bw()

p1 + theme_linedraw()

p1 + theme_light()

p1 + theme_dark()

p1 + theme_minimal()

p1 + theme_classic()

p1 + theme_void()


# Theme examples with panels
# \donttest{
p2 <- p1 + facet_grid(vs ~ am)

p2 + theme_gray() # the default

p2 + theme_bw()

p2 + theme_linedraw()

p2 + theme_light()

p2 + theme_dark()

p2 + theme_minimal()

p2 + theme_classic()

p2 + theme_void()

# }