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Modify geom/stat aesthetic defaults for future plots

Source: R/geom-defaults.R
update_defaults.Rd

Functions to update or reset the default aesthetics of geoms and stats.

Usage

update_geom_defaults(geom, new)

update_stat_defaults(stat, new)

reset_geom_defaults()

reset_stat_defaults()

Arguments

new

One of the following:

  • A named list of aesthetics to serve as new defaults.

  • NULL to reset the defaults.

stat, geom

Name of geom/stat to modify (like "point" or "bin"), or a Geom/Stat object (like GeomPoint or StatBin).

Note

Please note that geom defaults can be set en masse via the theme(geom) argument. The guidelines for when to use which function are as follows:

  • If you want to change defaults for all geoms in all plots, use theme_update(geom = element_geom(...)).

  • If you want to change defaults for all geoms in a single plot, use + theme(geom = element_geom(...)).

  • If you want to change defaults for one geom in all plots, use update_geom_defaults().

  • If you want to change settings for one geom in a single plot, use fixed aesthetic parameters in a layer, like so: geom_point(colour = "red").

Examples


# updating a geom's default aesthetic settings
# example: change geom_point()'s default color
GeomPoint$default_aes
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `shape`  -> `from_theme(pointshape)`
#> * `colour` -> `from_theme(ink)`
#> * `size`   -> `from_theme(pointsize)`
#> * `fill`   -> NA
#> * `alpha`  -> NA
#> * `stroke` -> `from_theme(borderwidth)`
update_geom_defaults("point", aes(color = "red"))
GeomPoint$default_aes
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `shape`  -> `from_theme(pointshape)`
#> * `colour` -> "red"
#> * `size`   -> `from_theme(pointsize)`
#> * `fill`   -> NA
#> * `alpha`  -> NA
#> * `stroke` -> `from_theme(borderwidth)`
ggplot(mtcars, aes(mpg, wt)) + geom_point()


# reset single default
update_geom_defaults("point", NULL)

# reset all defaults
reset_geom_defaults()

# updating a stat's default aesthetic settings
# example: change stat_bin()'s default y-axis to the density scale
StatBin$default_aes
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `x`      -> `after_stat(count)`
#> * `y`      -> `after_stat(count)`
#> * `weight` -> 1
update_stat_defaults("bin", aes(y = after_stat(density)))
StatBin$default_aes
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `x`      -> `after_stat(count)`
#> * `y`      -> `after_stat(density)`
#> * `weight` -> 1
ggplot(data.frame(x = rnorm(1e3)), aes(x)) +
  geom_histogram() +
  geom_function(fun = dnorm, color = "red")
#> `stat_bin()` using `bins = 30`. Pick better value with `binwidth`.


# reset single default
update_stat_defaults("bin", NULL)

# reset all defaults
reset_stat_defaults()