background_grid: Add/modify/remove the background grid in a ggplot2 plot

In cowplot: Streamlined Plot Theme and Plot Annotations for 'ggplot2'

Add/modify/remove the background grid in a ggplot2 plot

Description

This function provides a simple way to set the background grid in ggplot2. It doesn't do anything that can't be done just the same with ggplot2::theme(). However, it simplifies creation of the most commonly needed variations.

Usage

background_grid(
  major = c("xy", "x", "y", "only_minor", "none"),
  minor = c("none", "xy", "x", "y"),
  size.major = 0.5,
  size.minor = 0.2,
  color.major = "grey85",
  color.minor = "grey85",
  colour.major,
  colour.minor
)

Arguments

major	Specifies along which axes you would like to plot major grid lines. Options are "xy", "x", "y", "none".
minor	Specifies along which axes you would like to plot minor grid lines. Options are "xy", "x", "y", "none".
size.major	Size of the major grid lines.
size.minor	Size of the minor grid lines.
color.major, colour.major	Color of the major grid lines.
color.minor, colour.minor	Color of the minor grid lines.

Details

Note: This function completely overwrites all background grid settings of the current theme. If that is not what you want, you may be better off using ggplot2::theme() directly.

Examples

library(ggplot2)

ggplot(iris, aes(Sepal.Length, Sepal.Width)) +
 geom_point() +
 theme_half_open() +
 background_grid()

cowplot documentation built on Aug. 8, 2025, 6:15 p.m.