R/get_legend.R

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

#' Retrieve the legend of a plot
#'
#' This function extracts just the legend from a ggplot
#'
#' @param plot A ggplot or gtable from which to retrieve the legend
#' @return A gtable object holding just the legend or \code{NULL} if there is no legend.
#' @examples
#' library(ggplot2)
#' theme_set(theme_half_open())
#'
#' p1 <- ggplot(mtcars, aes(mpg, disp)) + geom_line()
#' plot.mpg <- ggplot(mpg, aes(x = cty, y = hwy, colour = factor(cyl))) + geom_point(size=2.5)
#' # Note that these cannot be aligned vertically due to the legend in the plot.mpg
#' ggdraw(plot_grid(p1, plot.mpg, ncol=1, align='v'))
#'
#' legend <- get_legend(plot.mpg)
#' plot.mpg <- plot.mpg + theme(legend.position='none')
#' # Now plots are aligned vertically with the legend to the right
#' ggdraw(plot_grid(plot_grid(p1, plot.mpg, ncol=1, align='v'),
#'                  plot_grid(NULL, legend, ncol=1),
#'                  rel_widths=c(1, 0.2)))
#' @export
get_legend <- function(plot) {
  get_plot_component(plot, "guide-box")
}