R/aes-colour-fill-alpha.R

In ggplot2: Create Elegant Data Visualisations Using the Grammar of Graphics

#' Colour related aesthetics: colour, fill, and alpha
#'
#' These aesthetics parameters change the colour (`colour` and `fill`) and the
#' opacity (`alpha`) of geom elements on a plot. Almost every geom has either
#' colour or fill (or both), as well as can have their alpha modified.
#' Modifying colour on a plot is a useful way to enhance the presentation of data,
#' often especially when a plot graphs more than two variables.
#'
#' @section Colour and fill:
#'
#' The `colour` aesthetic is used to draw lines and strokes, such as in
#' [`geom_point()`] and [`geom_line()`], but also the line contours of
#' [`geom_rect()`] and [`geom_polygon()`]. The `fill` aesthetic is used to
#' colour the inside areas of geoms, such as [`geom_rect()`] and
#' [`geom_polygon()`], but also the insides of shapes 21-25 of [`geom_point()`].
#'
#' Colours and fills can be specified in the following ways:
#' * A name, e.g., `"red"`. R has 657 built-in named colours, which can be
#' listed with [grDevices::colors()].
#' * An rgb specification, with a string of the form `"#RRGGBB"` where each of the
#' pairs `RR`, `GG`, `BB` consists of two hexadecimal digits giving a value in the
#' range `00` to `FF`. You can optionally make the colour transparent by using the
#' form `"#RRGGBBAA"`.
#' * An `NA`, for a completely transparent colour.
#'
#' @section Alpha:
#'
#' Alpha refers to the opacity of a geom. Values of `alpha` range from 0 to 1,
#' with lower values corresponding to more transparent colors.
#'
#' Alpha can additionally be modified through the `colour` or `fill` aesthetic
#' if either aesthetic provides color values using an rgb specification
#' (`"#RRGGBBAA"`), where `AA` refers to transparency values.
#'
#'
#' @seealso
#' * Other options for modifying colour:
#' [scale_colour_brewer()],
#' [scale_colour_gradient()], [scale_colour_grey()],
#' [scale_colour_hue()], [scale_colour_identity()],
#' [scale_colour_manual()], [scale_colour_viridis_d()]
#' * Other options for modifying fill:
#' [scale_fill_brewer()],
#' [scale_fill_gradient()], [scale_fill_grey()],
#' [scale_fill_hue()], [scale_fill_identity()],
#' [scale_fill_manual()], [scale_fill_viridis_d()]
#' * Other options for modifying alpha:
#' [scale_alpha()], [scale_alpha_manual()], [scale_alpha_identity()]
#' * Run `vignette("ggplot2-specs")` to see an overview of other aesthetics that
#' can be modified.
#' @family aesthetics documentation
#'
#' @name aes_colour_fill_alpha
#' @aliases colour color fill
#' @examples
#' \donttest{
#'
#' # Bar chart example
#' p <- ggplot(mtcars, aes(factor(cyl)))
#' # Default plotting
#' p + geom_bar()
#' # To change the interior colouring use fill aesthetic
#' p + geom_bar(fill = "red")
#' # Compare with the colour aesthetic which changes just the bar outline
#' p + geom_bar(colour = "red")
#' # Combining both, you can see the changes more clearly
#' p + geom_bar(fill = "white", colour = "red")
#' # Both colour and fill can take an rgb specification.
#' p + geom_bar(fill = "#00abff")
#' # Use NA for a completely transparent colour.
#' p + geom_bar(fill = NA, colour = "#00abff")
#'
#' # Colouring scales differ depending on whether a discrete or
#' # continuous variable is being mapped. For example, when mapping
#' # fill to a factor variable, a discrete colour scale is used.
#' ggplot(mtcars, aes(factor(cyl), fill = factor(vs))) + geom_bar()
#'
#' # When mapping fill to continuous variable a continuous colour
#' # scale is used.
#' ggplot(faithfuld, aes(waiting, eruptions)) +
#'   geom_raster(aes(fill = density))
#'
#' # Some geoms only use the colour aesthetic but not the fill
#' # aesthetic (e.g. geom_point() or geom_line()).
#' p <- ggplot(economics, aes(x = date, y = unemploy))
#' p + geom_line()
#' p + geom_line(colour = "green")
#' p + geom_point()
#' p + geom_point(colour = "red")
#'
#' # For large datasets with overplotting the alpha
#' # aesthetic will make the points more transparent.
#' set.seed(1)
#' df <- data.frame(x = rnorm(5000), y = rnorm(5000))
#' p  <- ggplot(df, aes(x,y))
#' p + geom_point()
#' p + geom_point(alpha = 0.5)
#' p + geom_point(alpha = 1/10)
#'
#' # Alpha can also be used to add shading.
#' p <- ggplot(economics, aes(x = date, y = unemploy)) + geom_line()
#' p
#' yrng <- range(economics$unemploy)
#' p <- p +
#'   geom_rect(
#'     aes(NULL, NULL, xmin = start, xmax = end, fill = party),
#'     ymin = yrng[1], ymax = yrng[2], data = presidential
#'   )
#' p
#' p + scale_fill_manual(values = alpha(c("blue", "red"), .3))
#' }
NULL