geom_latex: A ggplot2 geom for LaTeX math labels

In gridmicrotex: Native 'LaTeX' Math Rendering for Grid Graphics

A ggplot2 geom for LaTeX math labels

Description

Renders LaTeX math expressions as native grid grobs within a ggplot2 plot. Each label is parsed and laid out by MicroTeX, producing resolution-independent vector output.

Usage

geom_latex(
  mapping = NULL,
  data = NULL,
  stat = "identity",
  position = "identity",
  ...,
  fontsize = 11,
  math_font = "",
  lineheight = 1.2,
  max_width = 0,
  input_mode = c("mixed", "math"),
  render_mode = c("typeface", "path"),
  na.rm = FALSE,
  show.legend = NA,
  inherit.aes = TRUE
)

Arguments

mapping	Set of aesthetic mappings created by aes(). If specified and inherit.aes = TRUE (the default), it is combined with the default mapping at the top level of the plot. You must supply mapping if there is no plot mapping.
data	The data to be displayed in this layer. There are three options: If NULL, the default, the data is inherited from the plot data as specified in the call to ggplot(). A data.frame, or other object, will override the plot data. All objects will be fortified to produce a data frame. See fortify() for which variables will be created. A function will be called with a single argument, the plot data. The return value must be a data.frame, and will be used as the layer data. A function can be created from a formula (e.g. ~ head(.x, 10)).
stat	The statistical transformation to use on the data for this layer. When using a ⁠geom_*()⁠ function to construct a layer, the stat argument can be used to override the default coupling between geoms and stats. The stat argument accepts the following: A Stat ggproto subclass, for example StatCount. A string naming the stat. To give the stat as a string, strip the function name of the stat_ prefix. For example, to use stat_count(), give the stat as "count". For more information and other ways to specify the stat, see the layer stat documentation.
position	A position adjustment to use on the data for this layer. This can be used in various ways, including to prevent overplotting and improving the display. The position argument accepts the following: The result of calling a position function, such as position_jitter(). This method allows for passing extra arguments to the position. A string naming the position adjustment. To give the position as a string, strip the function name of the position_ prefix. For example, to use position_jitter(), give the position as "jitter". For more information and other ways to specify the position, see the layer position documentation.
...	Other arguments passed to layer.
fontsize	Default font size in points. Overridden by the size aesthetic if mapped.
math_font	Name of the math font to use (e.g., "stix").
lineheight	Multi-line height multiplier (default 1.2), matching grid::gpar() semantics.
max_width	Maximum width in big points for automatic line wrapping (default: 0, no wrapping).
input_mode	How tex is interpreted before being parsed. "mixed" wraps the input in \text{...} so the string reads as ordinary text and $...$ (or \(...\)) opens math mode, matching document-level LaTeX semantics. Useful for labels that arrive from external sources mixing prose and math without explicit \text{} markers. "math" (default) is the standard MicroTeX behaviour — the whole string is treated as math, so unwrapped prose renders as spaced math italics. The default can be changed globally via latex_options(input_mode = "mixed"). See latex_wrap for details on the wrapping process.
render_mode	Character string: "typeface" (default) renders glyphs as native text using the math font, producing selectable/accessible text in PDF and SVG output. Bundled math fonts and any registered via load_font are read directly from their OTF files — no system-wide font install is required. Falls back to path mode automatically on devices that lack the R \geq 4.3 glyph engine (e.g., the base pdf() device). For selectable PDF output, prefer cairo_pdf. "path" renders math symbols as filled vector paths (works on all devices but text is not selectable in PDF/SVG).
na.rm	If FALSE, the default, missing values are removed with a warning. If TRUE, missing values are silently removed.
show.legend	logical. Should this layer be included in the legends? NA, the default, includes if any aesthetics are mapped. FALSE never includes, and TRUE always includes. It can also be a named logical vector to finely select the aesthetics to display. To include legend keys for all levels, even when no data exists, use TRUE. If NA, all levels are shown in legend, but unobserved levels are omitted.
inherit.aes	If FALSE, overrides the default aesthetics, rather than combining with them. This is most useful for helper functions that define both data and aesthetics and shouldn't inherit behaviour from the default plot specification, e.g. annotation_borders().

Value

A ggplot2 layer.

Aesthetics

geom_latex() understands the following aesthetics (required aesthetics are in bold):

• x

• y

• label — LaTeX math string

• size — font size in points (default: 11)

• colour — text colour (default: "black")

• angle — rotation angle in degrees (default: 0)

• hjust — horizontal justification, 0–1 (default: 0.5)

• vjust — vertical justification, 0–1 (default: 0.5)

• alpha — transparency (default: 1)

Examples

if (requireNamespace("ggplot2", quietly = TRUE)) {
  library(ggplot2)
  df <- data.frame(
    x = 1:3, y = 1:3,
    eq = c("x^2", "\\frac{a}{b}", "\\sum_{i=1}^n x_i")
  )
  ggplot(df, aes(x, y, label = eq)) + geom_latex()

  # Use annotate() for single annotations (no legend, no data frame needed)
  ggplot(mtcars, aes(wt, mpg)) + geom_point() +
    annotate("latex", x = 4, y = 30,
             label = r"($\hat{y} = \beta_0 + \beta_1 x$)")
}

gridmicrotex documentation built on May 16, 2026, 5:06 p.m.