README.md
In qwertzlbry/bsscol: BSS Color Package

bsscol ReadMe

bsscol allows for a simple integration of the BSS base colors into ggplot2 and alike.

You can install the released version of bsscol from Github with:

library(devtools) # install devtool first if not installed
install_github("qwertzlbry/bsscol")

Or just copy the package folder from: “G:/BSS/Administration/05_BSS_Vorlagen/Farben_R_Stata/bsscol” into your local R library and load it.

With a future CRAN approval the package could be installed with:

install.packages("bsscol") # currently the installation works only over github

In order to run the following examples you’ll also need:

install.packages("ggplot2")
install.packages("plotrix")
install.packages("dplyr")
install.packages("hues")
install.packages("ggthemes")
install.packages("DT")
install.packages("kableExtra")

library(bsscol)
library(ggplot2)
library(plotrix)
library(hues)
library(ggthemes)
library(dplyr, warn.conflicts=F, quietly=T)
library(kableExtra, warn.conflicts=F, quietly=T)

The following table contains all the BSS colors. When the package is loaded this table can be called with the bss_colors command.

R G B hex Typ Full col_pal hashed_hex excel_form name 255 255 255 FFFFFF 0 255,255,255 1 #FFFFFF 1 weiss 242 242 242 F2F2F2 -5 242,242,242 1 #F2F2F2 11 NA 217 217 217 D9D9D9 -15 217,217,217 1 #D9D9D9 21 NA 191 191 191 BFBFBF -25 191,191,191 1 #BFBFBF 31 NA 166 166 166 A6A6A6 -35 166,166,166 1 #A6A6A6 41 NA 128 128 128 808080 -50 128,128,128 1 #808080 51 NA 0 0 0 000000 0 0,0,0 2 #000000 2 schwarz 128 128 128 808080 50 128,128,128 2 #808080 12 NA 89 89 89 595959 35 89,89,89 2 #595959 22 NA 64 64 64 404040 25 64,64,64 2 #404040 32 NA 38 38 38 262626 15 38,38,38 2 #262626 42 NA 13 13 13 0D0D0D 5 13,13,13 2 #0D0D0D 52 NA 242 242 242 F2F2F2 0 242,242,242 3 #F2F2F2 3 hellgrau1 218 218 218 DADADA -10 218,218,218 3 #DADADA 13 NA 182 182 182 B6B6B6 -25 182,182,182 3 #B6B6B6 23 NA 121 121 121 797979 -50 121,121,121 3 #797979 33 NA 61 61 61 3D3D3D -75 61,61,61 3 #3D3D3D 43 NA 23 23 23 171717 -90 23,23,23 3 #171717 53 NA 191 191 191 BFBFBF 0 191,191,191 4 #BFBFBF 4 grau 242 242 242 F2F2F2 80 242,242,242 4 #F2F2F2 14 NA 230 230 230 E6E6E6 60 230,230,230 4 #E6E6E6 24 NA 217 217 217 D9D9D9 40 217,217,217 4 #D9D9D9 34 NA 143 143 143 8F8F8F -25 143,143,143 4 #8F8F8F 44 NA 96 96 96 606060 -50 96,96,96 4 #606060 54 NA 21 95 144 155F90 0 21,95,144 5 #155F90 5 blau 193 225 247 C1E1F7 80 193,225,247 5 #C1E1F7 15 NA 135 197 237 87C5ED 60 135,197,237 5 #87C5ED 25 NA 73 167 228 49A7E4 40 73,167,228 5 #49A7E4 35 NA 16 71 107 10476B -25 16,71,107 5 #10476B 45 NA 11 48 72 0B3048 -50 11,48,72 5 #0B3048 55 NA 171 228 65 ABE441 0 171,228,65 6 #ABE441 6 grün 238 250 216 EEFAD8 80 238,250,216 6 #EEFAD8 16 NA 221 244 179 DDF4B3 60 221,244,179 6 #DDF4B3 26 NA 204 238 140 CCEE8C 40 204,238,140 6 #CCEE8C 36 NA 134 191 28 86BF1C -25 134,191,28 6 #86BF1C 46 NA 90 129 18 5A8112 -50 90,129,18 6 #5A8112 56 NA 229 35 61 E5233D 0 229,35,61 7 #E5233D 7 rot 250 209 215 FAD1D7 80 250,209,215 7 #FAD1D7 17 NA 244 166 175 F4A6AF 60 244,166,175 7 #F4A6AF 27 NA 239 122 137 EF7A89 40 239,122,137 7 #EF7A89 37 NA 176 21 40 B01528 -25 176,21,40 7 #B01528 47 NA 118 14 27 760E1B -50 118,14,27 7 #760E1B 57 NA 238 236 34 EEEC22 0 238,236,34 8 #EEEC22 8 gelb 252 252 209 FCFCD1 80 252,252,209 8 #FCFCD1 18 NA 249 249 166 F9F9A6 60 249,249,166 8 #F9F9A6 28 NA 244 244 121 F4F479 40 244,244,121 8 #F4F479 38 NA 189 189 15 BDBD0F -25 189,189,15 8 #BDBD0F 48 NA 126 126 10 7E7E0A -50 126,126,10 8 #7E7E0A 58 NA 107 197 255 6BC5FF 0 107,197,255 9 #6BC5FF 9 hellblau 225 243 255 E1F3FF 80 225,243,255 9 #E1F3FF 19 NA 196 232 255 C4E8FF 60 196,232,255 9 #C4E8FF 29 NA 166 219 255 A6DBFF 40 166,219,255 9 #A6DBFF 39 NA 15 159 255 0F9FFF -25 15,159,255 9 #0F9FFF 49 NA 0 108 181 006CB5 -50 0,108,181 9 #006CB5 59 NA 237 246 249 EDF6F9 0 237,246,249 10 #EDF6F9 10 hellgrau2 201 228 237 C9E4ED -10 201,228,237 10 #C9E4ED 20 NA 146 200 218 92C8DA -25 146,200,218 10 #92C8DA 30 NA 61 152 182 3D98B6 -50 61,152,182 10 #3D98B6 40 NA 30 77 91 1E4D5B -75 30,77,91 10 #1E4D5B 50 NA 12 30 35 0C1E23 -90 12,30,35 10 #0C1E23 60 NA

Filtering the table by e.g. palettes (col_pal)

The following diagram contains all basic bss colors. They are stored in a vector with the corresponding names. Unlike to the bss_colors table, these colors can therefore be called in functions by their names. When the package is loaded the vector can be called with the basic_colors command. However, the basic bss colors can also be found in the bigger above shown bss_colors table, as it includes all colors.

basic_colors
#>     weiss   schwarz hellgrau1      grau      blau      grün       rot      gelb 
#> "#FFFFFF" "#000000" "#F2F2F2" "#BFBFBF" "#155F90" "#ABE441" "#E5233D" "#EEEC22" 
#>  hellblau hellgrau2 
#> "#6BC5FF" "#EDF6F9"

The bss_cols function allows you to get and reference hex colors in a robust and flexible way for the basic_colors. As you can see in the example below, I am calling the colors by their names. Hence, this function does not work with the hex codes of the big, above showed bss_colors table.

# to get the basic colors
bss_cols()
#>     weiss   schwarz hellgrau1      grau      blau      grün       rot      gelb 
#> "#FFFFFF" "#000000" "#F2F2F2" "#BFBFBF" "#155F90" "#ABE441" "#E5233D" "#EEEC22" 
#>  hellblau hellgrau2 
#> "#6BC5FF" "#EDF6F9"
# to get the information of a color
bss_cols("rot")
#>       rot 
#> "#E5233D"
# or to just use a color in a plot
ggplot(mtcars, aes(hp, mpg)) +
  geom_point(color = bss_cols("rot"),
             size = 2, alpha = .8)+ 
  theme_hc()

With the command bss_palettes you can see all the coded palettes stored in a list.

# the following subset color palettes are available 
bss_palettes
#> $monochrome_black1
#>            [,1]      [,2]      [,3]      [,4]      [,5]      [,6]     
#> hashed_hex "#808080" "#A6A6A6" "#BFBFBF" "#D9D9D9" "#F2F2F2" "#FFFFFF"
#> 
#> $black_yellow
#>  [1] "#808080" "#A6A6A6" "#BFBFBF" "#D9D9D9" "#F2F2F2" "#FFFFFF" "#FCFCD1"
#>  [8] "#F9F9A6" "#F4F479" "#EEEC22" "#BDBD0F" "#7E7E0A"
#> 
#> $black_red
#>  [1] "#808080" "#A6A6A6" "#BFBFBF" "#D9D9D9" "#F2F2F2" "#FFFFFF" "#FAD1D7"
#>  [8] "#F4A6AF" "#EF7A89" "#E5233D" "#B01528" "#760E1B"
#> 
#> $black_green
#>  [1] "#808080" "#A6A6A6" "#BFBFBF" "#D9D9D9" "#F2F2F2" "#FFFFFF" "#EEFAD8"
#>  [8] "#DDF4B3" "#CCEE8C" "#ABE441" "#86BF1C" "#5A8112"
#> 
#> $monochrome_green
#>            [,1]      [,2]      [,3]      [,4]      [,5]      [,6]     
#> hashed_hex "#5A8112" "#86BF1C" "#ABE441" "#CCEE8C" "#DDF4B3" "#EEFAD8"
#> 
#> $monochrome_red
#>            [,1]      [,2]      [,3]      [,4]      [,5]      [,6]     
#> hashed_hex "#760E1B" "#B01528" "#E5233D" "#EF7A89" "#F4A6AF" "#FAD1D7"
#> 
#> $red_green
#> [1] "#760E1B" "#B01528" "#E5233D" "#EF7A89" "#FFFFFF" "#CCEE8C" "#ABE441"
#> [8] "#86BF1C" "#5A8112"
#> 
#> $red_yellow
#>  [1] "#760E1B" "#B01528" "#E5233D" "#EF7A89" "#F4A6AF" "#FAD1D7" "#FCFCD1"
#>  [8] "#F9F9A6" "#F4F479" "#EEEC22" "#BDBD0F" "#7E7E0A"
#> 
#> $monochrome_yellow
#>            [,1]      [,2]      [,3]      [,4]      [,5]      [,6]     
#> hashed_hex "#7E7E0A" "#BDBD0F" "#EEEC22" "#F4F479" "#F9F9A6" "#FCFCD1"
#> 
#> $monochrome_blue
#>            [,1]      [,2]      [,3]      [,4]      [,5]      [,6]     
#> hashed_hex "#006CB5" "#0F9FFF" "#6BC5FF" "#A6DBFF" "#C4E8FF" "#E1F3FF"
#> 
#> $blue_yellow
#>  [1] "#006CB5" "#0F9FFF" "#6BC5FF" "#A6DBFF" "#C4E8FF" "#E1F3FF" "#FCFCD1"
#>  [8] "#F9F9A6" "#F4F479" "#EEEC22" "#BDBD0F" "#7E7E0A"
#> 
#> $blue_green
#>  [1] "#006CB5" "#0F9FFF" "#6BC5FF" "#A6DBFF" "#C4E8FF" "#E1F3FF" "#EEFAD8"
#>  [8] "#DDF4B3" "#CCEE8C" "#ABE441" "#86BF1C" "#5A8112"
#> 
#> $blue_red
#>  [1] "#006CB5" "#0F9FFF" "#6BC5FF" "#A6DBFF" "#C4E8FF" "#E1F3FF" "#FAD1D7"
#>  [8] "#F4A6AF" "#EF7A89" "#E5233D" "#B01528" "#760E1B"
#> 
#> $main
#>            [,1]      [,2]      [,3]      [,4]      [,5]      [,6]     
#> hashed_hex "#FFFFFF" "#000000" "#F2F2F2" "#BFBFBF" "#155F90" "#ABE441"
#>            [,7]      [,8]      [,9]      [,10]    
#> hashed_hex "#E5233D" "#EEEC22" "#6BC5FF" "#EDF6F9"
#> 
#> $main_only_color
#>            [,1]      [,2]      [,3]      [,4]      [,5]     
#> hashed_hex "#155F90" "#ABE441" "#E5233D" "#EEEC22" "#6BC5FF"
#> 
#> $triple_cols
#>            [,1]      [,2]      [,3]      [,4]      [,5]      [,6]     
#> hashed_hex "#FFFFFF" "#000000" "#BFBFBF" "#F2F2F2" "#D9D9D9" "#155F90"
#>            [,7]      [,8]      [,9]      [,10]     [,11]     [,12]    
#> hashed_hex "#C1E1F7" "#49A7E4" "#ABE441" "#EEFAD8" "#CCEE8C" "#E5233D"
#>            [,13]     [,14]     [,15]     [,16]     [,17]    
#> hashed_hex "#FAD1D7" "#EF7A89" "#EEEC22" "#FCFCD1" "#F4F479"
#e.g.
swatch(bss_palettes$red_green)

The function bss_pal() allows to interpolate the palette colors for a certain number of levels, making it possible to create shades between the original colors using colorRampPalette from grDevices. This command can be used to extend to numbers of colors in a palette, however the hex codes of some color shades can then deviate from the above bss_colors table. Therefore, I recommend to use the coded palettes mentioned above, if possible.

# interpolate the "main_only_color" palette (which only includes five colors) to a length of 20:
bss_pal("main_only_color")(20)
#>  [1] "#155F90" "#347B7F" "#54976E" "#73B35E" "#93CF4D" "#AED940" "#BAB13F"
#>  [8] "#C6883F" "#D25F3E" "#DE373D" "#E5383A" "#E76234" "#E98C2E" "#EBB729"
#> [15] "#EDE123" "#D9E544" "#BDDD73" "#A2D5A1" "#86CDD0" "#6BC5FF"

The function bss_pal gets a palette by name from the list above (“main_only_color” by default) and has a boolean condition (rev =T/F) determining whether to reverse the order of colors or not.

# Example of pie chart extending monochrome_yellow palettes to 50 shades.
pie3D(rep(5, 50),explode=0, theta=1.2, col=bss_pal(rev = T,"monochrome_yellow")(50),main="bss_pal('monochrome_yellow')(50)")

scale_color_bss() is a custom color scale function for ggplot2 plots. The same could also be achieved with the function scale_colour_manual of the ggplot2 package. However, the usage of the bsscol palettes makes this process more tidy and efficient. In the function two boolean parameters discrete = T/F, reverse = T/F can be choosen.

# Color by discrete variable using default palette main_only_color
ggplot(iris, aes(Sepal.Width, Sepal.Length, color = Species)) +
  geom_point(size = 2) +
  scale_color_bss() +
  theme_hc()

# Color by numeric variable with monochrome_red palette
ggplot(iris, aes(Sepal.Width, Sepal.Length, color = Sepal.Length)) +
  geom_point(size = 2, alpha = .6) +
  scale_color_bss(discrete = FALSE, palette = "monochrome_red")+
  theme_hc()

scale_fill_bss() is a custom fill scale function for ggplot2 plots. The same could also be achieved with the function scale_fill_manual of the ggplot2 package. However, the usage of the bsscol palettes makes this process more tidy and efficient. The shades of colors are automatically extended when using more colors than a standard palettes has to offer. In the function two boolean parameters discrete = T/F, reverse = T/F can be chosen.

# Fill by discrete variable with the main palette + remove legend (guide)
ggplot(mpg, aes(model          , fill = model         )) +
  geom_bar() +
  theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 45, hjust = 1)) +
  scale_fill_bss(palette = "main", guide = "none")+
  theme_hc()