Plots

Plots can be created with the ggplot package¹. The plot can be subsequently saved in the desired format. As described, scalable vector graphics are advised, but ultimately the choice of format depends on its subsequent use / journal requirements.

Rather that creating the plots and saving them it may be more convenient to save the plot directly in the desired format. For example to create a plot of Anscombe’s² first data set; load the dataset and create a plot with the following commands:

ggplot(data=anscombe.quartet, aes(x = X1,y = Y1)) + 
geom_point() + 
geom_smooth(method = 'lm') + 
ggtitle(label = 'Anscombe\'s First Data Set') + xlab(label = 'X1 [cm]') + 
ylab(label = 'Y1 [cm]') +
theme_bw()

The plot can subsequently be saved in the appropriate format.

To save directly as a PDF file in the default directory of R:

pdf('AnscombePlot.pdf')

ggplot(data=anscombe.quartet, aes(x = X1,y = Y1)) + 
geom_point() + 
geom_smooth(method = 'lm') + 
ggtitle(label = 'Anscombe\'s First Data Set') + xlab(label = 'X1 [cm]') + 
ylab(label = 'Y1 [cm]') +
theme_bw()

dev.off()

To create a jpg file:

jpeg('AnscombePlot.jpg',quality=100,width=960,height=960,res=200)

ggplot(data=anscombe.quartet, aes(x = X1,y = Y1)) + 
geom_point() + 
geom_smooth(method = 'lm') + 
ggtitle(label = 'Anscombe\'s First Data Set') + xlab(label = 'X1 [cm]') + 
ylab(label = 'Y1 [cm]') +
theme_bw()

dev.off()

There are similar commands for different graphical formats. For bitmap:

??png

and for scalable vector graphics:

??svg

References