Inserting Sub-Plots in R: A Guide

When working with plots in R, you may need to create multiple plots and arrange them within a single window. In this case, inserting sub-plots can be a useful technique. In this article, we will explore how to insert sub-plots into an existing plotting area using R.

Plotting Functions in R

Before we dive into inserting sub-plots, let's take a look at some of the most common functions used for plotting in R. These include `plot()`, which creates a basic plot, and `mtext()` which allows you to add text to all sides of the plot box.

Creating Sub-Plots

To create a sub-plot, you can use the `plot()` function along with the `main` argument to specify the title of the plot. For example:

```

Plot(fun, 0, 10, main = 'Plot a function')

Plot(my_dates, rnorm(50), main = 'Time based plot')

Plot(my_factor, rnorm(32), main = 'Boxplot')

```

This code will create three separate plots with different titles.

Customizing Window Size

When creating plots in R base, they are opened in a new window. However, you may need to customize the height and width of the window, which defaults to 7 inches (17.78 cm). You can do this by using the `height` and `width` arguments of the following functions:

```

plot(height = 5, width = 8)

```

This code will create a plot with a height of 5 inches and a width of 8 inches.

Closing and Clearing Plots

In RStudio, you can navigate through all the plots you created in your session in the plots pane. You can also clear the plot window programmatically using `dev.off()` to clear the current window and `graphics.off()` to clear all the plots and restore the default graphic parameters.

Inserting Sub-Plots with `mtext`

The `mtext` function allows you to add text to all sides of the plot box. You can use this function along with the `sub` argument to insert a sub-plot into an existing plotting area.

```

mtext('Sub-Plot', side = 1, line = 0.5)

```

This code will insert a sub-plot at the top of the current plotting area.

Additional Functions

There are many additional functions available in R for creating and customizing plots. Some examples include:

* `wavelength2col`: Convert wavelength to RGB

* `transzoom`: Zoom, translate and rotate array image

* `transparent`: Add transparency to a color

* `sphereplot`: Plot a spherical function or point set

* `spectrumcolors`: Spectrum colour palette

* `rasterflip`: Flip array to be displayed with rasterImage()

* `planckcolors`: Planck CMB colour palette

* `makemovie`: Produce a movie from frame-drawing function

* `makeframe`: Display a single movie frame

* `invert`: Invert and shift colors of an image

* `graphx`: Graphics Routines for Scientific Research

* `errlines`: Draw a line with uncertainty regions

* `cmplx2col`: Convert complex numbers to color

By using these functions, you can create complex and customized plots in R.

R subplot par mf