# [ Data Visualization With ggplot2 ] ( CheatSheet )

1. Basic Plot Types

● Scatter Plot: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point()

● Line Plot: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_line()
● Bar Chart: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_bar(stat='identity')
● Histogram: ggplot(data, aes(x)) + geom_histogram()
● Density Plot: ggplot(data, aes(x)) + geom_density()
● Box Plot: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_boxplot()
● Violin Plot: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_violin()
● Dot Plot: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_dotplot()
● Area Plot: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_area()
● Stacked Bar Chart: ggplot(data, aes(x, fill=category)) + geom_bar()

2. Aesthetics

● Color: ggplot(data, aes(x, y, color=category)) + geom_point()

● Fill: ggplot(data, aes(x, y, fill=category)) + geom_bar()
● Shape: ggplot(data, aes(x, y, shape=category)) + geom_point()
● Size: ggplot(data, aes(x, y, size=value)) + geom_point()
● Alpha: ggplot(data, aes(x, y, alpha=value)) + geom_point()
● Linetype: ggplot(data, aes(x, y, linetype=category)) + geom_line()

3. Facets for Conditional Plots

● Facet Grid: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +

facet_grid(rows ~ cols)
● Facet Wrap: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() + facet_wrap(~
category)

4. Themes and Customization

● Theme Minimal: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +

theme_minimal()
● Theme Classic: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
theme_classic()

By: Waleed Mousa

 ● Customizing Themes: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90))
● Removing Legend: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
theme(legend.position = "none")
● Changing Plot Background: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
theme(plot.background = element_rect(fill = "lightblue"))

5. Scale and Coordinate Transformations

● Logarithmic Scale: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +

scale_y_log10()
● Reverse Scale: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
scale_y_reverse()
● Date Scale: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
scale_x_date(date_breaks = "1 month", date_labels = "%b")
● Coordinate Flip: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_bar() +
coord_flip()
● Polar Coordinates: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_bar() +
coord_polar()

6. Statistical Transformations

● Smooth Line (Regression): ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +

geom_smooth(method = 'lm')
● Bin Counting: ggplot(data, aes(x)) + geom_histogram(binwidth = 10)
● Cumulative Distribution: ggplot(data, aes(x)) + stat_ecdf()
● Quantile Regression: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_quantile()
● Density 2D: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_density_2d()

7. Labels and Annotations

● X and Y Labels: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() + xlab("X

Axis Label") + ylab("Y Axis Label")
● Plot Title: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() + ggtitle("Plot
Title")
● Text Annotation: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
annotate("text", x = 10, y = 5, label = "Annotation")

By: Waleed Mousa

 ● Customizing Axis Text: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
theme(axis.text.x = element_text(face = "bold", color = "red"))

8. Combining Multiple Plots

● Layers: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() + geom_smooth()

● Multiple Geometries: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
geom_line()
● Using Patchwork for Arranging Plots: plot1 / plot2 +
plot_layout(ncol = 1)

9. Saving Plots

● ggsave to Save Plots: ggsave("plot.png", plot, width = 10, height =

8, dpi = 300)

10. Advanced Data Manipulation within ggplot2

● dplyr for Data Manipulation: ggplot(data %>% filter(value > 10),

aes(x, y)) + geom_point()
● Statistical Summary: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + stat_summary(fun =
"mean", geom = "point")

11. Customizing with ggplot2 Extensions

● gganimate for Animations: ggplot(data, aes(x, y, frame = time)) +

geom_point() + transition_time(time)
● ggtree for Phylogenetic Trees: ggtree(tree_data) + geom_tiplab()

12. Working with Maps and Spatial Data

● geom_sf for Simple Features: ggplot() + geom_sf(data =

spatial_data)
● geom_map for Map Data: ggplot() + geom_map(data = map_data, map =
map_data)
● geom_tile for Heatmaps: ggplot(data, aes(x, y, fill = value)) +
geom_tile()

13. Custom and Composite Geometries

By: Waleed Mousa

 ● geom_rug for Marginal Rugs: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point()
+ geom_rug()
● geom_jitter for Adding Jitter to Points: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_jitter()
● geom_hex for Hexbin Plots: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_hex()
● Custom Geom Function: geom_custom <- function(...) { layer(stat =
"custom", geom = "point", ...) }
● Creating Custom Stat Functions: StatCustom <- ggproto("StatCustom",
Stat, compute_group = function(data, scales) { /* custom
computations */ })

14. Customizing Scales and Guides

● Setting Manual Scales for Colors: ggplot(data, aes(x, y,

color=category)) + geom_point() +
scale_color_manual(values=c("red", "blue", "green"))
● Logarithmic Scales: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
scale_y_log10()
● Date Scales for Time Series: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_line()
+ scale_x_date(date_breaks = "1 month", date_labels = "%b %Y")
● Continuous Scale with Custom Limits: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_point() + scale_x_continuous(limits=c(0, 100))
● Discrete Scale with Custom Labels: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_bar() + scale_x_discrete(labels=c("One", "Two", "Three"))
● Customizing Date Scale Breaks and Labels: ggplot(data, aes(x, y))
+ scale_x_date(date_breaks = "1 week", date_labels = "%d-%m-%Y")
● Setting Manual Scale for Fill Aesthetics: ggplot(data, aes(x, y))
+ geom_tile() + scale_fill_gradient(low = "blue", high = "red")

15. Advanced Theming

● Modifying Text Elements: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +

theme(text = element_text(size=20, face="bold"))
● Customizing Axis Ticks and Labels: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_point() + theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle=90, hjust=1))
● Removing Plot Components (e.g., Axis): ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_point() + theme(axis.title.x = element_blank())

By: Waleed Mousa

 ● Modifying Legend Position and Appearance: ggplot(data, aes(x, y,
color=category)) + geom_point() + theme(legend.position = "bottom")

16. Statistical Operations and Computations

● Computing and Displaying Regression Lines: ggplot(data, aes(x, y))

+ geom_point() + geom_smooth(method = "lm")
● Displaying Confidence Intervals: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_smooth()
● Creating 2D Density Plots: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_density_2d()
● Binomial Proportion with Confidence Intervals: ggplot(data, aes(x,
y)) + stat_binomial()

17. Multi-panel Plots

● Creating Facets (Split by a Single Variable): ggplot(data, aes(x,

y)) + geom_point() + facet_wrap(~category)
● Creating Facets (Split by Two Variables): ggplot(data, aes(x, y))
+ geom_point() + facet_grid(rows_var ~ cols_var)
● Customizing Facet Labels: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
facet_wrap(~category, labeller = label_both)

18. Annotations and Reference Lines

● Adding Text Annotations: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +

annotate("text", x = 50, y = 50, label = "Annotation")
● Adding Reference Lines: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
geom_hline(yintercept=mean(data$y), linetype="dashed")
● Adding Highlighted Regions: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_rect(aes(xmin=0, xmax=50, ymin=20, ymax=80), fill="blue",
alpha=0.3)

19. Saving and Exporting Plots

● Saving Plots to File (e.g., PNG, PDF): ggsave("plot.png", plot,

width = 10, height = 8, dpi = 300)
● Saving Plots with Specific Dimensions and Resolutions:
ggsave("plot.pdf", plot, width = 11, height = 8.5)

By: Waleed Mousa

20. Interactive Plots with ggplot2 Extensions

● Creating Interactive ggplot2 Plots with plotly:

ggplotly(ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point())
● Creating Interactive Plots with ggiraph: ggiraph(code =
{print(ggplot(data, aes(x = x, y = y)) +
geom_point_interactive(aes(tooltip = label, data_id = id)))})

21. Geospatial Visualization

● Creating Maps with geom_sf: ggplot() + geom_sf(data = spatial_data)

● Overlaying Points on a Map: ggplot() + geom_sf(data = spatial_data)
+ geom_point(data = points_data, aes(x = lon, y = lat))
● Thematic Maps with fill Aesthetics: ggplot() + geom_sf(data =
spatial_data, aes(fill = variable))

22. Complex Layouts and Nested Plots

● Arranging Multiple Plots: grid.arrange(plot1, plot2, ncol = 2)

● Creating Inset Plots: plot + inset_element(plot = inset_plot, left
= 0.5, bottom = 0.5, width = 0.25, height = 0.25)

23. Custom Geoms and Statistical Transformations

● Creating Custom Geoms: StatCustomGeom <- ggproto("StatCustomGeom",

Stat, compute_group = function(data, scales) { # Custom computation
})
● Using Custom Stats in Plots: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_line(stat = "custom_stat")

24. Animation and Transition

● Creating Animated Plots with gganimate: ggplot(data, aes(x, y,

frame = time)) + geom_point() + transition_states(states)

25. Extensions for Specific Types of Data or Plots

● Complex Heatmaps with ggplot2: ComplexHeatmap::Heatmap(matrix_data)

By: Waleed Mousa

 ● Genomic Data Visualization with ggbio: ggbio::autoplot(object,
aes(x = x, y = y))

26. Performance Improvements

● Using Data Tables for Large Datasets: ggplot(data.table(data),

aes(x, y)) + geom_point()
● Optimizing Plot Rendering with ragg: agg_png("plot.png", width =
1000, height = 800, res = 150)

27. Customizing Plot Aesthetics

● Adding Custom Fonts: showtext::showtext_auto(); ggplot(data, aes(x,

y)) + geom_text(aes(label = label), family = "my_custom_font")
● Modifying ggplot2 Themes: theme_set(theme_minimal() +
theme(plot.background = element_rect(fill = "white")))
● Customizing Legend Title and Labels: ggplot(data, aes(x, y,
fill=group)) + geom_bar() + scale_fill_discrete(name = "Legend
Title", labels = c("Group 1", "Group 2"))
● Modifying Axis Labels and Text: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_point() + theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 45, hjust =
1))

28. Using Different Plot Geometries

● Using geom_raster for Heatmaps: ggplot(data, aes(x, y, fill =

value)) + geom_raster()
● Creating Ridgeline Plots: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_ridgeline()
● Creating 3D Surface Plots: plotly::plot_ly(data, x = ~x, y = ~y, z
= ~z, type = "surface")

29. Multi-layer Plots

● Combining Multiple Layers in a Plot: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +

geom_point() + geom_smooth()
● Using Geoms with Conditional Aesthetics: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_point(data = subset(data, condition), aes(color = category))

By: Waleed Mousa

30. Conditional Elements and Aesthetics

● Conditional Colors Based on Values: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +

geom_point(aes(color = ifelse(value > threshold, "Above",
"Below")))
● Conditional Plot Elements with ifelse in Aesthetics: ggplot(data,
aes(x, y)) + geom_point(aes(shape = ifelse(condition, shape1,
shape2)))

31. Advanced Text and Labeling

● Adding Mathematical Expressions in Labels: ggplot(data, aes(x, y))

+ ylab(expression(paste("Rate (", mu, "mol / m"^2* "s"^{-1}, ")")))
● Using Direct Labels for Points: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_point() + geom_text(aes(label = labels), hjust = 1, vjust = 1)

32. Customizing Legends

● Removing Legends: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +

theme(legend.position = "none")
● Positioning and Layout of Legends: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_point() + theme(legend.position = "bottom", legend.direction =
"horizontal")
● Customizing Legend Keys: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
guides(color = guide_legend(override.aes = list(shape = 16)))

33. Advanced Faceting

● Facet Grid with Formulas: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +

facet_grid(rows ~ cols)
● Facet Wrap with Scales: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point() +
facet_wrap(~ category, scales = "free")

34. Specialized Plots and Techniques

● Creating Network Graphs with ggraph: ggraph(graph, layout = 'fr')

+ geom_edge_link() + geom_node_point()
● Creating Heatmaps with ComplexHeatmap:
ComplexHeatmap::Heatmap(matrix_data)

By: Waleed Mousa

35. Performance and Large Data Handling

● Using Data Tables for Large Datasets: ggplot(data.table(data),

aes(x, y)) + geom_point()
● Optimizing ggplot2 Performance: ggplot(data, aes(x, y)) +
geom_point() + coord_cartesian(clip = 'off')

By: Waleed Mousa