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https://github.com/wurli/ggborderline

Make line plots that *pop*
https://github.com/wurli/ggborderline

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Make line plots that *pop*

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README 

        
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output: github_document

always_allow_html: true

---

# ggborderline 



```{r, include = FALSE}

knitr::opts_chunk$set(

  collapse = TRUE,

  comment = "#>",

  fig.path = "man/figures/README-",

  out.width = "100%"

)

```



[![R-CMD-check](https://github.com/wurli/ggborderline/workflows/R-CMD-check/badge.svg)](https://github.com/wurli/ggborderline/actions)

[![CRAN status](https://www.r-pkg.org/badges/version/ggborderline)](https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=ggborderline)



{ggborderline} provides a set of geoms to make line plots a little bit nicer. Use

this package along with [ggplot2](https://ggplot2.tidyverse.org/) to:



* Improve the clarity of line plots with many overlapping lines

* Draw more realistic worms



## Usage



You can use ggborderline by swapping out {ggplot2} line geoms with their '`border`'

equivalents. For example, here is the effect of swapping `ggplot2::geom_line()` 

for `geom_borderline()`. Notice the white outline of lines in the first plot where

different lines intersect:



```{r example, fig.show='hold', out.width='50%', fig.width=5}

library(ggborderline)

library(ggplot2)

library(dplyr, warn.conflicts = FALSE)



p <- txhousing |>

  filter(

    city %in% c("Houston", "Midland", "Beaumont", "Laredo"),

    !is.na(median)

  ) |>

  ggplot(aes(date, median, colour = city)) +

  scale_y_continuous(labels = scales::label_dollar()) +

  scale_colour_brewer(palette = "Paired") +

  theme(legend.position = "bottom")



p + geom_borderline(linewidth = 1) + ggtitle("Using `geom_borderline()`")

p + geom_line(linewidth = 1) + ggtitle("Using `geom_line()`")

```



This effect is best applied conservatively, hence the 'default' settings

will only make a subtle (but hopefully positive) difference to existing plots. 

However you can still adjust the `borderwidth` and `bordercolour` aesthetics.

Notice that the border is also much more noticable in the legend too:

```{r}

library(ggdark)



p + 

  geom_borderline(

    aes(bordercolour = after_scale(invert_colour(colour))),

    borderwidth = 1, linewidth = 2

  )

```



Click here for more uses

```{r, echo = FALSE}

x <- seq(-1, 0.5, length.out = 500)



worms <- data.frame(

  x = rep(x, 2), y = c(sin(x * pi), cos(x * pi)),

  colour = rep(c("pink", "pink2"), each = 500)

)



dirt_colours <- c("#453d30", "#453d30", "#988b77", "#856e52", "#695e48")



background <- data.frame(

  x = runif(30000, -1.1, 0.6), y = runif(30000, -1.1, 1.1),

  colour = sample(dirt_colours, 10000, replace = TRUE)

)



ggplot(worms, aes(x, y, colour = colour)) +

  geom_point(data = background, size = 2.5, alpha = 0.8) +

  geom_borderline(linewidth = 10, borderwidth = 1, bordercolour = "pink3", lineend = "round") +

  scale_colour_identity() +

  theme_void() +

  theme(panel.background = element_rect(fill = "grey10")) +

  annotate(geom = "text", label = ":)", x = 0.5, y = 0:1, angle = 270, size = 6)

```



[Worm code](https://github.com/wurli/ggborderline/blob/main/README.Rmd)



# Installation



You can install the released version of ggborderline from CRAN with:

```r

install.packages("ggborderline")

```

The development version of ggborderline can be installed from [github](https://github.com/wurli/ggborderline) with:

```r

remotes::install_github("wurli/ggborderline")

```



# Inspiration

I made this package after seeing this plot tweeted by [Rosamund Pearce](https://twitter.com/_rospearce),

an experience that forever soured me to lines without borders:

 



# Other Approaches

While these effects can be achieved using {ggplot2} alone if you have the

patience, there are other packages which provide other methods for achieving bordered

lines. [{ggfx}](https://ggfx.data-imaginist.com/) is much more powerful, but 

would perhaps be overkill for something as simple as adding a border around a line.

[{ggshadow}](https://github.com/marcmenem/ggshadow) is another great alternative

which implements the shadow using a slightly different approach, and also comes with

some other handy features. You are encouraged to try both!



# Credit

This package would not have been possible without the fantastic [ggplot2](https://ggplot2.tidyverse.org/)

package, and would have been very difficult without the [accompanying book](https://ggplot2-book.org/). 

My humble and sincere thanks go to all the authors and developers who make projects like this possible.