Add Legends to Plots

Description

This function can be used to add legends to plots. Note that a call to the function locator(1) can be used in place of the x and y arguments.

Usage

legend(x, y = NULL, legend, fill = NULL, col = par("col"),
       border = "black", lty, lwd, pch,
       angle = 45, density = NULL, bty = "o", bg = par("bg"),
       box.lwd = par("lwd"), box.lty = par("lty"), box.col = par("fg"),
       pt.bg = NA, cex = 1, pt.cex = cex, pt.lwd = lwd,
       xjust = 0, yjust = 1, x.intersp = 1, y.intersp = 1,
       adj = c(0, 0.5), text.width = NULL, text.col = par("col"),
       text.font = NULL, merge = do.lines && has.pch, trace = FALSE,
       plot = TRUE, ncol = 1, horiz = FALSE, title = NULL,
       inset = 0, xpd, title.col = text.col[1], title.adj = 0.5,
       title.cex = cex[1], title.font = text.font[1],
       seg.len = 2)

Arguments

Details

Arguments x, y, legend are interpreted in a non-standard way to allow the coordinates to be specified via one or two arguments. If legend is missing and y is not numeric, it is assumed that the second argument is intended to be legend and that the first argument specifies the coordinates.

The coordinates can be specified in any way which is accepted by xy.coords. If this gives the coordinates of one point, it is used as the top-left coordinate of the rectangle containing the legend. If it gives the coordinates of two points, these specify opposite corners of the rectangle (either pair of corners, in any order).

The location may also be specified by setting x to a single keyword from the list "bottomright", "bottom", "bottomleft", "left", "topleft", "top", "topright", "right" and "center". This places the legend on the inside of the plot frame at the given location. Partial argument matching is used. The optional inset argument specifies how far the legend is inset from the plot margins. If a single value is given, it is used for both margins; if two values are given, the first is used for x- distance, the second for y-distance.

Attribute arguments such as col, pch, lty, etc, are recycled if necessary: merge is not. Set entries of lty to 0 or set entries of lwd to NA to suppress lines in corresponding legend entries; set pch values to NA to suppress points.

Points are drawn after lines in order that they can cover the line with their background color pt.bg, if applicable.

See the examples for how to right-justify labels.

Since they are not used for Unicode code points, values -31:-1 are silently omitted, as are NA and "" values.

Value

A list with list components

returned invisibly.

References

Becker, R. A., Chambers, J. M. and Wilks, A. R. (1988) The New S Language. Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole.

Murrell, P. (2005) R Graphics. Chapman & Hall/CRC Press.

See Also

plot, barplot which uses legend(), and text for more examples of math expressions.

Examples

## Run the example in '?matplot' or the following:
leg.txt <- c("Setosa     Petals", "Setosa     Sepals",
             "Versicolor Petals", "Versicolor Sepals")
y.leg <- c(4.5, 3, 2.1, 1.4, .7)
cexv  <- c(1.2, 1, 4/5, 2/3, 1/2)
matplot(c(1, 8), c(0, 4.5), type = "n", xlab = "Length", ylab = "Width",
        main = "Petal and Sepal Dimensions in Iris Blossoms")
for (i in seq(cexv)) {
  text  (1, y.leg[i] - 0.1, paste("cex=", formatC(cexv[i])), cex = 0.8, adj = 0)
  legend(3, y.leg[i], leg.txt, pch = "sSvV", col = c(1, 3), cex = cexv[i])
}
## cex *vector* [in R <= 3.5.1 has 'if(xc < 0)' w/ length(xc) == 2]
legend("right", leg.txt, pch = "sSvV", col = c(1, 3),
       cex = 1+(-1:2)/8, trace = TRUE)# trace: show computed lengths & coords

## 'merge = TRUE' for merging lines & points:
x <- seq(-pi, pi, length.out = 65)
for(reverse in c(FALSE, TRUE)) {  ## normal *and* reverse axes:
  F <- if(reverse) rev else identity
  plot(x, sin(x), type = "l", col = 3, lty = 2,
       xlim = F(range(x)), ylim = F(c(-1.2, 1.8)))
  points(x, cos(x), pch = 3, col = 4)
  lines(x, tan(x), type = "b", lty = 1, pch = 4, col = 6)
  title("legend('top', lty = c(2, -1, 1), pch = c(NA, 3, 4), merge = TRUE)",
        cex.main = 1.1)
  legend("top", c("sin", "cos", "tan"), col = c(3, 4, 6),
       text.col = "green4", lty = c(2, -1, 1), pch = c(NA, 3, 4),
       merge = TRUE, bg = "gray90", trace=TRUE)
  
} # for(..)

## right-justifying a set of labels: thanks to Uwe Ligges
x <- 1:5; y1 <- 1/x; y2 <- 2/x
plot(rep(x, 2), c(y1, y2), type = "n", xlab = "x", ylab = "y")
lines(x, y1); lines(x, y2, lty = 2)
temp <- legend("topright", legend = c(" ", " "),
               text.width = strwidth("1,000,000"),
               lty = 1:2, xjust = 1, yjust = 1, inset = 1/10,
               title = "Line Types", title.cex = 0.5, trace=TRUE)
text(temp$rect$left + temp$rect$w, temp$text$y,
     c("1,000", "1,000,000"), pos = 2)


##--- log scaled Examples ------------------------------
leg.txt <- c("a one", "a two")

par(mfrow = c(2, 2))
for(ll in c("","x","y","xy")) {
  plot(2:10, log = ll, main = paste0("log = '", ll, "'"))
  abline(1, 1)
  lines(2:3, 3:4, col = 2)
  points(2, 2, col = 3)
  rect(2, 3, 3, 2, col = 4)
  text(c(3,3), 2:3, c("rect(2,3,3,2, col=4)",
                      "text(c(3,3),2:3,\"c(rect(...)\")"), adj = c(0, 0.3))
  legend(list(x = 2,y = 8), legend = leg.txt, col = 2:3, pch = 1:2,
         lty = 1)  #, trace = TRUE)
} #      ^^^^^^^ to force lines -> automatic merge=TRUE
par(mfrow = c(1,1))

##-- Math expressions:  ------------------------------
x <- seq(-pi, pi, length.out = 65)
plot(x, sin(x), type = "l", col = 2, xlab = expression(phi),
     ylab = expression(f(phi)))
abline(h = -1:1, v = pi/2*(-6:6), col = "gray90")
lines(x, cos(x), col = 3, lty = 2)
ex.cs1 <- expression(plain(sin) * phi,  paste("cos", phi))  # 2 ways
utils::str(legend(-3, .9, ex.cs1, lty = 1:2, plot = FALSE,
           adj = c(0, 0.6)))  # adj y !
legend(-3, 0.9, ex.cs1, lty = 1:2, col = 2:3,  adj = c(0, 0.6))

require(stats)
x <- rexp(100, rate = .5)
hist(x, main = "Mean and Median of a Skewed Distribution")
abline(v = mean(x),   col = 2, lty = 2, lwd = 2)
abline(v = median(x), col = 3, lty = 3, lwd = 2)
ex12 <- expression(bar(x) == sum(over(x[i], n), i == 1, n),
                   hat(x) == median(x[i], i == 1, n))
utils::str(legend(4.1, 30, ex12, col = 2:3, lty = 2:3, lwd = 2))

## 'Filled' boxes -- see also example(barplot) which may call legend(*, fill=)
barplot(VADeaths)
legend("topright", rownames(VADeaths), fill = gray.colors(nrow(VADeaths)))

## Using 'ncol'
x <- 0:64/64
for(R in c(identity, rev)) { # normal *and* reverse x-axis works fine:
  xl <- R(range(x)); x1 <- xl[1]
matplot(x, outer(x, 1:7, function(x, k) sin(k * pi * x)), xlim=xl,
        type = "o", col = 1:7, ylim = c(-1, 1.5), pch = "*")
op <- par(bg = "antiquewhite1")
legend(x1, 1.5, paste("sin(", 1:7, "pi * x)"), col = 1:7, lty = 1:7,
       pch = "*", ncol = 4, cex = 0.8)
legend("bottomright", paste("sin(", 1:7, "pi * x)"), col = 1:7, lty = 1:7,
       pch = "*", cex = 0.8)
legend(x1, -.1, paste("sin(", 1:4, "pi * x)"), col = 1:4, lty = 1:4,
       ncol = 2, cex = 0.8)
legend(x1, -.4, paste("sin(", 5:7, "pi * x)"), col = 4:6,  pch = 24,
       ncol = 2, cex = 1.5, lwd = 2, pt.bg = "pink", pt.cex = 1:3)
par(op)
  
} # for(..)

## point covering line :
y <- sin(3*pi*x)
plot(x, y, type = "l", col = "blue",
    main = "points with bg & legend(*, pt.bg)")
points(x, y, pch = 21, bg = "white")
legend(.4,1, "sin(c x)", pch = 21, pt.bg = "white", lty = 1, col = "blue")

## legends with titles at different locations
plot(x, y, type = "n")
legend("bottomright", "(x,y)", pch=1, title= "bottomright")
legend("bottom",      "(x,y)", pch=1, title= "bottom")
legend("bottomleft",  "(x,y)", pch=1, title= "bottomleft")
legend("left",        "(x,y)", pch=1, title= "left")
legend("topleft",     "(x,y)", pch=1, title= "topleft, inset = .05", inset = .05)
legend("top",         "(x,y)", pch=1, title= "top")
legend("topright",    "(x,y)", pch=1, title= "topright, inset = .02",inset = .02)
legend("right",       "(x,y)", pch=1, title= "right")
legend("center",      "(x,y)", pch=1, title= "center")

# using text.font (and text.col):
op <- par(mfrow = c(2, 2), mar = rep(2.1, 4))
c6 <- terrain.colors(10)[1:6]
for(i in 1:4) {
   plot(1, type = "n", axes = FALSE, ann = FALSE); title(paste("text.font =",i))
   legend("top", legend = LETTERS[1:6], col = c6,
          ncol = 2, cex = 2, lwd = 3, text.font = i, text.col = c6)
}
par(op)

# using text.width for several columns
plot(1, type="n")
legend("topleft", c("This legend", "has", "equally sized", "columns."),
       pch = 1:4, ncol = 4)
legend("bottomleft", c("This legend", "has", "optimally sized", "columns."),
       pch = 1:4, ncol = 4, text.width = NA)
legend("right", letters[1:4], pch = 1:4, ncol = 4,
       text.width = 1:4 / 50)