How to Save a GGPlot

Basics

The standard procedure to save any graphics from R is as follow:

1. Open a graphic device using one of the following functions:

• pdf(“r-graphics.pdf”),
• svg(“r-graphics.svg”),
• png(“r-graphics.png”),
• tiff(“r-graphics.tiff”),
• jpeg(“r-graphics.jpg”),
• and so on.

Additional arguments indicating the width and the height (in inches) of the graphics region can be also specified in the mentioned function.

2. Create and print a plot
3. Close the graphic device using the function dev.off()

Save ggplot into a PDF file

For example, to export ggplot2 graphs to a pdf file, the R code looks like this:

# Create some plots
library(ggplot2)
myplot1 <- ggplot(iris, aes(Sepal.Length, Sepal.Width)) + 
  geom_point()
myplot2 <- ggplot(iris, aes(Species, Sepal.Length)) + 
  geom_boxplot()

# Print plots to a pdf file
pdf("ggplot.pdf")
print(myplot1)     # Plot 1 --> in the first page of PDF
print(myplot2)     # Plot 2 ---> in the second page of the PDF
dev.off() 

Print into a PNG file

For printing to a png file, use:

png("myplot.png")
print(myplot)
dev.off()

ggave

It’s also possible to make a ggplot and to save it from the screen using the function ggsave():

# 1. Create a plot: displayed on the screen (by default)
ggplot(mtcars, aes(wt, mpg)) + geom_point()
# 2.1. Save the plot to a pdf
ggsave("myplot.pdf")
# 2.2 OR save it to png file
ggsave("myplot.png")

Specify the name of the plot to export:

p1 <- ggplot(mtcars, aes(wt, mpg)) + geom_point()
ggsave("myplot.png", plot = p1)