R Graphics, Third Edition

Book excerpt: This third edition of Paul Murrell’s classic book on using R for graphics represents a major update, with a complete overhaul in focus and scope. It focuses primarily on the two core graphics packages in R - graphics and grid - and has a new section on integrating graphics. This section includes three new chapters: importing external images in to R; integrating the graphics and grid systems; and advanced SVG graphics. The emphasis in this third edition is on having the ability to produce detailed and customised graphics in a wide variety of formats, on being able to share and reuse those graphics, and on being able to integrate graphics from multiple systems. This book is aimed at all levels of R users. For people who are new to R, this book provides an overview of the graphics facilities, which is useful for understanding what to expect from R's graphics functions and how to modify or add to the output they produce. For intermediate-level R users, this book provides all of the information necessary to perform sophisticated customizations of plots produced in R. For advanced R users, this book contains vital information for producing coherent, reusable, and extensible graphics functions.