[R] Putting legend *outside* plotting area

[jim holtman]

Try using 'layout' to create the area for the legend; that way you
don't have to worry about how much space to leave.  Here is an example
where I was putting the legend on the bottom of the chart:

pdf('plot.pdf', width=62, height=40)
layout(rbind(1, 2), height=c(7, 1))  # put legend on bottom 1/8th of the chart
....plotting commands......

# setup for no margins on the legend
par(mar=c(0, 0, 0, 0))
plot.new()
legend('center',
    legend=sprintf("%s [%s]", commOrder$label,
commMost[as.character(commOrder$comm)]),
    col=colToUse, lty=1, lwd=20, ncol=8, cex=1.5)

dev.off()




On Sun, Aug 29, 2010 at 8:00 PM, Worik R <worikr at gmail.com> wrote:
> Is there  a simple way to put a legend outside the plot area for a simple
> plot?
>
> I found... (at http://www.harding.edu/fmccown/R/)
>
> # Expand right side of clipping rect to make room for the legend
> *par(xpd=T, mar=par()$mar+c(0,0,0,4))*
>
> # Graph autos (transposing the matrix) using heat colors,
> # put 10% of the space between each bar, and make labels
> # smaller with horizontal y-axis labels
> barplot(*t*(autos_data), main="Autos", ylab="Total",
>   col=*heat.colors(3), space=0.1, cex.axis=0.8, las=1,
>   names.arg=c("Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri"), cex=0.8*)
>
> # Place the legend at (6,30) using heat colors
> legend(*6, 30,* names(*autos_data*), cex=*0.8*, fill=*heat.colors(3)*);
>
> But I do not understand
> *par(xpd=T, mar=par()$mar+c(0,0,0,4))*
>
> Anyway it does not work for me when I change...
>
>
>> y1 <- runif(100, max=1, min=0)
>> y2 <- rnorm(100)
>> ylim <- c(min(y1, y2), max(y1,y2))
>> plot(x, y1, pch=1, ylim=ylim)
>> points(x, y2, pch=2)
>> legend("topleft", legend=c("Uniform", "Normal"), pch=c(1,2))
>
> To
>
>> par(xpd=T, mar=par()$mar+c(0,0,0,4))
>> plot(x, y1, pch=1, ylim=ylim)
>> points(x, y2, pch=2)
>> legend(6, 30, legend=c("Uniform", "Normal"), pch=c(1,2))
>
> I do not get to see the legend at all.
>
> I am confused....
>
> cheers
> Worik
>
>        [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>
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-- 
Jim Holtman
Cincinnati, OH
+1 513 646 9390

What is the problem that you are trying to solve?