Add extra spacing between a subset of plots

user_152159 0
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I'm trying to output 6 figures into one image, in a 3x2 layout. I'd like to place extra space between the top row and the bottom two rows. Is this possible using R? I've looked through the documentation for par and plot and can't seem to find an appropriate option.

Here's some example code:

a = rnorm(100,100,10)
b = rnorm(100,100,10)

par(mfrow=c(3,2), oma=c(1,1,1,1), mar=c(2,2,2,2))
hist(a)
hist(b)
plot(a,b)
plot(a,b)
plot(a,b)
plot(a,b)

Here's what that code outputs:

alt text

Here's what I'd like it to output (I modified this image in an external editor). Note the extra space between the top row and bottom rows.

alt text

spacing plot r graphics
4 Answers

There is nothing to add concerning plots, but I stuggled several times with layout, so here is way to visualize the layout (from here) - using base-R:

# Margins area
par(oma=c(3,3,3,3)) # all sides have 3 lines of space
par(mar=c(5,4,4,2) + 0.1) # mar=c(b,l,t,r)

# Plot
plot(0:10, 0:10, xlab="X", ylab="Y") # type="n" hides the points

# Place text in the plot and color everything plot-related red
text(5,5, "Plot", col="red", cex=2)
box(col="red")

# Place text in the margins and label the margins, all in forestgreen  
mtext("Margins", side=3, line=2, cex=2, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("par(mar=c(b,l,t,r))", side=3, line=1, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("Line 0", side=3, line=0, adj=1.0, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("Line 1", side=3, line=1, adj=1.0, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("Line 2", side=3, line=2, adj=1.0, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("Line 3", side=3, line=3, adj=1.0, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
box("figure", col="forestgreen")  

# Label the outer margin area and color it blue  
# Note the 'outer=TRUE' command moves us from the figure margins to the outer margins.  
mtext("Outer Margin Area", side=1, line=1, cex=2, col="blue", outer=TRUE)  
mtext("par(oma=c(b,l,t,r))", side=1, line=2, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)  
mtext("Line 0", side=1, line=0, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)  
mtext("Line 1", side=1, line=1, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)  
mtext("Line 2", side=1, line=2, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)  
box("outer", col="blue")  

mtext("Line 0, side=2", side=2, line=0, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)
mtext("Line 1, side=2", side=2, line=1, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)
mtext("Line 0, side=3", side=3, line=0, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)
mtext("Line 1, side=3", side=3, line=1, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)
mtext("Line 0, side=4", side=4, line=0, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)
mtext("Line 1, side=4", side=4, line=1, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)

Result: enter image description here

With two plots:

par(mfrow = c(2, 1))
# First plot
# Margins area
par(oma=c(3,3,3,3)) # all sides have 3 lines of space
par(mar=c(5,4,4,2) + 0.1) # mar=c(b,l,t,r)

# Plot
plot(0:10, 0:10, xlab="X", ylab="Y") # type="n" hides the points

# Place text in the plot and color everything plot-related red
text(5,5, "Plot", col="red", cex=2)
box(col="red")

# Place text in the margins and label the margins, all in forestgreen  
mtext("Margins", side=3, line=2, cex=2, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("par(mar=c(b,l,t,r))", side=3, line=1, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("Line 0", side=3, line=0, adj=1.0, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("Line 1", side=3, line=1, adj=1.0, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("Line 2", side=3, line=2, adj=1.0, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("Line 3", side=3, line=3, adj=1.0, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
box("figure", col="forestgreen")  

# Label the outer margin area and color it blue  
# Note the 'outer=TRUE' command moves us from the figure margins to the outer margins.  
mtext("Outer Margin Area", side=1, line=1, cex=2, col="blue", outer=TRUE)  
mtext("par(oma=c(b,l,t,r))", side=1, line=2, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)  
mtext("Line 0", side=1, line=0, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)  
mtext("Line 1", side=1, line=1, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)  
mtext("Line 2", side=1, line=2, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)  
box("outer", col="blue")

mtext("Line 0, side=2", side=2, line=0, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)
mtext("Line 1, side=2", side=2, line=1, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)
mtext("Line 0, side=3", side=3, line=0, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)
mtext("Line 1, side=3", side=3, line=1, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)
mtext("Line 0, side=4", side=4, line=0, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)
mtext("Line 1, side=4", side=4, line=1, adj=0.0, cex=1, col="blue", outer=TRUE)

# Second plot
plot(0:10, 0:10, xlab="X", ylab="Y", ) # type="n" hides the points

# Place text in the plot and color everything plot-related red
text(5,5, "Plot", col="red", cex=2)
box(col="red")

# Place text in the margins and label the margins, all in forestgreen  
mtext("Margins", side=3, line=2, cex=2, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("par(mar=c(b,l,t,r))", side=3, line=1, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("Line 0", side=3, line=0, adj=1.0, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("Line 1", side=3, line=1, adj=1.0, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("Line 2", side=3, line=2, adj=1.0, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
mtext("Line 3", side=3, line=3, adj=1.0, cex=1, col="forestgreen")  
box("figure", col="forestgreen")  
par(mfrow = c(1, 1))

Result: enter image description here

user_57848310
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