Getting Started with DOYPAColors

Overview

The DOYPAColors package offers a variety of color palettes designed to enhance your data visualizations in R. These palettes are compatible with ggplot2 and are categorized into three main types: sequential, diverging, and qualitative. The package also includes a section of colorblind-friendly palettes. This vignette provides a quick guide on how to use the package, including how to list available palettes, preview them, and apply them to your plots.

Installation

To get started with DOYPAColors, you can install the package from CRAN:

install.packages("DOYPAColors")
library(DOYPAColors)

Or you can install the development version from GitHub:

if (!require("devtools")) 
  install.packages("devtools")

devtools::install_github("jmestret/DOYPAColors")
library(DOYPAColors)

How to Use

DOYPAColors is designed to simplify the process of selecting color palettes for your plots. You can quickly apply a palette without overthinking the details by using the doypa() function to automatically choose a palette that fits the type you need, and then use scale_fill_doypa() or scale_color_doypa() in your ggplot2 plots.

Basic Usage with Automatic Palette Selection

Simply specify the type of palette you want (seq, div, qual) and let DOYPAColors handle the rest. For example:

library(ggplot2)

# Plot using automatic palette selection
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = factor(cyl), fill = factor(cyl))) +
  geom_bar() +
  scale_fill_doypa(type = "qual", discrete = TRUE) +
  theme_minimal() +
  labs(title = "Bar Plot with Automatic DOYPAColors Palette")
#> Look what the palette fairy brought - it's the 'retro' palette! Now, let's get creative!

In this example, scale_fill_doypa(type = "qual") automatically selects a qualitative palette suitable for the number of categories in your data.

For additional options and customization, refer to the rest of this vignette.

Exploring Palettes

Listing Available Palettes

To view all available palettes, use the list_doypa_pals() function:

# List all available DOYPAColors palettes
list_doypa_pals()
#> $sequential
#>  [1] "blue"         "deep"         "blue_purple"  "purple"       "yellow_green"
#>  [6] "doypa_qual"   "regal_blue"   "blue_red"     "red"          "orange"      
#> [11] "pink"         "gray"        
#> 
#> $diverging
#> [1] "blue2red"     "purple2green" "mir"         
#> 
#> $qualitative
#>  [1] "astro"         "buzz"          "cyberpunk"     "earth"        
#>  [5] "goofy"         "google"        "doypa"         "high_contrast"
#>  [9] "nature"        "retro"         "rookie"        "snack"        
#> [13] "sunset"        "tidy"          "vaporwave"

Previewing Palettes

You can preview all available palettes using the preview_doypa_pals() function:

# Preview all available DOYPAColors palettes
preview_doypa_pals()

To preview a single palette with multiple plots, use the preview_pal() function:

# Preview a specific DOYPAColors palette
preview_pal(palette = "doypa")

Getting Palette Colors

To retrieve a vector of colors from a specific palette, use the doypa() function. You can specify the palette you want by name, or simply call the function without arguments to get a default palette. If you’re unsure which palette to use, let DOYPAColors choose one for you:

# Retrieve colors from a specific palette
doypa_colors <- doypa(palette = "retro")
print(doypa_colors)
#> [1] "#D54751" "#EF9A48" "#FFFCC7" "#4DA394" "#59322B"

# Retrieve a default palette if no palette name is provided
default_palette_colors <- doypa()
#> We've selected a random palette for you: sunset
print(default_palette_colors)
#> [1] "#FF4500" "#FF2400" "#FF007F" "#800080"

In the first example, replace "retro" with the name of the palette you want to use. If you omit the palette argument, doypa() will return the colors of a default palette.

Applying Palettes to ggplot2

Basic Usage

Integrate DOYPAColors palettes into your ggplot2 plots using scale_fill_doypa() for fill aesthetics and scale_color_doypa() for color aesthetics. Here’s an example of how to apply a qualitative palette (type = "qual") to a bar plot:

library(ggplot2)

# Create a bar plot with a DOYPAColors palette
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = factor(cyl), fill = factor(cyl))) +
  geom_bar() +
  scale_fill_doypa(type = "qual", discrete = TRUE) +
  theme_minimal() +
  labs(title = "Bar Plot with DOYPAColors")
#> Ready to splash some color? Today's choice is the 'tidy' palette. Enjoy!

Using Palette Options

Number of Colors (n)

Specify the number of colors to use from the palette with the n argument:

# Apply a palette with a specific number of colors
ggplot(iris, aes(x = Species, y = Sepal.Length, fill = Species)) +
  geom_boxplot() +
  scale_fill_doypa(palette = "buzz", n = 3, discrete = TRUE) +
  theme_classic()

Reversing the Palette (reverse)

Reverse the color order with the reverse argument:

ggplot(iris, aes(x = Species, y = Sepal.Length, fill = Species)) +
  geom_boxplot() +
  scale_fill_doypa(palette = "buzz", reverse = TRUE, discrete = TRUE) +
  theme_classic() +
  ggtitle("Palette Reversed")

ggplot(iris, aes(x = Species, y = Sepal.Length, fill = Species)) +
  geom_boxplot() +
  scale_fill_doypa(palette = "buzz", n = 3, reverse = TRUE, discrete = TRUE) +
  theme_classic() +
  ggtitle("Palette Reversed (n = 3)")

Creating a Color Gradient (gradient)

Generate a color gradient that interpolates between the colors of the selected palette:

ggplot(iris, aes(x = Species, y = Sepal.Length, fill = Species)) +
  geom_boxplot() +
  scale_fill_doypa(palette = "buzz", gradient = TRUE, discrete = TRUE) +
  theme_classic()

Conclusion

The DOYPAColors package makes it easy to apply diverse and visually appealing color palettes to your data visualizations. With options to list, preview, and customize palettes, you have the flexibility to enhance your plots and make them more engaging. Explore the various palettes and options to find the perfect fit for your data.