How to change background color in R using ggplot2?

In this article, we will discuss how to change the background color of a ggplot2 plot in R Programming Language.

To do so first we will create a basic ggplot2 plot.

Step 1: Create sample data for the plot.

sample_data <- data.frame(x = 1:10, y = 1:10)

Step 2: Load the package ggplot2.

library("ggplot2")

Step 3: Draw a basic ggplot2 plot without any color customization.

ggplot(sample_data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point()

# load ggplot2
library("ggplot2")

# Create Sample data
sample_data <- data.frame(x = 1:10, y = 1:10)

# Draw plot with ggplot2
ggplot(sample_data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point()

Output:

Changing the color of the background panel

We will use the argument panel.background of ggplot2 to change the background color of panel of plot.

ggplot(sample_data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point()+ theme(panel.background = element_rect(fill = "#00ab75")

# load ggplot2
library("ggplot2")

# Create Sample data
sample_data <- data.frame(x = 1:10, y = 1:10)

# Draw plot with changed theme using 
# panel.background parameter
ggplot(sample_data, aes(x, y)) + 
geom_point()+
theme(panel.background = element_rect(fill = "#00ab75" ))

Output:

Changing the color of the plot in ggplot2

We will use the argument plot.background of ggplot2 to change the background color of the plot.

ggplot(sample_data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point()+ theme(plot.background = element_rect(fill = "#00ab75"))

# load ggplot2
library("ggplot2")

# Create Sample data
sample_data <- data.frame(x = 1:10, y = 1:10)

# Draw plot with changed theme using 
# plot.background parameter
ggplot(sample_data, aes(x, y)) + 
geom_point()+
theme(plot.background = element_rect(fill = "#00ab75" ))

Output:

Changing the overall theme of the plot in ggplot2

We have some pre-built themes in ggplot2 that can be used to change the complete theme in ggplot2. Themes available in ggplot are,

• theme_gray
• theme_bw
• theme_linedraw
• theme_light
• theme_dark
• theme_minimal
• theme_classic
• theme_void
• theme_test

Syntax:

ggplot(sample_data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point()+ theme_dark()

# load ggplot2
library("ggplot2")

# Create Sample data
sample_data <- data.frame(x = 1:10, y = 1:10)

# Draw plot with changed theme using 
# different prebuilt themes
ggplot(sample_data, aes(x, y)) + geom_point()+theme_dark()

Output: