Can't change fonts in ggplot/geom_text

Question

I can't set my fonts in geom_text. Here is what I tried:

    labels_test<-data.frame(a=c("a","b","c"),b=c(1:3),c=c(3:1))
    # works
    ggplot () + geom_text(data=labels_test,aes(b,c,label=a),color="blue")
    # does not work: 
    ggplot () + geom_text(data=labels_test,aes(b,c,label=a),color="blue",family="Times")
    # error message:  In grid.Call.graphics(L_text, as.graphicsAnnot(x$label), x$x, x$y,:
    # Font family not found in Windows font database

I already imported all fonts as indicated here. Any ideas what is still going wrong?

does it work if you try `windowsFonts(Times=windowsFont("TT Times New Roman"))` first? — user1317221_G, Feb 06 '13 at 16:24
yes it does. thank you. you should post it as an answer. Can you explain it? And do I have to do this in all scripts when I want to use diffrent fonts? — Joschi, Feb 06 '13 at 21:35
I'm on mac just now so I can't really fiddle around but [this](https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/ggplot2/781cT5yMqCg) might help but mainly the idea of this is once you have installed the fonts you give them to R to use explicitly — user1317221_G, Feb 06 '13 at 22:29
You can bulk import your fonts with package {extrafont} as explained in this article: http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2012/09/how-to-use-your-favorite-fonts-in-r-charts.html — Brandon Loudermilk, Mar 02 '17 at 16:10

nate · Answer 1 · 2017-10-31T15:41:06.977

The other answers didn't solve my problem (Windows 10).

The key for my system was to call extrafont::loadfonts(device="win") prior to library(ggplot2).

extrafont::loadfonts(device="win")
#extrafont::fonttable()
#extrafont::font_import("C:/Windows/Fonts/", pattern = "RobotoCondensed")
library(ggplot2)

Common problem with font locations:

I had installed the fonts from a random folder with extrafont::font_import() previously. As such extrafont::fonttable() referenced the files in my C:\Windows\Fonts\ folder. To fix this I reset my extrafonts::fonttable() with install.packages("extrafontdb") in order to clear a reference to the fonts in a different location.

Edit regarding saving:

Deeper down the rabbit hole. Saving was an additional challenge. In order to extrafont::loadfonts(device="pdf") I had to make sure no fonts in my extrafont::fonttable() had identical family names and bold/italic status. I edited extrafont:::fonttable_file() to resolve any duplicate bold/italic fonts within my family. Using Roboto Condensed I renamed the light fonts' font family to "Roboto Condensed Light".

Saving with ggsave(device="pdf") then worked. Opening the files in acrobat the fonts did not display correctly. I tried embedding the fonts with ghostscript as well as using the cairo_pdf device. The easiest and most functional solution was to open the .pdf files in Illustrator (the fonts display fine there) and immediately re-save them again as .pdf.

Edit 2 regarding saving:

Saving as .eps was the only way to preserve the file in both illustrator and acrobat. The result is perfect. ggsave(g, file="Figure.eps", fonts=c("FONT FAMILIES USED", "Roboto Condensed", "Roboto Condensed Light"))

Final plotting code:

Here is my final set of calls I use before plotting. Comments are setup commands that need to be run once only.

# Plotting
extrafont::loadfonts(device="pdf")
extrafont::loadfonts(device="postscript")
# extrafont::font_import("C:/Windows/Fonts/", pattern = "RobotoCondensed", prompt = F)
# extrafont::fonttable()
# C:/Program Files/R/R-3.3.1/library/extrafontdb/fontmap/ - Change lights to "Roboto Condensed Light"
# After ggsave(device="pdf") or ggsave(device="eps") open and resave the file in Illustrator
library(hrbrthemes)
library(ggplot2)

It may seem obvious, but it's worth adding: you'll want to make sure you have fonts loaded by executing `extrafont::font_import()` before attempting to load any fonts. — Jared Wilber, May 04 '18 at 00:29

user1317221_G · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-06T22:19:43.783

38

I would try"

windowsFonts(Times=windowsFont("TT Times New Roman"))

In doing this your specifying explicitly the Windows Font mapping.

edited Feb 06 '13 at 22:19

answered Feb 06 '13 at 16:31

user1317221_G

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So how would you go for doing it for every single imported font? – Matias Andina Dec 01 '16 at 19:47

score 20 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 21 '16 at 17:10

20

You must import the system fonts using the command:

font_import(paths = NULL, recursive = TRUE, prompt = TRUE,pattern = NULL)

edited Nov 21 '16 at 17:10

MSU_Bulldog

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answered Nov 21 '16 at 17:01

user7190527

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This is actually the real _answer_ to the question. – skoh Jan 26 '17 at 15:24
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If you have a lot of fonts, this solution will take a long time. Use `pattern="Times"` or something to reduce the number of fonts loaded – C8H10N4O2 Mar 09 '17 at 01:59
Is this a one time operation or something you must run every time? Looks like it might be one time to me – Akhil Nair Jan 07 '21 at 16:22

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 21 '20 at 08:34

I tried the different solutions here but none worked for me (win10, R 3.4.3). This is what worked for me:

install.packages("extrafont")
library(extrafont)
loadfonts(device = "win")

It did not matter if I did it before or after library(ggplot2)

Sources:

Can't change fonts in ggplot/geom_text

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