5

I'm trying to graph some data and my code looks like this:

library('ggplot2')
library('tidyr')
library('ggthemes')
library('showtext')

font_add_google('Syncopate', 'Syncopate')
showtext_auto()

ggplot(aes(x = X, group=1), data = glassdoor)+
  geom_line(aes(y = col1, color = 'red'))+
  geom_line(aes(y = col2, color = 'blue'))+
  geom_line(aes(y = col3, color = 'magenta'))+
  geom_line(aes(y = col4, color = 'yellow'))+
  theme(text = element_text(family = "Syncopate"))+
  ggtitle('A Long Test Title')

Syncopate is a distinctive font, seen here. But my visualization's font just looks like this (this is a test graph, ignore its overall poorness):

enter image description here

But if I load a system theme like Times New Roman, it works fine. Why aren't my google fonts loading using showtext?

Edit

Jrakru's answer works, but bear in mind that you have to run that entire code block: The new fonts will appear in a saved png file, but not in the preview window. This isn't written as a slight against the answer, but rather for others like myself who expect the fonts to show up in the RStudio console and therefore omit the ggsave and png portions of the code.

snapcrack
  • 1,761
  • 3
  • 20
  • 40

2 Answers2

6

The GitHub for showtext mentions

This example should work on most graphics devices, including pdf(), png(), postscript(), and on-screen devices such as windows() on Windows and x11() on Linux.

If you read really really hard between lines, that means, that RStudioGD graphics device is not supported. I did not see that the first few times I read it. I only know because the vignette is a little more explicit.

NOTE: Currently showtext does not work with the built-in graphics device of RStudio, hence to try the code below, it is suggested to run the code in original R console, or use other graphics devices such as x11() and windows()

see https://cran.rstudio.com/web/packages/showtext/vignettes/introduction.html

With the above knowledge, we can do this:

library('tidyr')
library('ggthemes')
library('showtext')

font_add_google("Schoolbell", "bell")
showtext_auto()

library('ggplot2')

df<- data.frame(x=1:10, y=101:110)

options("device" = "windows")

win.graph(10,10,12)

ggplot(data = df) +
  geom_line(aes(x,y))+
  theme(text = element_text(family = "bell"))+
  ggtitle('A Long Test Title')


ggsave("showtext-example.png", width = 7, height = 4, dpi = 96)

options("device" = "RStudioGD")

And Voila! enter image description here

Ps: I assumed you are a windows user.

Jrakru56
  • 1,211
  • 9
  • 16
  • You mean `x11` should work in defining the device in options? I tried that and it didn't seem to work :( – snapcrack Nov 13 '18 at 23:55
  • Are you on a MacOS? If yes, I think that you guys use `quartz`. – Jrakru56 Nov 14 '18 at 20:16
  • On Ubuntu. It's still not working for me when changing to x11 – snapcrack Nov 14 '18 at 20:35
  • No it's just producing the same visualization I created in my question :( – snapcrack Nov 15 '18 at 18:14
  • It might be worth creating an issue on the `showtext` github. Is the `png()` and `ggsave()` not working etiher? – Jrakru56 Nov 15 '18 at 18:43
  • Hmmm...the png() and ggsave() seem to be working actually, but it's not working in the preview window, which was as far as I was going. I'm gonna mark this question as solved but I'll put a note in my question that the answer only works for the saved file. Thanks a bunch for your help and sorry for the confusion/not following the entire answer. – snapcrack Nov 16 '18 at 17:41
4

according to the same document: https://cran.rstudio.com/web/packages/showtext/vignettes/introduction.html

And the very bottom of it, you can read this:

Compatibility with RStudio

Starting from version 0.9, showtext can work well with the RStudio graphics device (RStudioGD). Simply call showtext_auto() in the RStudio session and then the plots will be displayed correctly.

it worked for me in RStudio 1.3.959

Aurelio Gallardo Rodríguez
  • 57
  • 4