Can I navigate, zoom in and zoom out R plots?

Question

I would like to know if R allows to pan and zoom images produced with the "plot" function. I would like to obtain the plot transformation using the mouse and not through the command line, is it possible?

Thanks in advance.

score 30 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 26 '16 at 03:57

It's a bit old question but for future references, I've wrote a package doing precisely that (based on zoomplot {in pkg:TeachingDemos}). It's called zoom:

The CRAN page on zoom

And you are welcome to check the latest and greatest and expand the package on Github

Usage -

library(zoom) # Invoke the Library
# Call plot
zm()

The instructions for Usage in a normal plot is

Mouse:

Scroll to zoom in and out
Hold left mouse button to move

Keyboard:

Left/Right (h/l): move left/right
Up/Down (k/j) : move up/down
+ or i / - or o : zoom in/out
L/H : zoom in/out (x-axis only)
K/J : zoom in/out (y-axis only)
p : print to file
r : reset limits
s : show limits

q on the graphic window to quit

With hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of data points, the refresh felt slow in this library, and then R crashed. This is based on VERY limited experience. — Josiah Yoder, Aug 06 '19 at 19:43

score 15 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 19 '12 at 22:21

Not with the default plotting device as its internal model is 'static'.

There are workarounds, tough: look for example at package playwith, or at a Java-based device such as the iplots package on Simon's rforge. There are also extensions like ggobi and other on-going work (such as the Qt-based device which will in time replace ggobi) which try to make R-based graphing more dynamic.

But the main takeaway is: not, not really -- due to the way R graphics devices are designed.

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 02 '11 at 15:42

5

To add to Dirk's answer: see also the iWebPlots and RnavGraph packages.

answered Aug 02 '11 at 15:42

Richie Cotton

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score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 19 '12 at 22:48

2

You should look at Greg Snows zoomplot {in pkg:TeachingDemos}. You may be able to call that function with cursor interface using the tk toolkit. I think Greg's package also has examples of such an interface.

answered Jan 19 '12 at 22:48

IRTFM

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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 08 '14 at 08:22

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You can also add R graphs to plot.ly . This should be enough for the most common stuff.

Stefan

answered Aug 08 '14 at 08:22

Buggy

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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 12 '17 at 11:24

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Now there are also http://www.htmlwidgets.org/ that add a great set of interactive visualizations capabilities to R. Most of them can easily be zoomed and panned.

answered Jan 12 '17 at 11:24

Aurèle

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score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 07 '11 at 17:46

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To add to existing answers: I like to use the identify() function to manually add labels just to particular points I want.

answered Aug 07 '11 at 17:46

Tomas

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Can I navigate, zoom in and zoom out R plots?

7 Answers7