Can someone point me to a justification for the design decisions, which seem to be similar in lattice and ggplot2, of (1) gray backgrounds and (2) filled points? [I seem to remember seeing somewhere the opposite recommendation for points, i.e. that open points make it much easier to see if there are overlapping values -- and this would be a reason that pch=1 gives an open circle ...] cheers Ben Bolker -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: signature.asc Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 252 bytes Desc: OpenPGP digital signature Url : stat.ethz.ch/pipermail/r-devel/attachments/20080313/37b09855/attachment.bin
> Can someone point me to a justification for the design > decisions, which seem to be similar in lattice and > ggplot2, of (1) gray backgrounds and (2) filled points? > [I seem to remember seeing somewhere the opposite recommendation > for points, i.e. that open points make it much easier to > see if there are overlapping values -- and this would > be a reason that pch=1 gives an open circle ...]>From a paper I'm working on:This follows from the advice of \citet{tufte:2006,tufte:1990,tufte:2001,tufte:1997} and \citet{brewer:1994,carr:2002,carr:1994,carr:1999}. We can still see the gridlines to aid in judgement of position \citep{cleveland:1993a}, but they have little visual impact and we can easily ``tune'' them out. The grey background gives the plot a similar colour (in a typographical sense) to the remainder of the text, ensuring that the graphics fit in with the flow of a text without jumping out with a bright white background. Finally, the grey background creates a continuous field of colour which ensures that the plot is perceived as a single visual entity. I can dig out the exact references if you need them. Hadley -- had.co.nz
On 3/13/08, Ben Bolker <bolker at zoo.ufl.edu> wrote:> > Can someone point me to a justification for the design > decisions, which seem to be similar in lattice and > ggplot2, ofDisclaimer: I don't have strong personal preferences, I just went with what Trellis had. That said,> (1) gray backgrounds andlattice's default background is now white, and this was partly because many people seemed to dislike the grey background. My personal feeling is that it looked good on a screen or when using a beamer, but not so good when printed. ggplot's background is lighter, so this probably does not apply.> (2) filled points? > [I seem to remember seeing somewhere the opposite recommendation > for points, i.e. that open points make it much easier to > see if there are overlapping values -- and this would > be a reason that pch=1 gives an open circle ...]lattice does have open circles by default, except in ungrouped dot plots, where there is no possibility of overlapping. -Deepayan