Setting color and fill Scales

This lesson is called Setting color and fill Scales, part of the R in 3 Months (Fall 2025) course. This lesson is called Setting color and fill Scales, part of the R in 3 Months (Fall 2025) course.

Transcript

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View code shown in video

# Load Packages -----------------------------------------------------------

library(tidyverse)

# Import Data -------------------------------------------------------------

penguins <- read_csv("penguins.csv")
			
# Setting color and fill Scales -------------------------------------------

# We can change the color or fill scale using a scale function.

# The function scale_color_manual() allows us to manually specify colors to use.

ggplot(data = penguins,
       mapping = aes(x = bill_length_mm,
                     y = bill_depth_mm,
                     color = island)) +
  geom_point() +
  scale_color_manual(values = c("orange", "dodgerblue", "green"))

# We can also use built-in palettes. 

# The scale_color_viridis_d() function (the d means it works with discrete data)
# is a great way to get colorblind-friendly palettes.

ggplot(data = penguins,
       mapping = aes(x = bill_length_mm,
                     y = bill_depth_mm,
                     color = island)) +
  geom_point() +
  scale_color_viridis_d()

# The scale_color_viridis_d() function also has several built-in palettes.
# You can use them as follows.

ggplot(data = penguins,
       mapping = aes(x = bill_length_mm,
                     y = bill_depth_mm,
                     color = island)) +
  geom_point() +
  scale_color_viridis_d(option = "A")

ggplot(data = penguins,
       mapping = aes(x = bill_length_mm,
                     y = bill_depth_mm,
                     color = island)) +
  geom_point() +
  scale_color_viridis_d(option = "H")

# There are many other built-in palettes. Just type scale_color_ and RStudio
# will autocomplete some other options for you.

# We can use scale_fill_viridis_d() for the fill aesthetic property.

ggplot(data = penguin_bill_length_by_island,
       mapping = aes(x = island,
                     y = mean_bill_length,
                     fill = island)) +
  geom_col() +
  scale_fill_viridis_d()

Your Turn

Solution

# Load Packages -----------------------------------------------------------

library(tidyverse)

# Import Data -------------------------------------------------------------

penguins <- read_csv("penguins.csv")
			
penguins_by_species <- penguins |> 
  count(species)
			
# Setting color and fill Scales -------------------------------------------

# Take your scatterplot that you just made and add a scale using scale_color_manual(). 
# You can find a list of all colors you can use here:
# http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~tzheng/files/Rcolor.pdf

ggplot(data = penguins,
       mapping = aes(x = flipper_length_mm,
                     y = body_mass_g,
                     color = island)) +
  geom_point() +
  scale_color_manual(values = c("red", "blue", "green"))

# Now update the last bar chart you made by manually specifying colors of the bars

ggplot(data = penguins_by_species,
       mapping = aes(x = species,
                     y = n,
                     fill = species)) +
  geom_col() +
  scale_fill_manual(values = c("red", "blue", "green"))

# Update your bar chart using the scale_fill_viridis_d() function instead of
# scale_fill_manual()

ggplot(data = penguins_by_species,
       mapping = aes(x = species,
                     y = n,
                     fill = species)) +
  geom_col() +
  scale_fill_viridis_d()

# Load Packages -----------------------------------------------------------

library(tidyverse)

# Import Data -------------------------------------------------------------

penguins <- read_csv("penguins.csv")
			
# Setting color and fill Scales -------------------------------------------

# Take your scatterplot that you just made and add a scale using scale_color_manual(). 
# You can find a list of all colors you can use here:
# https://www.datanovia.com/en/blog/awesome-list-of-657-r-color-names/

# YOUR CODE HERE

# Now update the last bar chart you made by manually specifying colors of the bars

# YOUR CODE HERE

# Update your bar chart using the scale_fill_viridis_d() function instead of
# scale_fill_manual()

# YOUR CODE HERE

Learn More

The PDF shown in the video has gone missing, but you can see a list of all named colors here.

There are a lot of other packages that give you color/fill palettes you can work with. See especially the paleteer package, which is a meta palette package, give you access to palettes from many other packages.

Setting color and fill Scales

Transcript

Your Turn

Solution

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