Here we introduce point types and sizes in R. How to set point types, change the point sizes and set point colors.

1 Point Types in R

In this section we show the main point types in R for use in plots like scatter plots and dot plots.

This is set with the argument "pch", for example, pch = 1 or pch = "$".

Plot Point Types in R

See examples below.

2 Point Sizes in R

In this section we show to set point sizes in R for use in plots like scatter plots and dot plots.

This is set with the argument "cex" or "pt.cex" depending on the plot type, for example, cex = 1 or cex = 3.

Plot Point Sizes in R

See examples below.

Here, we show some examples setting the point types and sizes as shown above.

Example using a scatter plot:

xdata = rnorm(20)
ydata = xdata + rnorm(20)/2
plot(xdata, ydata,
     pch = 4,
     cex = 1.7,
     col = "green")

Point Types and Sizes in R - Scatter Plot

Example using a dot plot:

dotchart(t(USPersonalExpenditure),
         pch = "$",
         pt.cex = 0.8,
         col = "salmon")

Point Types and Sizes in R - Dot Plot

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