Add/modify/remove the background grid in a ggplot2 plot

This function provides a simple way to set the background grid in ggplot2. It doesn't do anything that can't be done just the same with theme(). However, it simplifies creation of the most commonly needed variations.

background_grid(
  major = c("xy", "x", "y", "only_minor", "none"),
  minor = c("none", "xy", "x", "y"),
  size.major = 0.5,
  size.minor = 0.2,
  color.major = "grey85",
  color.minor = "grey85",
  colour.major,
  colour.minor
)

Arguments

major

Specifies along which axes you would like to plot major grid lines. Options are "xy", "x", "y", "none".

minor

Specifies along which axes you would like to plot minor grid lines. Options are "xy", "x", "y", "none".

size.major

Size of the major grid lines.

size.minor

Size of the minor grid lines.

color.major, colour.major

Color of the major grid lines.

color.minor, colour.minor

Color of the minor grid lines.

Details

Note: This function completely overwrites all background grid settings of the current theme. If that is not what you want, you may be better off using theme() directly.

Examples

library(ggplot2)

ggplot(iris, aes(Sepal.Length, Sepal.Width)) +
 geom_point() +
 theme_half_open() +
 background_grid()