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Asked: 2026-05-31T10:44:50+00:00

I’m putting together my first plot with ggplot2. I need to set a shape

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I’m putting together my first plot with ggplot2. I need to set a shape for values == 0. Here’s my dataset and what I got so far :

structure(list(Var1 = structure(c(1L, 2L, 3L, 4L, 5L, 6L, 7L,
8L, 9L, 10L, 11L, 12L, 13L, 14L, 15L, 16L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L, 5L,
6L, 7L, 8L, 9L, 10L, 11L, 12L, 13L, 14L, 15L, 16L, 1L, 2L, 3L,
4L, 5L, 6L, 7L, 8L, 9L, 10L, 11L, 12L, 13L, 14L, 15L, 16L, 1L,
2L, 3L, 4L, 5L, 6L, 7L, 8L, 9L, 10L, 11L, 12L, 13L, 14L, 15L,
16L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L, 5L, 6L, 7L, 8L, 9L, 10L, 11L, 12L, 13L,
14L, 15L, 16L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L, 5L, 6L, 7L, 8L, 9L, 10L, 11L,
12L, 13L, 14L, 15L, 16L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L, 5L, 6L, 7L, 8L, 9L,
10L, 11L, 12L, 13L, 14L, 15L, 16L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L, 5L, 6L, 7L,
8L, 9L, 10L, 11L, 12L, 13L, 14L, 15L, 16L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L, 5L,
6L, 7L, 8L, 9L, 10L, 11L, 12L, 13L, 14L, 15L, 16L, 1L, 2L, 3L,
4L, 5L, 6L, 7L, 8L, 9L, 10L, 11L, 12L, 13L, 14L, 15L, 16L, 1L,
2L, 3L, 4L, 5L, 6L, 7L, 8L, 9L, 10L, 11L, 12L, 13L, 14L, 15L,
16L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L, 5L, 6L, 7L, 8L, 9L, 10L, 11L, 12L, 13L,
14L, 15L, 16L), .Label = c("MD-1", "MD-2", "MD-3", "MD-4", "ME-1",
"ME-2", "ME-3", "ME-4", "ME-5", "ME-6", "MF-1", "MF-2", "MF-4",
"MF-6", "MF-7", "MF-8"), class = "factor"), Var2 = structure(c(1L,
1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 2L,
2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 3L,
3L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 4L,
4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 5L,
5L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 6L,
6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 7L,
7L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 8L,
8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 9L,
9L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 10L,
10L, 10L, 10L, 10L, 10L, 10L, 10L, 10L, 10L, 10L, 10L, 10L, 10L,
10L, 10L, 11L, 11L, 11L, 11L, 11L, 11L, 11L, 11L, 11L, 11L, 11L,
11L, 11L, 11L, 11L, 11L, 12L, 12L, 12L, 12L, 12L, 12L, 12L, 12L,
12L, 12L, 12L, 12L, 12L, 12L, 12L, 12L), .Label = c("FD-1", "FD-2",
"FD-5", "FD-6", "FD-7", "FE-2", "FE-3", "FE-4", "FE-5", "FE-6",
"FF-1", "FF-2"), class = "factor"), Freq = c(35L, 4L, 5L, 2L,
0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L,
0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L,
0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 2L, 0L,
0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 2L, 4L, 0L, 0L,
0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L,
14L, 15L, 4L, 3L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L,
0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L,
0L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 2L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L,
0L, 3L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L,
0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L,
0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 13L, 2L, 5L, 7L, 0L, 0L, 0L,
0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 2L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L)), .Names = c("Var1",
"Var2", "Freq"), row.names = c(NA, -192L), class = "data.frame")

Here’s the base of my plot

p <- ggplot(mat.bub, aes(Var1, Var2)) 
p + geom_point(aes(size = Freq))

Now, how to set geom.point to a specific shape if Freq==0 ? Here’s what I tried so far:

p <- ggplot(mat.bub, aes(Var1, Var2,size=Freq)) 
p + geom_point(aes(Var1[Freq==0], Var2[Freq==0]), colour="black", shape=3, size=5, na.rm = T)

Inspired from this answer :

Modifying the shape for a subset of points with ggplot2

But I get an “arguments imply differing number of rows: 162, 192” error. Of course Var1 and Var2 are not numerical, that’s what’s different from the mtcars example.

How could I achieve this conditional shaping ? What am I missing ?

Thanx for any help !

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    As per my note on the answer you link to, try this:

    p <- ggplot(mat.bub, aes(Var1, Var2,size=Freq)) + geom_point()
p + geom_point(data = subset(mat.bub,Freq == 0), colour="black", shape=3, size=5, na.rm = T)

    enter image description here

    As an explanation, while subsetting in the variables is possible, I much prefer handing each geom the specific subset of whatever data frame I’m dealing with. I find that easier to keep straight in my head, and is apparently less confusing for ggplot as well.

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