Homogenize ggplot abscissa size for 2 plots

May 31, 2023

I want to compare two variables against the X axis by displaying them on the same column.

For some reasons (not technical question), I can’t display both variables on the same graph.

When I display these two variables with different unit ranges with ggarrange, the one with the largest numbers appears to have more space for y labels and less space for the graph (lower abscissa size).

Do you know how I could display both graphs having the same greyzone size (same abscissa size)?

Thank you

### Import library
library(ggplot2)
library(ggpubr)

### Initiating data
dfTemp <- 
  data.frame(
    Xaxis=1:100,
    Variable1=rnorm(100, 100, 10),
    Variable2=rnorm(100, 1000000, 100000)
      )

### Initiating plots
scatterPlot1 <- 
  ggplot(data=dfTemp, aes(x=Xaxis, y=Variable1)) + 
  geom_line()
scatterPlot2 <- 
  ggplot(data=dfTemp, aes(x=Xaxis, y=Variable2)) + 
  geom_line()

### Display plots
ggarrange(scatterPlot1,
          scatterPlot2,
          nrow=2, ncol=1)

>Solution :

Use the align argument

dfTemp <- 
  data.frame(
    Xaxis=1:100,
    Variable1=rnorm(100, 100, 10),
    Variable2=rnorm(100, 1000000, 100000)
  )

### Initiating plots
scatterPlot1 <- 
  ggplot(data=dfTemp, aes(x=Xaxis, y=Variable1)) + 
  geom_line()
scatterPlot2 <- 
  ggplot(data=dfTemp, aes(x=Xaxis, y=Variable2)) + 
  geom_line()

### Display plots
ggarrange(scatterPlot1,
          scatterPlot2,
          nrow=2, ncol=1, align = "v")