Name and use own colors or color palette for ggplot graphs

June 21, 2023

I have some colors that I would like to give a name to be able to use them in ggplot graphs without having to write the hex codes by hand each time I write the code for a graph.

For example I have the following hex colors #EBD0FC, #F0FFF0, #BEBEBE that I would like to name "mypink", "mymint", "mygrey".

mycolors <- 
  data.frame(name = c("mypink", "mymint", "mygrey"),
         hex = c("#EBD0FC", "#F0FFF0", "#BEBEBE"))

And I would like to use the colors in a ggplot graph like that:

scale_fill_manual(values = c("mypink", "mymint", "mygrey"))

instead of

scale_fill_manual(values = c("#EBD0FC", "#F0FFF0", "#BEBEBE"))

As a follow up question: is there a way to "save" my color palette somewhere (online? and maybe only for me to access?) so that I do not have to specify it at the beginning of each session?

>Solution :

Write a function to translate your names into the hex you defined. for example.

mycolors <- 
  data.frame(name = c("mypink", "mymint", "mygrey"),
             hex = c("#EBD0FC", "#F0FFF0", "#BEBEBE"))

myc <- function(x){
  mycolors$hex[which(x %in% mycolors$name)]
}

waldo::compare(scale_fill_manual(values = c("#EBD0FC", "#F0FFF0", "#BEBEBE")),
          scale_fill_manual(values = myc(c("mypink", "mymint", "mygrey"))))
# ✔ No differences