ggplot2 geom default aesthetics (pre-4.0 behavior)

ggplot2 4.0.0 changed how geoms get their default aesthetics: many defaults are now looked up from the plot theme. This change broke some older plots of mine that relied on the previous hard-coded defaults. When finalizing plots, I would tweak point size by adjusting plot dimensions (small plot -> bigger apparent points), but theme_grey(base_size) will change the size of points and not just text. Thus, a lot of my old plots looked wrong. I think it was an undocumented breaking change in the package, and to their credit, the ggplot2 authors retroactively updated the news into mention this change.¹
Anyway, to recover the old behavior (or at least inspect it), I pulled the default_aes from each geom in ggplot2 3.5.2. This output gives me a snapshot of the old aesthetics, so I can quickly drop in some point aesthetics for quick fixes of those plots.
withr::local_temp_libpaths()
pak::pkg_install("ggplot2@3.5.2")
#> ℹ Loading metadata database✔ Loading metadata database ... done
#>  
#> → Will install 20 packages.
#> → Will download 14 CRAN packages (8.03 MB), cached: 6 (4.94 MB).
#> + cli            3.6.6  
#> + farver         2.1.2  [dl] (1.52 MB)
#> + ggplot2        3.5.2  [bld]
#> + glue           1.8.1  
#> + gtable         0.3.6  [dl] (249.67 kB)
#> + isoband        0.3.0  [dl] (1.98 MB)
#> + labeling       0.4.3  [dl] (63.42 kB)
#> + lifecycle      1.0.5  [dl] (149.81 kB)
#> + magrittr       2.0.5  
#> + pillar         1.11.1 [dl] (673.34 kB)
#> + pkgconfig      2.0.3  [dl] (22.81 kB)
#> + R6             2.6.1  [dl] (88.59 kB)
#> + RColorBrewer   1.1-3  [dl] (54.48 kB)
#> + rlang          1.2.0  
#> + scales         1.4.0  [dl] (877.87 kB)
#> + tibble         3.3.1  [dl] (667.34 kB)
#> + utf8           1.2.6  [dl] (155.23 kB)
#> + vctrs          0.7.3  
#> + viridisLite    0.4.3  [dl] (1.30 MB)
#> + withr          3.0.2  [dl] (231.63 kB)
#> ℹ Getting 14 pkgs (8.03 MB), 6 (4.94 MB) cached
#> ✔ Cached copy of R6 2.6.1 (i386+x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of RColorBrewer 1.1-3 (i386+x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of farver 2.1.2 (x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of gtable 0.3.6 (i386+x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of isoband 0.3.0 (x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of labeling 0.4.3 (i386+x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of lifecycle 1.0.5 (i386+x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of pillar 1.11.1 (i386+x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of pkgconfig 2.0.3 (i386+x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of scales 1.4.0 (i386+x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of tibble 3.3.1 (x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of utf8 1.2.6 (x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of viridisLite 0.4.3 (i386+x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Cached copy of withr 3.0.2 (i386+x86_64-w64-mingw32) is the latest build
#> ✔ Installed ggplot2 3.5.2  (533ms)
#> ✔ Installed R6 2.6.1  (622ms)
#> ✔ Installed RColorBrewer 1.1-3  (658ms)
#> ✔ Installed labeling 0.4.3  (607ms)
#> ✔ Installed glue 1.8.1  (772ms)
#> ✔ Installed farver 2.1.2  (925ms)
#> ✔ Installed isoband 0.3.0  (1s)
#> ✔ Installed gtable 0.3.6  (1.1s)
#> ✔ Installed cli 3.6.6  (1.3s)
#> ✔ Installed magrittr 2.0.5  (1.2s)
#> ✔ Installed lifecycle 1.0.5  (1.3s)
#> ✔ Installed pillar 1.11.1  (1.3s)
#> ✔ Installed pkgconfig 2.0.3  (898ms)
#> ✔ Installed rlang 1.2.0  (887ms)
#> ✔ Installed scales 1.4.0  (985ms)
#> ✔ Installed tibble 3.3.1  (944ms)
#> ✔ Installed utf8 1.2.6  (878ms)
#> ✔ Installed viridisLite 0.4.3  (799ms)
#> ✔ Installed vctrs 0.7.3  (1s)
#> ✔ Installed withr 3.0.2  (774ms)
#> ✔ 1 pkg + 24 deps: kept 1, added 20 [12.2s]

self_name <- function(x) stats::setNames(x, x)

asNamespace("ggplot2") |> 
  ls(pattern = "Geom.") |> 
  self_name() |> 
  lapply(get, envir = asNamespace("ggplot2")) |> 
  lapply(function(obj) obj$default_aes) |> 
  # make sure every result has the aes nice printing method
  lapply(function(x) { 
    class(x) <- "uneval"
    x
  })
#> $GeomAbline
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomAnnotationMap
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> NA
#> * `fill`      -> "grey20"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> * `subgroup`  -> NULL
#> 
#> $GeomArea
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> NA
#> * `fill`      -> "grey20"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomBar
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> NA
#> * `fill`      -> "grey35"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomBlank
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> <empty>
#> 
#> $GeomBoxplot
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `weight`    -> 1
#> * `colour`    -> "grey20"
#> * `fill`      -> "white"
#> * `size`      -> NULL
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> * `shape`     -> 19
#> * `linetype`  -> "solid"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> 
#> $GeomCol
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> NA
#> * `fill`      -> "grey35"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomContour
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `weight`    -> 1
#> * `colour`    -> "#3366FF"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomContourFilled
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> NA
#> * `fill`      -> "grey20"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> * `subgroup`  -> NULL
#> 
#> $GeomCrossbar
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `fill`      -> NA
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomCurve
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomCustomAnn
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `xmin` -> -Inf
#> * `xmax` -> Inf
#> * `ymin` -> -Inf
#> * `ymax` -> Inf
#> 
#> $GeomDensity
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `fill`      -> NA
#> * `weight`    -> 1
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> 
#> $GeomDensity2d
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "#3366FF"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomDensity2dFilled
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> NA
#> * `fill`      -> "grey20"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> * `subgroup`  -> NULL
#> 
#> $GeomDotplot
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`   -> "black"
#> * `fill`     -> "black"
#> * `alpha`    -> NA
#> * `stroke`   -> 1
#> * `linetype` -> "solid"
#> * `weight`   -> 1
#> 
#> $GeomErrorbar
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `width`     -> 0.5
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomErrorbarh
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `height`    -> 0.5
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomFunction
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomHex
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> NA
#> * `fill`      -> "grey50"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomHline
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomLabel
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`     -> "black"
#> * `fill`       -> "white"
#> * `size`       -> 3.88
#> * `angle`      -> 0
#> * `hjust`      -> 0.5
#> * `vjust`      -> 0.5
#> * `alpha`      -> NA
#> * `family`     -> ""
#> * `fontface`   -> 1
#> * `lineheight` -> 1.2
#> 
#> $GeomLine
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomLinerange
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomLogticks
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> 1
#> 
#> $GeomMap
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> NA
#> * `fill`      -> "grey20"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> * `subgroup`  -> NULL
#> 
#> $GeomPath
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomPoint
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `shape`  -> 19
#> * `colour` -> "black"
#> * `size`   -> 1.5
#> * `fill`   -> NA
#> * `alpha`  -> NA
#> * `stroke` -> 0.5
#> 
#> $GeomPointrange
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `size`      -> 0.5
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `shape`     -> 19
#> * `fill`      -> NA
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> * `stroke`    -> 1
#> 
#> $GeomPolygon
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> NA
#> * `fill`      -> "grey20"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> * `subgroup`  -> NULL
#> 
#> $GeomQuantile
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `weight`    -> 1
#> * `colour`    -> "#3366FF"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomRaster
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `fill`  -> "grey20"
#> * `alpha` -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomRasterAnn
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> <empty>
#> 
#> $GeomRect
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> NA
#> * `fill`      -> "grey35"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomRibbon
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> NA
#> * `fill`      -> "grey20"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomRug
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomSegment
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomSf
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `shape`     -> NULL
#> * `colour`    -> NULL
#> * `fill`      -> NULL
#> * `size`      -> NULL
#> * `linewidth` -> NULL
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> * `stroke`    -> 0.5
#> 
#> $GeomSmooth
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "#3366FF"
#> * `fill`      -> "grey60"
#> * `linewidth` -> 1
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `weight`    -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> 0.4
#> 
#> $GeomSpoke
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomStep
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomText
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`     -> "black"
#> * `size`       -> 3.88
#> * `angle`      -> 0
#> * `hjust`      -> 0.5
#> * `vjust`      -> 0.5
#> * `alpha`      -> NA
#> * `family`     -> ""
#> * `fontface`   -> 1
#> * `lineheight` -> 1.2
#> 
#> $GeomTile
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `fill`      -> "grey20"
#> * `colour`    -> NA
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.1
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> * `width`     -> NA
#> * `height`    -> NA
#> 
#> $GeomViolin
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `weight`    -> 1
#> * `colour`    -> "grey20"
#> * `fill`      -> "white"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
#> * `linetype`  -> "solid"
#> 
#> $GeomVline
#> Aesthetic mapping: 
#> * `colour`    -> "black"
#> * `linewidth` -> 0.5
#> * `linetype`  -> 1
#> * `alpha`     -> NA
I hope I don’t seem like a crank by mentioning these bugbears and GitHub issues in these notes. ↩
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