R Scale plot elements within PDF of set width and height -

though r plots sent pdf can rescaled @ in illustration or page layout software, scientific journals insist plots provided have specific dimensions.

can size of plotting elements scaled within given pdf size directly in r?

require(ggplot2)  p <- qplot(data=iris,            x=petal.width,            y=petal.length,            colour=species)  pdf("./test_plot_default.pdf") print(p) graphics.off() 

produces adequate scaling of plot elements

however, changing pdf size elements not cause plot elements scale. smaller pdfs, plotting elements overly enlarged compared plotting space.

pdf("./test_plot_dimentionsions required journal.pdf", width=3, height=3) print(p) graphics.off() 

using @rosen matev suggestion:

update_geom_default("point", list(size=1)) theme_set(theme_grey(base_size=6)) pdf("./test_plot_dimentionsions required journal.pdf", width=3, height=3) print(p) graphics.off() 

journals insist on having specific plot dimensions in order avoid scaling. if made, can render font size small (or large) , inconsistent figure caption font size. why plot elements (text, point size, etc.) design have same absolute size regardless of pdf size.

you can change default font size , point size, example, with:

p <- ggplot(iris, aes(x=petal.width, y=petal.length, colour=species)) +   geom_point(size=1.5) +  # default 2   theme_grey(base_size=10)  # default 12 ggsave("test.1.pdf", p) 

the defaults can changed globally, too:

update_geom_default("point", list(size=1.5)) theme_set(theme_grey(base_size=10))