Author: David Wilkins
Date: 2026-07-05

# Introduction to ‘ggfittext’

#### David Wilkins

#### 2026-07-05

## Fitting text inside a box

Sometimes you want to draw some text in a ggplot2 plot so that it fits inside a defined area. You can do this by manually fiddling with the font size, but this is tedious and un-reproducible. ggfittext provides a geom called `geom_fit_text()` that automatically resizes text to fit inside a box. It works like this:

    library(ggplot2)
    library(ggfittext)
    ggplot(animals, aes(x = type, y = flies, label = animal)) +
      geom_tile(fill = "white", colour = "black") +
      geom_fit_text()

As with `geom_text()`, the position of the text is set by the `x` and `y` aesthetics. `geom_fit_text()` tries to infer the width and height of the box in which the text is allowed to fit, and shrinks down any text that is too big.

## Reflowing text

Another way to make the text fit in the box is by reflowing it; that is, wrapping it over multiple lines. With the `reflow = TRUE` argument, `geom_fit_text()` will reflow the text before (if still necessary) shrinking it:

    ggplot(animals, aes(x = type, y = flies, label = animal)) +
      geom_tile(fill = "white", colour = "black") +
      geom_fit_text(reflow = TRUE)

## Growing text

If you want the text to be as large as possible, the argument `grow = TRUE` will increase the text size to the maximum that will fit in the box. This works well in conjunction with `reflow`:

    ggplot(animals, aes(x = type, y = flies, label = animal)) +
      geom_tile(fill = "white", colour = "black") +
      geom_fit_text(reflow = TRUE, grow = TRUE)

## Placing text

By default, text is placed in the centre of the box. However, you can place it in a corner or on a side of the box with the `place` argument, which takes values like “top”, “topright”, “bottomleft” and so on:

    ggplot(animals, aes(x = type, y = flies, label = animal)) +
      geom_tile(fill = "white", colour = "black") +
      geom_fit_text(place = "topleft", reflow = TRUE)

## Bar plots

ggfittext also provides a geom `geom_bar_text()` for labelling bars in bar plots:

    ggplot(altitudes, aes(x = craft, y = altitude, label = altitude)) +
      geom_col() +
      geom_bar_text()

When a bar is too short for its label to fit inside, even after being shrunk down to `min.size`, `geom_bar_text()` draws the label just outside the bar instead of hiding it, provided there is room. This is the `outside` argument, which is `TRUE` by default for `geom_bar_text()` when `position = "identity"`. Setting `outside = FALSE` keeps every label inside its bar, so a label that cannot fit is shrunk or hidden instead:

    ggplot(altitudes, aes(x = craft, y = altitude, label = altitude)) +
      geom_col() +
      geom_bar_text(outside = FALSE)

`geom_bar_text()` works with stacked bar plots:

    ggplot(beverages, aes(x = beverage, y = proportion, label = ingredient,
                        fill = ingredient)) +
      geom_col(position = "stack") +
      geom_bar_text(position = "stack", reflow = TRUE)

And it works with dodged bar plots, and with flipped bar plots:

    ggplot(beverages, aes(x = beverage, y = proportion, label = ingredient,
                        fill = ingredient)) +
      geom_col(position = "dodge") +
      geom_bar_text(position = "dodge", grow = TRUE, reflow = TRUE,
                    place = "left") +
      coord_flip()

## Specifying the box limits

If you want to manually set the limits of the box (instead of having them inferred from `x` and `y`), you can use `xmin` & `xmax` and/or `ymin` & `ymax`:

    ggplot(presidential, aes(ymin = start, ymax = end, x = party, label = name)) +
      geom_fit_text(grow = TRUE) +
      geom_errorbar(alpha = 0.5)

Alternatively, you can set the width and/or height with the `width` and/or `height` arguments, which should be `grid::unit()` objects. The horizontal and/or vertical centre of the box will be defined by `x` and/or `y`.

### Experimental feature: rich text

With the `rich = TRUE` argument, `geom_fit_text()` and `geom_bar_text()` both support a limited subset of Markdown and HTML markup for text (rendered with gridtext).

    ggplot(animals_rich, aes(x = type, y = flies, label = animal)) +
      geom_tile(fill = "white", colour = "black") +
      geom_fit_text(reflow = TRUE, grow = TRUE, rich = TRUE)

Rich text cannot be drawn in polar coordinates. Please note that this feature is liable to change, and is subject to upstream changes to gridtext.

## Experimental feature: text in polar coordinates

Text can be drawn in polar coordinates with `geom_fit_text()` simply by adding `coord_polar()` to the plot. This feature is experimental and any bug reports are very welcome.

    ggplot(gold, aes(xmin = xmin, xmax = xmax, ymin = ymin, ymax = ymax,
                     fill = linenumber, label = line)) +
      coord_polar() +
      geom_rect() +
      geom_fit_text(min.size = 0, grow = TRUE) +
      scale_fill_gradient(low = "#fee391", high = "#238443")

## Other useful arguments

Most arguments to `geom_fit_text()` can also be used with `geom_bar_text()` (the exception is `flip`, which only applies in polar coordinates).

- `contrast` can be used to automatically invert the colour of the text so it contrasts against a background `fill`:

    ggplot(animals, aes(x = type, y = flies, fill = mass, label = animal)) +
      geom_tile() +
      geom_fit_text(reflow = TRUE, grow = TRUE, contrast = TRUE)

- `padding.x` and `padding.y` can be used to set the padding between the text and the edge of the box. By default this is 1 mm. These values must be given as `grid::unit()` objects.
- `min.size` sets the minimum font size in points, by default 4 pt (8 pt for `geom_bar_text()`). Text smaller than this will be hidden (see also `outside`).
- `outside` is `FALSE` by default for `geom_fit_text()`. If `TRUE`, text that is placed at “top”, “bottom”, “left” or “right” and must be shrunk smaller than `min.size` to fit in the box will be flipped to the outside of the box (if it fits there). This is mostly useful for drawing text inside bars in a bar plot.
- `hjust` and `vjust` set the horizontal and vertical justification of the text, scaled between 0 (left/bottom) and 1 (right/top). `vjust` defaults to 0.5, as does `hjust` except for left placements, where it defaults to 0, and right placements, where it defaults to 1.
- `formatter` allows you to provide a function that will be applied to the text before it is drawn. This is mostly useful in contexts where variables may be interpolated, such as when using gganimate.
- `fullheight` is automatically set depending on `grow`, but can be overridden with this option. This is used to determine the bounding box around the text. If `FALSE`, the bounding box includes the x-height of the text and ascenders, but not any descenders. If `TRUE`, it extends from the top of the ascenders to the bottom of the descenders. This is mostly useful in situations where you want to ensure the baseline of text is consistent between labels (`fullheight = FALSE`), or when you want to avoid descenders spilling out of the bounding box (`fullheight = TRUE`).