A waffle chart displays proportions using a grid of equal-sized squares where colored squares represent parts of a whole. Each square typically represents 1% of the total, making it easy to count and compare values visually. It provides an intuitive alternative to pie charts, offering more accurate perception of proportions.
#' anyplot.ai
#' waffle-basic: Basic Waffle Chart
#' Library: ggplot2 3.5.1 | R 4.4.1
#' Quality: 92/100 | Created: 2026-09-09
library(ggplot2)
library(patchwork)
library(ragg)
set.seed(42)
# --- Theme tokens -----------------------------------------------------------
THEME <- Sys.getenv("ANYPLOT_THEME", "light")
PAGE_BG <- if (THEME == "light") "#FAF8F1" else "#1A1A17"
INK <- if (THEME == "light") "#1A1A17" else "#F0EFE8"
INK_SOFT <- if (THEME == "light") "#4A4A44" else "#B8B7B0"
IMPRINT_PALETTE <- c("#009E73", "#C475FD", "#4467A3", "#BD8233",
"#AE3030", "#2ABCCD", "#954477", "#99B314")
# --- Data ---------------------------------------------------------------
# Annual department budget allocation, in percentage points (sums to 100)
budget <- tibble::tibble(
department = factor(
c("Engineering", "Marketing", "Operations", "Sales", "R&D"),
levels = c("Engineering", "Marketing", "Operations", "Sales", "R&D")
),
share = c(32, 24, 19, 15, 10)
)
dept_colors <- setNames(IMPRINT_PALETTE[seq_len(nrow(budget))], levels(budget$department))
grid_size <- 10
squares <- rep(budget$department, times = budget$share)
waffle_df <- tibble::tibble(
department = squares,
square_idx = seq_along(squares) - 1,
col = square_idx %% grid_size + 1,
row = grid_size - square_idx %/% grid_size
)
title_text <- "Company Budget Allocation · waffle-basic · r · ggplot2 · anyplot.ai"
title_size <- round(12 * min(1, 67 / nchar(title_text)))
# --- Waffle grid ------------------------------------------------------------
p_grid <- ggplot(waffle_df, aes(x = col, y = row, fill = department)) +
geom_tile(color = PAGE_BG, linewidth = 0.6, width = 0.85, height = 0.85) +
coord_equal(xlim = c(0.5, 10.5), ylim = c(0.5, 10.5), expand = FALSE) +
scale_fill_manual(values = dept_colors, guide = "none") +
labs(title = title_text) +
theme_void(base_size = 8) +
theme(
plot.background = element_rect(fill = PAGE_BG, color = PAGE_BG),
panel.background = element_rect(fill = PAGE_BG, color = NA),
plot.title = element_text(
color = INK, size = title_size, hjust = 0.5,
margin = margin(b = 20)
),
plot.margin = margin(t = 20, r = 20, b = 4, l = 20)
)
# --- Custom legend, each row independently centered under the grid ---------
# A stock guide_legend(nrow = 2, byrow = TRUE) packs the shorter final row
# flush-left inside its grid cells; measuring each label's real rendered
# width lets every row (regardless of length) be centered as a whole block,
# with no risk of the longest label overrunning the canvas edge.
legend_font_pt <- 2.9 * .pt # geom_text `size` (mm) -> points, matches rendered glyphs
key_w_in <- 0.085
key_gap_in <- 0.05
item_gap_in <- 0.32
avail_width_in <- 6 - 2 * (20 / 72.27) # matches p_grid's left/right plot.margin
text_width_in <- function(label) {
grid::convertWidth(
grid::grobWidth(grid::textGrob(label, gp = grid::gpar(fontsize = legend_font_pt))),
"inches", valueOnly = TRUE
)
}
legend_rows <- list(levels(budget$department)[1:3], levels(budget$department)[4:5])
build_legend_row <- function(depts, row_y) {
labels <- paste0(depts, " (", budget$share[match(depts, levels(budget$department))], "%)")
item_w <- key_w_in + key_gap_in + vapply(labels, text_width_in, numeric(1))
row_w <- sum(item_w) + item_gap_in * (length(depts) - 1)
start_x <- (avail_width_in - row_w) / 2
key_x <- start_x + cumsum(c(0, utils::head(item_w, -1) + item_gap_in))
data.frame(
department = depts,
label = labels,
key_x = key_x / avail_width_in,
text_x = (key_x + key_w_in + key_gap_in) / avail_width_in,
y = row_y,
stringsAsFactors = FALSE
)
}
legend_df <- do.call(rbind, Map(
build_legend_row, legend_rows, rev(seq_along(legend_rows)) - 1
))
p_legend <- ggplot(legend_df) +
geom_point(aes(x = key_x, y = y, color = department), shape = 15, size = 4.2) +
geom_text(aes(x = text_x, y = y, label = label), hjust = 0, color = INK_SOFT, size = 2.9) +
scale_color_manual(values = dept_colors, guide = "none") +
coord_cartesian(
xlim = c(0, 1), ylim = c(-0.6, length(legend_rows) - 0.4), expand = FALSE
) +
theme_void() +
theme(plot.background = element_rect(fill = PAGE_BG, color = PAGE_BG))
p <- (p_grid / p_legend) +
plot_layout(heights = c(10, 1.6)) &
theme(plot.background = element_rect(fill = PAGE_BG, color = PAGE_BG))
# --- Save -----------------------------------------------------------------
ggsave(
filename = sprintf("plot-%s.png", THEME),
plot = p,
device = ragg::agg_png,
width = 6,
height = 6,
units = "in",
dpi = 400,
bg = PAGE_BG
)
Runnable source as JSON, for any HTTP client: https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/waffle-basic/ggplot2/code. Any spec id and library id listed in llms-full.txt fit the same URL shape; every URL below is complete and callable.
{
"spec_id": "waffle-basic",
"language": "r",
"library": "ggplot2",
"page": "https://anyplot.ai/waffle-basic/r/ggplot2",
"hub": "https://anyplot.ai/waffle-basic",
"code_json": "https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/waffle-basic/ggplot2/code",
"spec_json": "https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/waffle-basic",
"render_light_png": "https://storage.googleapis.com/anyplot-images/plots/waffle-basic/r/ggplot2/plot-light.png",
"render_dark_png": "https://storage.googleapis.com/anyplot-images/plots/waffle-basic/r/ggplot2/plot-dark.png",
"quality_score": 92.0,
"license": "MIT",
"guide": "https://anyplot.ai/llms.txt"
}Part of Basic Waffle Chart on anyplot.ai.